ERIK ABEL JOINS ARTSPROJEKT!!!

The time has come to officially launch my ARTSPROJEKT store/Art Laboratory! The brains of the operation, Andy Howell (Artist and former pro-skater) recently invited me to be a part of the AP family. Pretty stoked to be amongst some of my favorite artists! (Shepard Fairy/Obey, Mars-1, Erik Otto, DALEK, Jim Phillips, Ekundayo)

I've spent the last month putting together artwork and graphics for a basic product line of high quality prints/posters, shirts, hats, buttons, skateboard decks and other paraphernalia. And the line will constantly be expanding. The genius of ARTSPROJEKT is it's print-on-demand platform... a product is made only when it's ordered. Customers can customize most products too, ie- shirt style and color, print size, paper or canvas, framed or not. Artists don't have to worry about overhead, production, inventory or shipping... hallelujah! This means you can expect a constant flow of new products regardless of where I am in the world. Let's say it together now... AWESOME!

Be sure to join my newsletter so you'll be notified of special products I'll be offering only for a limited time.

So, check out what I've got in the store, get yourself a shirt and a few prints or a birthday present for the old lady(or old man) Currently I have 20 posters, a dozen shirts and loads of hats, buttons, mouse pads, mugs, skateboard decks and other various items to choose from.

GO TO MY ARTSPROJEKT STORE >>

There's also a little >>INTERVIEW<< I did for the AP blog.

For the complete low down on ARTSPROJEKT, Read the Press Release.

Billabong Shirt Graphic

A shirt I did for Billabong USA for their Fall 2009 line is hitting shops. Go grab yourself one!

The Kingdom of Tonga

X marks the spot. That little sliver of sand and palm trees will soon be my home for an unknown amount of time. Flight departs July 10th from Auckland... SOOO PUMPED! I'll be working on a small fishing lodge (Fresh sushi anyone?) in the Vava'u island group in Northern Tonga to escape the NZ winter! It's a pretty remote location, as you can see, and I'll definitely be scouting out some empty waves... might even have to make my own treasure map for the secretest of spots. In fact, I'm definitely going to be burying some treasure on a scrap of sand and coral around there somewhere... might just be a bottle of rum, but how many people can say they have treasure buried on a deserted island in the Pacific!!! Can't wait to mark that one off the list.

NZ: Winter Waves

Been slacking on the blog... Mostly because our house got robbed and my Mac Book Pro (aka: My job) got swiped with my iPod and sunglasses as well as a bunch of other stuff from my roommates. And the bastards took a giant shit on the lawn outside the window they got into. Damn turd burglers! So I've been a little bitter lately. Just been surfing a bunch and trying to forget about all the design files and music I'll never see again. Lesson learned: ALWAYS BACK-UP. Guess you gotta roll with the punches. Surfing always seems to help sort things out though...

Words of Wisdom

"...All the above is, of course, a gross simplification. There are deeper reasons to travel - itches and tickles on the underbelly of the unconscious mind. We go where we need to go, and then try to figure out what we're doing there." - Jeff Greenwald "Shopping for Buddhas"

NZ: OK, things are getting ridiculous... and a bit cold

My day: Wake up. No heater in house. See my breath out of the covers. Verbally abuse the weather. Look out window... Bluebirds. Fresh dump on the mount. Ice on van windows. Wetsuit wet and frozen. Lot's of layers, lots of Coffee. Pick up the Dutchman, head down coast.
Snow on side of road. Arrive at most popular break in Taranaki. Firing. Offshore. Nobody out. Are we in the twilight zone? 2 other dudes show up and paddle out with us. They leave after 30 minutes... why? I may never know. Dutchman and I hoot and hollar at each other for next 2 hours by ourselves. Arms are destroyed from previous day. We finally go in... a couple guys paddle out... take a few pics for the books. Drive straight to Burger Fuel for a Third Pounder with cheese please. Epic. Zombie for rest of day. Blog to stay awake.

NZ: Outer Reef Bombs & Beachbreak Barrels

Today was a good day. An outer reef in town was working in the AM. It was deceptive, especially because nobody was out to measure it up. The wave in this pic was pushing double overhead, there were some death pits out there. And it was about 300 meters out. (The metric system is rubbing off on me... who are the idiots responsible for our damn imperial system of measurement?? Quick fact: the US is one of 3 countries in the WORLD who aren't on the metric system... fail!) Anywho... it was a long paddle out. I Don't think I've ever been that far out in the ocean, in surf that big, all by myself. Definitely sobering and a good way to clear the mind. I got a few bombs as well as some good exercise for my adrenaline gland. A 2 hour solo session and the second my foot hits the sand there were 3 guys paddling out and another 4 soon to be in the water, and the tide soon turned things to mush, ha ha... timing is indeed everything.

Then after lunch I pulled up to spiting barrels at this beachbreak with the sun out, orange clouds, giant rainbow and snow covered mountain backdrop... wish I had a camera in the water. Got some good tubes, complete with a few hoots from the shoulder... love that! Today was a good day.

Oceanic Totems 1 & 2

I finally got around to producing some personal work while being semi-settled in New Plymouth. These are painted on reclaimed New Zealand lumber and inspired by the the elements.