A Letter to Keith Haring on his birthday (2015)

 DEAR KEITH 

Back in the 80s you were one of the very few American artists that I looked up to, held my interest, and cared to know about. Maybe it was just easy to to connect with your visual messages and expressions. They were always bold, fun, fresh, immediate and primal. Every piece was an adventure; you painted with no preliminary sketches or plan. You did it, shared it...and traveled the world.

Keith Haring Documentary: https://youtu.be/GPlzHR_WyVA

Keith Haring - CBS News: https://youtu.be/W04j0Je01wQ

Back then I was a young man, stuck; still "California Dreaming" of starting a life in NYC, until the day I did it, and announced to my parents I was moving to the Big Apple. To this day, I try to imagine the "petri dish" that East Village life probably was, and flashback to the "raw & edgy" NYC you infused with your energy, artistry and vision. I was situated far from it, but wanted to be in it, if not close to it one day.

Luckily for me on the West Coast your rocket soared. Sought after by the media and popular culture, you became the prized prince of mass/pop art. Your art was everywhere - in print, public service announcements, t-shirts, baseball caps, headbands, AIDS awareness posters. Exposed also were your celebrity stints with Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Madonna and Grace Jones, just to name a few.

It is what I felt that seemed most important to you: connecting with everyday people. People who used the subways; people who walked the streets. You communicated thru your art: thought provoking visuals, playful sexuality, political statements, ideas and life affirmations. You pushed into the everyday, serious issues, at the same time, not taking yourself too seriously. You understood the power of these day-to-day connections and you embraced it...made it easy for us to swallow. You shared wholeheartedly; expressed fearlessly. I did not dream of being a street artist. What you did was help me to realize that I had to pursue a dream that would allow me to express myself creatively.

By the time I moved to New York City in 1991...we had already lost you to AIDS at age 31. Some of your street art was still present on bldg. walls (maybe even today) and your Pop Shop (for the world) was still open for business. It would have been amazing to have seen you evolve as an artist. Who knows? I could have come upon you at some random moment, on some random street or subway passage, discovering you passionately at work. Looking back. Your life, as spontaneous as your work, seemed like a fleeting moment, we wish had no end.

Thank you for inspiring courage in the young lost naive gay boy I was, struggling to be alright with his sexuality. Because of you, it was A-OK to be myself, to be different, from somewhere else, in a big city of dreamers and do-ers. You were definitely a role model at a time we had less role models and needed them the most. SO MANY...gay men losing lives and those living, pre-occupied with surviving. You faced your AIDS bravely. You made a difference!

I'm decades older, but you still inspire me to be better; to dig deeper. Definitely a long way to go with some artistic dreams still unrealized here. I look to your "radiant baby" now, as a call to action, a constant vibrating birthing of new ideas.

Happy Birthday Keith

I know you're out there!

I.O.U. rodrigo

Keith Haring Documentary: https://youtu.be/GPlzHR_WyVA
Keith Haring - CBS News: https://youtu.be/W04j0Je01wQ

THE MAKING OF > > > WALKING NEW YORK

This has to be the most awesome cover concept I have seen in a long while...

and it's REAL (no photoshop). Major thumbs up...and truly inspiring!

This begins my journey into the sphere of blogs!

Created by the French Artist JR.

check out the video:

http://nyti.ms/1PnH5I4

5 months into 2015! How to resurrect this blog??? Stay Tuned!

I'm looking to return here and use it as a space for collecting creative thoughts,

initiatives and writings. Most important, I think I will start to use this space to write about personal experiences, what inspires me, moves my soul, guides me to more artistic pursuits,

and most exciting what will lead me to collaboration with other artists, poets and designers.

I am already collecting images for a painting...

a self-portrait is what I had in mind. God knows I have stories to tell.

23rd & Broadway on a recent foggy night...

Rodrigo Peña Loves a Brooklyn Diner!

It's been almost a year since my last entry...and here I am. Was at a Brooklyn Diner last week with friends "born and raised" in these parts. They've taught me a thing or two about the REAL New York. Pastrami, Egg Creams and Cannoli just to name a few! Oh, and let's not forget about the local bagels...AND a smear! I'm back in Brooklyn, living here, working for myself...and have a few website and apparel projects in the works.

I'm still doing website work for the Heights Chateau Wine & Spirits shop...it's been quite a year of learning about eCommerce, but we're still doing it..so my partner Robert and I must be doing something right! Stay Tuned...I'm hoping to keep this updated with "inspirations for my motivations" more regularly.

The first half of 2010 had me involved in another business venture, this time with two other partners—a story that is best not told about here, and forgotten. The experience left me with a least a couple of years of what I might have learned in any reputable business school and I spent practically nothing for it, except for the long hours I put into setting up and managing a small retail store in an urban area. No easy feat when you are doing most of it yourself. Sales, Marketing, Design and a website that was created and never launched. The School of Hard Knox...is truly the best and fastest way to learn. Luckily, I had my freelance work to fall back on, and by 2011 I plan to be back on track pursuing what I started in 2007. I'm collaborating with some other interested parties and designing t-shirts again! When the projects have developed a bit...I'll have more news! 'Til then, wake up each day and just do your best..always!

Addendum in 2015:
I ultimatley said good-bye to the t-shirts! I have evolved and focusing on other creative pursuits...besides H&M and URBAN OUTFITTERS...just to name a couple are distribuing more t-shirts world-wide at less than $15 a shirt sometimes...really!....who can compete with that?...LOL.

It's November! And I'm designing websites & newsletters for a Brooklyn Heights Wine store!

It's been a rough and tumble time since my last entry. I have to admit I was on survival mode in the first part of the year, with my freelance gigs drying up. Somehow, I got thru it, and things are somewhat moving again in NYC...Amongst other projects that have miraculously fallen into my lap, I'm upgrading a website for the coolest wine store in Brooklyn Heights, Heights Chateau, Fine Wines & Spirits. They've been around since 1986....I was just a sophomore at UC Berkeley. Don't count the years back!

This store has it all...wines and the best selection of liquor. I will be moving back to Brooklyn soon enough. After living and working in Manhattan all these years since being a grad student at Pratt...it's going to be interesting re-settling back into Brooklyn. I'll be living in the deepest part of Brooklyn to take a breather from Manhattan...at least for the next 6-8 months. Bridge and Tunnel..here I am.

Anyway, I have no excuses...just trying to get back on solid ground. I'm going back to designing T-SHIRTs in the New Year 2010. What I learned, and didn't kill me from 2007-2008 only made me stronger! The biker shows I took part in, and sold shirts thru, won't be forgotten.

Check out my work on:

http://www.HeightsChateau.com

And if you're in the area...subscribe to our newsletter...designed by Rodrick NY...LOL!

Check out the Heights Chateau November 2009 Newsletter...and order the perfect Thanksgiving Wines to accompany your turkeys:

http://www.heightschateau.com/news/200911/index.html

who knows...I see Wine Store T-Shirts in my future!

air brushing and screen printing know-how - holding on and moving on

The last several months I've been mostly researching screen printing equipment. A friend made me realize that air brushing shirts with stencils was also another way to create cool shirts.

I bought a screen printing press, but I have a couple more important pieces of equipment to add to it, before I even begin to buy the supplies like ink, emulsion and screen mesh fabric. I flash back to the photography (dark room) class I took in high school...still exposing screens, and washing them down...who knew?

I have to say the idea of doing all this myself...is a major motivator...it's just the dollars keeping me from moving forward as fast as I want.

Meanwhile, I got my air brush to work. Now, I'm going to start with stencils to practice on first. With airbrushing its all about ink flow, distance and pressure to create the thin and thick lines. I need practice to get my artistic "groove" back.

Looking back to last year...I really did learn a lot about myself and business, as painful as it was to go thru. In the end, I can say I did it. Two event shows later and some leftover shirts to get rid of...I'm getting back on the bike, this time more gradually. The hands-on aspect of creating the shirts myself...and the reward of knowing I will have screen printed my own designs...even if it's only a motivating factor now, makes it all worth it.

My buddy, Oscar, the graffiti artist, is selling his shirts on the west coast as REVEL BRAND.He's partnering with RODRICK NY to get those shirts into stores. You'll see him back in NYC next January 2010...when we do our next big show.

I've been approached by another artist, looking to get back into his graffiti art that could take part in our next show, as well. I'm hopeful, we'll all come together by the end of summer, to organize something really cool...cool art, cool shirts. Check back in a couple weeks!

RODRICK NY