Photos as Accents, Borrowed and New. Backed in Black Griptape art show

Thanks to Jeff Kendall, MOB Brand Grip, Po-Base ,everyone that stopped out ,and all the artists involved, Backed in Black II was a success. Everyone that showed up Saturday night was witness to a real underground art show, where the art was the focus, ran by artists, and held  to benefit the future Bethlehem SkatePlaza. Money was raised, art was sold way under value ,and alot of people went home happy they contributed by either designing or buying a sheet of MOB Grip. In order to get some coverage up I've stolen Po's photos  and mixed them in with mine because I was too busy to take many flicks myself and haven't seen the photgrapher's shots pop up yet. I'm sorry if anyones work is missing from the line-up but I will try to track down and fill in photos of all the work as I can asap. I'm also considering putting up any art donations unsold from opening night online to allow a second chance for people to purchase and continue to support the Plaza.  

 The day of the show was hectic collecting art, meeting Steve and hosting him for the weekend, and building the easels to display the works. Our carpool went to the Sterling late to set up and found out that they had no idea we were coming, After some phone calls and handshakes, they luckily welcomed us in to have a good time which saved rerouting everything to the ramp space. We were set up fast and the crew poured in to chill.  I will post fundraising totals when it is complete.

We topped last years submission numbers and hope to grow again next year.

The artist list this year in no order:

 Thomas Ricki, Giancarlo Marchi , Andy Vasquez , Andy Colbert , Adrienne Chaparro,  Geek IDS, QuestOne IDS, Ann B, NJay , Mandy , Luke Koch ,Stencil Steve ,Marcus Fransiscus , Chico , Kim , Ray Gurz , Eric Wolf , Andrew Kurtz ,Jimmy Larson , Lorography , Mike Ironton , Alex Duke , Vince Sabo , Mike Daniker, Christine ,Brian Barto , Brett Barto , Watson , Devon Marks , Art Ran-D , Unkle Fred Skelly , Lucky Dog, Droid , Eric Reimer, Joel SeyOne Santos

kurtz and V styling

sigafoos stealing andy v's pose

Ricki ,Nono

GianCarlo ,Andy V

Geek,Ann B,Njay ,Mandy

Luke Koch

Stencil Steve, SeyOne peeking

Steve's whip

Frank, QuestOne,Chico, Kim

Eric Wolf

Mike Ironton

Alex Duke

Brian Barto, Devon Marks, Watson, Vince Sabo

Vince Sabo

Brian Barto

Kurtz

Jimmy Larson

Ray Gurz

Andy Colbert

po shopping, he was our big balla of the night, thanks Po!

Ray with a rum&coke and designated driver Michele. Just Kidding, he drove.

Yes, Baver was there, know your history.

LoLo and NoNo

Steve Hencheck, brotha from anotha

Giancarlo helping add crediblity

Mike Daniker with sign in sheet

Mandy knows how to 'wileout

ray holding court

Eric Reimer art and fans

Christine with the heaviest work

Wisconsin Kid Hammers Out 1,200 Consecutive Kickflips.. Really.

Thanks to everyone that stopped out to support the second annual Backed In Black Show. The quality of work was off the charts and will be our biggest obstacle next year. I was busy all week and stayed that way until all the art was back at my house that night. I did have a lot of help and it seemed like everyone at my house before hand was working together with ease and a vision.  I'm scared to name names incase I overlook anyone, but Andy Colbert and Greg, Luke, Unkle Skelly, Mike Ironton, Eric Wolf, Christine, Lucky Dog, anyone else that stopped over to drop off art, and our new friend Stencil Steve. There was also a nice guy named Julian there with the buttery camera equipment, so I'm going to find some good flicks of the night and put together a full recap including still available art , raised totals , and full thank you to all the artists and everyone that stopped out to look around and leave with some amazing art at a real amazing price.

Untill then, here is some filler.
This was the scene on my back porch the night before the show

This is the step by step I was doing , including revealing my secret stencil weighting methods.

Which include, but never limited to, old wheels, used bearings, darts, coins , allen keys , bottle caps, nails , rocks , paint lids, and bent coat hangers. 

I'm pretty cutting edge when it comes to the latest art gadgets.

 Click photo for larger views.

Step one, full color.

 Step two, shadows

Step three, black.

Step four grey( then white ,no photo)

 Then finally a little spice up at my desk.

Oh yeah,and I was for real about that G and 2 Bennies worth of kickflips.

This has been quite a week for me, sorry for the delay in posting. First, I would like to say goodbye to my first and only dog, Darby Dog. She brought my family and I fourteen years of joy and will be greatly missed. ARF!

  Backed in Black II is going down tomorrow night at the Sterling Hotel "YES,Lounge" . I still have alot to do, as alot has changed since I started planning getting this together. Saturday will be a busy day of building , collecting last minute art submissions, and hanging the show. I have been getting alot of creative (and big) works and am looking forward to seeing it finally hung and sold to benefit the future South Beth SkatePlaza.  Right now the list of artists is as sketchy as that roof Brendan rolled in on, but the same thing happened last year so I'm prepared for the Mullet of Submissions arriving, thats 10 percent up front and 90 in the back.

Get me your grip if you haven't yet.
Here are some flicks of grip I started earlier this week.

Tat Do It, take two, and call me in the morning

So,I stopped out to support my friends involved in the TatCon this weekend and had a fun time. I ended up with a afternoon nap and some blurry pics but got to see some old friends and have some good laughs. About half way through, Elliot was filling my pockets with Foster cans, the parking lot was on fire, and the comedy ensued. Including a moment when we were walking three deep through the glass sliding doors at the front of the hotel and I ran into the sliding door so hard it swung off the hinge and flew out instead of sliding. The people with me held their breath till we got outside, the girl next to me acted like nothing happened, and her boyfriend laughed right in my face. Well deserved, if I may add. 

click for large collage.

Interviews, Wings, and Boxes

Po on the interview tip, even the headphones match his kit. Maybe I will get another chance to speak my mind sometime,I left out so much and thought of so much more after. I guess that means, I'm available for interviews now. 

GeechyBond is the newest member of Blogspot! Holla!

Then over to Element Lounge for some food, drink, and local skatevideos on more screens then I could count.


My Mel-o ,My Man was there