HappyFt Travels

Sunday Streets was a great time on 19th and Valencia. I barely saw any other part of the event, but managed to hula hoop more than ever in my life. Got the hang of it and then started another trick. Will have to work on it next time. Bay Area Hoopers really filled out CELL’s area. We had maybe 15 hoopers at the most, many of them children who couldn’t resist trying it out. I didn’t realize that BAH has been spending wet season at CELLspace for 8 years now! Laura baked cookies and lemon squares for Sat. night’s Funkathon, so we had the extras to hand out and try to sell. I tried to get a Funky Puppet Supper reunion together for the day, but it just didn’t happen. The most committed alum, Nate Holguin, had to work an emergency shift at the Brava Theater. A few others alums stopped by to say hey and hang out.

After running an errand, I finally made it over to CELLspace for the birthday bbq. Dave X had several grills going, and Antonio and some of the hoopers had beaten me there. Nate was there, so I was glad to get to catch up with him after a long time of no seeing. Ben Smith, an early co-founder of CELLspace, stopped by as did several folks who saw the bbq advertised online. Soft, a former caretaker, just happened to be biking by, so he stopped for a burger and some hanging out.

Photographer Steve Rhodes showed up too. When Dave saw his camera, he asked if Steve could take a group photo by the Doggie Diner Heads. And he did. You can see them all here, along with some other photographs of the murals and Jeremy Novy’s latest additions. Right before I left for my 7pm appointment, CELL’s birthday cake was cut and being consumed. For some of the group shots, we sang “happy birthday” to CELL and then gave a hearty pirate “arrrrgh!” If you care to know, back in the CELLspace days of collective meetings, we approved all passed agenda items with a loud “arrrgh!”  Makes sense that the crowd at the bbq was more into the scream than the banal birthday song.

CELL:15 ended a great success. We got some press, made a little money, created a whole lot of community, and shared some good times with new and old friends. Like I said on FaceBook… “now we return to the regular program.”

Tags: cellspace, murals, stencil
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Had a fun time painting this one up on Haight St. this past week. When the weather was sunny, between those rainy days, I painted, met neighbors, chatted with tourists, was documented by photographers and videographers, and had some friends wander by. I also met a few stencils artists wandering by. Good times had by all. What was once an ugly gray fire exit is now a nice, trippy, half-toned stencil mural!

Tags: Creations, stencil
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I spend a lot of time walking/biking around urban landscapes, looking at space and photographing art. If you’ve followed my travels, you’ve notice that this is something that goes beyond hobby. This search isn’t a job either, but I have been paid for my efforts. For me, walking through a living system where humans work, play, eat, sleep, etc. brings rewards beyond a systematic point of reference. It is hard to label it as work, hobby, etc., when the urge to wander and look for art is a deep way of living for me.

This Saturday, I went for a walk, thinking a bit more about space. I reflected on the potential that space has to present art. The way people relay their feelings in more creative ways. And the lost histories that surrounds us in the neighborhoods we live in.

The following photo essay are the images that made me stop, stare, ponder, and snap. We all live in a world full of many colorful possibilities. We also live in a culture that doesn’t tolerate certain opinions, while letting others flourish. These photos touch on all the ideas I carry with a passion, and might help add context to why I constantly “stencil hunt” in the urban wilds of the USA and beyond.

Tags: murals, photos, stencil, Thoughts
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Andy Blue from the League of Pissed Off Voters called me up yesterday to see if I had any plans last night. None, really. So he told me to stop by Pirate Cat Radio/Cafe before 7pm to sit on a panel and discuss graffiti on the League’s weekly show. All worked out nicely, so I met up with Reyes, Cuba, Chris (who co-created the new local books with Steve Rotman), Eddie, and Eclairacuda to have a one-hour talk about what’s going on in SF with graffiti and street art. The talk mostly discussed spray graffiti, so it was great to hear Chris, Cuba, and Reyes talk about what’s going on in their world. Chris has great thoughts and concepts about what’s happening. Eddie and I got to throw in some angles too. And the writers, including the always entertaining Eclair, kept things real throughout.

You can hear the discussion here. Make sure you scroll half way through the two-hour show to get to the graffiti talk.

Thanks to Andy Blue, a fan and grey-area participant of the scene, for pulling us together in what may become an ongoing dialog about the City’s Zero Graffiti stance, and how absurd that goal truly is.

Tags: cuba, interview, politics, Sound, stencil
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Great presentation tonight at Skylight Books on Vermont St. here in LA. Submit and Ripper1331 showed up, as did a few other local artists (if I surmise from some reactions I got from a few things in the presentation). My friend/hostess Christine Marie took some photos of the event, and was great for support, assistance, and yet another diner visit (this tour is turning into the Diner Orgy Tour). Several people in the audience had a pile of questions, so we spent a good deal of time discussing stencils and elaborating on my small bullets for the presentation. Getting our stencil geek on. woo hoo!

In the big marquee lights in LA. Well, in the chalk on the sidewalk at least.

OK.... No marquee name in lights, but on top of the heap at least!

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Tags: diner, geek, LA, stencil, Stencil Nation, tour
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April 29 I wake up in a quiet Val Verde and feel anxious. I don’t know what’s going on back East this morning, so turn my phone on. No messages. I didn’t sleep well last night and kept waking up, and would say a Buddhist prayer. It soothed me back to a restless sleep. Once up for good, I focused the anxiety into a shower and some more Triffids. Great book, that. Very post-WWII and English. Another dystopian novel for my collection.

Christine gets up and we have a great talk. She’s more exhausted than I am but very present for our conversations. Again, future, family, present, love, and all the poetic themes you’d think a pair of artists would talk about. We both get hungry, and  nervously checking email and text before we leave, I drive us through chain store hell to a diner that had been there since the Route 66 days. Christine tells me that this was the place where James Dean had his last meal before crashing his Porche. I couldn’t find any evidence of this on the reliable internet thingy. Over coffee and eggs, more great talking. It was Christine’s first sorta day off in months and I was glad to be there with her to enjoy it.
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Tags: diner, stencil
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