Archive for December, 2014
HAPPY NEW YEAR! ::: 2015 :::
The countdown to 2015 has begun!
In a few hours I will be back in New York to ring in the New Year with my loving friends <3  I am most definitely going to dance my ass off, and give many, many thanks for all the blessings I have received this year. My high will surely carry me over on my next flight to Cancun Mexico, which I am super anxious to get to!!! January 2nd can’t get here fast enough. I am truly at the happiest point in my life EVER. I have love, I’m doing what I love, it feels super good, I can share it, and I feel free to take off in any direction I damn well please with it. 2014 and every year since I moved back to the mothaland has been :::AMAZING::: One of the biggest things my love and I are proud of having created this year is our first home. Every single penny we earned off our independent business and my artwork has allowed us to build a beautiful house in the mountains of Quito, Ecuador, from scratch! It was a wonderful experience that with vision and care was made possible with the humblest of folks. Best part is that it’s all is fully payed for and we are debt freeeeeee OMG YES. I can’t believe it. The peace of mind is bliss folks. No worries for the rest of  our lives when it comes to having a roof over your head to live out your days. We don’t owe any greedy mofo anything. That was one of my fears back in the states…If I ever bought a home in NY…I would be working like a madwoman just to pay off a debt to some bank that would surely take a toll on my health, kill my spirit in more ways than I think of, and maybe make me bitter. Maybe…because I don’t let anything or anyone rain on my parade. I would think tho, imagine not having the freedom to wake up when I want?  go where I want?  take off for how ever many months I want? paint long hours without a care of time, eating local organic food, traveling the world to paint, explore, BE ON MY NATURAL FLOW, etc; my bucket list for “my life” on this small planet would have been almost impossible to create. It would have made me sad. Ain’t nobody got time for dat! LIFE IS SHORT people. We gotta wake up, it is real out there. I am not trying to get caught up in that system. It will eat you up alive if you don’t get aware of what is happening. I think a lot more critically these days. I am getting older, wiser, and I truly just have no time to be playing games anymore. This is how I do now, and every day I wake up I WANT TO ENJOY IT (((( NOW ))) not tomorrow, not later, not in the future when I’m old, tired, and weak ::: RIGHT NOW :::: Why not right? At this moment it is freak’n awesome, and I’m gonna party like it’s 1999 baby! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
More on my little house in the mountains creating new works and growing my own food soon. Thank you all for your continued love and support.
– Toofly
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ART BASEL 2014 ::: RE-CAP!
The year is coming to a close, and the best way to do it up is to hit up Miami’s Art Basel! If you can paint, party, and hit the beach you got the Art Basel fun covered. This year the Few & Far Women collective got our shit together a few months before to organize one of the largest all women collaborations we have ever done. It was a huge wall, and the production funds necessary to make it happen where steep. Luckily we made it happen independently thanks to our sponsors, friends, family, and supporters who helped us raise funds through our GoFundMe campaign. Shout out to everyone who helped us get to Basel this year and rock this amazing wall. A total of 17 graffiti and street art women Toofly, Agana, Dime, Meme, Hops, Merlot, Ksera, Kazilla, Jenn Ponci, Ursula X Young, 179 and our guests Mavel, Ms.Kee, Rachel, Silver, and Sour who helped us on the wall. Our theme this year was an underwater electric fantasy inspired seaworld. It was an opportunity where we can enhance the emotion of our characters, and push ourselves to design letters and background imagery to tie it altogether. A challenge but in the end we made it all work. We had everything we needed to take on this big task; scaffolds, latex paint materials, lifts, ladders, spot lights, an array of spray paint sponsored by IRONLAK, a personal photographer/videographer, and DJ Izzy who kept us going all night and turned our wall location into a full blast block party. What a year! It was a sight to see…the production was on point. Everyone put in a lot of effort, especially our team leader Meme.  She is one of the most hands on person I have ever met. She’s the type of gal who will make you a Mojito, climb to fix a scaffold into place, scooter her way around Basel promoting the crew and still make time to paint her piece. All of this on like 2 hours of sleep! I don’t know how she does it, but when you love something that’s what it takes. As a crew we depend on her to get us going, and we trust she finds a way to make it happen. As a crew we have gotten stronger and more confident when she helps us pull it together in the nick of time. I love that <3 THANK YOU MEME!!! –  I am proud of these ladies. Each one did their part. I was happy to see everyone having a good time and doing what they love even if they had to sleep deprive themselves to get their part done. The wall came together in the very end and each of us found a way to enjoy Art Basel Miami this year in our own unique way. We realize Downtown Miami and Wynwood is changing tons, and so are we. Unsure if we will return to go bigger, louder, and stronger…it’s just not about that anymore these days. We are growing as individuals and artists who want to give back something more than just a big wall and a party. The corporate folks are moving in, the graff locals are trying to take back their streets, tourists, greed, and nasty cops are at an all time high affecting and interrupting the creative flow. That’s when you know things might just take a turn in another direction folks. So enjoy it while you can! — Thank you for the continued support <3
DAY 1 – FEW AND FAR WOMEN BEGIN!
This is one of the largest walls the Few and Far crew has ever taken part in…-PROUD OF US!
Agana sketching out her “Warrior Fish” to see how we can tie our characters together…
Thank you for the paint Ironlak!
MOJITOS!!! by MEME
Hommie T stopped by to check out the wall and take flicks with her lovely friend. I fell in love with her neon yellow nails! Especially next to my piece…
FABE and his girls also showed some love and came thru for pics <3
DAY 2 – FINALIZE MY PIECE AND HANG WITH PEEPS!
My #bestfriendforever Evelyn, and her lovely family stopped by to spend the rest of afternoon with me <3 Thanks guys! :::LOVE YOU:::
E will always be one hot tamale! Looking good my friend you are beautiful:)
let’s go eat!
Dinner and strollz with my lovelies! LOVE HARDER, LOVE, LOVE IS A RISK, LOVE LOVE LOVE is what we are all about…#hopelessromantics we are <3
DAY 3 – WYNWOOD STROLLZ and FINAL FLICKS
It finally got to a point where we were able to chill and relax so Dime, Silver, and I connected with Cristina. I met her last year at the wall  she had such good vibes! We took some Wynwood strolls and she invited us to roll with her to the Miami Marina, and the South Beach. We were all for it! Definately needed it to UNBASEL ourselves. – Because this year I personally wasn’t crazy about any of the parties, drinking, or crowds – hanging with Cristina was perfect. She was on the same page, gotta love when that happens…
LOVE IS A RISK DO IT ANYWAY. SO loved this…it was written a million times on a wall…whoa…
More DOPE flicks by Cristina Isabel Rivera coming soon!
Agana X Toofly Collabo
Few and Far Group Shot by Cristina Isabel Rivera ©2014
BANG! – Done. With all that was going on I felt I needed to dedicate this piece to communities around the world who were protesting against police brutality. These are not peaceful days we are living in, Art Basel is a bubble and we were caught up in it. Unaware of what was on TV, radio, or social media. My state of mind these days is peaceful and in tune with nature, and the flow of life, however everywhere around the world it’s chaos. Gotta keep trying to create more love in the world but until then if there’s no justice there will be no peace!
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