FINE GRIND 3

FINE GRIND 3:
Oasis Skateboard Factory Art Show Opening Party & Fundraiser/Sale
Wednesday, January 26, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
@ Manic Coffee (426 College Street, East of Bathurst, Toronto)

Come out and support the Oasis Skateboard Factory! At the opening party for FINE GRIND 3 students will be selling their hand-made skateboards and longbords with custom graphics, as well as having a sample sale of their street wear logo T-shirts to launch their personal company brands. To give back to the community, a portion of the sales of Oasis Skateboard Factory merchandise will be donated to a local charity. Manic Coffee will also be selling a custom roasted coffee in support of the OSF, served from a skateboard shaped, student designed coffee pour-over bar!

FINE GRIND 3 is on display from Jan. 26 through Feb. 28, 2011.

Igor: Artist Collaboration with Erin Zimerman

Roisaurous

This is my first term at OSF. The theme of "Roisaurous" is freedom to be a little crazy. By choosing a character that reminds me of childhood, I'm trying to state that youth need to take a break, stop trying to mature so quickly and just relax (maybe give yourself some time to day dream).

My inspiration for this brand comes from our society's obsession with growing up so quickly and is meant to question it. I'm trying to communicate how little imagination some people appear to have, how it's so easy to lose your imagination while trying to mature at an unhealthy rate, that maybe we just need to take a minute and think about that how amazing youth really is.

This board was hand-made, and the graphic was hand-drawn, hand -tenciled and hand-painted. We used 100% Canadian maple ply for the deck. I was very happy about how this board turned out; the colours are amazing and the image is crisp. I was also surprised at how quickly a board can be finished if you put your mind to it.

My next step is to work on the image more, and clean it up a bit, so I can make more boards like this one.

Sponsor: Individual Commission

Killin’ it since Diapers

The idea behind the skateboard I made was a longboard that was shorter than the conventional ones but also wide enough that it still has a similar feel. The idea for the graphic was “killing it since pampers”, so initially I had the idea to do a baby with a Jason mask. Then I found a picture of a baby with a bear and I knew what had to be done. At first the image did not include the machete, but I felt it needed something to help compensate for the size of the bear so I added it the day before we printed stickers.

The board itself is made with 8 layers of 100% Canadian Maple pressed overnight. From there I traced on the shape of the board and cut it out with a jig-saw. After that I shaped and sanded the board until everything was smooth and most edges where rounded. Once that was done I drilled the truck holes and stained the board with a mixture of 3 aniline dyes. When that was dry I stencilled in the white layer which is the bear and the baby’s body. From there I taped off the shape of the Jason mask and painted it gold, leaving the triangles above and below the eyes the colour of the stained wood. Once that was said done I taped it off again and cut out all the black detail, sprayed it and sealed it with a layer of glossy lacquer.

Overall, I’m happy with the skateboard and I’m planning to do a custom grip job on it. I’m going to use it as an example of the type of products I want to produce through my brand Consume that I will continue to develop next semester. I’m pleased with the fact that I accomplished the longboard look while still keeping the length shorter.

Child & Youth Counsellor Veronica Montague joins the OSF Team!

Veronica will be helping at the program and supporting our students on Mondays and Thursdays.

Sneak Peak: See the Skateboard Coffee Pour-Over Bar in action at FINE GRIND 3 Opening Party, Wed. Jan. 26 from 7-9PM @ Manic Coffee (426 College St.)

Vicious Venom

I’m 20 years old and a lead designer at Oasis Skateboard Factory. I’m hoping to be making skateboards and longboards long after I leave Oasis Skateboard Factory.

I wanted to do something original and I hadn’t seen many longboards with a custom shape let alone one completely shaped like a snake; I think the way a longboard moves kind of reminds me of how a snake moves and that’s how I got the idea. I actually liked a longboard another head designer here had come up with last year and it also inspired me to make a custom shape. The fact that Roarockit had coloured wood veneers as an option gave me the idea for the colour of the snake. I also wanted some of the natural wood showing in the background. I had fun trying to figure out how to make that happen.

It was tricky to make this board, I'm not going to lie! I had to press two red veneers separated with wax paper from six regular veneers on the same mould so they lined up. I then cut the two separate shapes out and pressed them together again. Each scale has three different colours in it in a different pattern; I did this to make it stand out. I thought gold on red would be a good colour combination and give it a softer look, where as the silver and black would still make it pop out.

This longboard is something original and it’s something that hasn’t been done before. I'm just happy I got to do it first, even if it was a bit risky choosing to do something like this without really knowing how to. Figuring it out as I went was difficult, but it was a lot easier with the help of Ted at Roarockit.

Chubby

I’ve been attending the Oasis Skateboard Factory for a year and a half and I just produced my first custom board. The board is more focused on the shape because I carved my own completely original mould rather than the graphic itself. The graphic is only two lines: the purple one is in the centre with a thinner white one slightly to the side. I feel this gave it a classic kind of surfboard look. A board I saw at Roarockit called the Chubby Racer was my inspiration for this deck.

I used a number of materials on this board: three different sandpapers, a sanding belt, sand tipped drill bit, a Styrofoam mould, vacuum press, spray paint, seven plies of Canadian maple, and wood sealer. I like this board. I spent a lot of time and effort shaping it and making the wheel wells (it took an entire day to do these alone!).

I am proud of this board. It’s the only one of the eight boards I have produced here so far at the factory that I plan on riding and I can’t wait. I am graduating this semester but I hope I can stay connected to this program. It’s a great place full of creative people I am also applying for a grant to continue the company I started while in the program. Good luck to all future students and try and take advantage of the program.

Sponsor: Individual Commission

Sponsor: Individual Commission

Sponsor: Individual Commission

December's "Get on Board" Morning Attendance Award: Thanks to Asylum (Oceanside, California) for this month's artist designed griptape prize!

Student Brands: Sour & Heartarchy

T-shirt Sample Sale at FINE GRIND 3 Opening on Wed. Jan. 26 from 7-9PM @ Manic Coffee (426 College St.)

Some OSF Student Companies developed over the course of this semester...
Top (clockwise): WOLF, Cosmic Dragon, I-con, Baltic Avenue
Middle (clockwise): Tripz, Clever, It's Chillz, Vert
Bottom (clockwise):Roi, CONSUME, LIE, Abomination

TDSB 2009/10 Annual Report features the OSF on the first page!

To learn more about how the OSF is an example of innovation in the area of student achievement at the Toronto District School Board, check out the the 2009/10 Annual Report at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/_site/ViewItem.asp?siteid=10553&menuid=32171&pageid=27456

Students work on Sem. 1 Culminating Screenprinting Projects for Business & Street Art Courses @ The Baitshop