Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Congrats to the Heels on Wheels team for using the Change the World grant to mentor middle school girls on these boards on display at Harbourfront!
Board Designs by OSF Leadership Students Carly, Naomi & Faline and the girls at Cityview Alternative
Bear Hugs (brand)
I am 18 years old and have been attending Oasis Skateboard Factory for a little bit over a month now. Before Oasis, I attended a Catholic school, which didn’t compare in any way whatsoever. The work I did at there felt unrewarding, boring, and I ended up dropping out for a while. The work I do at Oasis makes me feel motivated, is actually fun, and actually contributes to many things (the community, myself, and the program itself).
My board graphic is an owl with a mountain range in its forehead, and long antlers that take up most of the board. In between the antlers is the quote, “do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you”, and then my brand name, “Bear Hugs”, at the top. The quote itself is from Rumi, who is a poet, jurist, theologian, and mystic. Some of my inspirations are Shary Boyle, Edward Gory, John Kenn, and many other things – including my friends, my thoughts, movies, music, and even spontaneous bursts of discovering anonymous artwork. I want my graphic to inspire not only myself, but anyone who chooses to wonder about it. The quote is conveying the message that; scientifically, human beings are made up of the same chemicals and dusts that stars are made of, and so, we are stars. The entire universe is within us, and the universe is what I believe to be a greater power, as opposed to a God – which communicates not only a matter of presence, but existence, and existence within us.
The board’s seven layers are 100% Canadian maple, pressed via vacuum, then shaved and sanded by hand. I used about 12 stencils and layers of spray paint for this board, and then sealed it with a clear matte finish.
I’m really stoked that I spilled thoughts onto something more solid and bigger in scale than a piece of paper in my sketchbook. I feel like it could have been improved if I had taken more time, but then again, I like the simplicity and rawness of it. If milk is milk and eggs is eggs, my graphic is on the board, and the experience I had making it plays a huge part in the outcome.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Aperture
This is my first semester at OSF. Although I’ve only been here a couple weeks, it feels like I’ve been here forever in the best possible way. I’m constantly learning new things, and being encouraged to take risks with my art, which is something I was never able to do before, and my skateboard graphic certainly reflects that.
My art style is usually really pretty and feminine and I feel like this particular board is the complete opposite: it’s dark and a tad bit grungier. On the deck of my board, is the “Aperture Science” logo. “Aperture Science” is a science laboratory in the video game “Portal.” On the grip tape there’s the cult of rapture symbol, which again is another well known symbol from the video game, “Portal.”
My inspiration for this board is one of my very close friends. He’s a big “Portal” fan, and I wanted to make him something really wicked and personal. For the actual construction of the board I used maple. We glued the veneers together, vacuum pressed them, and waited overnight for the glue to set so we could begin to sand and shape the board. I also used a dark mahogany stain instead of painting the board. Of course I used paint for the design, but the stained background is just such a nice canvas for the logo. I wanted the board to be bold and clean and sophisticated. I know those words aren’t generally used to describe a skateboard, but I wanted something really classy.
I’m really happy how my first longboard turned out. I went into it completely terrified and coming out of it now, I’m really happy. It went great! I learned how to sand a board, how to stain a board, how to make stencils, how to make templates, and how to correctly use a can of spray paint, which has proven to be the toughest challenge. All in all, for my first board, I’d say it was a success.
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