F6 Group Art Show @ Cut Salon in Fort Worth March 31st

Not the same ol' warehouse, but still the same great group of artists.  The next F6 art show is this month at Cut Salon on Jennings in Fort Worth.  A great selection of artists, live music, live dj's and even our friends at Rahr Beer are coming out.  Come out and celebrate Good Times... and Kevin's Birthday!

I not only wanted to help get the word out about this show, but also to show my appreciation for a good friend who has literally opened his doors to the art community.  Anthony (owner of Cut) is such a great guy for letting us use his salon for art shows time and time again.  Not every business owner takes such risks as to letting artists take over their walls and throw an art show.  Anthony has opened his salon space to myself among other local artists for years now to display art work.  Another great outlet at which artists may have a place to express themselves through their art..  Anthony, thank you!  I can't leave out Anthony's salon crew.  His staff is very friendly and always on point!  If you need a trim, cut, color, perm, cornrows or just a new friend to drink with, check these guys out!

F6 art show in Fort Worth March 31st @ Cut Salon

 

Anthony and I at Cut during another F6 Show

Third exclusive t-shirt: Honeycomb Train white T

7.99 price for 1 week!

3rd limited edition t-shirt!  The Honeycomb Train.  Full color print on white cotton short sleeve. s-m-L-XL & 2XL.  Limited to 50.  Each shirt is individually numbered.  The first week, shirts will be offered for only 7.99.  Starting the 8th day, the price will then be 11.99

Click on the store link and get yours now!  Free stickers with every shirt!

Limited edition t-shirt #2

The 2nd shirt releases today!  "Mike's Punch" Limited to only 50 shirts each numbered on white cotton short sleeve T.  Available in s,m,L,xL,2xL

Early bird price for first week = $14.99  / after that = $21.99

Magnolia at the Modern

Kevin Clash: The voice and hand behind Elmo.

 Last night I went to the Modern in Fort Worth to see one of many films and documentaries they show every month.  Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey was playing.  The film was about a man named Kevin Clash. He is the puppeteer and voice actor of not only Elmo, but a slew of other puppets.  His journey started with a love for the Sesame Street and the Muppet Show which led to his own puppet creations.  He started having his own shows in his parents back yard for neighborhood kids which later turned into bigger shows at the local park.  He was fortunate enough to meet Kermit Love, a puppet builder for Sesame Street. Kermit showed Kevin a great number of technical building skills and pointers with puppeteering.  After that point, his career took off with shows including Captain Kangaroo and The Great Space Coaster.  This later led to a career with Jim Hensen and Frank Oz on the set of Sesame Street.  He also was in such shows/movies as The Labyrinth, TMNT, Dog City, Dinosaurs and tons more.  Something that stuck with me about the film was the story behind Elmo.  The puppet had already existed and was used by another puppeteer who did not care for it.  Elmo had a raspy voice and not a lot of personality.  One day in a break room, Elmo was tossed over to Kevin and said "here, see if you can figure something out."  He took the puppet home and thought about the purpose Elmo would have; it's story.  He finally came up with the idea that Elmo represented love.  He would hug and kiss everyone all the time.  Since no other muppet had that over caring personality, Jim let him try it out.  It was a huge success.  Now Elmo is the loving and popular character we all know today.  I'm sure each puppet is some kind of extension from the actual puppeteer which says a lot about Kevin.  He seems like a very caring and artistic person, just like Jim Hensen.  I'm sure Jim would be very proud of what Kevin has become and represents.    

2.22.2012

If you would like to sign up or signed up in the past for free art goodies at www.nickckirk.com, send me your name, address and preferred email to nickckirk@yahoo.com with the phrase "sign me up" in the title. I am reworking my website and... lost some of the current names and emails from my catalog. This will also put you on a mailing list for freebies, exclusives, discounts and updates on new shows and products. The 1st and 13th person to sign up gets this t-shirt s-L for FREE!

This shirt will be available in the store later this week. Limited to 50.

Fashion Rip.  Limited to 50. Each #'d.

Mid February California Trip

I just got back in from a week's trip to California.  I mainly visited parts of L.A, Santa Monica, Culver City, Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Redondo and Hermosa Beach.  No, I didn't loose wallet in El Segundo, I did that in Fort Worth the day before I left town.  Luckily I had a passport to be able to hop on the plane.  
Unfortunately a lot of the galleries were closed because of President's Day, but I checked out quite a few of my favorite brand shops: The Hundreds, Johnny Cupcake, Kidrobot, Toki Doki, Stussy, Vans, Diamond Supply, Undefeated, Active and multi shops like Fred Segal's, shoe and record shops.  One of the most exciting surprises was at the Stussy shop on La Brea.  It sported murals by two of my favorites: Brain Donnelly aka KAWS and Todd James aka REAS.

KAWS in LA @ Stussy on La Brea

KAWS in LA @ Stussy on La Brea

REAS in LA @ Stussy on La Brea

And of course I had to take a few pictures of the Shepard aka OBEY mural wrapping the parking garage near bye.  It was a busy day so I had to climb a tree to get a decent photo of the front over traffic.  Plus the nice box truck driver who stopped for a few seconds to let me snap a few shots.  thanks!

OBEY in LA mural on La Brea

OBEY in LA mural on La Brea

Local OBEY upkeep in LA

When I walked in the alley to photograph some details, there was a man cleaning up his home where some graff writers had tagged.  He was covering up a small obey stencil with newspaper to paint over the black graffiti next to it.  I stopped and talked with the man and he explained how he met Shepard while he painted the huge mural on the neighboring parking garage.  He told me how he invited Shep into his home and as a gift, Shepard painted a small stencil on his home facing the parking garage.  Phillip, the man painting, said how Shepard used to graffiti this parking garage for years time and time again in the past and how the garage was deteriorating and becoming an eyesore until Shepard came in and made it pleasing again with the mural.  (I still laugh when I hear stories like this.  Artists invited in and/or getting paid to come paint on a venue where they have been throwing up illegal street art for years)

Overall it was a great trip and will definitely go back to Cali soon.

 

FREE ART, PRINTS, SHIRTS, STICKERS AND MORE.

Subscribe to my free email updates and win free NICK C. KIRK art related goods!  The first and 15th day of every month I will randomly choose a subscriber and ship you items for absolutely free.  It may be the newest limited edition shirt off the presses, collectible stickers, prints, or even an original piece of art!  You don't even have to pay shipping!  I will soon be selling t-shirts and stickers of my work starting in the next two weeks.  Shirts will be limited editions of 50.  Stickers will be limited to 500 each.  Prints will be limited to 25-100 each.  The best part of the give-a-ways is that your name stays in the drawing pot even if you win.  So you can win again and again.  You won't be bombarded with unwanted emails every day.  On average I send out an update once every week or two with the latest upcoming gallery shows and products.  Subscribers will also receive exclusive discounts on the website as well as other promotions.  Just go to the bottom of my website www.nickckirk.com and enter your email address in the designated box and click submit.