Category: PRESS RELEASES From Rafi And Klee Studios

As we hang out today in the studio, I am working on something new. There’s carving, etching, gluing, inking, cutting, rolling, and a lot of “oh crap” coming from me as I piece my technique together.

For a while now I’ve been wanting to create a series of pieces that are meant to be verbal reminders of feeling good. I sometimes add an empowering word or phrase to my paintings, but those are rare because I don’t really feel the urge to add words to imagery very often.

I remember back in my corporate days there were all these posters on the wall that were meant to motivate the employees. Things like the word ‘leadership’ with a picture of an eagle, or ‘teamwork’ with a bunch of dudes rowing a boat. I thought they were stupid… I still think they’re stupid.

 

Nowadays I have things that I put up in the studio and around the house to motivate me and give me a sense of empowerment. The difference is that instead of promoting complacency, everything I put up is about celebrating your individuality and feeling empowered… Also, they’re not stupid.

The other difference is that I hand create them, not simply print them out of a printer.

Each piece in the series will have a limited run of 100, will be signed and numbered by me. For this Memorial day weekend I have these for 25% off, plus other items in our store are on sale until Tuesday May 29th.

Also, if you want something specific that means something powerful to you, please contact me about creating a print inspired by you.

Yesterday morning, as I walked into the kitchen bleary eyed and searching frantically for my coffee cup, it dawned on me that someone would be pointing a camera at my face that day.

Klee was already up and getting ready, she kissed me good morning as she hurried by holding her hair up in a bun.

I pathetically waved back… yeah, I needed coffee.

It’s in those moments, before you are about to embark on something that you’ve never done before, that the little voice of doubt sets in.

We have been interviewed before, but never something like this. A mini documentary? About us?!

As I sat there drinking my coffee I wondered if I would be interesting enough, funny enough, photogenic enough, or even have the ability to string together a coherent sentence.

Klee on the other hand is brilliant at stringing together sentences and getting to the point, and let’s be honest, she is also much more photogenic.

My biggest fear is rambling on and forgetting what I was talking about in the first place. I tend to talk about a subject and go off on tangents, eventually circling around to what we were originally talking about… but sometimes, it’s like I’m standing in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open, wondering why I’m there.

As it turns out the experience was quite amazing, and all my fears melted away once we got started.

Jon Deckert from Vivid Bridge Studios came in with what seemed like an arsenal of compact, high tech, noninvasive equipment that fit our small space in the art studio quite well.

We had met with Jon Deckert and Doug Stanford a few weeks earlier for coffee and to discuss their idea of doing a mini-doc on us. So I had met him before, but only briefly.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but Jon was awesome. Not only did he know how to wield his equipment with artistic accuracy, but he was amiable and genuine. He made the experience fun and interactive. I mean, it felt like the camera evaporated and I was just sitting there having a pleasant conversation with someone who was interested in what I had to say.

I could clearly see that he had a creative vision of what he wanted to capture, but was also flexible and adaptable to the space and our ideas. His main goal seemed to be to capture the best possible moments he could without interrupting our flow.

I am really excited to see what they come up with at Vivid Bridge Studios, in my opinion their work is creative, beautiful, artistic, and some of the best I’ve seen.

That being said, I did go off on tangents a lot while being interviewed… So they have a lot of video to edit. Luckily, I did manage to string together coherent sentences, kinda.

The mini doc is currently in post production and I’ll let you guys know as soon as that is made available.

By the way, in the old days, I think I would’ve passed up this opportunity simply because once self doubt sets in, it’s easy to talk yourself out of doing something you think is scary. I can honestly say that more often than not the voices of self doubt are wrong, and even when they might be right, it is never as scary as you imagine. So nowadays, I just go for it… and it is ALWAYS worth it.

If you are interested in finding out more about Vivid Bridge Studios, they are Pensacola’s video production & photography studio. They empower businesses, organizations or brands to promote and market their stories through video and photography. Just a really fun and super creative bunch of folks.

 

 

 

So every year we try to do this little art hunt thing where we give away a lot of art with the intent to bring a smile to someone’s face. That someone is a beautiful little town named Pensacola. This year I created a bunch of art, about 80 pieces, and I created small inspirational hand painted magnets, about 100 of those… Phew.

As some of you know we had a YouTube contest to find the perfect name for this art giveaway thing we’ve been doing for several years, with awesome results.

Hashtag Inspire A Smile (#INSPIREASMILE) is what it’s called now, and that my friends is awesome!

So the date was set (March 12th, 2018) and the weather was like “hey wait a minute… I think you’ll enjoy doing this a lot more if it was dreary, cold, and windy, because that’s what all the cool kids want.”

And I was like “shit.”

But Klee and I bundled up and like the old explorers of Antarctica we braved the elements to spread our message of cheer.

(Listen, I know it wasn’t that cold, but I live in Florida the sunshine state, anything other than sunshine and warmth is unbearable.)

I put an entertaining video of our adventure together that morning for your amusement Below. Enjoy!

Within minutes of being done with the art hunt, inspiring happy messages started flooding in which makes freezing our buts off so worth it.

I think it is so important to smile. Each time you smile, you throw a little feel-good party in your brain. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness. So smile you beautiful human you!

The date has been announced, we will be releasing 80 small art trees and 100 empowering happy magnets around downtown Pensacola on March 12th, 2018. Klee and I will go out in the cover of darkness and #INSPIREASMILE with art.

There is something special about the mystery and the covert nature of bringing joy to people that totally gets me pumped. It’s a very rogue and unexpected way to bring happiness and I hope people will be inspired to smile by the gesture.

In the past, I have left small art trees around town, this year in addition to the art I’ll also have small sketches that say empowering things, meant to brighten someones day.

After doing this art hunt for about four years, we realized it needed a name. We asked our awesome fans on YouTube for help and they did not disappoint.

#inspireasmile captures the essence of why we do these art hunts. Also, it helps us try and collaborate with artists who are interested in doing something similar in their town.

The idea is to spread around some happy, positive, empowering messages, and try to inspire a smile from the world. It seems sometimes, that the world could use it… I know I could use it sometimes.

If you are an artist, or just a person who wants to #INSPIREASMILE feel free to join the movement, use the hashtag, and send us pictures of your art hunt along with information on who you are, where you are, and why you did.

If you are in Pensacola, mark your calendars. Pieces will be hidden in plain sight and some will be a little harder to find, but all will be just for you! I’ll be making some more announcements and releasing clues leading up to and the day of.

Thank you so much for being awesome Pensacola!

-Rafi

Every year I try to do something for my adoptive town and all the amazing people that collect my art. We’ve had open studios where I’ve printed out hundreds of prints to give away, we’ve also given stuff away at live paintings, and every once in a while I donate a piece of art to a charity for auction.

The thing that I enjoy the most is doing the art scavenger hunt. There is something about the mystery and the covert nature of bringing joy to people that totally gets me. It’s a very rogue and unexpected way to bring happiness to a person… Maybe I just enjoy being rogue.

This year, I’ll be releasing about 80 small tree paintings (each signed and numbered) and I will be releasing some hand painted magnets. I designed each one to brighten someone’s day, and bring an unexpected smile to their lips.

All together I will be releasing 180 items all over downtown Pensacola, some in plain sight, some a little harder to find, but all free.

The release date will be in early march (I’ll announce it next week so stay tuned), this means I’ll have to wake up earlier than I would like and cover the city before the morning crowd rushes in.

I recently put a challenge out to find the perfect hashtag for this project, and the winner will receive one of each of the items in the hunt. Please watch this video to enter:

I’ll be releasing more information after the contest finalizes and I have more information. See you soon for the hunt!

I made a change recently to my mural in downtown Pensacola. Although you would think that someone asking me to change my artwork would be offensive, in this case I was honored.

If you remember correctly, I created a large Pensacola mural at 114 Palafox place, which was Marty Campbell Gallery. I wanted to create something that would make people proud of this beautiful place that I’ve fallen in love with.

Originally, I had a multicultural woman’s face as a representation of the diverse culture here.

When Marty moved his gallery back out to Gulf Breeze, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the mural. I knew that the property owner loved the mural and would attempt to protect it. She would also need to make her new tenants happy, and if they didn’t like the mural, there was a good chance it would get painted over.

Then, Innerlight Surf Shop moved in, and they loved the mural, but wanted to make one change. They wanted to add Yancy Spencer III. After a beautiful and heartfelt conversation with Lydia (The Late Yancy’s wife), I decided to do it, and it needed to be perfect.

Now, I’m not sure if you know this, but Yancy is regarded as the father of Gulf Coast surfing. Not only that, but he was an amazing human, so I was honored to make the changes.

I know some people, may be upset that I changed an aspect of my original mural, but trust me, I am so thrilled to have painted a legend.

I am excited to announce that Klee and I will be out this Gallery Night (12-15) at the Holiday Makers Market. This is going to be a festive and fun event full of cookies, hot cider, holiday tunes, movies, and amazing artwork.

 

The market will feature 30 independent makers and artists such as Pensacola Graffiti Bridge Project, Poppy Garcia, Teatree Boutique, Joe Hobbs Glass, Klee and I, and a variety of other custom and handcrafted gifts created by local talent.

Admission is free – all ages welcome. Shoppers are encouraged to bring a donation of a classroom art supply for the Pensacola Museum of Art education department. Suggested donations include: color pencils, crayons, markers, paint and drawing paper. But all art supply donations are welcomed!

Come by and say “Hola!” we love that!

What: Holiday Makers Market

When: Friday, Dec. 15 from 6-9 p.m.

Where:  Cowork @nnex, located at 13 Palafox Pl.

Why: Holiday Awesomeness! and unique gift ideas.