Posts Tagged ‘ i used to skate once ’
In June I was part of the 10th year of The Outpost’s I Used To Skate Once exhibition. This was my contribution to that show. I was asked a few times if the words on the deck were laser-cut. No, they were all hand carved by me. Still I took the question as a compliment.
If you look for any kind of meaning in my (carved) thoughts, it’s that you can’t always take life to seriously… remember to go outside and play, enjoy and have some fun.
A week or so ago I had the annual pleasure of being part of the group art show I Used To Skate Once. This is an event that has been run by an terrific guy named Matt Brady. He has a shop called The Outpost, you should check it out.
This was the eighth year of the show and the fourth that I’ve been a part of. If we’ve talked previously I’m sure that I’ve told you that IUTSO4 back in 2008 had the first ever woodcut that I made. In a way it was Matt who helped me even realise my now happy obsession with woodcuts and printmaking. I owe him big time for that one!
Anyway, everytime I go near a skateboard it’s hard to not think that I need to make things bigger, better, weirder. You know how it is, you don’t want to repeat yourself. Well this year I decided to tackle one of those great little boards that were the staple back in the 60s and 70s and seem to be making some kind of comeback even now. I kept it simple, stuck to what I love and what I love about skateboarding. With any luck I got it right and the skill as much as the attitude of this great pasttime is in the board.
This is the top side:
When I was a kid I was too scared to skate. It wasn’t till I was in my early 20s that I even started skating. The pro’s didn’t just seem fearless they seemed invincible to me. At the end of the day I’ve come to realise that it’s all up to your attitude and it’s this that I’ve adorned the underside of the board with.
The skateboard was sanded back, carved out using my woodcarving tools (a 1mm v-gouge and a 1.5mm u-gouge), then covered in a layer of black ink and varnished ready to be used and roughed up! The skateboard went on show and was sold on the night which makes me happy. Now it’s going to a new home. I couldn’t give it up though before trying it out at least once…
I had a great time on the night and was happy to see that the whole event was a great success. This board was the eighth skateboard that I’ve done a woodcut into in the last four years and I reckon it will probably be the last. It’s fun but there’s just to many different surfaces, objects, and different types of wood to experiment on. Time for the next creative adventure!
My skateboard and many others are currently on display at The Outpost (5a Winn Lane, Fortitude Valley). They’ll be there for the next few weeks, until the 21st July I think. If you didn’t make it on the night, go down and have a look!
Well I feel like I’ve finally got something to blog about after such a quiet time online over the last few months.
I’m back in the swing of things and making more art after a few months away from it. One of the first pieces on my now long list was a contribution to the annual group show ‘I Used To Skate Once’ – now in it’s eighth year. I’ve been to every one and have at least four boards hanging in my house from other artists who have shown there.
This will be my fourth year of contributing to the show (my last effort was back in 2010. More on that one HERE). I’ve taken the same approach as with all my boards by using the deck as a woodblock and carving the image into the skateboard. Unless you trawl through the ancient history of this blog you might not know that my first ever woodcut was on a skateboard deck back in 2008.
This year I’ve used a 70’s style flat shortboard. Great for cruising around on if you feel a bit past your prime with your kick flips or rail grinds. I’ve taken the time to sand back both sides of the board, carve it, paint it and properly lacquer it so now that the trucks are back on, it’s a road-ready, fully functioning board. My greatest dream with this skateboard is that if someone likes it and decides to buy it at the show that they’ll use it to ride around on. It would make me so happy to see someone using this rather than putting it on a shelf and just looking at it… we’ll see.
Oh, and of course I’m not going to give the whole game away just yet. So this is a sneak peak of just the underside of the skateboard.The main art is on the top side but you’ll have to come to show to see that although I’ll probably post a pic up after the show been on.
The quote itself is just how I’ve been living for the last few years. I always do everything I can right now just in case I’m not around for much longer(although I do hope I am). If you’ve ever taken a skateboard to the streets then you’ll understand…
I Used To Skate Once 8 is on for one night only Thursday 8th June at The Zoo in Fortitude Valley.
It’s put on by the (always incredible) Matt Brady of The Outpost
…and more news coming in the next week or so about another amazing art show that I’m a part of in July!
The sixth annual art show I Used To Skate is on again this week at The Zoo in Fortitude Valley. This group art show is always huge with over 40 artists contributing works and the turnout topping over 1000 people in a room that only holds 450 people.
Based around the idea of the graphics/art that goes on and under skateboard decks, the show’s organiser, Matt Brady of The Outpost and Thea Basiliou of Blonde Venus always the give people contibuting the ability to do whatever they can dream up. This usually means that there is a really divererse rang of works on show from fine art painting to wacky lo-brow and some that don’t even make it to that classification…
This is the third year I’ve been able to be a part of this art show. The first time I contributed also happened to be with my first ever woodcut which got this whole thing started. Last year’s contribution to the show by me can be seen Here and this year I wanted to take the idea of creating a printable image in wood full circle. You know, using the skateboard to create and transfer an image about skateboarding which leaves you with not only a print for your wall but a skateboard that you can still spend hundreds of hours on skating around town.
So rather than simply creating something that was only viewed upon the skateboard, I found myself an oldstyle flat deck (revived thanks to Pass Port skateboards) and carved out an image that I could print from…
The fellow in the print is Shogo Kubo (of the original Zepher Dogtown crew) and he’s shredding a pool on the exact style of board that he’s carved into. Both the board and the print will be on display (& sale) at the show. The event is for one night only with the boards being displayed for the following month in The Outpost store.
Go here for all the details: http://skateonce.blogspot.com/
…and in other news, I’ve been experimenting quite a bit of late. I see on people’s blogs all the time different woodcuts that they have done on plywood. I’ve only ever done woodcuts and etchings on hardwood like maple. Because I’ve got an idea for a large sized woodcut, I figured I’d try some plywood to see if it would work for me and hold the detail I had in mind.
While I was at it, I decided to also do some testing with printing on different surfaces. I went to the fabric store and bought some thin, good quality linen, put my experiment into my screw press and crossed my fingers.
I call this one ‘The Deepest Sleep’. He/she is the skeleton of an extinct dinosaur that curled up deep in a cave to shelter from the cold only to (for reasons we’ll never know) never wake from their slumber.
And so, the plywood experiment is a sucess! The cloth experiment is a sucess! and with more ideas and options open to me than ever before, next I’m going to try my hand at colouring my prints with Gouache to see what other effects I can achieve.
…between 1996 – 2005!
which means I only started skating when I was 20. That said, I only took up art when I was 32.
Thanks has to go out to Matt Brady of The Outpost for 1. Putting on an awesome art show! and 2. For putting up with my annoying ass for four days while I tried to “help” him set up and pull down the show.
Above is the skateboard I made for the art show. It has since sold to someone so stop by The Outpost and check it out. It’s there with 54 other skateboards till the end of July.
Thanks to any any folks you came up to me at the show and had kind words to say about my board. It was nice to hear that people dug it.
Check it out… I’m famous! *cough*
Well maybe not, but still, it’s made my day. 🙂
Brisbane street press mag Scene Magazine
Thanks to the always awesome Matt Brady
I Used To Skate Once 5 is on next week!!!
Against the grain 