Diamonds in the Yard Sale Rough

My friends from ARTRAFFLE were bouncing around yard sales in LA last weekend (as us poor kids often do), and they met me for lunch all hollering about 'army man Vans."



"Do what?" I say? They met this kid, Lee Nguyen who was selling his custom sneakers at a yard sale. Here's more about Lee:

"I'm a good boy from the midwest who got bored with the corporate finance/consulting game and moved to the NY to get into fashion as a merchandise planner, explore the city, and learn how to live vicariously through myself. I eventually yearned for some more space to paint so I packed up my bags and headed to sunny californ-i-a. I currently work for what could be described as every girls favorite clothing company as a planner, collections coordinator, and all around ideas/execution guy. On my free time I paint, write, cook/eat a lot, and live & love til I fall asleep at night."



"As for how I got into painting vans...One of my good friends was on a layover in the NY, so we got some food, drinks, and more drinks...ended up on my balcony at 5am for final call on a wednesday night (thursday morning) where he said "I'm sending you a pair of vans and you're painting them". Thinking it was just words, I came home from work one day with a package and opened it up to see a fresh pair of white vans. I immediately knew what I was going to do. I wanted to make them "him" with a little humor and a bit of truth...he's a 6'3", skinny/lanky jewish guy from the valley who loves hip hop and is the biggest sneaker head I know. He's also got a beard like rick ross...so I thought, why not immortalize him on a big blinged out gold chain. And that was that."



What did we learn? Follow your dreams, kids. You just might end up singing in front of a glorious waterfall. (insert sassy 'snap! snap!")

Sometimes The Simplest Solution...

I'm not a fan of the band myself, but Tyler Gage from Knoxville, TN made a solid pair of customs for his favorite band, Paramore. Pretty much, he's got a nice touch with the hand drawn type, and I'm a total sucker for typography. Simple theme, keep the color scheme subtle, not too much variation in size.

Jeez, y'all. Sit at your desk & write all your friends names on your shoes. Its gonna look good. You can see more of Tyler's photography & him just being fabulous on TYLER TORTURE.

Supa the Grouchy Cyborg

As far as I can gather, Supa is an 18-year-old ill-tempered cyborg residing in California whose most recent battle was with a floating orb wielding a bra. She's also a pretty good cartoonist & whipped up these custom Vans. People don't use the Sk8-Hi enough. HIT HER UP to see more of her work.

Emile Hirsch Does Not Go to the Laundromat.

Obama's been in office for, like, ever now. Time for some nostalgia. Remember when we didn't have a black president? Me neither. This is from way back then.

Wake Up Call, starring Emile Hirsch from IE HAGY on Vimeo.

Performance (Don't Mess with My Cadence)

via SHAWN OF THE ROCKIES: VANS MOUNTAIN MAN.

Punkphoto.com 5th Anniversary Exhibit @ Littlefield

If you're in Brooklyn hit up Abbey Braden's (PUNKPHOTO.COM) show this Friday August 21st at LITTLEFIELD. Its free. Bands & beers & good photos.

Lovers and Fighters

Kendra is an 18-year-old art student in Houston, TX. Think she's in the right line of work, for sure. She was commissioned to make these Lamb of God customs. Damb, girl. Slick.




I'll be curious to see what her work looks like in a few years when she's able to render work like this now. See more of her portfolio at LOVERS AND FIGHTERS on deviantART.

F Yeah Fest Adds One More F.

The dearly beloved F Yeah Fest is now officially the FYF Fest. What's the other F for? Fantasmagoria? Probably. Anyway, proceeds of the show coming up on Sept 5 will help out California's janky state parks 'cause they broke & the man is threatening to shut down 100 of them. People we love playing the show are NINJASONIK, JAPANTHER & BLACK LIPS. This bill is solid.

Even more info at FYF FEST.

Interview With Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot

A few months back, Eric Nakamura, publisher & co-editor of GIANT ROBOT MAGAZINE, was nice enough to take a few minutes to talk with me. I tried to ask him everything that I want to know (origins of the magazine and the evolution of the art scene from the late '90s to date) thinking that you may want to know as well. A couple of kids making a zine with art on the cover ended up making a big impact.



We ended up with so much interesting footage from the interviews that I posted the rest of the rough cuts. You can hear Eric's thoughts on the current ASIAN AMERICAN ART MOVEMENT, VISITING THE WHITE HOUSE, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, THE DWELLING (his short film on the homeless in Japan), and the group show that was up at the time YEAR OF THE OX on handy-dandy youtube.

thanks, Eric!

Deadly Fierce Things That Kill You.

Dennis McNett's Show on this past Saturday night was A+ material. His sneak peek photos from last week didn't do his new pieces justice. A few of them are layered mixed media wood blocks- much detail to appreciate close up. I snagged a few photos...








I was having such a grand ol' time that I forgot to get the money shots of Dennis & the cool people. These two are stolen from THINKSPACE'S FACEBOOK page. (thanks, dudes.)

Dennis & Steve Olson...


aaaannnndddd Jeremy from Subliminal Projects, Dante Ross & the man, the myth.

Skateboard Madness Circa 1980

You gotta know by know that I love the really old skate footage. Here's one. Get this. Total madness. I mean, crazy. These people in 1980 were crazy, obviously...with their skateboards and all and skating with their wheels in crystal balls in the desert. (We are talking about the future!) In this one we got Stacy Peralta, Gregg Ayres, Kent Senatore, Dan Smith, Alva, & a little, tiny Cabbie is in there somewhere. And who is that familiar voice you just can't place? Mo'fug Phil Hartman. All the plot twists & turns are on IMDb.

Vans Mailbag- Big Dirty & The Riz Get Hitched

Here's your "aaaaawwwww" moment. Jason "BIG DIRTY" Fredriksson and Sheryll "The Riz" Cofreros (Fredriksson-to-be) sent us their engagement photos. Let me say it again, "awwwww!" Good luck guys! Are your lives like this movie? Jason, when do you get a giant beard? Stay on the back roads.

Step-by-Step Sneaker Customization with Louie Gong

Got an email today from one of my favorite customs artists, Louie Gong. I've looked at hundreds of crud DIY custom videos on youtube, but the one Louie posted last week is short, sweet & practical. Thanks for making a good one, Louie!



Here's Coast Salish Killer Whale for your viewing pleasure. Find out more about Louie's work on the 8TH GEN SITE and on the 8TH GEN FB FANPAGE.

Dennis McNett's Year of the Wolfbat Opens in LA

Our good buddy Dennis McNett showed up to the Vans office today guns 'a blazin.' He's taken a slow drive across country from NYC and just coming off a gallery show in San Francisco. Sounds like a good trip. This Saturday, August 8th from 7pm-11pm Dennis will open his newest work "Year of the Wolfbat" at thinkspace gallery in LA. It's going to be rad. Come check it out. I will take a photo of you and some very famous celebrities. More info at thinkspace gallery dot com. Also, here's a sneak peek at some of the work in the show.