Secret Seattle Spray Spot

Found off First Avenue in downtown Seattle, a short dead end nook with some sweet spray action...

How Apropos

As seen in window of retail storefront on Pine Street in Capitol Hill, Seattle.

HArt Project ... Valentines Day 2010 ... Green Lake Park Seattle

Screw Hallmark! Another commerce holiday... how lovely. Spend spend give some diamond pink drink. Or not. We made it real by sprinkling some guerilla art action this Valentines 2010 with the Briar Bates championed "HArt" project on the trail around Green Lake Park outside of Seattle. Four hearts were created and left for passerbys to experience a little magic. There was the Thorn Heart (Matthew), the Shrub Heart, the Rotten Heart, and the Bodice Heart (all three by Briar).

Here's the Thorn Heart being installed between two trees that overhang the water. The heart was woven from rose bush branches, and suspended between the trees with fishing wire. Some blood and skin were shed making this one, massive thorns are attracted to DNA.

The Bodice Heart was an interactive piece. A passerby was to step on the board below (later modified with an inflatable beetle replacing the wood) that would pump air through the hose hidden on the ground and up the bodice to the heart. When released, the heart deflated!

This piece is the Shrub Heart. For obvious reasons. Though Leo had no idea it was trimmed into a heart shape until later when we walked back and he captured the correct viewing angle. This piece was awesome in its simplicity, yet had the greatest impact. All you need is a dead bush and some red spray paint and you've got art people! Do it.

Rad paper mache and molding clay Rotten Heart, how apropos to be hung from a crab apple tree. This one was a bit off the path, so finding it would have been a surprise for sure. I wonder how long the city parks crew will let the HArt project bleed on for?

Giving a quick "shout out" to Leo for coming along and taking a bunch of great photos, and for climbing trees and rolling around in the mud. Also, he's really tall like a ladder with a horse for a bike.

Vain Graffiti Wall - Seattle

Grabbed some shots of the Vain Salon graffit wall on 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle. This wall has been happening for decades as various establishments have come and gone but still nurtured more art.

2010 Works in the Works

Active planning makes for active creation... of art. There's a schedule in place. Goals to be reached. Art to be made. So far two series and one piece have been schemed and are in process(ish).
Upcoming Works:

• Shadow Scene Series
• Lumber Yard Series
• Art Rib

Stay tuned for updates and preview peeks.

Tacky Smack Vinyl Wall Art Installation Photos

Some pics of a recent installation for our new company, Tacky Smack, at the Seattle retail store Retrofit Home located in Capitol Hill... In these shots i'm putting up a bunch of our vinyl wall art designs in preparation for our launch party!

Getting the squeegee on "Hanging Gardens"

Removing the transfer tape from Mermaid Spice, which is going up next to the Bombass collection (Fairy, Bleeding Heart, Unicorn)

Tacky Smack Vinyl Wall Art Launch Party Flier

Join us for our Tacky Smack launch party! One year of hard work behind us... let the good times (vinyl)roll. We'll be celebrating October 8th at Retrofit Home!

Tacky Smack Sneak Peak

My team and I are getting ready to finally launch our new company, Tacky Smack, providing vinyl surface art to the masses. After a long year of super fun and creative work, we're only weeks away from going live. Following are a few sneak peaks of our more than 60 products that will be a part of the initial launch...

PLANE AMAZEMENT

LIPS

GOLDFISH LIGHT BULB

From Plastic Bag to Laptop Case

Beautiful!

The Way the Wind Blows

WiiSpray

Spray painting with the Wii! Check out the virtual stencil.


WiiSpray Teaser from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

Tacky Smack TAG!

Herakut... Beautiful and Inspiring

Trashpimp... Trashson's Father?

Javis Fir found this image after one of her usual google search inquiries (god only knows)... I really want to visit this land of creatures with hot pink sunglasses and furry moss ladies! Anyway. Stop animation inspiration?

Bonez Frame & Mermaid Stencil T

Wood frame for the Bonez Comic is complete, minus a paint job. Trying to work out a good easy treatment for the cardboard, and of course the sutures, so that the piece will look awkwardly massacre-like.

Jind Federal using his new dope ass graffiti spray paint on his mermaid horny stencil thru a perforated metal panel. I think the stencil now looks super fantastic yeah. Also, his decision to use a crappy 7 year old white shirt was questionable, but... well, i don't know?

Trying out some new paint

New York Disposable Photo Camera Project

Joanna Godard from Glamour.com left two disposable cameras on NY park benches. One in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. She was curious to see what would happen... would they get stolen or would people take photos and leave the camera?

A note was left with the camera that said: "Good afternoon! I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. I'll be back later this evening to pick it up."

Check out the full collection.

A.N.Y. Post

Knitters turn to graffiti artists with 'yarnbombing'

Photo: BNPS (via Telegraph.co.uk)

Quote from article: "Hundreds of knitters around the world have begun wrapping their huge woolly creations around public property like trees, street signs and lampposts.

They then take photos of their colourful "art" and post them on internet sites for fellow knitters to view and comment on."

Read full ARTICLE or check out the Yarnbombing site

A.N.Y. Post

Bonez Comic Strip & Trash Gurber Stop Animation

The design process in full effect! How do we do it... like this: Javis Fir sees abandoned xrays at work and a GAS light bulb explodes above her head. She brings up the idea and we agree, something sweet shall be squeezed from the xrays. Javis Fir and Mollen 18 meet for a session, and start scheming. Something to do with frames, back lights, all the cool broken bits being held together with BOLTS! Hmm... what, what, what. Then Jind Federal shows up and hears our scheme. He starts churning. Goes to get a beer, and walks by the graffiti comic strip art on the walls of Mollen 18's house. WhaBam! The idea is formed. We start cutting and pasting...

It was a super great organic approach to the design process yo. And a lesson. Just start and do it and keep going and voila! Eventually something dope happens and you end up with art. Ideas spin and form and grow and evolve until an idea larger than all or one of us erupts into existence. Further plans for the Bonez Comic Strip series will include stitches to heal the xrays onto the framing, treatment of framing to look like skin or hide, maybe some spray paint overlays such as a sledgehammer whacking in the bolts... and then a frame to support the piece and hold a battery powered led light.

Trash Gurber ~ first character for Trashson Stop Animation

The stop animation process will fill gaps in sessions over periods of time. Having more than one project at a time allows for going where the art is happening and back and forth when ideas form. We'll have a message for the stop animation, and expect it to take lots of fun sessions to complete...

~Mollen 18