Liquid Playground baby

I was so happy to be asked by my friend Austin Watts to come down and be a part of his one year celebration of his board shop The Liquid Playground in San Jose. It was a short noticed but everything came together and we all had a blast. Austin made everything looked great including me. He is truly passionate about what he does to that shop and it shows through the support he has from all his friends and family. Met Austin's brother Travis, his girlfriend and mother all around great people.

Got a chance to see Scott again, it's been a long while since we've met and talked since I don't do graphics for his "Byerly" brand anymore. Scott is still the same, we talked about family and whats going on in both our lives and just had a chance to catch up. A good friend will always be a good friend, it was great. Greg Nelson from Hype was also there, had a chance to talk about whats been happening at the old stomping grounds. Seems like we always end up talking about that place. Good times.

BBQ Time!

I recently did a graphic for Scott Cook of Eastside Harley Davidson for their Northwest BBQ Championship that they were going to have in May. This event were put on to help raise money for MDA . Scott asked me to come down to paint at the event this weekend and I took my son Nathan along to paint also. This was his first time doing something like this and I wanted to show him what I do at events and trade shows like this. He had a great time and the people were taken to him because we were both painting, like father like son I guess. He liked the attention like his old man, wow the apple doesn't fall far from the tree huh? The final painting were to be given to the grand champion of the event that day. We spent the whole day from 11am to 5pm there tasting different BBQ goodies. The weather could have been better but oh well what do you expect from the great northwest. A big thanks to Scott and Sheila Cook for having me and Nathan there, and for my cousin Hien Duong for taking all the great pictures.

Scion 2

Mike Ennen called me and Norman Roque to come out to Portland for Scion's corporate dealer meeting. Scion asked that we come out to finish up the car that we've started and also be the "entertainment" for the evening. It was an honor to be asked again and cool to hang out with the guys again. We got to see some new Scion model cars that was exclusive that haven't been seen by the general public. I brought my two cousins Al'n and Hien to come document the event and to make contacts. It was fun carpooling with them, kind of like a guy's road trip.
The weather was excellent, last time we were there it was all wet and rainy so I didn't have a good impression on Portland. We all hung out, Norman brought his wife and we all had a great time. Thanks Mike and thanks Scion, lets do it again real soon.

Furion Cellars

I was introduced to Micole Miller the owner of a winery here in Everett Washington called Furion Cellars (www.furioncellars.com) from an old childhood friend of mine Tam Dang. From just meeting Micole a couple of times I can tell he is very passionate about everything that he does and is a fan of. You can talk about anything with him and the conversation can go on and on from one subject to another. You don't find a lot of people like Micole out there that is into what they do. I guess the word here is passion and being 100% passionate about what you like to do. I am that way with my art and Micole is with his wine. Both are creative in their own way.

Micole had a wine tasting opening today at his winery here in Everett and asked if I was interested in doing a nice art piece for the event. This was a first for me to do something wine related and thought it would be a great chance to do something different for a change. He told me what he wanted and I told him my ideas of what I think would look cool. I came up with a sketch and on Saturday the day of the opening I came by to work on this piece. I love how it came out, the colors are so vibrant and the subject matter with the raven is a first for me. Everyone liked it at the end and Micole was satisfied with how this day went. Here's to more openings cheers!

Helmet

Just got this done two days ago. Met some friends that work for Vans helmet line called Pro Tec at the SIA show in Denver this past Feb. While I was working at the Skullcandy booth painting they ask if I want to do some one off on some helmets. So they sent this to me to see what I can do on it and Voila! This is a new canvas for me, it was fun to do, I hope they would want me to do a whole line of them for Pro Tec. Who knows, crossing my fingers.

CTIA Babeee!!!

Well this was a surprise to me, Skullcandy called and wanted me and Taylor to be at this show too, it was the first time for the both of us. CTIA is a convention for anything that has to do with wireless cellular phones. Didn't know that there was such a show strictly for this. Anyway it was in Vegas and yes this will be my second time here in two months. Had a great time as usual, who wouldn't in Vegas right? Met a lot of people made some contacts we'll see if anything panned out. This will be our last show unless Skullcandy calls me up for the summer trade shows crossing my fingers. Enjoy the pics everybody.

BRRRRRRR Utah!

BEST Kite board asked me to come out to participate in there 3 annual "Superfly" Kite boarding event in Powder mountain, Utah. It was my first time in Utah, and boy was it scenic and cold. Utah had by far the most beautiful mountain landscape that I've ever seen. I think I must have taken 20 shots on my digital camera from the airport to our destination at the Red Moose Lodge. Had a great time meeting new friends. Skullcandy helped sponsored me out there and also gave the event lots of free giveaways. Wanted to give Skullcandy big props for helping me and the event out.

M-M-M-Magic!!!

Just got back from my first Magic trade show in Las Vegas. It was a good show but different from the past trade shows that I've attended. The fashion industry show are much more subdued then the others. I saw a lot of bedazzled tight fitted tees, Ed Hardy and what ever else that were obnoxiously goddy. It's definitely a different industry. Made new friends and artist that were the coolest people.

Taylor Reeve and I were out there again with Skullcandy to do some live paintings. I think we both made good contacts at the show that we will for sure follow up on. Took a lot of photos, met famous people. All in a days work hahaha. On to the next.

Jay-Z my Jigga

Just got these two paintings of Jay-Z done this morning, it took me 7 hours to do. I thought I'd get back into doing what I love again and that is to do portraits and more importantly portraits of hip-hop artists. I started out doing these way back in 1998 when I was working at Tower Records where I was surrounded by music and cd covers. I studied, practiced ad experimented a lot on illustrating and painting faces. So here I am again doing something that I'm a 100% comfortable with. They'll be more of these to come. Also I'll be going to the Magic trade show in Vegas and will bring a print of these a long just in case I meet the big man himself, wish me luck.

New Dentist painting

Here is a new dentist painting I just did for the Seattle Study Club. Love the way this turned out. I've always painted the portraits on illustration board but this time I thought I'd try it on wood. I want to change it up and do something different this time and experiment a little. I'll probably do more from now on.

SIA 2010 Denver bound

Well it was a great show, in a new location. Skullcandy called me up a week after my group show with Scion. I was so excited to hear from them again. Had to make sure that it was for sure this time around.

Anyway this time it was in Denver, a new location for the show after a long long time in Vegas. Everyone was great, a lot of new faces at Skullcandy this time around and some old friends. Mike Robles (DJ Mike Bless) was my roomie for this trip and we had a good time catching up. The show was good but this time I'm not stressed about getting all the brochure being that I don't have to bring it home to a work environment anymore.

This time Skullcandy brought a few artist in to help with the show. It was me Taylor Reeve, Brandon Christensen and Tim Odland. We all had to paint on canvases so it could be given away to Skullcandy's top vendors that sell a lot of products. We spent over a thousand bucks buying art supplies to prepare for the show. It was good to have different styles at work there at the booth. After 3 days I think I was ready to head home. Thanks Skullcandy, hope to work with you again and maybe see Denver again next year.

The Collection Art Show brought to you by Scion

Well it was a fun two days in Portland. Even though it rained like crazy we all had fun being a part of it. Made new friends at the show, fellow artist Norman Roque, Chad Swanson and Mike Ennen. It was a lot of work but was worth wild to be a part of something that is special especially because it's art related. Met some Scion workers and old high school friends that were really fun to hang with . Great having my two cousins Al'n and Hien Duong there, they are my new creative crew. Lets hope we all get to do it again.

Paint Paint Paint !

Well I'm finally done painting for a group show that I will be in. The show is called "The Collection Art Show", Mike Ennen was nice enough to ask me to be a part of it. Met him at the last show in December at EVO here in Seattle with a good friend Joey Meddock. The show is sponsored by Scion and will be in Portland January 15th and 16th. My name is not on the poster because it was done before I was included but still good to be a part of it.

I've been procrastinating for the longest time because of the whole holiday season and all. With the kids being home for Christmas break I can't concentrate on doing art. So I waited and have been staying up till the wee hours to get it done. I got 7 pieces done all of them acrylic on wood. The theme I'm going with are women, tattoo, skulls, and samurai. These are the things that I've enjoyed doing and have been sketching for awhile since June. I really like how the tattoo girls turned out, will want to do more of the same eventually. Now I have to get everything together to head down there by myself, it will be a long drive. Do what cha gotta do.

Skullcandy/AT&T Event

Well yesterday was a fun event to be in. Skullcandy had called me up about a month ago and said that they were going to be up here in the northwest (Redmond, Washington) to do an event with AT&T and wanted to know if I could be a part of it. I was happy to be a part of the festivities, it was 42 degrees and in November and outdoors, yes I was freezing. Had two hours to knock out this painting that luckily I had sketched out beforehand. The acrylic paint wouldn't dry quick enough in this cold climate, something that I didn't take into consideration. But everything turned out great, the Skullcandy folks were really nice and made me and everyone feel welcome. Would love to do it again but maybe in warmer temperatures.

New DCS painting

Just finished a painting for the guys at DCS Die Cut Stickers.com. I promised them this painting over the summer and now I'm finally done with it. This has a little influence from Sylvia an artist I greatly admired. This is a 36 by 48 inches on wood, my favorite surface to paint on. I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile mixing femininity into something that is gruesome. I love the influence of Mexican Day of the Dead art for years and been doing it since my days working with Scott Byerly. Well I hope the guys like it and hang it up at their shop soon, and yes this is an ORIGINAL!