Before Facebook-ers were rolling in the benjamins, they were getting their paint on with us, at 1AM.

Despite the speculation that most of Facebookers new found wealth will be used to start new businesses or drive the real estate prices to even more astronomical levels in the Bay, we hope that they continue to stay creative and support the urban arts.  Having commissioned murals by David Choe and Jet Martinez adorning their office walls and graffiti workshops as their corporate offsite, makes Facebook-ers super cool in our book, regardless of their millions.

Congratulations to Facebook!  You lucky bastards.

Interested in a private workshop? Contact classes@1amsf.com.

Interested in taking a class? Contact classes@1AMSF.com or click here! Check out our Art of Graffiti 1.0 class happening tomorrow!

"Vigilant" by Emerson Tung

“Art is: the language of the universe. The universe doesn’t speak English or any foreign language, it speaks ART.” – Karlo Santa Ana
“Art is: ideas of beauty manifested in physical forms.” – Emerson Tung
“Art is: everywhere” – James Garcia
“To quote Christopher De Leon ‘Keep doing you.’ In other words stay honest to your work.” – James Garcia

Check out the sneak peek of our next show: “MOST WANTED: Behind the Hype”

For more information, visit www.kashink.com

“YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING, YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY ANYTHING OR OWN ANYTHING BECAUSE REALLY, YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU.”

Encountering this quote by JR during his interview with Kristin Farr from Juxtapoz, it triggered a memory:

It was summer, 2008, I was young and just realizing that parentheses around your bank account balance meant you were in the negative. Being the independent type, it was an embarrassing tragedy; I was $40 dollars in debt and I hadn’t started my new job yet. It became apparent that I would, begrudgingly, have to ask my father for money and use my rolled quarters to pay for gas.

Without a breath of thought he said, “Of course! You only need $40?”

“Yes, and I’ll pay you back as soon as you can.” What he said next I’ll never forget, perhaps because of the simplicity of the statement and the fact that it was a real piece of advice from my Dad: ”Maya, you can’t take it with you when you go. So don’t worry about it.”

So here I am, the same advice hits me on the page 72 of the Juxtapoz magazine but this time by the “photograffeur,” social activist and
street artist JR. Street artists may not be many people’s first idea for advice, but it goes to show: don’t let pride or judgement blind you from the wisdom of some smart folk who’ve lived a life. JR goes on to say:

“Never making a plan, that’s one thing I’ve learned… I used to be scared of what’s next, what’s the next project, but I’m not anymore. I realize a project fully and see if there’s another one, and that’s it.” (page 72, Juxtapoz).

JR talks with the same candid simplicity as my father: straining out all clumps of human drama and worry. I admire this ability and as I apply it in my own life, the part of me that worries and laments over fictitious, tragic scenarios starts to lose its footing.

Why worry about a future that isn’t here yet?  Focus on “realizing a project fully,” being prepared and applying your efforts to something with value and integrity. It’s great to see this happening in the street and urban art world by individuals such as JR and being exposed to the public through media threads like Juxtapoz. I’m glad 1AM can be a part of it!

We just got a new shipment of fun things to play with. We’ve never carried some of these items before, so come check out our fully stocked cases and find something you like!

"At the Epoch of Eras: Utopian Marketplace" by Eve Skylar

“‘Broken’ and ‘hope’ are the two strong words to describe the Rusted Souls’ world: broken robots, broken people, broken ideals, and the thing that persevered was the people’s hope for the future.”  -Eve Skylar

Eve Skylar, one of our featured artists and top-sellers from the current exhibition, gave us some comical and in-depth answers during her interview:

Can you talk a little bit about your work in this exhibit and how it relates to “The Rusted Souls“?

When James proposed “The Rusted Souls” as a concept art themed show, I was thrilled to see how the different worlds might look like: totalitarian, utopian, and dystopian states. Having worked as a production designer and concept artist on
animated films, I tend to see paintings through the cinematic lens. So I wanted to create a narrative of the Rusted Souls environments through a progression of shapes and color.

What kind of artist do you consider yourself?

I am a visual story-teller/artist. I tell stories through my art.

What’s your favorite thing to draw?

Everything fascinates me. But people point out to me that I tend to draw a lot of trees and robots. Apparently as a kid, I drew animals and their poop.

How did you get started making art?

When I was seven years old, my parents enrolled me in a city-wide drawing competition. They bought me oil pastels and my uncle handcrafted a drawing  table. The theme was “a normal Sunday.” I drew an elephant playing soccer. I didn’t win any awards. But that one experience was etched into my memory. My parents didn’t have much, but they always tried to prioritize and give me early life experiences. The rest of my life afterwards was pretty much about survival. I worked two jobs and got myself through college. It wasn’t until about five years ago that I consciously decided to start making art again. I have a lot of people to thank for it.

What is something people may not know about you?

I like to surf. When I lived in Long Beach, I surfed almost every day along the Pacific Coast Highway. I have a 7’8” trick board waiting for me. I once got stung by a stingray.

Where is one your favorite places to go in the city?

You can probably find me sketching inside Café Hana or perusing Kinokuniya in Japantown or in Green Apple Bookstore on Clement Street.

Can you give us some insight behind your three major paintings?

I  wanted to include weather and time of day into the environment narrative. The “Utopian” painting, with its brighter palette emphasizes the ideals of sunny daytime. The “Night Watch” nurses “hope” through a blistery snowy night just
before the break of dawn. The painting “Infiltration” (inside the Capitol), with its industrial complex working around the clock, takes place during an unknown- ambiguous dusty timelessness, when it is either always daytime or always nighttime.

A lot of these discoveries came by through my sketch explorations. “Broken” and “hope” are the two strong words to describe the Rusted Souls’ world: broken robots, broken people, broken ideals, and the thing that persevered was the people’s hope for the future.

What advice would you give to artists?

Art is freedom!
Do what you love. Get heated about life. Chase your dream with all your pride.
Challenge yourself, seek new skills, and grow to “see” better.

Art is a lifetime’s worth of adventures and everyone travels differently. Your best guide to “getting there” is to ask your seven-year-old self. You are more than you think, you have the courage and imagination to see beyond “impossible” things.

 Art is: a riot!

For more information, you can visit her official website: www.eveskylar.com
Eve would like to thank: 1AM, Maya Griffin, James Garcia, Rick Kitagawa, Martha Tian, family and friends.

“The Rusted Souls” exhibit will be showing until May 6th.