Spring Fling

It's been busy. First of all, I was honored – and I never thought I'd be honored with anything – to paint a giant dance slipper for Saratoga En Pointe, along with 23 other local artists and friends. My piece was titled En Pointe Phife? and will be permanently displayed in lovely downtown Saratoga, in front of Witt Construction's office. And when I say permanently, in Saratoga that usually means until some drunk person decides to knock it over at 3 AM. This thing spent three months in our living room collecting paint. Here I am saying goodbye to it at the National Museum of Dance. Thanks to Charlie for helping me design some of the characters, which admittedly are way radder than mine.

En Pointe Benj? All the time, Tip.

I also just wrapped up a solo show at my friends' Pink Raven Tattoo studio, which was awesome. I have some unsold pieces from that, which are shown here. See below, and e-fax me if you're interested!

Straight Outta Compton / 24"x12" / $120.00

 Wayne's World / 24"x12" / $120.00

Until next time...

New Year, More Art

Hey! Long time, no?

Sooooo......I have some new pieces up at Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga this month and next, with my friend Mike Conlin from Straight Crooked. Mike is an awesome designer and old school sign painter, so be sure to check out his stuff because it's surely unique to the area. Right now he is working on some murals at 42 Degrees in Glens Falls and also Spot Coffee in Saratoga. As for me, I have a couple series of new little paintings that I will be showing at Uncommon Grounds and other various places between now and May. Some of them look like this:

And some of them look like this:

And some of them might even look like this:

All of these are for sale in the 100-dollar range, so hit me up, holla, IM, PM, txt, get at me, fax, phone, or yell at me if you're interested in the goods. Until then, keep it awesome!

Get A Grip 3 and On Deck

I've been getting my art groove on again lately, and recently submitted some hand-painted skate decks to a couple of upstate art shows - Get A Grip 3 in Rochester, and On Deck here in Saratoga which was curated by my wife Belinda Colón and featured more than 70 artists. This kind of show has been happening more and more frequently in upstate New York, where there is an increasing need for decent skateparks despite an overall lack of funding to create them.

Both shows were geared towards raising money for creating and/or improving local skateparks and had great turnouts and fundraising results. On Deck continues as an online auction until March 23rd here, so take a look and bid on your favorite deck!

This is the crowd from the opening night of On Deck. It was an amazing turnout!

It's ON!

Greetings! A couple of new paintings below:



It's ON | 12" x 18" | $120


We've Got Your Back | 12" x 18" | $120

Hope you all are having a good Spring! Remember to eat all the pizza you can...It's the best way to get ready for a sizzlin' summer. Until next time...On and on 'till the break of dawn!

-Benj

Stoked on Stoked

The Stoked 2 silent deck art auction at Art OMI was a big success. I was really impressed with the effort and enthusiasm people had for their projects, the event, and the proposed skatepark in Chatham.



I liked this guy Chris Stain's deck. Combo stencil, spraypaint and screenprinting.


I also liked my friend Ryan Blessing' bird deck.


And speaking of birds, this person made a birdhouse. Super creative...Lots of people were into this one. Photo: Jamie Kennard



And there's mine up top, giving love (and art) a bad name. Ha.



Jamie and Tracy came out from Woodstock! Always awesome to see these kids.



And the organizers - Mr. Kris Qua (L) and Shari Franks (R). Can't thank them enough for the opportunity and for throwing such an awesome gathering.

Here are a few pieces I did about a year ago...These are for sale, so please contact me if you want to hang a piece of plywood in your living room.

Living Off the Land | 12" x 24" | $60

You are Awesome | 12" x 24" | $60

Look What the Cat Dragged In | 12" x 24" | $60

Peas & Carrots | 12" x 24" | $60

Getting Stoked

Hi everyone, and sorry for the lack of updates lately! Belinda, Charlie and I welcomed a new baby into our life back in November, and I took a break from painting for awhile...So my first new project is this skate deck I did for Stoked 2, a silent deck art auction happening at Art Omi in Ghent, NY on March 27th. 75 artists will be showing, and benefits from the auction will go towards building the Chatham Skatepark.


Here is a flier for the event...Come out if you can!


...Later.

Harvesting the goods

Happy fall, everybody. This year I am participating in Grand St. Arts' Boarded Up! exhibit again. This painting is currently slapped onto one of the exterior windows of their space in Albany, along with paintings by a bunch of other local artists. It's a cool exhibit, and great to be a part of an organization that has brought a lot to one of Albany's lower income communities.
The New Mayor | 36" x 48" | Acrylic on Wood Panel

This show will be up for a few months, and then the pieces will be auctioned off at the exhibit's closing party during the winter. Captain Capitol!



I also have three pieces in the Pink Nightmare show that opens this Saturday in Boston, at Orchard Skate Shop. This is a group show featuring a slew of my Silly Pink Bunny friends, and is being curated by Isaac McKay Randozzi, whose photos you should check out. If you are near Mission Hill this Saturday night, stop by the Orchard Shop at 1625 Tremont St. Get some!

Unleashing the Funk

Like Jane's Addiction said back in high school, summertime rolls and with that I am rolling out some new paintings, below. I also have a little show happening at Hair Art Salon and Spa here in downtown Saratoga, so come check it out if you are in town and maybe get that mullet trimmed down while you're at it. New stuff is in the works as always, so stay tuned...Check out the blog for stuff that's still available...And as always, get awesome!

ZX-7 | 8" x 10" | $60


R42 | 8" x 10" | $60


5:J5 | 8" x 10" | $60


I'll Be Back | 8" x 10" | SOLD

Early Bird

Just finished painting these two cabinet doors for my cousins Boo and Kim. I have been really into drawing birds lately, maybe because it's finally warm enough outside that they actually show up in my yard. More birds to come on GTA in the next few weeks!

Roc City

If you are in the Rochester area this week, be sure to check out the latest edition of CITY, who hired me to do two illustrations for their issue announcing this year's Rochester Jazz Festival. Had a lot of fun working on these, and more of the imagery can be seen on their site.

Donuts vs. Nachos

Both are awesome. Who's hungry?

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Life has been busy, but good, and I've probably been spending more time outside than inside painting. Below are some pieces I did a few months back. These are currently on display at the Flavour Cafe in Troy, but available for sale.


I Make Donuts | 24" x 6" | $120




I Make Nachos | 24" x 6" | $120

Also a final thanks to Erich Lehman, Surface Salon and 1975 for hosting my show in Rochester the last few months. I managed to sell a couple things, but more importantly played a small part in a great up-and-coming art community. New stuff is in the works, so keep your internet turned on. Who's bad.

Hotheaded

This is another piece on display at the Sixes & Sevens show in Rochester. Hotheaded is for sale and ready to heat up your living room! Hope you all are having a great start to Spring.

Stop...Hammer time!

Hotheaded | 14" x 48" | $300