The Uncanny Culture Initiative is gearing up to celebrate their 3rd Anniversary of growing and supporting the creative culture in North Carolina. They are doing it up properly with a 3D themed showcase featuring roughly 50 artists freaking it in the third dimension. If you are anywhere near Charlotte this Saturday you need to make like a fetus and head out to AKA Creative.

Friendship and family are the fabric of life. So when a friend is in need I say we take that fabric and stretch a canvas.

I’m a sucker for a dope art festival. Every year Raleigh throws down a two-day all you can eat art-nerd buffet. This year was no different featuring hundreds of artists, a full line-up of live music over three stages, Amococo by Architects of Air, the Arts-on-the-Move bus unveiling and a wide variety of eclectic meyhem. It was a fun time no doubt. Check it out:

It’s the first Friday in May so you know what I’m going to say…… well, I don’t even know what I’m going to say. That being said, let’s check out the Two Four Flinching picks for tonight’s First Friday events!

The Culture Initiative locks it down and does it up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Keep a close eye on this collective and make sure you roll through anything they put on. Big things.

The inaugural “Wrong Side” event was such a fun and positive event that we decided to roll out another. We are proud to announce the urban, gritty artwork of Durhams own Vanilla Gorilla will be featured throughout the month of March with an opening on First Friday, March 4th from 7pm to 10pm at The Union Tavern.

Each First Friday Two Four Flinching will be hosting a curated show featuring our favorite creative hustlers both new and established at The Union Tavern. The art show opening will run from 7pm-10pm but you know we don’t stop the party there….
Every First Friday we will also be hooking up an All-City Art-Show After-Party at the Union Tavern from 10pm – 2am collecting the cream of the Carolina creative class all under one historic wood-raftered roof. Check out your favorite artists at your favorite galleries around Raleigh but …

The Charlotte-based powerhouse “Culture Initiative” invited me to participate in a group art show/ dance party/ cultural happening titled “Epic Proportions“. Each artist was tasked with getting loose on a 6ft x 3ft canvas. These pieces will be showcased amongst a venue thumping dance party headlined by Treasure Fingers. In other words, this event will be hotter than a goats ass in a pepper patch! If you are in the Charlotte area you can’t miss this one.

There is less than a week before the NC Comicon opens its doors to the public. Make sure you come through and check out the action on November 13th and 14th at the Morrisville Outlet Mall. There is a rock solid list of professional talent that will be signing autographs, a load of family friendly events and a collection of local artists, vendors and collectors. I am setting up a table promoting this very Two Four Flinching blog that you are reading right now as well as selling prints, hooking …

Wow. The show was amazing. The art, the executions, the vibe, the people, the community….. Raleigh was on it on October 8th. I can’t thank people enough for all the effort with organizing, participating in and supporting the event! Makes me proud to be living and painting in Raleigh.

The construction is complete, the cranes have left and the skyline has risen!

With the soon-to-be legendary “DRUNK Illustrated” rounding the bend (only 8 more days), I wanted to drop another preview post. Part of the show is dedicated to the strangely addictive and often ugly side of legendary drinkers in our celebrity culture.

Ben Franklin once said, “There can’t be good living where there is not good drinking.” I find that quote highly debatable and slightly ironic. Sure, most of my best stories begin with “I was so wasted this one time that….” but for each legendary story I have compiled I am plagued with 50 liver-soaked, hang-over ridden, bruise bearing all-nighters that have probably shaved a considerably slice off the lifespan.

My generation hasn’t had any significant progressive leaders that have served as role models in the public sphere. I’m pretty sure we can all point to people in our smaller circles that live their life in a manner that you try to live up to. But as far as progressive leadership with a substantial voice in mass media, nada. Michael Moore would be the closest thing to someone who consistently put himself out there to get people thinking, talking and inspiring organization. But at his core he is a movie …

In response to the BP oil spill that may effect the Carolina Coastline Solas Culinary and My Restuarant Guru are hosting a fundraiser for The NC Surfrider Foundation. It is our goal to help fund this non-profit so that it is prepared to deal with the effects of the BP oil spill on the NC coastline.

I will be showcasing in this rough and rugged art show in Orlando. I will be blessed to be showing with some powerful company. If you’re in the area, you need to check it out.

Very few objects can inspire feelings of excitement, adoration,fear, fantasy and conflict like a gun. “MY UZI WEIGHS A TON” is a traveling multimedia art exhibition that takes an artistic twist on guns in pop culture. The exhibition will feature the works of some of the hottest artists form the new …

Pabst Blue Ribbon will be sponsoring a rough and tumble, beer flavored art show called “The PBart Show” in Raleigh during the Cherry Bounce Festival on July 29th. Artists were encouraged to create PBR inspired artwork so I took it quite literal and create a few custom painted, full, unopened 22oz tall boys. I built the theme around the concept that “PBR brews very strange company”. This was my first crack at customizing beer cans and I think I have stumbled into an arena that I am going to be …

The first ‘bird in the ole’ A-hole’ that was created for the “Letters” show at the Lodi Project had sold at the opening. I know, the wordplay is endless…… Yes, my A-hole is hanging above the mantle someones house right now. The show was such a success that it is going to be traveling to Greensboro, NC. One problem. No A-hole.

Some of you may have noticed that the solo show I had been planning has recently been converted into a group show. Life happened and I needed to reach out to my crew for a hand up on this one. It is shaping up to be a kick-ass show no doubt. The showing will be created using a clean layout and Freight themed visuals such as model freight trains and drawn cranes at the dockyard. We got hot cargo ready to unload people! Let’s hook it up!

Matt Scofield, Victor Knight, Greg Davis and myself hooked up a show at the LabourLove gallery last year where we painted a set of panels in the gallery and pulled off a very cool show. We were approached by Kelly and John of LabourLove about showing the panels for a showing at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). I love that building, inside and out. I was thrilled. So thrilled that I felt compelled to redo that panels completely. I was never really very happy with how my panels came …

I was approached by the Chair of the Art Procurement committee for Appetite for Art which is an annual auction gala that will support arts programming for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County. She wanted to know if I had any artwork that I would be willing to donate for the event. After thinking and debating on what would do well, I figured “screw it, I’m doing something fresh”.
Growing up I was a huge fan of Catcher in the Rye. Like most kids, I connected on an …

Hard to really know what to say about the show. A few things are certain.
1. It was raining like all hell.
2. It was ten time more crowded than I expected.
3. The show almost sold out.
4. Things got rough.

If you don’t already know, well, your about to know. The amazing $25 Show is this Friday! Damn, it has been a long time in the works. I messed around and took on double-duty while trying to organize a benefit for Haiti while prepping and helping to market this amazing showcase which pushed this post a little late. All good. The concept is simple:
Every piece in  the show is $25!
Every one.
The artist list is rediculous. Check it out:

I had misplaced this set after I downloaded them and ran across them this evening. Crazy late but great show none-the-less. Big shout to Ron Cox. Good people no doubt.

A few years ago I was walking through a parking lot in a strip mall. I looked up at the signage above one of the storefronts and noticed that a bird had nested in the recessed portion of a letter A. My pupils dialated, a smirk was crafted and an idea was born….. “There was a bird in that A-hole!”.
Years pass but that idea was such a little gem that I kept it on my low shelf. Easy to reach. Then one day I get an invitation to participate in …

My good buddy Matt Scofield scouted this well placed feature in this weeks Indy. Big and brazen, one of my favorite pieces of the show was a good surprise to see in the paper no doubt. The documentary is being finished up and I will make an announcement when the premiere event gets scheduled. Looking forward to it.

The open house was a lot of fun no question. I didnt really know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at the turn-out, the positive feedback and the new connections that were sealed. One of the oddest things about working out of a creative collective is the fact that 99% of the time I don’t see any of the other artists. Granted, my schedule is downright unhealthy so it isn’t that odd that I wouldn;t see anyone else working at 3am so it was great to meet and …

The amazing Rob and Lisa King have been working hard on the documentary based on the collaborative art project “3 the Hard Way”. The project is coming to a close in the next few weeks which is a little bittersweet. It is coming together very nicely and is sure to be a highly engaging show. The trailer for the documentary has been sent to press and looks fantastic. I look and touch a touch smarmy but maybe thats because I have a bad smarmy complex.
Thanks so much guys. The trailer …

The dysfunctionally functional Bonded Llama family are opening the doors to their humble abode to showcase our artwork as well as our workspaces. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-lost to me. We lift our lamp beside the Bonded Llama door!
Not that I am drawing clear parallels between the revolutionary American icon The Statue of Liberty but our torch does burn bright and we are kind of floating out in an island …

I was invited by the great Georges Le Chevallier and preeminent Paul Friedrich to participate  in a three man art show entitled “3 the Hard Way”. The concept behind the show goes like this:
Each artsist will start will three pieces. A 3×3, a 2×2 and  a 1×1. The medium and materials is of the artists choosing. Once the three pieces have been prepared and painted on, there will be an exchange and each artist will trade out the work he has for a set of the other artists. We will …

Damn these are late getting posted. The show came off really well. The weather was bad and there was a handful of other events going on at the the same time so the crowd that came was substantial. My sister was in town so I was finally able to show her what kind of work we have been doing. I love my sis. John and Kelly are amazing people who run a first class gallery, create amazing art, and give themselves to the art community in an amazing location. If …

If you are in the St Louis area, this is a must-see event. My man Dubelyoo and his right hand Jabari with the help of a Jack Daniels sponsorship hook up the hook up. Fresh artwork, live music, big crowds. It is really what I envision the future of the art scene becoming if it is to stay relevant in popular culture. I have a handful of my favorite pieces traveling in the show and I wish I could make it out to Missouri but life won’t permit that right …

Victor Knight inked me up with a true representative for Durham, Artie Barksdale. This guy is the real deal and that relationship that is forming will manufacture a critical bridge between the good work we are trying to do in Raleigh and the big things that are happening in Durham. He is well connected and talented as hell. Alone, Barksdale would kill it, but he is teamed up with the great Derrick Bryant who crushes as well. Barksdale and Derrick are not only planning things out and making them happen …

I know I am crazy late with posting these photos but its been a crazy time. This years Sparkcon was kind of fun as hell. They moved it to Fayetteville Street Mall which put it right out there in the middle of a main street that runs right through downtown. Most of the usual suspects showed up with a handful of new faces as well. There is a young scene rising and shaking things up a bit. Good to know that us old-schoolers won’t have to carry the torch all …

Great show at a killer gallery. Georges and Carrie and amazing people and deserve big things to happen with their gallery. Make sure and stay tuned with these guys to keep up on upcoming shows. While we are talking about amazing, Garret Scales crushed this show. Destroyed it. He is my favorite NC artist right now and he is on fire no question.

The arts scene in Raleigh/Durham was one that I hadn’t felt attracted to until we decided to dive head first into it as a unit. There is a collection of artists who I have been painting with in varying degrees of legalities for some time now. The group has grown in size, talent and vision. The group seems to have adopted a name to run with which will be “The Faculty”. Seems catchy and functional enough. We had our first unofficial-official group showing at the AhPeel Gallery and it really …

The day went great. Congratulations to Swoon Unit. Let’s go another 10.

My final piece for the show is completed. I have been a bit obsessed with Victorian and Elizabethan era explorers and the culture and lifestyle that surrounded them. These guys were half cocked off their asses. The world was an unknown. There was no real policing of any exploratory activities. These mutherfuckers would roll through and wreck shit. Claiming whatever they found as their own. If someone else had what they wanted, they would try and exterminate them. They would steal all kinds of treasures and riches and haul them …

Part of the BOMBED show will be a silent auction for these customized shoes that each of us hooked up.  The auction will be benefiting the Helping Hands Missions Shoes 4 Souls campaign. We were initially expecting the shoes to be some sort of white sneaker but when I went to pick them up I was surprised to see sparkling white bridesmaid dress shoes. After a few minutes I decided that this was a better idea anyways. A lot of people have been customizing sneakers but I really haven;t seen …

I am very excited and proud to be down with the BOMBED show at the LabourLove gallery in the Goldenbelt complex in Durham this Friday the 18th from 6 – 9pm. The show will feature Matt Scofield, Victor Knight, Greg Davis, Franco and myself. We did some live painting in the gallery last weekend which was a paint fume infested good time. I am still picking teal and baby blue boogers. The show will also feature  some digital illustrations, paintings and custom bridesmaid shoes… yep, you heard that right. There …