Enjoy your last days of summer!  If your in Jersey City and want to cop a TOOFLY PRINT check out: “Ripe” an all female art exhibit at Freshly Baked Gallery. 383 Monmouth St, Jersey City, NJ, 07302

Hey folks! sorry I’ve been a little behind on my posts. I’m building my first home in the mothaland at last! more about that wonderful experience later. For now I want to let folks know about a few shows currently up in New York, New Jersey, and an all female print show coming up in Sacramento California next month. This week is your last chance to check out the “Brooklyn Queens Elite” (BQE) exhibit curated by my homegirl Yvette Hidalgo at PowerHouse Books! This Sunday, August 24th is the last day to view! Here’s some flicks of the show…

On view until Sunday August 24th at Powerhouse Books // 37 Main Street Brooklyn ( Dumbo ) F train to York St.

proud of my ladies! Grew up in the same hood, Corona Queens baby! Destined to meet and build creative worlds together.

Olivia’s photos from back in the days have a lot of graffiti history from Corona, Queens don’t miss seeing them!!! Shout out to the peeps – THE NATURALS, THE OUTSIDERS and YKK.

Shout out to Angie LM Vasquez for the flicks! and to everyone who supported the fam on a lovely summer night in Dumbo Brooklyn.

It’s a small world! Eventually the kids from the 90′s all grown up and  destined to re-unite and celebrate true school style and native NY flava.

The Toofly “Love Warrior” Lookbook is finally up! I had a great time working with my homegirls on this photoshoot. It’s been a long time since I focused some of my energy back into my love for fashion and style. I have a ton of new pieces I never got a chance to shoot when I left New York, so I pulled it all together in a week and met my girlz in Dumbo Brooklyn for some make-up, hair, styling, and photo fun. Thanks for the collabo love ladies! Samantha Morales, Alexandra Casula, Isabella Dunham, and Lady fancy Nails <3  - Behind the scenes flicks coming soon!

Now that I am back in Ecuador I can get started on a few other projects + take a nice break from the busy bee mode of the NY grind. I was invited last weekend for the magazine launch of Ecuador’s first official graffiti/street art magazine VISCERARTE ”revista de arte urbano” -  The folks who run the magazine have been clicking away at many of the graffiti events in Quito I’ve attended. I met them earlier this year when Abusa Crew was in town. They are a lovely couple Alex, and Eli who’s love for the urban artform in their city has turned into a print project all their own. I want to give a special thanks to them for taking on the publishing world here in Quito to help document the movement through words, and photography. There’s some nice things going down in this city it’s nice to see it unfold in person. Here’s some flicks of the magazine launch at El Centro Contemporaneo in Quito. Participating artists like La Ratona, Jason, Bonice, Enaone and more…

Photo by David Parra ©2014

Gracias a todos! Seguimos adelante con el amor por el arte urbano para pintar lindas paredes en nuestros barrios y reunir a nuestros pueblos.

Now in it’s 5th year the Welling Court Mural Project organized by ADHOC.ORG is bigger and better than ever with over 127 walls this year! The rainy week drove my painting schedule crazy.  I would have liked to get the wall done in 2 days so I can enjoy the block party and take flicks but on Saturday morning I got up at the crack of dawn to get an early start. Luckily it all worked out. I got my wall done in just 8hrs, whew! My New York fam came thru to show love, and spend a lovely afternoon playing with their kids at the wall.  This event unlike many others is a family “community” event. I love that! Less “hipster hoopla”, noise, and hype. It feels relaxing, chill, and peaceful. Families, friends, and art lovers get to stroll around the neighborhood and admire the art in peace. There’s all kind of “street art” inspired events happening in NY and in various cities now which is great! Communities are down for us at last. I’ve been at it for over 20 years now and it’s finally starting to feel like the “Warriors of the Rainbow” – spoken in indigenous texts – have officially arrived <3 Thank you Allison, and Garrison Buxton for another wonderful Wellingcourt event, see you guys next year!

Thanks for the polaroid @leannav

Shout out to the Lexi Bella, Danielle , and Shiro for stopping by the wall. These aerosol ladies are going hard this year! Not mad. Hold it down:)

TOOFLY – Wellingcourt Mural Project , Astoria Queens NY 2014

My little Project Girlz <3 They’ll be ready in no time!

From Ecuador to New York to Ecuador and back! Every Spring and Fall:)

Bye Bye Toofly!

Thank you my beautiful New York Family! I LOVE YOU GUYS <3 See ya in November:)

As if this year’s trip to New York couldn’t get any better, and way more busy it was time to switch gears. I got an opportunity to work with Clairol Professional for the launch of their new hair coloring product “Flare” The mission to create a beautiful Toofly character piece inspired by the vibrant color of graffiti art. The piece was painted outdoors on a sunny day in Corona, Queens on a large 2-panel canvas. It was later installed in the new and improved Wella World Studio downtown Manhattan. The launch date was awesome! I prepared a slide presentation alongside celebrity color stylist Kiyah Wright who’s worked with artists like Mary J Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Tyra Banks, Kerri Washington and more. In my presentation I got a chance to talk about how graffiti inspired me to make street art and empower women through my work, as well as how our colorful graffiti culture as a whole in influencing trends in fashion, music, and art. The media that attended the event got a chance to tag up on the piece, take photos, and instagram the event #cpflarelaunch. It was a lovely afternoon, especially in between chats with event photographer Jon Simon about life in New York, life in Ecuador, and how our lives as working artists in this big city make it all worthwhile. I want to send a big thank you to Valentino for locking in me in for the gig, and Laura and Emily for working through the details in a timely matter to meet all deadlines, as well as my official art “Toofly Assistance Team” Richie Carrasco and Miguel. Working professionally is a big plus in order to take my work to the next level. I love it! Check out the process of this piece, and the colorful virbrant event flicks:)

Thank you www.modernsalon.com feature interview video post:)

Thank you Clairol Professional NYC team! and thank you Jon Simon Photography for the event photos!

As soon as I landed in NY, I took a long power nap and then it was off to the Bronx! I had to rock the “Toofly Graffiti Workshop” at Bronx Works with 15+ afterschool students. This year the budget for the Pepatian “Bronx Hip Hop Academy” was enough to extend it from 2 weeks to 4 weeks which gave my class the opportunity to learn a lot more, and put a little more effort on their graffiti project. We got some bigger canvases, and acrylic paint to fill up big areas of eye poppin’ color. Their goal to collaborate and work together as a team on a backdrop for their final presentation alongside Rokafella’s dance crew, DP One’s Dj crew, and La Bruja’s MC/Poetry crew. The “Toofly Crew’ had a lot of fun spraying and stenciling their pieces, and working with Reph on the outlining of their letters with big fat sharpies. Shout out to our hommie Reph for subbing on a day I could not attend workshop. Everything worked out great and the kids had fun. It’s always nice to see it all come together.  Next year we hope to get a nice long wall to re-create their 2014 piece:) A big thanks to Jane Gabriels for making this project happen and getting the “true school” crew together to educate young men and women the art of Hip Hop’s Culture. Big thanks to Shanika and the youth at Bronx Works for rockin’ out with us again this year! Have a wonderful summer.

Bronx Hip-Hop Academy was Produced by Pepatian for more infromation visit their site: www.pepatian.org

In a collaboration with BronxWorks Teen Program, Pepatian’s Bronx Hip-Hop Academy offered a series of workshops in all four disciplines of Hip-Hop in April 2013, culminating in a final informal showing. Held at BronxWorks, the Hip Hop Academy gives youth in the Bronx a similar opportunity: to feel and experience hip hop in its birthplace. The youth learn the history of the genre and its connection to our borough but also to personally connect. Inspired by their lives and the culture they develop tools for creative expression. From stirring poetry to fresh art work to fly steps, Bronx Hip Hop Academy is a program that connects youth to the spirit of the music and to learn more about themselves. My hope is that the youth take inspiration from hip hop and continue to express themselves and tell their story. By telling their story, they are hip hop!

NYC TRUE SCHOOL! —>  TOOFLY, LA BRUJA, DJ DP ONE, ROKAFELLA
proud to be part of this wonderful teaching artist team. Thanks Jane for linking us all up!

During NY trip I made sure to stop by one of my favorite graffiti shops LOW BROW ARTIQUE. It’s my shop of choice because they have a large selection of spray paint especially Montana 94, Montana Gold, and Montana Black. They always have what I need and I make sure to support all my good peoples. Meres introduced me to shop owner Bishop about a year ago when we were working on our last wall at 5Pointz. He’s mad cool:)   happy I got a chance to drop a piece before heading back to the Motherland. Thanks Bishop! The pieces run 2 weeks tops so be sure to check it before it’s gone. Shout out to the entire LowBrow Crew who hanged out a bit during the process of this new piece on a beautiful sunny day in Bushwick Brooklyn.

Because pieces run 2 weeks it’s only a matter of time before it transforms. There’s something beautiful about the remix of artists work and the layers during process that develop. This could almost be a beautiful collaboration as a stop motion video! I love graffiti/street art <3 The tall ladder was missing in action unfortunately so I had to work with the existing background into my piece. It actually worked out perfect! Gotta love when that happens…

Low Brow Artique carries the largest assortment of Montana spray paint in the New York Metropolitan area. We carry almost every color in both the Gold and Black lines, as well as a large assortment of Ironlak. We are also VERY strict on selling spray paint to minors, so please bring ID as you will be carded! Outside of spray paint we also carry a small scale of art supplies ranging from canvas’s, wood panels, screen print supplies, 1 Shot, Liquitex paints, Krink and much more.  If you do not see something in our store, please let us know as we are interested in catering to the neighborhoods needs. We also carry an assortment of hand-printed and home-made goods, made by artists that live in the neighborhood. You can see most of our goods throughout our online store.

If you are interested in selling you goods with us please email Bishop or stop by our store in person with your product. // Low Brow Artique // 143 Central Avenue // Brookly, NY 11221
(718)724-3450

Shout out to Leanne who came thru to take some polaroids:) Please email me so I can add to blog: tooflynyc@gmail.com

“La Reyna” Is based on a recent illustration I created right before NY trip. I didn’t have enough time to put in all the details the original sketch/ink piece has but on the wall I tried something new. I took away the black linework I am used to doing and messed around with the graphic colors of the paint. It was an interesting look, one that I have to continue to develop in cases where I run out of black paint, or have limited time to work. Linework takes hours and hours to do, especially on a big wall that needs to be completed in one day. Hoping to give this piece another try in the future with all the details, and on a wall that will run for a long while too <3

Thanks fellas! It was nice to meet and chat with all of you <3 Enjoy the summer:)

Back from New York and ready to get these blog updates started! It was a busy busy trip this year. The NYC grind was in full effect. Shout out to everyone that came through to support the LLP crew this spring. It was a rainy windy day to start, but by the afternoon when most folks roll thru, the sunshine blessed us with a beautiful day. Just in time for the performances, and all our big supporters. This year the LLP team invited a few new vendors to join the creative art and designer crew. Check them out, they do beautiful handmade works! We love LOCAL, HANDMADE, and ORIGINAL CREATIONS. These guys fit right in. Aurora Barnes and Rhyme Factory did their thing, and DJ Enigma had us dancing for a bit to close out event. It was FUN!!! Besides the morning showers the Ladies Love Project Spring Pop-Up Shop this year was a success once more <3 Love to the crew and everyone who participated to the very end. We will be taking a break for Holiday this year, ( sad face ) but be sure to check our updates for 2015 as we revamp and prepare for something bigger! YOU KNOW HOW WE DO:)

RAIN OR SHINE!!! Ladies Love Project Spring Pop-Up Shop 2014 – Shout out to Samantha Morales for the beautiful flicks:)

LLP Crew fun every spring in the heart of the Lower East Side <3

The Toofly booth of new goodies was a success! THANK YOU TF supporters.

Hoodies sold out, but new ones coming this fall stay tuned.

Shout out to publisher Yoav from OUTDOOR GALLERY NYC Book. I finally got to sign his copy:)

Toofly / Love Warrior steez ” Staying True”

LIL EGO Fly as ever! Fashion and Lil Kids gear.

Vanilla Medallions Rock’n it! Her new handmade caps are dope!

Besos Not Bombs – gotta love the name!

Molly Hein with some new handmade cards:)

Wonder Lee the life of the party! Good Times:) We must hang more…

Shout out to my hommie Yvey for holding down the TF booth! and for all the peeps tweeting away event flicks. Go team!

We have lot’s more flicks of our vendors be sure to check out our facebook page here —> LLP SP/2014

Circa 95, Aurora Barnes and Rhyme Factory did their thing!

FUN IN THE SUN NOW AND FOREVER with my bestie <3

Beautiful People, Beauitful families

THANK YOU NEW YORK!!! We’ll be back bigger and doper than ever in 2015!

Confirmed to paint at this years Wellingcourt Mural Project in Astoria Queens. See you there!!!

5th Annual Welling Court Mural Project - BLOCK PARTY JUNE 14th! Astoria Queens, NYC

70+ artists from around the world painting 100+ spots!

Now it is 5th year, the Welling Court Mural Project began when the community of Welling Court in Queens, New York asked Ad Hoc Art to help them spruce up their neighborhood in 2009. Ad Hoc Art enthusiastically rose to the occasion in May 2010 organizing a project fitting for the diverse and energetic inhabitants. Each year after, Ad Hoc assembled a spectacular crew of legendary and groundbreaking artists spanning more than 50 years of activity to transform the neighborhood into a 24/7 street-level gallery and public art experience.

Renowned artists with deep roots in the movements have created site-specific works for this project. This new array of visual experiences provides fresh contexts for how people working, visiting, and living in this diverse cultural gem of Queens think about and interact with their environment. Bringing art from around the world directly to the heart of this community and NYC, the project has received remarkable support and interest as it grows more vibrant with each wall, artist, and enthusiast that comes on board.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

LADIES LOVE PROJECTâ„¢ SPRING 2014 POP UP SHOP!
Saturday, May 31st, 2014 // ( Rain Date Sunday, June 1st )
Time:12PM-8PM
Location: Houston Street Center // 273 Bowery, New York , NY // 2 trains to 2nd Ave or Delancey

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Living in Latin America for the past 2 years has given me the opportunity to do and see lots. Thankful and lucky this side of the world is easy to get around, safe for the most part, and cheap! This month I decided to take off and head over to Panama just two air hours away. I arrived in Panama City with one goal in mind; “where’s the beach!?” There’s a ton of traffic here but at least the buses are brand new, clean, and have air conditioning. They also just recently finished their metro system which made me smile. All cities with traffic problems need this! The one thing I  still don’t understand though is where did all the funding go for the garbage cans? A busy city needs garbage cans on every street corner. One day I was staring out into the ocean on the plaza as the sun went down…I was all smiles…but then I looked down and there was a ton of garbage floating and washing off shore. A Panamanian lady next to me said “Es q’ los Panamenios somos cochinos” as if it was acceptable ?  I think this side of the world needs an education campaign on litter man! From  fast food, to cuchifrito spots, to mercados with limited produce. The imports from china are at a max which is unfortunate because that means that all the evil junk passes through Panama and unfortunately stays here:( It’s really too bad because during my bus travels I saw a land rich for agriculture but nobody working it. What’s up with Panamanian agriculture culture I wondered? My trip was too short to learn of it’s history. When I took cabs the Panamanias talked so fast it reminded me of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans in NY. There’s lot’s of caribbean flow here. At first I was like yeah! I know these songs crank that reggaeton music! After a few days of it all I was ready to get out of town, and go where lands are green, and people are not mean.

PANAMA CITY

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Had to take a quick trip to Panama and didn’t get a chance to post the last wall the Abusa Crew and I completed in Quito. I’m finally back in the studio and ready to share! We got some really great photos of our wall process thanks to Vicerarte Magazine and my mom dukes! Finding this wall took a while because we needed something big enough for all three of us + something that would be visible by many many people. We finally found a mechanic shop that was down for us. They desperately wanted to cover up all the graffiti tags on the side of their walls because the Municipio of Quito kept telling the owner to buff the wall or get fined. They buffed the wall numerous times but it kept getting tagged and vandalized. When I showed up for permission they didn’t think twice. “pintalo!” they told me, without a second thought. Half way through the process we ran into trouble with the cops, and the municipal officials. Someone in the neighborhood ran a hate move on us and called them to take us in. We were harassed for permission papers, and threatened to be fined $300 each and taken to jail for a day. Luckily a nice gentleman from the city council in the area helped me get the papers in order in just a few hours so we can continue to paint wall. They say they want to help because they recognize the problem of vandalism on the streets but it’s always a little twisted here. You don’t know who to trust! It’s frustrating to deal with Quito’s city officials putting up these ridiculous laws especially when there are numerous reports already made on how street art benefits major cities who have had to deal with the vandalism problem. The idea of buffing walls time and time again does not work in these parts. Especially a country free of big brother surveillance on every street corner. If you put up a mural the taggers know the street code and 90% of the time they will not disrespect. This is a fact across all murals and street art created in cities. It’s a no brainer folks! Recognize and step aside if you truly want to support the arts & culture you want so bad. Vamos Ecuador!

Quick sketches to figure out which face angles would work best…

Photo by Ali/Vicerarte

Moms photos looking good too! Gracias mami linda

Mom and Babe on site <3 Photo by Vicerarte

Gracias Viscerarte/Ali por las fotos! XOXO

Almuerzo time! We got hooked up with free yummy almuerzos and drinks by the locals. #communitysupport

Shout out to my mom for always being there, and showing me by example to just take off and fly away like a bird whenever you feel like it. Fearless rebel viajera 4 life!

“Viajar en la Vida” ” Travel in Life”

“Vivir en el Viaje” ” Live during your Travels”

Abusa Crew ( Chile ) X Toofly ( Ecuador/NY ) 2014 Avenida La Prensa y Chiriboga
We decided on a theme we are all in tune with at the moment and that is to share our art and our love warrior spirit everywhere we go. We love to travel, paint, and spread street art love across various countries. We feel that your life is enriched with every trip, every new person you meet, and every experience you create for yourself and for others. It’s a beautiful time to be an artist who is free to live and create the life you truly want. Just do it!

“Viajar en la Vida, Vivir en el Viaje”  - Travel in your life, and live during your travels.

The owner is happy

Wendy y Anis aka Pepa. Lindas amigas! Safe travelz, hasta la proxima en Chile! <3 XOXO

 

I have some medium sized sketchbooks ready to drop at the Ladies Love Project Pop-UP Shop event on May 31st! More info coming soon…

I’ve been on a roll this past few weeks creating new designs for my spring product line. I recently created my latest die-cut bubble sticker at 4″X3″. It’s been a minute since I made one. I believe the first bubble sticker I made was back in 2005! Almost 10 years ago. Everyone’s jumped the boat since then. It’s all good cause while everyone’s biting your style and your ideas your originating them. True skill over hype anyday baby!

Toofly Die-Cut Bubble Sticker $3.00 www.tooflynyc.com/shop