JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

Composition is a design retail shop, with a stunning award winning website in Denver’s Belmar suburb.  Jennifer just alerted us that they’ll be kicking off their new retail project with Animal Attraction on July 17th. This gallery style retail exhibit features nearly 40 artists and designers whose work is inspired by the animal kingdom. Everything from silly (trout staplers) to lovely (silver jackrabbit necklaces) and sophisticated (the photography of Catherine Ledner). Come out and join Composition from 5 to 9 pm on July 17th to see and celebrate this newly curated collection of work. The exhibit will run for 3 months with a closing party on October 9th. Throughout the exhibit, Composition will host several craft classes and lectures based on our Animal Attraction theme. Come out and support independent and interesting retail in Colorado!

4th of July was a blast. First we rode down to Denver (it took a little over 4 hours and yes, my ass is still sore). We arrived at Lefavor’s for the fireworks throw down. We got to mingle with the who’s who or our little scene including the Wills family (owners of The Shoppe and The Fabric Lab), Brian Wood and Kim Boos of Tee and Cakes, Joseph Shaeffer of Studio Josheph Shaeffer and all sorts of other totally awesome people.

We spent the next day cruising around the city on our bikes with our gracious host Mr. Scot Lefavor. We rolled up to the Super Fresh Block Party around 6 and things were already kicking off. Scot jumped right in on the live painting to join Markham “Shitty Kitten” Maes, Mike Graves, Josh Wills, Matt Schreiber , Magnet Mafia, Sam Turner and Eric Cox.

Around 10 the entire side walk was overflowing with people and a break circle was kicking off in front of the DJs. The fashion show got rolling shortly after and was crazy impressive.  Tons of models all looking their finest in locally designed garb. The police showed up shortly after that.  They just kept coming, I guess shit was just too fashionable - too many good looking people in one place.

Huge ups to everyone involved. It’s people like you that keep this community rad.

With the price of crude oil on the rise and gasoline surging past $4 per gallon this spring, consumers(you and I) are, or at least should be wondering what’s next.  The price of gasoline however, is but one of a number of every day petroleum-based products, ranging from asphalt to diapers to plastic water bottles (yeah, the ones you’ve been buying your “special” water in after being tricked into believing that the water in your tap isn’t safe, or perhaps better yet, because you “know” it isn’t from Fiji) that are on the rise.  Here’s a current snapshot of the price of 9 of the most commonly used petroleum-based products now, and the percentage of increase since last year.

1.) JET FUEL: $4.09 per gallon - up 72%

2.) INDUSTRIAL LUBRICANT: $5.82 per gallon - up 99%

3.) ASPHALT: $495 per short ton - up 55%

4.) PLASTIC BAGS: 2¢ per bag - up 5.6%

5.) DEODERANTS: $3.27 per unit - up 4.1%

6.) TOILET SEATS: $35 per seat - up 40%

7.) SHAMPOO: $3.70 - up 3%

8.) DIAPERS: $12.79 - up 6.7%

9.) PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES: 18¢ per bottle - up 7.6%

NOTE: The prices displayed are based on data provided via Business Week and range from May to July of 2008.

Markham “Shitty Kitten” Maes will be showing a new body of work at The Shoppe during the Super Fresh Block Party!  We’ll try to get a sneak peak of some new paintings before the show!

On July 5th a little block on East Colfax is throwing down for a massive block party. Check out the flyer, there’s all sorts of happening throughout the evening from live painting to fashion shows to live music.  It’ll be a night to remember!

So between preparing for the show, spending a week out in the Bay, only to come home right in time to perform at Sonic Bloom, it’s been a crazy start to my summer to say the least, but I was finally able to retrieve my images from the opening of 365, which was held at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. with special guests on many creative planes, artist Kris D & ArtNowSF brought together a finely tuned showcase of work from all over the country, and threw a totally legit opening party within the gallery. Featured artists included Kris D, Damon Soule, Gregory Euclide, David Choong Lee, Joshua Mays J Garcia, David Hale, Des10, Rob Pellicer, Xavi, and Myself. Oliver Vernon also made an appearance doing some performance painting, and on the multimedia tip Third Peak brought in great sculptures, and I performed a Visual Set featuring remixes from the show. Musical acts were Daedelus, Free the Robots, Gaslamp Killer, Deru, Alex B, Eliot Lipp & more; they kept the place packed & bumping till late night. Overall the show was super fresh, and I’m humbled for receiving the opportunity to partake in the gathering. Note: if you happen to be in the Bay there will be a closing reception on Friday, June 27th. ArtNowSF brings you a very special edition of their monthly art & dance party Suite Jesus, from 9pm-2am. Performers include VinRoc, I-Vier, Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist, Bootleg, and Adam Twelve.

Happy Bike To Work Day!!! With that being said, if you got to work on your bike today I would bet you could probably do it again tomorrow, and maybe even the day after that.  I’ve had enough of Bike To Work Day so I’m starting Bike To Work Every Day - Day.  Here’s how it works: ride your bike to work every day that you possibly can.  You’ll feel better, get buff, meet chicks and help save the world.  Give it a shot!!!

and yes, that is a new typeface we’re workin’ on. Stayed tuned!

Hung out with Dea from the Plastc Chapel for a little bit yesterday. She’s getting ready for Saturdays opening of Robert Maestas’s new solo show entitled Layer Upon Layer. I’ve seen some of Robert’s super fresh stencil heavy, art meets graphic design work here and there and I gotta say I’m super pumped for the show. Come on down this Saturday night to the Plastic Chapel and ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Artists, designers, creatives, it’s that time of year… Plastisol 2 by Indy Ink is comin’ up.  This is pretty much THE t-shirt design contest, if that’s your thing.  It’s one of ours, and we’re gettin’ in on it. Stay tuned to Indy Ink for more info.  Entries are due by August 1, yo!

Cool interview with Jan Willem Wennekes aka Stinger of  Zeptonn Lab  by Carmel Hagen of  joshspear.com.  Check it out!

Adam Haynes will be showing at Together Gallery from May 29th - June 22nd. The show is a group exhibition titled “The Secret Handshake” and includes the following artists: Evan B. Harris, Trish Grantham, Matthew Feyld, Ken Garduno, Travis Chatham, Adam Haynes, Ashley Anson, Adam Baz, Mark Warren Jacques, Seth Neefus, Tim Karpinski and David Wien. We got a sneak peak of Adam’s pieces and thought we would share. They’re pretty darn amazing, check ‘em out!

Ghost Ride - 13.5″x 12″ (sold)

Used Cow Lot - 22″x 13″

Waiting For You - 13.5″x 10″

Graffiti writer, Artist, Designer, Illustrator Matt W. More of MWM Graphics has just returned from his solo show, MWM 20/20 at the Rojo Artspace in Barcelona, Spain.  And he crushed it. The work is overflowing with color and offers a terrific balance of both Matt’s diverse style and process. MWM’s show is a personal celebration of his abstract art and design across multiple disciplines featuring a full 3D mural installation integrating his new “Vectorfunk” works printed on textile and new paintings on canvas. The release of Matt’s first monographic book aptly entitled, “Vectorfunk” is just around the corner and will be published by ROJO.  In Matt’s own words the books is, “160-pages of raw vector jams.”  You can preorder a copy today at ROJO.