Hobbies such as skateboarding and listening to music can be a very influential tool in life. Those hobbies can shape a person’s life and sway them in a direction that might not of taken if they never involved those two in their life. Well that notion was realized by REAL skateboards along with the Band Green Day.
As a member of Green Day Billie Joe Armstrong along with Co-founder of Real Jim Thiebaud conversed about the idea of combining their talents into a way of helping and inspiring others. Along the years their ideas turned into a reality through their friendship and passion for influencing the youth. As time elapsed, they came to the conclusion of Actions REALized x Green Day skateboard decks to be of aid and assistance to the youth at the Children’s Hospital and Research Center of Oakland.
A percentage of the profits from these boards will be happily donated to the Children’s Hospital and Research Center. This collaboration is one of beauty because of the main goal to help the youth in need. Not only that, but its the only Childrens hospital in the Bay area that specializes in the youth. Everybody here at Stix recognizes the big accomplishment they pulled off and we commend them. Good stuff.
Paul Shier and Nick Jensen finally came to a conclusion regarding the name of their brand new skate company and the name is going to be Isle Skateboards along with the public announcement of adding Sylvain Tagnelli into their new skate team including Jon Nguyen, Tom Know, and Chris Jones as their representatives.
Arto Saari recently combined forces with the all new and improved WeSC team and he’s also been rumored to have been added to New Balance’s Numeric skate team.
Blind Skateboards converted Felipe Ortiz into a professional along with his own brand new signature model at Tampa Pro where it was announced that Cody McEntire has united with Blind as well. In relation to Blind, Jake Duncombe has been rumored to have secured a spot with Blind. Its been quoted from his personal Instagram feed, “Just want to thank everyone at Blind for helping me out for all those years and putting up with my shit and to let everyone know LE is my new family!!!”
In conclusion Mike York secured his place on the roster down at Blueprint along with Ingnacio Morata.
Josh has been tuning his skills over the past couple of years with a strong dedication and will to his craft. His talent definitely proves that hard work pays off and its obvious whenever he shreds. With that being said, Lifeblood Skateboards was more than grateful to proudly greet and welcome Josh to their own squad of skaters.
In this clip, Josh visited his friend Kevin Kowalski to his house that is highlighted with basically a private skatepark in his backyard. The two shredded the bowl while under the weather of the Oregon coast. After their session, they followed it up with another at Phil Tedder’s personal bowl before he made a trip back home the next day. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled because this kid has a few tricks up his sleeve and he definitely plans to reveal them!
How do you know when is the perfect time for a skater to turn pro? For starters, the skater has to completed such tasks as nailing a few video clips, covering a few articles in magazines and blogs, traveled with a few tours, made some shop appearances, and earned their stripes with a few contest winnings. Once that skater has done so, the skateboard industry would be sure to have a demand and desire for a few products with his name on it.
Well this years newest addition to the professional aspect of the skating industry is Element’s very own Evan Smith. His video entitled “The Evan Smith Experience drops this Thursday, March 21st along with his very first signature product.
In other news, skater Paul Zitzer has recently been added to Roger Skateboards. Paul Shier & Nick Jensen’s new skate company has publicized 5 of its 6 team skaters as of now. In addition to themselves of course, the squad features Tom Know of the UK, Sylvain Tognelli, along with Jon Nguyen. The question now is, who’s going to have the last slot?
Stereo Skateboards has officially added Ben Fisher to their squad of skaters. Chris Russell has been welcomed to the crew over at Creature and Nick Tucker recently enlisted with the Supra team.
Huf has been on a roll lately, and they’ve been popping out a few tricks to keep their streak alive. Well check out the newest collaboration from Huf and Magic Number.
HUF has recently combined forces with a heavy hitter from the far east. The brand is called Magic Number and they’ve created a collection with HUF that includes a number of co-branded hats as well as shirts. Magic Number combines the different aspects of street wear along with the aesthetic of board sports as well. The clash of cultures is the brainchild of Ryu Nakamuru who established Magic Number in 2008. The design that Magic Number provides is one to be called the “New Lifestyle” .
It appeals to both sides of the fence who prefer streetwear along with the individuals who take part in extreme sports in addition to everyone else in-between. The Huf x Magic Number Collab marks Magic Number’s fifth year anniversary along with Huf’s 10th year anniversary.
Meet Martine Johanna the newest member of the women’s artist series from OBEY. As a Amsterdam native she continues to push her experiences and influences from her surroundings into her art. She says she was born with the spirit of an artist, as soon as she could participate in anything artsy she would including drawing, storytelling, painting, to watching odd movies. At the young age of 19, Martine got accepted into the academy of arts in the city of Arnhem, Holland in the fashion department where she would later us that to good use.
She loved the whole aesthetic of designing and took a great deal of pleasure in her path of profession, but a part of her just couldn’t let go of her interest in drawings and enormous paper projects. So when post graduation came alongshe got a position as an all-over pattern designer and shortly thereafter became a womenswear designer for the street wear brand, Gsus-Sindustries.
She enjoyed her job, but her passion was dying to get out. While she was in Amsterdam she began to paint huge murals on building and met some incredible people while doing so. She in turn quit her day job and started to live for her passion. She began drawing and painting on a number of panels including canvas and wood.
As an artist for OBEY, she always maintained to explore the depths of a subject and equate it into a visual of her own understanding and perception. A major theme of the her collection within OBEY is that of American culture. She loves the U.S. and its history of odd events that led to the development of our country. A number of the aesthetics she wants to portray is the cult origin, urban legends, and beautiful scenery that grace the landscape. One of her designs is a double headed Eagle thats translates into the duality and balance within the American culture. Another piece is the flower girl that is a reflection of the time period before the Manson killings that tragically put an end to the morality of the sixties.
After a whole day of crappy weather and unruly skies, mother nature decided to let up and let Vans appropriately hold their Bowl-A-Rama Event and mystify everyone who came out to watch these incredible individuals showcase their talent.
The multi talented Pedro Barros and surprisingly young skater of 17 proved his worth with his incredible victory of 4 championships within this event. He pulled out a collective of tricks including high indy 540′s and a mean back tail slide that topped it off. Bucky Lasek did what he does best and shredded the bowl apart and snagged the 2nd place spot followed by another legend of Rune Gilfberg who took in 3rd. The Vans Bowl-A-Rama podium stood exactly how it did last year, same look and all.
Denmark’s native professional veteran Nicky Guerrero bullied Steve Caballero out of the way to capture and hold the Masters title with a great deal of consistency along with an innovative set skill of different stunts and tricks.
Final Results
Pros
1. Pedros Barros
2. Bucky Lasek
3. Rune Glifberg
4. Josh Stafford
5. Sam Beckett
6. Alex Sorgente
7. Brad McClain
8. Omar Hassan
9. Kalani David
10. Kevin Kowalski
Masters
1. Nicky Guerrero
2. Steve Caballero
3. Eddie Elguera
4. Pat Ngoho
5. Christian Hosoi
6. Mike McGill
7. Sergie Ventura
8. Adam Luxford
9. Lester Kasai
10. Jeff Grosso
If you didn’t get the chance to stop by at Huf’s booth this year at the Agenda Tradeshow then you missed out on a lot. Huf is just plain dope, they have a certain “#$%& it” attitude and it definitely shows through their pieces and their marketing scheme. To justify this statement take their plant life collection as an example, their all over weed print screams rebellion and goes against the grain. In the recent years marijuana has been decriminalized in a number of states including recreational and medical use, but thats not the case for the majority of the country and its citizens. Marijuana has been labeled as a drug in the past and its reputation hasn’t been one that appears to be glamorous, which leads Huf to portraying the bad boy image with its rebellious attitude.
Huf decided to pay homage to Los Angeles with a swap meet inspired booth at the Agenda Tradeshow after a bodega themed booth last year. The swap meet included a Martial Arts front, a Jewelry store, and a Gold Grill Dental booth that included a number of products like nun-chucks, ninja stars, du-rags, condoms, pendants, and Gold grill pictures. (Lol) But the main feature and highlight of the booth was the HUF embroidery machine, where they gave customers the opportunity to get custom embroidery through out the show.
While you’re here check out our selection of have right here at Stix!
As a pro skateboarder, theres a range of different aspects that the rest of us won’t be able to understand. The lifestyle of a professional skater includes a lifetime of handwork, dedication, broken bones, fulfillment, and honor. As admirers those are only some of the aspects we can imagine while theres a number of other demeanors that plays their part. One of the perks of being a professional skater is the sponsorships from the best brands and products within the market.
Take Nyjah Huston for example, due to his hard work and dedication to his love of skateboarding he’s been rewarded with the opportunity to be sponsored by brands such as Element Skateboards, Silver, FKD, Diamond Supply Company, Mob, DC Shoes, Monster, and Beats by Dre.
Some of his accomplishments are but not limited to an incredible 9 victories of Street League Championships in 2010 and 2012 and a Gold medal in 2011 and 2012 from the Dew Tour. He’s set the standard for skateboarding with amazing video clips in the release of his “Rise and Shine” video in 2011 along with the slew of rewards he’s been stacking up. His hard work is definitely paying off through his accomplishments and the interest of top brands such as DC and Monster. With all in all being said, the life of a professional skateboarder is all behind hard work and dedication.
In art there’s a number of components that tie into the piece, theres the color theory, matter, style, form, and technique. If you let the audience be aware of your style and content then you’ll reward them with a better understanding and appreciation for your art. If the idea of symbolism is apparent and knowledgable then the viewing experience can be more fulfilling and enriching with more intrigue to look further into the piece.
Theres a an infinite number of revered artists from the past, and their works of art and forever to be cherished. In our day, we have a number of artists that are to follow in the footsteps of the greats that influenced them. One of those artists is Shepard Fairey who is the creator of OBEY. His works of art can be seen across the globe from billboards and buildings to hoodies and t-shirts.
His new series of pieces will be based around a new style called diamond dust printing. Basically its the utilization of a floral type abstraction with the use of a visually enticing style that consist of black and white diamond dust. The new conception of diamond dust is plastered onto the surface of the print that creates a glistening and glamorous aesthetic to the piece. This style was more commonly used by Andy Warhol who used this method to intensify his work with a more stunning look. This style is consistent with Shepard’s intrigue in the use of seduction through marketing and branding.
