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

An UPLIFTING New York City subway story....

Not sure how this relates to apparel, but there's an idea here somewhere...divine inspiration I suppose! Courage "on the go" and the Humility to just "walk away".

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/nyregion/18subway.html?hp

photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

inspiring images and art from my trip to manila & hong kong, Feb/March 2009

As promised I'm back here to write a little something about these images from my last trip to Manila and Hong Kong. Dismal as the winter was in NYC, it was a no-brainer to decide that I leave for Asia to secure some part-time consulting work and also spend some quality time with my parents in Manila. I spotted this really arresting billboard walking the hilly streets near the LKF area in Hong Kong. I just love the whole concept for the ad. I have always thought about doing a line of tees for the urban set in Manila, and these type tees just reminded me of that.

In Manila, I also got a chance to finally be taken around to some art galleries where I could view the works of emerging contemporary filipino artists. My cousin Mikki and her husband Mike made sure to lead me to the best gallery spots; I even got to meet some of the artists in person. The subject matter of the two paintings I include here intrigue me, because they remind me of the huge economic disparity and social extremes that exist in the Philippines, and yet there is an optimism that has always prevailed in the spirit of the people: life goes on. I will have to sort out the artist names, and give credit where it is due here, but take a look at these paintings. Thanks.

the art underground, literally

After our 2008 shows, I've not gone back to designing more t-shirt graphics just yet...but I always draw daily inspiration from the NYC streets and the underground world of teeming wildlife that lives below it.

If you take the NYC subway, you might have seen the works of a guy infamously known as, Poster Boy, by the police who are trying to track him down. I love collage-mixed media, but this guy definitly takes it to a whole new level...underground actually. He's a modern-day de-constructivist with a message...an urban poet of sorts.

Click on the You Tube link below if you're curious about his undercover work. Or find the video entitled: Spending Time With Poster Boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21iVQ0iXs00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP1hXTlQXhc&eurl=http://scarybunnies.com/category/arts/

what I'm lookin at today...01.26.09

FIVE POINTZ - GRAFITTI ART by REVEL for RODRICK NY

We spent over three hours today in 15-20 degree temperatures atop a building in Long Island City, NY, right off the 7 train to Queens...it was the most unadulterated fun I'd had in years. Thanks REVEL for taking part at our RODRICK NY shows, and for taking me to new heights....rodrigo

INTERNATIONAL MOTORCYCLE SHOW NYC

We kicked off the year..with a successful show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Last year, we've designed shirts with bikers in mind. We met a lot of really great people...got constructive feedback from both attendees and exhibitors.

Our West Coast shows at the end of 2008 did not exactly meet our expectations, we had not planned on the downed economy to hit so drastically. We persevered, and the shows did go on, setting the stage for a really rockin' debut in NYC! 

REVEL's on-the-scene custom air-brush artistry and t-shirts really helped us stand out from the pack against the mostly 70's rock we had playing in the background.

We were invited to a couple 2009 summer bike shows in Laconia, NH and a poker run in Orange County, NY, and made some really good connections...we just might show up! Definitely, with new t-shirt designs to add to the mix.

Here are just some pics from the NYC show...put our shirts on, get on your bike, post your comments or send us your pics...not neccessarily in that order.

Thanks All for a Great Time > BIKERS ROCK!