News

This past week we launched several new products at the Long Beach Art & Crafts show. We had been working for several months to create new items for this years crafts show around the tri-state, and the reaction was excellent. We created three separate items, a whale, and anchor and frames all handmade and created from locally sourced reclaimed wood.

The process starts working with local carpenters who provide us with the wood needed to make the art. This batch came from a cedar floor that was laid in a Long Island home in 1934. We then strip it of any nails and get rid of the wood that doesn't have enough character to be considered. Our customers and ourselves tend to like the pieces with a lot of aging and knots. We then glue them together and the pieces form one solid piece to be cut into shapes. Our original pieces, a whale and an anchor, are those that are standard for any ocean community like those around the Tri- State area.

After selling out at the show, we are steady building more pieces and coming up with new shapes. No doubt we will continue to keep innovating in this area. We love the whole process of creating something from scratch and in this case we are taking wood that is normally wasted and up cycling it into a piece of art.

We also launched some new frames made of discarded pallets. People have been using pallets for a many years to create fencing, art and even furniture. A quick stroll on pinterest will blow your mind on how much you can do. We decided to take this concept in making full finished frames. We are offering them in 11x17 inches with grooves for sliding in glass. We also have them as fully planked with a piece of glass face mounted to the front with art undernearth.

For now these are only available out at our local shows. We are also going to be launching a line for sale for our wholesale accounts that come out to the NYNOW show this August at the Javitts Center. So you will need to come out and see for yourself these hand crafted pieces of art.

Here are some images of the process...

The floor that will soon be art

Hand cut and painted signs made to have a vintage distressed look. We use Annie Sloan chalkpaint then wax the frame afterwards so that it maintains the finish

Team carpenter and artist Steve Corrigan looking over one of the pieces prior to sanding.

School of raw wooden whales ready to get some paint.

Painting up the whales

Some of the finished planks that we're sold at the show.

Obviously I am dumbfounded by the devastation around our area. A lot of friends, families and our customers got affected by Sandy. We got spared from some of the major effects the storm brought so I am working on some new art and some fundraising options to help support. My hands and hearts go out to all those affected.

Here's a few quick desktops and icons for your computer or FB page.

 One of the perks of being a season ticket holder (ok ok quarter season only....) of the Yankees is getting tickets to the playoffs. The stage was set last night for some late heroics and Raul Ibanez came up big. We had some great seats down the right field line for all the action and of course stayed until the last pitch. Evidence can even be seen in my electric blue windbreaker for a quick second when they show his game tying and game winning blasts. An electric night in the BX. Here's a few picks and will upload some video when i get a chance. Also be on the lookout for a few Yankees pieces I have been busy working on.

Mark your calenders for some great events coming up. 

Long Beach: August 25-26th on the boardwalk

Argyle Lake Arts & Craft Fair, Babylon NY: Sunday, Sept 9th

West Islip Country Fair: September 23rd

Bay Ridge 3rd Ave festival: Sunday September 30th

Irish Fest Long Beach: October 6th

Oyster Fest 2012: October 13th and 14th inside the tents

St. Anthony's Mothers Guild Holiday Fair: November 3rd St. Anthony's High School, Hicksville NY

I added a few more stores on where you can find some of my type maps. 

Here's an updated list of who, what and where.

MANHATTAN

Harlem Flo (currently in construction merging boutique and florist)

2276 Frederick Douglass Blvd (Eighth Ave)
Harlem
Time out article about them here.

Carries New York City map framed and unframed

51 Avenue A  

New York, NY 10009
212) 228-0145 

Website

BROOKLYN

Shop Exit 9  Cobble Hill

Carries Brooklyn map framed and unframed

127 Smith Street  Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 422-7720

  I am proud to announce that we have added a new store to the mix of places where you can buy some of my posters. Welcome SiteNYC in Astoria is the newest location to join Harlem Flo Boutique up on Marcus Garvey Blvd in Harlem and Kline's in Ocean Beach, FIre Island. If your in the neighborhood of these stores go ahead and stop in, they each offer some really great product and I could'nt be in better company.

Please welcome the newest member of the map family, Queens New York. This one is a bit different from the rest as I've included the names of the bordering hoods from other counties, not the county name, so their is even more info for the surrounding boroughs. I payed a lot of attention to detail and did thorough homework on including as many hoods and parks as I could. I also had the help of a friend who is born and bred here, down to the QUEENS tattoo on his neck. So rest assured every important neighborhood has been included; from Hunters Point to Bellerose, Malba all the way down to Old Howard Beach and the A train out to the Rockaways. Modern cartography at its finest, available for purchase immediately in the store.