JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

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.

As usual, Markham “Shitty Kitten” Maes crushed his latest show, this time at Josh & Tran’s, Shoppe (a first of its kind cereal & cupcake bar chock full of the most coveted art & design books available).  Markham pushed the Sculpey around a bit further than usual, painted a number of albums, album covers, panels, skate decks, and kept it rollin’ all night long live painting both a large panel and a handful of models for The Fabric Lab’s fashion show at the Super Fresh Block Party later that evening (pics and details soon).  Saturday night was a must see Denver evening.  Thanks go out to all those who made it happen.  It sorta… ruled.  Nice work team!!!

Yep.  We’re doin’ it.  SBD and I.  Ridin’ fixed gears to Lefavor’s to celebrate our independence - from oil, or something like that…  This may be my last blog post.  So, Happy 4th!!!  If we make it… we’ll be meetin’ up with Alex and Mr. Shaeffer and takin’ in 7 cities worth of fireworks from Scot’s roooftop deck, Hopefully… droppin’ in on DJ Z Trip, hittin’ up Shitty’s show at The Shoppe, poppin’ in on Andenken, kickin’ Saturday at the “Super Fresh Block Party” - and gettin’ all arty with Lefavor and friends. Independence Day… hmm…

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!

Toys are at least equally important to grown-ups as they are kids… On Saturday March 8th the Denver creative community rallied to support their own. Dea and Dave Webb(artists, toy collectors and owners of the Plastic Chapel), and Josh and Tran Wills(Super dynamic art & design duo and owners of the Shoppe and the Fabric Lab) compiled their collective creative forces to play host to one helluvah kick frikin’ ass DIY custom toy show. The 3100 block of East Colfax, more commonly known now-a-days as “The Block” was home to a stellar plastic inspired party. With over 120 custom toy entries all 3 shops were fully stocked. Folks of all ages and all sorts were out soaking up the vinyl love and the peeps participating were all mega amp’d. There was way too many artists involved to rattle off a list of names and the subsequent expected urls, so the pics (and they could be better) we’ll have to do. You’ll know who did what upon closer inspection… The Denver art scene is booming with definitive styles now more easily recognized than ever. On behalf of those of us at the Engine, we’d like to thank those who “run the block” for really steppin’ the game up and continuing to provide the creative arena they so wholeheartedly do. Word up to that shit.

We had one hell of a Saturday night. It started off at Limited Addiction for the annual group show. The work was amazing, if you just checked it out online get off yer ass and get down there - it’s stunning in person. Next we headed over to The Shoppe for Josh’s birthday. En route we snagged some photos of Chris‘ Obama propaganda - awesome! The shoppe was packed, cereal and cupcakes flying everywhere. The lovely folks of Plastic Chapel let us in after hours to check out the YOK show. It was great to see a mix of his newer painting style and his classic one color illustrations. Back at The Shoppe we had a serious Tetris throw down (for the record TB blows). Later we even ended up at Sam’s - one of the founders of 303 Boards - and peeped some classic Lefavor decks. All in all, it was a pretty amazing artsy fartsy night! Enjoy the pics!

It’s been awesome workin’ with Tee & Cakes and gettin’ to run some art up in their spot. We’re gonna be collab’n on some cupcake posters soon. Sit tight! But, they’re not our only arty/designerly friends bakin’ up a storm… The Shoppe in Denver on Colfax is doin’ just the same. They’ve got all sorts of other goodies too. Rumor has it (we’ve still yet to make it down, pathetic - we know) that their collection of design books(which are all for sale) is second to none! Anyway, we kinda felt like we needed to balance out our cupcake love, so teebee turned one of our Tee & Cakes cupcakes into a special little painting just for the Shoppe! We can’t wait to give it to Josh today!!! Yeah.

March 8th looks more and more like it’s gonna be a big night on the calendar. Not only are the Shoppe and Plastic Chapel having the custom toy show, but The Fabric Lab is showing the work of Sandra Fettingis. Not that this is any sort of unusual soirée for the Colfax crew, it’s just another great reason to get out and enjoy a handful of things in this new and flourishing artistic community. Colfax is climbing the neat neighborhood ladder and inviting everyone out to be involved and support the progress. Make sure to check out Sandra’s website and set some time aside for another spectacular evening on Colfax, Denver’s new home for art, fashion, custom vinyl and cupcakes. Check links for details and extra info on artists and locations.

Our pals at The Plastic Chapel, The Shoppe, and The Fabric Lab… perhaps better known as the “BLOCK” will be doing what they do best, teaming up, and playing host to what we’re certain is gonna be a straight up rippin’ DIY designer toy show. Yeah, we know, kick-frickin-ass! The show is gonna be March 8th at 7pm on the 3100 block of East Colfax. Entries are open to all interested parties. Registration is $5. All entries must be in by March 1st. There’s only one requirement, your “canvas” should be a toy. We happen to know some ambitious folks who’ll be designing their own, but for those not so inclined, take your pick… Munny, Qee, Be@rbrick, Trexi, Gosho, Sqwert, Teddy Trooper, etc.. the list goes on and on. There’ll be booze, tasty treats, and all sorts of great shit. Get with the program and sign up soon.

For The Shoppe’s Grand Opening this past weekend a number of the artists in our extended posse threw down some new work.  Here’s what Mr. Lefavor came up with… one of my personal “faives”, hah!!!

Just finished up my piece for The Shoppe’s opening show. Like TEEBEE said, I’m submerged in cupcakes right now and it’s awesome! I’ll hopefully get started on my Tee & Cakes install soon and get some photos up. And for the record, it’s true, my Mother always eats her dessert first and I do my best to follow in her footsteps.

Cupcakes and art make good pals. While both have been around for some time, it’s the cupcakes that seem to be taking our local creative world by storm . Our good friends at TEE & CAKES in Downtown Boulder have been crankin’ ‘em out along with all sorts of other baked and wearable (Side B Apparel) goodness for a bit now. The latest addition to the cupcake alliance is The Shoppe (cereal and cupcake bar), from the founders of Denver’s Fabric Lab. Along with cereal and cupcakes The Shoppe is gonna be stocked with your favorite cereals of old and new and a slew of design books. Long story short, due to his sweet tooth (he grew up eating dessert before his meals?) and affinity for creating super cute little characters, small-but-dangerous has been overwhelmed, making cupcake focused art for both TEE & CAKES and The Shoppe. The painting below oughtta be super “fresh” by days end!!!