Fresh Cuts from the Butcher

Hey all~

Sorry for this much delayed posting! Sometimes life throws a few road blocks, but we'll just keep busting on through them! So check this out- our latest artist, Manar Laham, has completed his addition to the panel and he defiantly brought the fresh style-

"A creature emerges from the sands of the far east, his shadow cast by the blood orange sky.

The Butcher stands before us, cleaver in hand, ready for the first cut..."

ETC: What is your name?

AML: Ahmad Manar Laham. I was called Butcher for the longest time.. which is the direct translation of my last name in Arabic (Laham). You can just call me Manar

ETC: Where are you from and where are you based out of now?

AML: I’m originally from Syria. I grew up in the UAE (AKA Dubai), and I live in San Francisco now

ETC: Describe your style in 5 words

AML: Punchy sarcastic dark imaginative unique 

                  

ETC: What inspires you to create your art?

AML: I get inspired mostly by people around me. My fellow artists and friends, people that I meet or even just see on the street, on the bus, at the grocery store, Etc. Having been surrounded with a number of good artists for the past 7 years or so has always been a major motivation behind my work

 

ETC: What is your idea of the ultimate collaboration?

AML: A huge panel that travels between artists from all around the world. The names of the artists involved in the project would be kept secret. Then the finished panel would get exhibited in all places it traveled to in the process of its making. I’d love to be part of this!

ETC: This could be arranged....

 

ETC: What was your favorite toy as a kid?

AML: I had a lot of Ninja Turtles action figures and I loved them.

 

ETC: What is your favorite toy now?

AML: You know what.. I still have a lot of action figures. But my favorite has to be Bandai’s Plawres Sanshiro“Juohmaru” chogokin Figure that my brother got me last year.

 

ETC: If you could meet one artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

 AML: Simon Bisley, Ashley wood, Francisco Goya, Egon schiele, Dean Cornwell, John Sargent, Bernie Wrightson, the list goes on and on

.. as for picking one.. I’d say Ashley wood

 

ETC: If your art had a soundtrack, what bands would be on it?

AML: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Rush, Pink Floyd, the Police, Genesis, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin, Testament, Death, Overkill, Judas Priest, Megadeth

 

ETC: If you had one last sentence to share with the world, what would it be?

AML: Open your minds and hearts to the world around you. Let’s forget about the planet for now and just care for each other.

Well said. Thank you for sharing your talents and words, Butcher. Check out and follow his work here.

I hope you all are enjoying the eye candy and mini-interviews, send me any suggestions for new interview questions, I am all ears! I told you all I was bad at thing kind of thing, so thanks for sticking with it! And remember, if you'd like to get down on this project, hit me up! ~ travo.collabo@gmail.com

Total miles Panel #2 has traveled- 858 miles

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself." - Leonardo da Vinci

Peace and love to all.

ELROD

Abstraction by Abbott

Panel #2 is hittin' the road and making it's first leg down south! But before I get into that, Let me introduce you to the new panel and it's first collaborator, San Francisco's Annie Abbott. Annie is a fine artist from San francisco who emphasizes in abstraction works with amazing color palettes and lyrical patterns. Be sure to check out her website and full biography *here*. Here is a little snippet :

"By referencing past movements such as: Lyrical Abstraction, Color Field Painting, Art Brut, and Formalism, I begin each work as a search for the ultimate story that has a beginning, middle and end. Inspired by the pieces of everyday “light and shadow” that quickly move before our eyes, I seek to capture these fleeting moments that are often gone within seconds, yet leave an imprint upon the eyes. A shadow cast upon a floor, wall or ceiling that moves, jumps or fades - and is quickly gone or removed by something else. By combining process and concept, I am led through various landscapes that float temporarily before our eyes and then vanish."

And here is her panel work:

Ok, now before I get into the mini interview, I just want to throw this out there really quickly- I'm sorry for the lack of insightful interview questions! I didn't realize how hard it is to actually formulate questions that would convey a cohesive and accurate image of the artist and their thought process, but I can only try! Haha, oh well, I hope some of you enjoy these anyway!

ETC What is your name, and where are you originally from?

AMA Annie Marie Abbott, originally from Southern California~ Long Beach

ETC Describe your artistic style

AMA Colorful, Non-Figurative, lyrical abstract

ETC What inspires you to create your art?

AMA The need to express and communicate through my hands

ETC Favorite color[s]?

AMA All colors

ETC Favorite medium to work with?

AMA Oil and Ink

ETC Favorite toy when you where a kid?'

AMA Tape recorder

ETC Favorite toy now?

AMA Cannot tell you

ETC If you could have one super hero power, what would it be?

AMA To grant the power of love OVER hatred and violence

ETC What is your idea of the ULTIMATE collaboration?

AMA Several artists from all walks of life and ages coming together for a large mural in a big city

ETC If you had the chance to tell the word one sentence, what would it be?

AMA Live every moment like it's your last, with an open heart and as much love as you can possibly give

I know, not exactly Barbara Walters worthy, but c'mon people! I'm an artist, not a journalist! I promise they will get better though!

A big thanks to Annie for throwing down on this project [Glamazons united!]!

Next up, RAMBO1 of Fontana, CA. This cat hit me up wanting to get down with us, so I am eagerly anticipating his work!

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." ~Henry Ward Beecher

Peace and love to all,

ELROD

"We live to create..."

El Travo Collabo hits the road! I just finished my section of the FIRST panel [16 x 20] and now the birchwood panel is set to begin it's 453 mile journey to Long Beach where my good friend, and heterosexual lifemate, CrashnBurn McGurn will attack it with her psychedelic-rock-n-roll painting skillz! 

My section of the panel is pretty simply, I just had the image of giving an inanimate object a breath of life, so I went with a super stylized bleeding heart with my signature gold rays in the background. Pretty simple this round, so next time i get that wooden baby in my hands, I'm going to have to really push it.

Travo Collabo contributor, Forest Stearns [www.draweverywhere.com], suggested that I consider a canvas scroll instead of a panel for the 2nd round. At first I thought "no", because I wanted to keep every thing uniform, but now that I think about it, a scroll is much easier to handle and ship AND it would give artists much more space to work with... thinking about it... hit me up and let me know what you think.

Creamos para vivir y vivimos para crear. [We create to live, we live to create]

ELROD