Shout to everyone that came thru to support a great cause for children, a young woman’s mission, and the love art and skateboarding. Across the Board group exhibition ; Artists for Autism Awareness was a beautiful show. Great job Laurie & team!

Across the Board: Artists For Autism Awareness at Soapstone Gallery NYC: Organized and conceptualized by Laurie Markiewicz, her love for skateboarding, art and most of all her child, Jack. At 2 years of age, Jack was diagnosed with PDD-NOS(a non-specified type of autism). It has been Laurie’s mission to raise autism awareness and advocate for more programs and services for families within the NYC autism community. “Across The Board” is one way of achieving her goal. Featuring artists such as Miguel Paredes, One9, BlusterOne, TooFly, Alice Mizrachi, Gigi Bio, MERES, Marthalicia, Ski, 2ESAE,, Kel5MH, Fabel, and Damion Silver, veteran as well as emerging artists give voice not only to autism awareness, but to relevant community issues. “Across The Board” is an open discussion, but a dialogue that is ultimately designed to create a greater urgency about Autism.

Each beautiful soul has something very special to contribute to the world. It’s all LOVE BABY!

Hanging tuff with hommie AVONE…

Marthalicia & her beautiful portraits…

Running into my fly sistah’s rocking the Toofly tanks:)  Looking good!

Boards were looking good too…

What up what up what up peeps….

awwwww it was such a pleasure to meet Nelson! Thank you for the interview and photos:)

ANTONIO KEL 5MH. Classic!

and his lovely lady repping for the show and all the wonderful artists who came together to support.

Beautiful show, beautiful people.

HIP HOP LEGENDS, by Pop Master Fabel.

Good peeps are 4ever. Hugs to all! Enjoy the last days of summer everyone. See ya in the fall!!!

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The September 2010 issue of Latina Magazine has dropped! Woohoo nice way to kick in the fall season:) Shout out to journalist Lynda Lopez, and Photographer Roxana Marroquin for attending the Afro Punk Festival to take this this dope shot and have a nice little sit down for the interview. Happy to be part of the “Making us Proud” section. I love it. Thanks ladies!!!

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I’m beat. Trying to recover from a crazy week of traveling. Had an excellent time in the bay. What a great city! I loved it. I am definitely going back at least a week next time around. I’m mad inspired by all the street art I saw. The murals are amazing and hella deep. The graff was cool, but them murals boy really made an impact on me. Hands down a great city for art!!!

DAY 1: Sisterz of the Underground @Club Six

After a long nap at the hotel and a nice walk to the venue I had arrived to the 9th annual the Sisterz of the Underground anniversary event at Club Six. Sooo….I’m personally not a fan of live painting in clubs but when there’s a trip involved I’m there no mater what! I love art and it needs to be properly displayed. Having had a few years to curate exhibits I’ve become a nut about it. I was happy I got a chance to zoom my slideshow really really big across the walls of this place. Whew! What a difference that made. { saved }

If your gonna rock it you gotta do it right. Never attend an event without a dope slideshow. This has become “MY” new rule.

So the gals hooked it up with Upper Playground! yeah baby. They looked out and made a sweet deal to get me here. Shout out to Traci P, Cricket, and Sarah for the invitation! Also big ups to Adam for hooking it up with my capsule collection T’s. Currently up on my shop for sale NOW >>> Shop for Toofly X Upper Playground  T-Shirt collaboration.

10PM. B-boyz warming up, and the female DJ’s setting it off on the 1 & 2’…I must say the women DJ’s were on point!

Aight. Time to get busy…

Sarah & Cricket ready to hit the mic and the dancefloor. Good job ladies!

Ciphers & perfrormances were pretty tight. Wish I was tall sometimes so I could shoot…

Night went smooth. I didn’t take advantage of my drink tickets enough though:( Next time. Shout out to my hommie Rolando Brown for swinging by to support, and big ups to Suzie for the wonderful rooftop dinner!

DAY 2: See, Taste, Feel…

Early riser. Mornings are my thing. All is quiet, all is peace. I trooped it to the Japanese Tea Garden to give thanks for all my blessings, and sip on some Jasmine tea.

If Japan looks anything like this I’m there! Maybe 2011…we’ll see…

Japanese Architecture is beautiful…

I got the traveling bug. CROSSOVER BABY!!! making plans…

Koi. According to Japanese legend, if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River, it would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement. More generally, the Japanese associate koi (also known as carp) with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose. Because of its strength and determination to overcome obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals.  – Werd!

Dope place. I recommend it, but go there early before it get’s filled up with tourists and you can’t enjoy the natural view cuz it’s a tiny oasis.

By 12 noon I had made it to the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Glad the skies were clearing up it had been cloudy and cold since I got there. I guess my only complaint about this place was that there was not enough to do here besides ride your bike and charge like $3 for cheetos! Crazy tourist prices…not cool.

Besides that and looping up, down, and around the bridge I found a nice little spot to chillax and eat my $3 cheetos. I can’t believe I payed that! argh…still beating myself up about it, lol…

{ Hungry } Found out there was an annual international food festival at the missions, and I was outta there! I bid my farewell to seaguls and hit the bart to catch up with homegirl Nancy.

WOW! Pupusa time! Yummy. I was loving the food festival but was not about to wait an hour on the longest lines ever for grub. Hommies knew just where to take me to get one of my favorite salvadorian patties. Thanks ladies!!! Great meal. { Happy }

I truly got blessed linking up with Nancy. Homegirl took the time to show me around and give me a personal stroll through the missions and point out various artists, and stories about all the murals down here. Amazing! I got so inspired by the whole thing, and even more so because she herself is mural artist, educator, and activist. You can see her on this flick below on this mural detail with the bun on her hair.

Nancy you ROCK!!!

Balsy Street

I gotta ask Nancy who this artist is again. I loved his work!!!

This mural blew me away too. The tone on tone blue color I love so much, the theme, the story that runs so deep. Mural is called La Llorona” by Juana Alicia

“La Llorona’s Sacred Waters”A project on women, water and globalization. La Llorona weaves the stories of women in Bolivia, India, and at the U.S. Border together. It highlights Bolivians in Cochabamba who have fought to keep Bechtel Corporation from buying the water rights in their country; Indian farm workers in the Narmada Valley protesting in the flooded waters of their homes against their government’s irresponsible dam projects; and the women in black protesting the unsolved murders of women in Juarez, in the shadow of the Rio Bravo and the maquiladoras (sweatshops).

I can’t wait. That’s all I gotta say.

San Francisco is a city that is in love with murals. With over 600 murals, San Francisco’s mural tradition is rich and diverse with murals painted on building walls and facades, fences, garage doors and more. The colorful Mission District is the capital of San Francisco murals with the greatest concentration of murals in San Francisco. The San Francisco Mission neighborhood’s love affair with murals stems from the Mexican roots of the Mission District community. The Latino community took up residence in the Mission neighborhood in the early 1970s and they brought their muralist traditions with them. A walk along 24th Street between Valencia and York illustrates the vibrant mural traditions of the San Francisco Mission neighborhood.

My peoples. Transcending…

I kept running into the work of this artist who’s graff work I was really feeling. I gotta get his name…

Love it!!!

Homegirl Nancy. Thank you for the lovely street art strollz! Your DOPE.

By 6pm or so I was ready for the cipher and some chillax…

Besides walking up the crazy steep hills, it was all worth it cuz the view and the sunset made it all better:)  What a lovely day Saturday was. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Shout out to the hommies who looked out and made me feel really welcome. Big ups to Suzie for putting together a lovely rooftop dinner and filling the day with love, friends, and blessings. THANK YOU!!!

DAY 3: Oakland Chillax…

Spent my last night it Oakland with a lovely woman named Tracy and a room filled with beautiful plants. Had some really nice conversations about philosophy and all things that make up our crazy beautiful lives. Shout out to my homegirl Izzy Izmz for linking us up:)

Took the afternoon to check out the Art & Soul culture arts festival in downtown Oakland. Had some ice cold lemonade, listened to Jazz & Salsa music and got some henna art. Met Rachel-Anne Palacios who rocks some sick Mehndi. I couldn’t resist. There’s always a first time for everything and I was way happy she did it:)

Younity baby! She’s down.

And that my friends was a sweet weekend filled with art, soul, and friendship. Thanks Tracey! Thanks Nancy! Thanks Suzie! Thanks Sisterz of the Underground. More reason why I love building with women and their open approach to life, art, and community. Younity is everywhere. Even though I’m rolling solo these days I’ve learned that the soldier of love is in all of us and we need to continue to spread it in any way, shape, or form. It has no boundries. The trip, the bridge, and the James Balwin documentary ” The Price of a Ticket” made all the sense in the world to me that all is as it should be. I’m SOOooo hooked on this new found freedom…

“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” – James Baldwin

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Rocked a deck for the Across the Board group exhibition. See ya’ll there!

ACROSS THE BOARD

Group Exhibition
Saturday, August 28, 2010
7pm-Midnight

Soapstone Gallery

11 West 36th Street 5th Floor // NYC

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DAY 3: GAMLA STAN

After a good night’s rest from the Art of the Streets event I geared up my camera and took some street strollz through a little town called  Gamla Stan. I don’t know what I would do without my camera these days, it’s become my third arm! Hooked. Anyway…Gamla Stan is a lovely old island town, dating back back to the 13th century. It consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture. There’s lot’s of yummy little bistros, old merchants’ houses, antique shops, and mad tourists! I made sure I steered away when I saw packs and packs of them getting out their buses. Geez…luckily I was able to enjoy it’s quiet appeal when I came back in the evening and all was settled…

Gamla Stan

Every corner I turned pretty much looked like this…Yellow and brick colored homes, shops, and bistros…

” on the Sunny side of the Street” One of my daily mottos…

The cobbled streets reminded me of my country’s streets…

This had to be the skinniest street I’ve ever walked through! lol so awesome…

Stopped in a shop to get me a little gnome. There’s a cultural heritage that dates back to the vikings which influenced many folklore tales. They make references to elves, witches, and other non-human characters. They are supposed to take care of your home and not let the evil spirits bug you, but you gotta make sure you feed them with love because otherwise they get naughty. I was drawn to this baby gnome to add to my miniature collection:)

After an afternoon interview with Jacob, and Adam at a coffee shop I headed back to Gamla Stan to try and grab some evening shots. I took a different route this time, exploring a different way has become super fun lately. I don’t like taking the same road twice. I ended up further away but got a found a peaceful place where I could quiet my thoughts and be in an aura of thanks…

There’s something to be said about solo travel missions. There are no distractions. You follow you, and no one else. It’s a great time to center yourself when you stray away from the noise. If you truly want to find a way back to your heart’s calling you have to stop, think, and let go of many many things. Especially things that no longer make you happy, that you have outgrown, or that need to be left in the past simply because you no longer need it. Living in a busy city can get you off track sometimes. There is so much to do, so much to see, so much that occupies our mind. It is important to take a time out, and reflect on what matters most to you so you don’t get sidetracked. So yea…I was taking the time to ponder on these thoughts by the water, overlooking Stockholm. I knew that in 14+ hours I would be back to the noise, back to the grind, and back as a member of the noise contribution. Sigh… However, with every passing day there is a new plan. A plan to “get free”. In a few more years all the hard work will pay of. Balance will be restored to it’s natural state. Until then, or the next time I sit still in awe of nature’s beauty…busy bee mode: ON!

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping…into the future….

Big thanks again to Jacob Kimval for the invitation to come to Stockholm. I had a wonderful time!!!

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours – it is an amazing journey – and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” – Bob Moawad

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OOoooooeeee back from Stockholm, Sweden! Wow. What a beautiful 3 day trip to Europe, and what a dope project to take part in. I had a great time at the ART OF THE STREETS event. Everything, and I mean everything was well organized and taken care of. I really appreciate and give much props to folks that put events like this together in a professional manner. Shout out to Jacob Kimvall, Tobias Barenthin, and producer of project Ceyan Holago for organizing Art of the Streets, and making my stay such a pleasure. You guys rock!!! I big thank you Riksteatern and the Sodra Teatern who help make events like this possible to support artists, and ideas that need a voice and a well respected platform. I didn’t realize how tough it had been for Stockholm to get an urban arts project like this to happen. The media was going bonkers over this. Apparently there is a lot of controversy surrounding an event that celebrates graffiti and street art. I guess I should have noticed. Stockholm is a very clean city, and the traditional folks in power are definitely not in support of graffiti or any type of illegal vandalism that could influence youth to go messing with their streets. The debates were pretty intense, I didn’t speak a word of swedish but I could feel the tension. Change is inevitable folks. The new generation will have it’s part and say just like you did. Graffiti and street art is not going anywhere. It’s only getting bigger and wiser. It will be just a matter of time until we are the ones in power making a few minor adjustments here and there to create the world we want…and on that note here’s to the beginning of it { cheers! }

DAY 1 – 14HRS LATER…TF HAS ARRIVED!

Hello Stockholm! Hello Scandic Malven Hotel! Flight was hella long but worth the wait to get to this flyyyyy hotel. Shout out to homie Ayman picked me up at airport, along with Adam Mansbach who wrote for Stress Magazine back in the days. Small world!  Had a nice chat on our way to airport. Peeps is peeps:)

Dope hotel. Organic breakfast buffet was no joke! Wow…too bad I have no flick of that. Really dig that they got Jamie Oliver from Food Revolution TV show to team up on their meals. Love that show!

Room 508, Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Ayo Cinik your on a wallpaper at the Sandic Malven hotel in Stockholm Sweden! lol, I think you better look into it. I wonder what the culture minister would say about this? hmmm….Is this graffiti? is this wallpaper? hmmm….

6PM. Approaching location. Eeek! nervous, but mad excited. Ready to rock a presentation and share my life’s work & Younity up to this point…

Sodra Teatern
Sweden’s foremost International venue for Music, Theatre & Debate!

Ghetto-electronica from Angola, Mexican punk-salsa, political drag from New York, streetsmart flamenco, avantgarde rock from Tokyo, and Senegalese hip-hop.

Every corner in the world has its own aesthetic expression… it’s  picked up, transformed, influenced by and influentially transposed into a world that is both microscopic and awesome at once. In our micro cosmos, we are always searching for new life-models and alternative outlooks.

Södra Teatern holds up the mirror to the world we see around us; presenting music, performance, debates and festivals. We are particularly fascinated with the world’s big cities, where cultures mix and clash to form scintillating new subcultures. On our stages we strive to expound upon new angles in culture, and to open your minds eye to places you have never been before. Here, we want to question identity, mix up reality and have a ball while we are doing it. We want to be the exciting watering ground where everyday you can meet interesting people, discover contemporary artistic expression, and be inspired anew!

Södra Teatern is a part of Riksteatern. We present events all year round on our three stages; The Main Stage, Södra bar and Kägelbanan. In 2007 over 160,000 people visited our venue and saw over 500 productions from all around the world!

Jolie was up first. I was so bummed we didn’t get a chance to catch up:( Haven’t seen her since Berlin in 2008! Wasup Jolie!!! Tough timing homegirl I’ll hit you up through FB. Huggggz!

Wow I was SOooo honored:) Presentation went great!!! It’s a lot easier when you speak from the heart. People respect and get inspired by the honesty and risks one takes in order to follow their dreams. It’s a universal language when you show people you care and how you made the journey to discover who you want to be in this world.  The more you fight for it the more folks will support you because they understand how powerful it is to just do it! I thank everyone for their questions, and chance to understand where I came from and how I got to this point. I’m still thinking about many of the things you guys asked. Truly felt { Loved } THANK YOU!

Finally got a chance to meet and kick it with RosyOne! Love her work. Her style. Her attitude. Look out for her new book coming out soon. Congratulations Rosy!!!

Live painting by ROSYONE

Classic Steelo. PROPS hommie I’ll be in touch!

First night was awesome. Kicked ass on the presentation, the organizers welcomed the tooflowers with open arms, met Rosy, and ate some delicious fish and shrimp with potato…

YUM. This was just the beginning of them little food tickets they provided the artists with. Riksteatern knows how to treat their artist! { bowing with many many thanks }

DAY 2 RISE & SHINE!

Big day today. Woke up and saw the news was all over the event….

Big ups to Ceylan Holago  producer of Art of the Streets event. Woohooooo!!! Breaking barriers one at a time…

Tobias representing for graffiti and street art with the culture minister of Sweden! wow…I couldn’t understand a word they were saying but it felt intense. eeek!

Ok seriously I wanted to pinch myself every time I had them meal tickets and sat to eat at their beautiful terrace…

I was in heaven. Every meal I had was amazing…yum…

TOOFLY WORKSHOP: STYLE 2-3PM

Time to get to work. My Style workshop went pretty smooth. Everyone got hooked up with an unlimited supply of Art of the Streets special sketchbook and markers. There were about 15-25 members and their ages ranged from 10-30+. I was especially happy to see a graffiti dad and his two sons working on pieces together, sketching, and coloring.  That was awesome! Shout to that dad, who reminded me of how much better this all is when you have the support of your family. There is an amazing power and magic that happens when you can share this with your children. Those kids are gonna be amazing when they grow up. You can count on that:)

Zoned out…Art is theraputic…you can’t deny that.

A little technique secrets to go around and folks felt comfortable enough to rock their aerosol skillz. Practice makes perfect…

Shout out to Lotta rocking out on the free for all wallz. Not many women stepped up to rock, and I was especially feeling this drippy marker. Gonna get me one and try some pieces with it, shit is fresh!!! I love drips…drips drips drips…

LIVE GRAFF BY TOOFLY 4-5PM

Here we go…Got 2 hours to share my live classic steelo with the Swedish community…

ART OF THE STREETS – STOCKHOLM 2010 baby!

After a long day of painting, workshops, and panel discussions I headed back to hotel which was only like 5 minutes away. Had to get ready for the closing party!

Found a little bit of street art along the way…

Party time!

{ Drum roll please } If ya don’t know now it’s the time to find out.  The Secret Wars was in full effect for the first half of the kick off and closing party. These guys from what I think I understood are the original art battle creators of the live marker art performance. What a freak’n awesome performance this was. Amazing!!! and the best part is I got a chance to participate:) Yay!

This is how live art indoors at club events should be done. Been saying it for years in NY. You gotta go all out like this if you really want to do it right. Shout out to Secret Wars for developing this idea you guys are AWESOME!!!

Even though I’m personally not a fan of art battles, I needed to feel this one out. 90 minutes of music, marker lines, and some freestyle flows. ATOM & TOOFLY Get Free…

Shout out to our competitors. I was especially digging Olli’os steelo on them vines. I’m still not down for art battles but guess what…Atom and Toofly won the battle wooohooo!

Time for jamz. DJ’s were off the hook. Mad beats…

Sweden’s Hip Hop community…

What an awesome event. No redbull to hold me down just pure happiness and some club soda with Ice. Ahhhh….I feel the blessings. Thank you peeps! You are great people. You have love, and the warrior spirit. Together we can and will share the dopeness and inspire folks to bring back the love:) Big hugggz to all, and many many thanks for this beautiful experience!

Day 3: GAMLA STAN coming soon….

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Couldn’t leave town without scheduling a collabo with home girl Bisy who was visiting from Chile. It was a sweet Sunday afternoon up at the 5 Pointz rooftop overlooking the city. We started a bit late but got a chance to experience the sun setting which added a nice warm glow to the flicks. Shout out to Meres for hooking up the spot, and helping make 5 Pointz a dope location for artists who visit New York to have a place to rock their skillz.

Bisy hasta la proxima mujer! Fue un placer pintar contigo. Aver si visito Chile el proximo año para volver a pintar:) Nos vemos besos!

What a beautiful day to paint…not too hot…just right…

Sunsets rock…

Love this shot…

Shout out to Marlon for stopping by and taking flicks for us:) Thank you!

love my photo breaks. I get to explore…

Hope they don’t get rid of these residential buildings and replace them with any more condos:( Wonder how long before we no longer see the city landscape…

Wish we can bring the cherry lift up here and rock this wall…dope spot…

adding the finishing touches…

Finito!

Loving me new steelo…

TOOFLY & BISY 5 Pointz 2010! { Chile/New York }

I’m out. See ya when I get back from Stokholm, Sweden!

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Heading to San Francisco August 20th for the Sisterz of the Underground 9th year anniversary. Gonna rock some live art, and kick it with the hommies. Hope to see ya’ll there!!!

Sisterz of the Underground (SOTU) is a community, network, and support system created by, and for, females who choose Hip-Hop as a form of expression. As an open Hip-Hop collective, SOTU aims to encourage the integration of different elements of Hip-Hop, use the elements as tools for education and social change, as well as provide opportunities to showcase the elements — such as the annual Sisterz of the Underground event.

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Got an 11″ X 17″ Toofly poster now available at the The Poster Cause Project! This project is an online effort to create limited edition poster works by various artists and have 50 – 100% of all profits go to charities and organizations in need. The idea was simple. Support art. Support those in need. This is a limited run, for a limited time. Check out the Poster Cause Project for more details…

11″X17″ Warrior Poster by Toofly
– Limited to 50 prints
– Full color on high quality 100# stock
– Will begin shipping August 3rd, 2010

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It’s been a minute since my last trip to Europe. This time around though I’m rolling dolo, solo, sola! On a mission to rock one of my workshops, build with the locals, and paint live at the Art for the Streets International convention. The event will be held in Stokholm August 13th & 14th at Kägelbanan (Södra Teatern). Ooooooeeeeee more after the jump baby! Shout out to Jacob Kimvall for the invitation. See you guys soon!

Flickr Photo by © Tophee

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