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!

Flicks coming soon!

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray – Rumi

There’s one big thing about painting live at an event, you meet a lot of people! That’s a good thing especially if you want to network. Last weekend I got a chance to paint live at Quito Fest and that was pretty amazing because of the cause, the org, and the location. There was hundreds of people there. A lot of biz cards went around. Next thing you know my inbox was flooded with invites to paint, teach workshops, design, and rock some murals. I’ve been here 6 months and I think it’s finally time to get busy. I was getting used to being incognito for a while but I can’t chillax forever. There’s work to be done, and relationships to build. Let the Quito grind begin!

Verano 2012, Sponsored by Quito Cultura. More flicks below…

A muti-cultural arts events with Breakers, Beat Boxers, Skaters, Vendors, and Tattoo Artists. I didn’t have a chance to flick it all but my mom dukes caught a few shots.

While painting a got a chance to meet Maria a graffiti artist from here who’s gonna rock an event next weekend with a few more women. Looking forward to that, and meeting the rest of the women graff artists here. Nos vemos pronto MARIA!

Indigenous vendors at event selling beautiful handmade works. I love that she’s in her traditional style. So beautiful!

Finito! Not bad for 2 hrs…The wind was messing with the banner a bit but we made it work. Whew!

Interviews and flicks. Thanks Quito Cultura and Quito Turismo!

Shout out to Barrio 593 for the invitation to paint today. Magazine Interview soon:) Gracias amigos!

Hello world!!! Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a bit. More news about that soon, but first I want to give you guys a little update on the new book release I ‘m taking part in for March 2012. I’m pretty excited about it because I have the opportunity to work with a wonderful team of publishing professionals + come together for a really fun stop animation mini movie with photographer Hank O’ Neal. I’m also super excited that I will be painting live in NY at the end of March for the book release event. More details about that soon. Sending Hank, Ken, Benjamin, and Amit a big ((( THANK YOU ))) See you guys soon!!!

Juxtapoz Magazine Book Review.

One of the dopest book covers I have ever been part of:)

Got some of my work in Miami’s Art Basel this year! Check out the Fountain Art Fair showcasing Mighty Tanaka Gallery artist Dec 1-4th. Details below…

FOUNTAIN ART FAIR/ MIGHTY TANAKA GALLERY
December 1 – December 4, 2011 // 12pm – 7pm, every day
Location: 2505 N. Miami Ave (at the corner of 25th St)

SOLD!

Grow in Silence // 13 X 11″ // Acrylic on Cardboard // Year Created: 2010 – THANK YOU MIGHTY TANAKA GALLERY!:)

Art Basel Miami: From December 1 through 4, Miami Beach, Florida, will host the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the most prestigious art show in the Americas. More than 260 leading galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will take part, showcasing works by more than 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Fountain Art Fairis an exhibition of avant garde artwork in New York during Armory week, Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach and Los Angeles during Pacific Standard Time weekend.

Mighty Tanaka is an organization committed to serving the arts and artists in New York City and beyond through a dedicated curatorial effort. We are devoted to the advancement of breakthrough art forms that express our generation’s voice and steadfastness. Through our presentation of highly skilled curatorial services and projection of artists that demonstrate the range and breadth of our upstart generation, we strive to create an integral foundation for both upcoming and established artists alike. Mighty Tanaka is driven by urban inspiration and is constantly clearing the way for this growing artistic renaissance to expand beyond the gallery walls and into our personal lives.

Whew! Finally all settled in and going through my Art of the Streets 2011 flicks. SOOoooo this year Art of the Streets in Stockholm Sweden was bigger, tighter, and a lot more controversial. The politicians fought really hard to cancel the event with their crazy tactics but guess what, not only did a lot more people come to show their support, the debates are finally wearing them down! Ha! It’s a proven fact that no matter how much you try to suppress people the message will only grow louder, and louder. Young people all over the world today are making themselves heard, and I think it’s time to pay attention don’t you think? Youth today need this, and much much more. It’s time for a change…

ART OF THE STREETS 2011! Shout out to Ikaroz with his dope characters gracing various Art of the Streets posters…

Oh dip! Got some nice big walls this year. One day out of the year walls are created for artists who love street and graffiti art to freely express themselves in public…

MAD C’s finished live piece…

I missed Blue’s live piece, I gotta get a flick!;( Here we are chillin with Ceylan before my workshops class begins…

Allrighty here we go! This year I was invited to rock 2 workshops and run a style battle. Check it…

STYLE BATTLE

The style battle was created by graffiti artist Jolie and has proven to be great fun for all ages! Big ups to everyone that participated and to LUKAS who won the battle!

Photo by ( artist name ©2011 ) coming soon…

TOOFLY GRAFFITI WORKSHOP

In this workshop the participants chose some words out of a box and re-created them in various graffiti styles from bubble lettering, straight lettering, and wildstyle. Some of the words chosen were END, WRITE, and UTE. I forgot what Ute meant in Swedish…

Youth get a chance to learn the art of lettering, graphic design, and color…

TOOFLY YOUNITY WORKSHOP

My favorite workshop was the Younity workshop with an all female group. I decided we would create a design that represents women, and empowering women messages that can be used as a wall piece, a flyer, or a poster. I enjoyed this workshop very much, and will continue to develop it. It was really beautiful to see what the women came up with, and the effort they put in their message.

Big ups to Daniela, and Stickkontakt! thanks for joining the workshop ladies;)

Julia and Nora. Just lovely!

Glad LOTTA got to rock. I met her last year at one of the walls because she was the only female painting. Now were building;)

Shout out to Josefina and the Art of the Streets crew who helped with organizing the participants for the workshops!

Chillin moments with Lotta and her crew. At first I thought I was the only latin girl in Stockholm, but then I met homgirl right here repping Chile! Where are all the spanish people tho? hmmm…..

“RIGHT NOW!” In Amelia magazine…yeah!

The Wrap up! dinner & drinks at the Scandic Malmen with the ART OF THE STREETS TEAM. Thank you Jacob, Tobias, and Ceylan and your team for all the hard work you put in this event. It was a pleasure to be part of it again this year. Lots of love to you guys and all the artists who participated. YOU ROCK!

Good times;) Photos by Erika Marthins ©2011

As my trip came to and end I had one more chance to try and get a wall to paint in a city where there is 0 graffiti tolerance. I was super siked when Jacob hooked it up. Public walls are super hard to come by, Only but a few artists in Stockholm have secret locations where they get a chance to freely express themselves out in the open. There was a bunch of calls that had to be made to make it happen, and luckily Jacobs friend Erse had just the spot! I was ready for the mission and early Sunday morning I met up with Erse, who turned out to be hella cool guy. He hooked me up with some paint and lead the way to the wall. I had only 1 hour to make it happen before one of my workshops started. This was a total speedy gonzalez move! THANK YOU ERSE!!!

PASHA, TOOFLY, ERSE. STOCKHOLM SWEDEN, 2011

Shout out to Pasha who was able to join us for the collabo just in time!

I zoomed through this piece crazy fast…

Thanks fellas!!! It was a pleasure to meet you, and super nice to build with you even if it was for short time. Can’t wait to see the finished piece!!!

BAM! Pasha, Toofly, Erse. Stockholm Sweden 2011

Thank you Sweden!
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

A few months ago I was commissioned to create a wall installation at Michaela Angela Davis loft in Brooklyn entitled “Sisters Who Shine”. This lady is phenomenal, and super sweet.  We’ve been building since 2003 when we rocked the “Let’s Dance” Honey Magazine shoot with Photographer Piper Carter, Bgirls; Rokafella, Big Tara, and Jez Skillz. Wow, time flies! Had to reminisce a little and pull out the shoot flick. I want to send mad love to Michaela for her support in my work over the years, and for her amazing work with young women today. It’s inspiring, and in sync with all the things we are pushing collectively. To learn more about her work with Salon Du Shine, Black Girlz Rock, and BET check out the interview with Amsterdam News New York. Dope…

This Black girl rocks: Image activist Michaela Angela Davis

Throwback>>>Let’s Dance Honey Magazine 2003

Hey Ohio! I have some of my precious illustration and street art photos in the next ComnGraff exhibit 1st week of June. Be sure to check it out!

COMnGRAF 3: Breaking Borders
Saturday, June 4 – August 27, 2011 // 6:30 p.m.
Elijah Pierce Gallery
867 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43203

Read more

Whoa…did I make it on the latin network? Univision interview airing on Thursday morning nationwide over 100+ cities. ( “Despierta America” 7am-10am Channel 41) Many of us grew up with this channel because our abuelas, mamis, and tias watched their novelas, our abuelitos, papis, and tios caught the futbol. Occasionally we all sat around to watch that silly man Don Francisco on Sabado Gigante too. My family has come a long way. This one is for you Papito lindo!

Shout out to Meres at 5Pointz for letting me rock the interview session and do a little live painting for the piece. THANK YOU! and big ups to Shana Louallen for rocking the PR and taking behind the scenes flicks:)

Gracias Linda y Cesar! The interview was lovely. Can’t wait to see it! eeeeek….

Finding it hard to put this post together…I don’t even know where to begin. Last week I lost my grandfather, our papito Raul. We flew back to Ecuador heartbroken…to say goodbye. A part of all of us feels empty, and we can’t help but fill it up with tears. I’m going to miss our talks, his little laugh chuckles, his silly jokes, his words of advice, and most of all…watching him gear up to build, climb, and fix things. As the days pass we are comforted by the beautiful memories he left behind when we flip through boxes and boxes of photographs. We are all so thankful for everything he strived for so that his family can have a happy, and loving home. Our lives are blessed because of you, and we will honor your life in all we do. Estrañadole mucho papito lindo de nuestro corazon…

Read more

Invisible Instructions opening. Dec 17th, 2010. @culturefix 9 Clinton St. CERN YMI, MIKEY THE CONSCIOUS HUSTLER, MARTHALICIA, SPAZECRAFT ONE, and TOOFLY!

New series…on view until January 8th!

CORAZON 4′ X 6′. Acrylic on Canvas.

In Too Deep. Acrylic on Cardboard.

Grow in Silence. Acrylic on Cardboard.

What We Love We Grow To Resemble. Acrylic on Canvas.

TOOFLY ::: SPAZECRAFT ONE

CERN YMI

MIKEY THE CONSCIOUS HUSTLER

LOVE YOUR HOOD!

For more information on this group exhibition and micro arts & culture festival visit: invisibleinstructions.mvmt.com

Let’s get this party started!

Electric Soundz…

Queen Godis, Engine NumberNine

Limited Edition 18″X24 Prints signed by the artists.

Prints, as well as overall design for exhibition created by Mikey the Conscious Hustler. So Awesome, thank you!!!

My lil pink princess in town for the Holidays:) Love you fea!

Craig Anthony Miller

Rosa Clemente and miss lovely Nyoka

Marthalicia painting live…

Live art installation…

Peeps! Love you guys. Thanks for coming thru!

Mr Pura Vida, see you tonight!

So it’s official. I need a new camera. AGAIN. on to my 10th I think…my flashlight gave out, and the rest is a blurry night;(

Live painting turned into a collaboration among all the artists that attended including Masahiro, and Craig Anthony Miller…dope piece! SOLD.

Invisible Instructions artists: Mikey The Conscious Hustler, Spazecraft One, Cern, Toofly, and project manager Leilani Montes. We’re just missiing Marthalicia:(

Love art. Love People. Love life.

Last women standing: Tania Cuevas, Martha Diaz, Amaris, and TF

Done! Now I can go take a vacation:) Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Be sure to check out the interactive workshopsand concert series going on this weekend!

Finito! Ms Chocolate Illustration & type design by yours truly:) dropping March 16th on itunes. As Lil Jon would say…”YEAHHH!”

oh snap! Talib Kweli rock’n TOOFLY X METHODS NYC T’ in his new video ” In This World” from the REFLECTION ETERNAL Album with Hi-Tek check it…