It has been said that when you put your mind to something, there is a chance you might go far. There is also a chance you might get distracted and start watching TV instead. We like to stay away from option B as best we can and turn our heads from inviting remote controls with their tempting vices that promise we can watch whatever we want to watch whenever we want to watch it. NO!

Instead, we surf the net, find cool shit, talk cool shit, and sometimes try and collaborate cool shit with cool people. Our brother’s from another mother have done us an honor in painting the Cali Series. We shot the idea over, and homie took it to a level we couldn’t have ever imagined.

Painted on canvases handcrafted by carpenters who just so happen to be prison inmates at a Bolivian prison, El Abra. Adding flaws, texture, history, & a one-of-a-kindness you really couldn’t get in any other series today. Hand-painted w/ oils and other forms of mixed media.

You can head over to The Facebook page and peep the progression

www.facebook.com/rr.collective.page

But here is a little re-cap w/ notes from our esteemed artist, Alex Urquidi.

“Being a South American artist I had to place Brazil in the mix due to the love and hospitality we south Americans have. Brazil is a BLAST OF COLOR, a hot weathered ambient, a HUGE HEART. It is HAPPINESS, LOVE, SOUND, LOUDNESS, SUNSHINE, DANCE, It is the fire starter of LATIN AMERICA. IT’s BRAZIL!!!!”

“The word alone is synonymous with crime. But for us artists who come from the streets, it’s the most brutal art form, The truest. It is done for the LOVE of art because most times it is done for without compensation. It is the poetry of the streets, the flowers of the concrete jungle, a voice for a unheard people. GRAFFITI tells a story in every spray.”

“Japan was chosen in representation of all ASIANS in California. A culture made of honor and pride and rich in it’s arts. Tattoos are in every painting of the series, and you cannot have one without the other. Japan has created and invented some of the most amazing body art ever seen. I personally LOVE Japanese art and have allowed it to influence me entirely. I always go back to it for new inspiration.”

“California is Mexico. There is not one person in Cali who doesn’t know a word of Spanish. It’s the seasoning of the Californian culture. For more than one reason I had to put it in the series. Its colors and traditions are engraved in every in inch of California.”

“Jamaica is a country so full of sound, color and passion that it could not be left out of a series that symbolizes LOVE. For many it represents freedom, screams out peace, it makes you move your body to their reggae BEATS. IN 1 WORD SUMMED UP – Jamaica = LOVE! The image of Robert ‘BOB’ Nesta Marley alone symbolizes HOPE for a better tomorrow & fills the spirit with LOVE……”

“Without the bay I wouldn’t exist as the person I am today. My time there exposed me to all its CHARMS. GOOD ONES AND BAD ONES. But that’s how we are cut in the bay. A true Californian has lived life to the fullest. It’s an abyss of so many cultures that it boils up to a DEVINE PLACE. One can almost be everywhere in the world being in just one place. I LOVE MY BAY AREA and all its people and what each one has to offer. I AM A PERSON WHO NEVER FORGETS WHERE I CAME FROM.

The entire series came together as a THANK YOU to California, to good friends, to an experience lived in my past. Furthermore, as a thank to all that has occurred in my life. A gratefulness to be able to do my art and to have achieved and become the person and artist that I am. It’s ALL FOR THE LOVE FOR ART………”