Sunday (Tuesday) 10/10/23
On Sundays I reflect.
I had some beers on our trip to Philly. It’s not that I wish I hadn’t, and nothing bad happened per se, but it’s better when I don’t drink.
Sorry this blog is late, I’ve been catching up on sleep and traveling since the first ever Philadelphia Cup Collectors Club at Ruckus Gallery.
Wow!
What a show!
This weekend was so much fun and I have so many people to thank. We have been talking about this show for around three years and watching it unfold this weekend was a real honor.
To Jesse from Ruckus: thank you for believing in my vision for so long. You were there next to me at Glass Vegas when I made a rush inside to buy the sippy cups Eusheen told me he had on his way in. You celebrated with me when you saw that I got them.
To Ashley from Ruckus: we couldn’t have produced this show without all of your hard work on the ground. You wrangled over 50 artists for our lineup and helped make sure they all got their cups to the gallery on time, and even accommodated the inevitable artists that showed up day of the show with their work. You brought amazing partners and sponsors and the presentation was gorgeous. It has been such a privilege to work with you on this show over the last few months.
To the team at Ruckus: thank you for helping with all the small details and making Saturday’s show such a success.
To our sponsors: Pizza Gutt sent Circles And Squares, Human Robot sent beers, Infused 610 had non-alcoholic drinks, and TrapSlaps PDX made custom stickers and signage. Lance Goldman came through with his custom leather creations including live demonstration. We appreciate all of your support.
To the artists: y’all are amazing! We had so many new artists in this show from our past lineups I even saw some things I’ve never seen before. So many of you came with original creations and I couldn’t even count how many artists showed up for the actual show. I was truly flattered.
And to our collectors: you are making this community so special just by showing up. You are carrying these artists through their ups and downs, and helping them keep their dreams alive.
We had a full house of people from many different walks of life. New connections were made, new work went into special collections, and people who had never even heard of this underground art scene experienced it for the first time when they happened to walk in off the street.
My team here in Colorado has been helping prepare for this show for weeks behind the scenes. NüBen came through with his family for setup and the show. As a young up and comer it’s good for him to be around the scene beyond my secluded studio in the mountains. I’m sure his head is full of ideas after the show, and it seemed like he was able to connect with artists and collectors from the East Coast.
Grace has been able to come to one of our shows in Denver as well as the Jake C Pints With Friends show a few weeks ago. This was her first real work trip with Drinking Vessels and she definitely earned a gold star, which is good because we have more trips coming up.
Grace and I left Vail for Denver on Thursday afternoon. We checked in with Eric before heading to The Portal to catch up with Icke and a few other artists. Rumor is that Icke and I might finish the collaboration we started four years ago this week.
My childhood friend and her husband came out to Colorado for their first time and we met for Uncle Ramen and got to spend some time catching up. It was hectic, but I’m so glad I was able to make time.
Eric brought Grace and I to the airport for an overnight red eye to Philly. I slept most of the way thankfully, and Grace got a little bit of rest. We were greeted by our good friend Taffy around 530 am who had also flown overnight from Denver with the mind blowing insulated cup he finished at the last minute with Avant-Garde. We made our way to breakfast only to discover there was nothing open. Philly before the sun comes up can be a bit of a scary place depending where you end up. We finally found breakfast at Bill’s Diner downtown before making our way to my dude Germ’s.
We made the terrifying trek through Kensington to Germ’s studio where he and Catfish Jawn got to work on their cups for the show (yes this was the day before the show) and Grace got in a little nap. I don’t have the time or energy to write about my thoughts and feelings pertaining to that neighborhood in depth, but I will say that every time I am there is a much needed reminder of how bad things can be and how badly our system is failing.
Then it was over to the gallery to help with setup where I ended up falling asleep for an hour myself. We checked into the BnB before making our way to the High Fructose show at Arch Enemy Gallery with Jag, Stylie, and Mars. The show was quite impressive and I was most interested to notice what was selling or had sold in a sector of the art market peripheral to our scene. We bumped into a few other artists before heading over to Front Street (formerly Krushmore) and even popped into the El Bar for nostalgia sake.
Saturday was show day beginning with lunch at Middle Child with my friend Whiskey Craig from NYC. By the time we got to the gallery most of the cups were displayed with name and price tags so we got to have a relaxing afternoon before the chaos.
By 6 pm when doors opened the gallery upstairs was full. Our VIP clients came out early and made their selections, a few of which were cups I was considering buying for my own personal collection. My fully worked solo cup got selected by a long time client who was unable to attend last minute. I can’t really express with words what an honor it is to have my work sell among such an impressive showing of work from artists I have looked up to for a decade.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised by how many cups sold the night of the show. We were so busy in the gallery that I only had time to live stream for a few minutes but for all of you that couldn’t make it we will have the remaining work live on the Ruckus website very soon and feel free to send an Instagram DM to @ruckusgallery to inquire about any of the remaining work in the meantime. There are definitely some special gems still available including one of my solo compositon notebook fumers, some SALT, and more!
Thank you again so much to everyone who made this possible. We can’t wait to do this show again with Ruckus in the future and now we’re all prepping for the next Cup Collector’s Club in Miami this December during Basel.
Sunday Grace and I made a quick trip to the Barnes Museum, a private collection of the Impressionists paintings. I was a bit distracted and overwhelmed, so I’ll plan to go back. I wish we had more time there but am so appreciative to the friends who suggested it.
Now we’re back in Colorado getting ready for the Spooky Season Drop with Truchalk happening this Sunday so mark your calendars. There will be six spooky solos, a collaboration with me, and another with Flex coming in hot this Sunday here on the website.
The last thing I want to share here today before I make my way to the studio is about the war going on in the Middle East. My thoughts are with the people that are being oppressed, and with the people suffering at the hands of terrorism. The situation is so complicated. It is not as clear as the media makes it out to be. To all the new experts in this field spewing their thoughts of hate towards both sides, I ask you to practice compassion. There is blame on both sides. There have been atrocities from both sides. I pray there can be a peaceful solution soon.
BB
I had some beers on our trip to Philly. It’s not that I wish I hadn’t, and nothing bad happened per se, but it’s better when I don’t drink.
Sorry this blog is late, I’ve been catching up on sleep and traveling since the first ever Philadelphia Cup Collectors Club at Ruckus Gallery.
Wow!
What a show!
This weekend was so much fun and I have so many people to thank. We have been talking about this show for around three years and watching it unfold this weekend was a real honor.
To Jesse from Ruckus: thank you for believing in my vision for so long. You were there next to me at Glass Vegas when I made a rush inside to buy the sippy cups Eusheen told me he had on his way in. You celebrated with me when you saw that I got them.
To Ashley from Ruckus: we couldn’t have produced this show without all of your hard work on the ground. You wrangled over 50 artists for our lineup and helped make sure they all got their cups to the gallery on time, and even accommodated the inevitable artists that showed up day of the show with their work. You brought amazing partners and sponsors and the presentation was gorgeous. It has been such a privilege to work with you on this show over the last few months.
To the team at Ruckus: thank you for helping with all the small details and making Saturday’s show such a success.
To our sponsors: Pizza Gutt sent Circles And Squares, Human Robot sent beers, Infused 610 had non-alcoholic drinks, and TrapSlaps PDX made custom stickers and signage. Lance Goldman came through with his custom leather creations including live demonstration. We appreciate all of your support.
To the artists: y’all are amazing! We had so many new artists in this show from our past lineups I even saw some things I’ve never seen before. So many of you came with original creations and I couldn’t even count how many artists showed up for the actual show. I was truly flattered.
And to our collectors: you are making this community so special just by showing up. You are carrying these artists through their ups and downs, and helping them keep their dreams alive.
We had a full house of people from many different walks of life. New connections were made, new work went into special collections, and people who had never even heard of this underground art scene experienced it for the first time when they happened to walk in off the street.
My team here in Colorado has been helping prepare for this show for weeks behind the scenes. NüBen came through with his family for setup and the show. As a young up and comer it’s good for him to be around the scene beyond my secluded studio in the mountains. I’m sure his head is full of ideas after the show, and it seemed like he was able to connect with artists and collectors from the East Coast.
Grace has been able to come to one of our shows in Denver as well as the Jake C Pints With Friends show a few weeks ago. This was her first real work trip with Drinking Vessels and she definitely earned a gold star, which is good because we have more trips coming up.
Grace and I left Vail for Denver on Thursday afternoon. We checked in with Eric before heading to The Portal to catch up with Icke and a few other artists. Rumor is that Icke and I might finish the collaboration we started four years ago this week.
My childhood friend and her husband came out to Colorado for their first time and we met for Uncle Ramen and got to spend some time catching up. It was hectic, but I’m so glad I was able to make time.
Eric brought Grace and I to the airport for an overnight red eye to Philly. I slept most of the way thankfully, and Grace got a little bit of rest. We were greeted by our good friend Taffy around 530 am who had also flown overnight from Denver with the mind blowing insulated cup he finished at the last minute with Avant-Garde. We made our way to breakfast only to discover there was nothing open. Philly before the sun comes up can be a bit of a scary place depending where you end up. We finally found breakfast at Bill’s Diner downtown before making our way to my dude Germ’s.
We made the terrifying trek through Kensington to Germ’s studio where he and Catfish Jawn got to work on their cups for the show (yes this was the day before the show) and Grace got in a little nap. I don’t have the time or energy to write about my thoughts and feelings pertaining to that neighborhood in depth, but I will say that every time I am there is a much needed reminder of how bad things can be and how badly our system is failing.
Then it was over to the gallery to help with setup where I ended up falling asleep for an hour myself. We checked into the BnB before making our way to the High Fructose show at Arch Enemy Gallery with Jag, Stylie, and Mars. The show was quite impressive and I was most interested to notice what was selling or had sold in a sector of the art market peripheral to our scene. We bumped into a few other artists before heading over to Front Street (formerly Krushmore) and even popped into the El Bar for nostalgia sake.
Saturday was show day beginning with lunch at Middle Child with my friend Whiskey Craig from NYC. By the time we got to the gallery most of the cups were displayed with name and price tags so we got to have a relaxing afternoon before the chaos.
By 6 pm when doors opened the gallery upstairs was full. Our VIP clients came out early and made their selections, a few of which were cups I was considering buying for my own personal collection. My fully worked solo cup got selected by a long time client who was unable to attend last minute. I can’t really express with words what an honor it is to have my work sell among such an impressive showing of work from artists I have looked up to for a decade.
Honestly, I was a bit surprised by how many cups sold the night of the show. We were so busy in the gallery that I only had time to live stream for a few minutes but for all of you that couldn’t make it we will have the remaining work live on the Ruckus website very soon and feel free to send an Instagram DM to @ruckusgallery to inquire about any of the remaining work in the meantime. There are definitely some special gems still available including one of my solo compositon notebook fumers, some SALT, and more!
Thank you again so much to everyone who made this possible. We can’t wait to do this show again with Ruckus in the future and now we’re all prepping for the next Cup Collector’s Club in Miami this December during Basel.
Sunday Grace and I made a quick trip to the Barnes Museum, a private collection of the Impressionists paintings. I was a bit distracted and overwhelmed, so I’ll plan to go back. I wish we had more time there but am so appreciative to the friends who suggested it.
Now we’re back in Colorado getting ready for the Spooky Season Drop with Truchalk happening this Sunday so mark your calendars. There will be six spooky solos, a collaboration with me, and another with Flex coming in hot this Sunday here on the website.
The last thing I want to share here today before I make my way to the studio is about the war going on in the Middle East. My thoughts are with the people that are being oppressed, and with the people suffering at the hands of terrorism. The situation is so complicated. It is not as clear as the media makes it out to be. To all the new experts in this field spewing their thoughts of hate towards both sides, I ask you to practice compassion. There is blame on both sides. There have been atrocities from both sides. I pray there can be a peaceful solution soon.
BB
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