Los Angeles

Espy

Create Change…

Create Change…

A few weeks ago we were able to cover muralist and live painter Jonathan “Espy” Cirlin, as he created a mural for UPVHS in Los Angeles. After 20 years of conducting art, Espy is in the prime of his art career. Moving forward he has decided to only work on projects with people who have positive intentions for art. Born in Jersey & raised in Philly, Espy would start in the streets of his communities; coming from a family of artist it was not hard for him to get inspired. However moving to LA was a turning point in his career, he was able to surround himself with artist that were better which allowed him to improve as an artist. Today you can find him in the field, working on a new mural. Follow him and his work here.

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"I have over 300 murals in this neighborhood"

INTERVIEW

Question 1: what inspired you? 

A great amount of things, music, art and whatever motivates me in that moment. I produce art everyday, it is my living, my life’s dream and form of expression. So staying inspired is a way of life. I try to have a steady stream of various music, dance and art every day in my life as well as surround myself with working professionals who are like minded artist.

Question 2: what advice do you have for the youth aspiring to be artist?

Some advice I would for the youth trying to be artists would be to surround yourself with positive people that support your dreams. Produce art for yourself, not for anyone or thing(Instagram,social media etc). About 90% of the work u will make won’t be sold, so focus on perfecting your craft and create your own standards and practices. At the end of the day you will be a better artist for holding yourself accountable for trying to reach your dreams. And like anything the more u practice the better u will be. Whatever ur passion or outlet to creativity is, make sure it makes you feel joy and follow those feelings and directions and it will lead you to where you need to go. As a professional I’d say there is always opportunity for artist to make money being creative, so if you desire you can do art or creative work the rest of your life and feel bliss while seeking it.

GALLERY

Photography by Jamil Brown & Marrice Hill

Kickasso

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“In 2nd grade I won an art contest, it was a chalk drawing featured @ University of North Texas. I remember the event vividly & I’ve been hooked on art ever since”.

The legendary Kickasso invited us into his shop for a interview & tour of the place, we talked everything art from sneaker collections to cartoon shows from the early 90s. He started off doing canvas work of shoes, before actually customizing shoes. 2011 was the year he started painting on shoes.  Growing up he didn’t have the opportunity to have “cool” sneakers so he didn’t pay them much attention... until ‘95 when Jason Kidd rocked the “air zoom flights” the appreciation for sneaker culture began. Even though customizing sneakers is what he’s most known for; Kickasso doesn’t have a particular style as he navigates in realism, abstract , graffiti etc.

First shoes ever painted was a pair of Oreo 6 Air Jordans.

Lebron 9’s were the first shoe that established his imprint in customizing sneakers. Kickasso would eventually create his own silhouette, releasing a high & low top version (pictured above). Today you can find him at his storefront located in DTLA or on FuseTV Tuesday’s @ 11pm est. Please enjoy our gallery from the interview below!

INTERVIEW

Question 1: what inspired you ? 

I’m inspired by everything.. colors, animals, people etc 

Question 2: what advice do you have for the youth aspiring to be artist?

Practice practice practice ! It takes many hours don’t give up.

Nathan James

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Meet Nathan James aka “The Photo Papí”, we took a trip to Los Angeles  to catch up with the artist and he filled us in on everything he has going on. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado before making his home LA in 2017. But before that he took his talents to Wyoming on a full ride scholarship for basketball. One could consider what happened in Wyoming a blessing in disguise; he underwent 2 knee surgeries which kept him sidelined and that’s when he started investing his time into art. But it wasn’t photography, Nathan took a liking to painting & customizing sneakers which led to painting on women...and well how do you show off all the work, that’s right by taking “photos” of it. His mother, who is an art teacher as well as an artist herself happened to send him a camera. Little did she know it would lead Nathan to become one of the biggest photographers in the world. While painting and  dabbling in photography, he also took on a role of managing different artist but that didn’t last long because it held him back from being creative. It wasn’t until 2019 which he calls his “rookie year” where he invested all of his time solely into the art of photography. One of his most iconic photos which came early in his career was a photo of Post Malone (see below) which sparked a buzz as Post was the biggest new artist at the time. Today you will still find Nathan collaborating with heavyweight artist like The Game, Trippie Red, and Tory Lanez. But he didn’t want to stop there, he is now stepping into the field of music himself. Months after his solo gallery “Nightmares” Nathan has decided to release a song for each piece. Follow him on his journey here and tune in for his 1st song that drops tonight! 2/20/20 9pm

Photo by Nathan James circa 2015

Photo by Nathan James circa 2015

INTERVIEW

What inspired you?

I was inspired by the passion & excitement that photography gave me. The process of not having everything planned out, and the fact that photography could take you to places & put you in doors you couldn’t get in without it. Another component of inspiration is being able to create myself, knowing you created something or did something creative is a great feeling.

What advice do you have for aspiring artist?

One thing I ALWAYS tell people is make sure you are passionate about whatever you are pursuing. And if you have the passion, you have to work hard & stay consistent. If you have passion, good work ethic and consistent that’s a dangerous combination.

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