Props to my homies... yo

This week’s blog is not about me so much. I have been hunkered down in the studio with projects and doing family stuff lately. Turned 33 last week, went to Disneyland again, working on wierd conglamoration of art projects, totally cleaned and revamped my studio, etc. No real adventures lately. Just working and stuff. Yawn.

I did go to the Skullphone show at RAM last week. The dumpster pictured above is a nice touch, I wonder if anyone will complain about it’s presence right in front of the museum. The mysterious Skullphone infiltrated various parts of the museum, and you really have to look around and explore a bit to find it all. Props to Mr. Skull...



I got to help Skullphone and Jeff Ribaudo a few weeks ago as they made some limited edition mono prints.

And props to my homie Maxx who is off to Japan in a couple days for the debut of his Bearbrick in conjunction with Zac Pac. Sweet. I was this close to going with him last night, but the $1800 plane ticket put a damper on things. Next time homie. If you're in Japan, go check it out...


The real props should go to Rosie and Maxx for the birth of their baby, Maddox Anakin Gramajo!

And props to mi madre- her birthday is today. Happy Birthday mom (yes my parents read this blog).

Props to Wes Anderson. I love "watching" Royal Tennenbaums while I work. Just saw Bottle Rockets and The Darjeeling Limited last week. The missus and I love movies. Just saw Juno (not Wes Anderson of course) the other day finally, some nice David Choe and Tara McPherson art. There was more I think (Kozyndan?). I have to kick myself in the ass, because they asked me too to get them some art for her bedroom and I was super busy and totally flaked. I can't believe myself sometimes. Dammit.

Props to Rachel Tiede for taking a stand. Rachel worked at Art Center College of Design and I knew her as a student and am friends with her husband (we graduated together). Recently the college has had an uprising of sorts, with students protesting the direction of Art Center president, Richard Koshalek. Apparently he is more interested in the various architecture projects (pricey Frank Gehry library) and travelling to Europe than meeting the needs of students- financial aid, better classrooms, parking etc. After taking a stand against Koshalek, Rachel’s boss, Nate Young (Chief Executive Officer for the school) resigned in protest. The following week at a student government meeting Rachel defended her former boss and was promptly let go by the school. I don’t know all the details but Rachel is cool and I appreciate that she stood up for the students. The tuition is like $15,000 per semester, no joke, students should be of the highest priority. Here's more info:
http://www.futureofartcenter.blogspot.com/


And finally, speaking of Art Center, mad props to you Donkey! Mark Miller gave you to me as a graduation gift six years ago and we’ve had some great times over the years. But you’re finally falling apart, three of your legs are broken, your ears are busted and your fur is falling out all over the studio. Maybe it’s from Shannon trying to ride you all those times. You’re busted, broken and I have to bid farewell. I left you near the trash dumpster, and went to lunch, when I came back you were gone! I hope you are warming the hearts of others on your journey! Take care Donkey!

I'd rather be lizard fishing.

It is lizard season here and the little guys are sunning themselves all over. I love the blue bellies. Our cat Nacho came walking in from the garage carrying a lizard by it’s front leg. The detachable tail thing must not have worked, but luckily I was there to rescue the lil’ fella. He had a small flesh wound and lost his tail, but when I put him down in the backyard he took off.


I remembered a trick my dad taught me a long time ago- you can use fishing line and tie a slip knot onto the end of a fishing pole and catch lizards with it. I tried it out the other day. It’s pretty much just like a little noose, and it’s very easy to get it around their necks. They must think the fishing rod is a tree branch or something because you can touch them with it and they don’t even move. When they’re caught, they wiggle alot, kinda like a real fish. You have to be quick to loosen up the noose around their neck, and be careful you don’t grab them by the tail (they will detach it if scared). They're really beautiful when seen up close. I took a few pictures and showed Shannon and let them go back to their lizard homes. Nature is awesome.


Messed with the macro function on my camera. Kinda fun...


I grew up near Disneyland but we didn’t get to go that often. I think that made it pretty magical to the Soto boys, and we loved it and dreamed about going. After I worked as a cook at an amusement park (and saw behind the scenes), some of the magic had worn off, the place wasn’t as fun. But it’s pretty neat seeing it again through my daughter’s eyes. She thinks things are real which is awesome. I asked her what Ariel told her because they were talking for a while, and Shannon told me, “I don’t know”.


Giant pizza is always good. Thanks Ribaudo's!


That talk at my old community college was cool. I told them everyone should try graffiti at least once in their life. This is the RCC Art Club...


I’m in a group show called The Sublime Landscape at Project4 Gallery in Washington D.C. Some great artists, including some of my favorites- Gregory Euclide and Randall Sellers. Here’s some new work I sent.



And last, Skullphone is coming to Riverside.... more pictures soon...

Skater cuts and rainbows...

I am doing a talk in a few days at my old junior college- Riverside Community College. It’s going to be nice to be able to go back and tell my story and hopefully give a little back to a school that’s really helped me out. It’s Thursday May 8th at noon in case you Riverside residents and students wanna come by. I don’t think they’re charging admission, but then again, don’t know if they’re making it only available to students either. So if you go, try to blend in. I hope I don't get in trouble..

So I’m working on my slideshow and since it's primarily for art students, I wanted to show some of my past student work and old pictures. Found some great shots from when I was a teenager and in my early 20’s, I'll post a few...


In 8th grade at an art competition at RAM. This was the trendy skater haircut in the late 80's. One side short, the other side very long. The lady at Fantastic Sam's called it the "Surfer Cut" and I remember her saying, "you must be a surfer!" I was all shy, I quietly muttered, "no not really... I skate". I think she thought I meant rollerskates. Those Fantastic Sam's ladies would always try to talk to you and be all hip, ask about girls and sports, all the while pushing their big boobs into your face while washing your hair (okay maybe the 12 year old Jeff was pretty down with that part). Just shut up and cut my hair already!

Working on a mural in high school 1993. Rocking the ponytail + thriftstore gear. Neo hippies and shit...

Almost the same shot of me airbrushing a shirt in 1994 in our backyard.....

...for Jennifer! Yep, I used to do stencil airbrushing on shirts.. pretty corny.. but I could make a good $20 a shirt.

I also used to do holiday window scenes in November and December.

Painting in Long Beach, maybe 1995? Used to be soo fun.

Me in 1997 with a freshly shaved head. I think I blinked. Ganstard..

Old photos are fun but here's some new things I've been working on. These are all pretty large.






I'm thinking of painting again on walls but in a different way than all the "hip hop" style graf I did... I still love graf, just need to do it my own way on my own terms... a quick tag in my studio the other day for old times sake...

Ah yes... that felt very good...

Watercolors...

Just some experiments with watercolors from the past few months... trying to loosen up, keep my mind clear and stay open to happy accidents. I try to do these with no ideas in my head, fast, just straight stream of thought painting. Have about a hundred of these. It's never really about if they turn out good or bad, consequently most are very bad. Here's a few that I think turned out interesting. They're mostly on cheap printer paper with cheap crayola watercolors...