Come check us out at booth number L2. 

Tags:   · ASR · Los AngelesNo Comments.

We’re so proud of the growth displayed in young Ontae. Here he talks about what he learned from catching a wave. Don’t forget to vote for us in the Members Project

Tags:   american express · members project · Stoked · Surf MentorNo Comments.

Tags:   american express · members project · StokedNo Comments.

Originally form Central Jersey, Christian Acker was raised on a healthy diet of Soccer, Skating and eventually Punk Rock and Graffiti. From an early age he knew he wanted a life in the visual arts. Christian currently is an art director for Zoo York and does his side work through Adnauseum and Handselecta. Christian also art directed our Zoo York x Mike Giant x Stoked Deck & Tee and is an inspiration about overcoming obstacles. We’re pleased to have him speak to us.

Stoked: What are you Stoked about these days?
Christian: Right now I’m really stoked on early animated cartoons. Like 1930’s to 1960’s stuff. Betty Boop, Popeye, stuff like that.

Stoked: What is your definition of success?
Christian: Doing what I love everyday. Loving what I do everyday.

Stoked: What inspires you to do what you do?
Christian: So much. I don’t think I ever considered doing anything else. Design and art are just the means by which I think and process the world around me. Design is a way of communicating and connecting with people and that’s really inspiring. It’s a communication and it often takes place within communities or even creates them.

Stoked: How do you get motivated to take on major challenges?
Christian: I guess I see life as a long series of major challenges. It’s more of a fight or a battle than a test though. Life isn’t easy. Anyone who thinks it is, hasn’t been faced with its coldness yet. Every breath is a subconscious strike in the battle we live everyday. A year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I was subsequently operated on, treated and fully recovered. I’m not yet 30, but have a wife and 2 small children that I had to seriously consider that I might not be there for them one day. But that is the reality of everyday. The illness made me come face to face with the reality that we ignore on most normal days. But life isn’t in our control. No future is certain. My faith in God carries me through the hardest challenges I’ve ever endured. Knowing that I am never alone. I have a deep belief that there is no way I could suffer alone, knowing that God is with me in all things and nothing could separate me from his love. Not even death.

I am pretty interested in the world of tattoos (I’ve collected quite a few over the years) And sailor tattoos have so much meaning in them, which made me start to study some of that world. The wild thing about a sailing ship is that when you hit a big storm on open water, the worst thing you can do is try to control your ship. You batten down the hatches, prepare in advance, tie up the sails, but let go of that wheel and let the ocean take you where it wants. You weather the storm. And I guess that’s the way I see challenges coming in my life now. Be prepared, but don’t deny it. Don’t fight it. We are frail and at God’s mercy. And the best we can do is what we can with what He gives us, wherever He puts us. We’re not getting out of this life alive. So do what you can, where you are, for as long as you’ve got.

Stoked: How important is it to have a supportive community within your field of work?
Christian: Incredibly important. Within my work, as an artist, as a father, as a husband, I have been very lucky to have talented and wise people around me most of my life that I can count on when I’m struggling with something. Whether it’s a creative or artistic problem or a personal/life problem. Finding people who see life like you do is no small thing. Cherish them as real friends.

Stoked: Who has played an important role in your life/career? Any mentors?
Christian: A ton. Currently they are my coworkers, some of whom I have been working closely with for 4 years. At 8+ hours a day, we see each other more than we see our families some weeks.

I was really lucky to have had experienced a “Commercial Art” class while in high school, my teacher Christine Stockton really encouraged me to keep following my passion for art, and helped me find the avenue I ended up in: Graphic Design.

In college I mostly became friends with my teachers. Soaking up everything I could from them. One in particular challenged me in my weaknesses. One prodded my strengths, but the combination of the two made me grow tremendously.

Stoked: Any life lessons you’d like to pass on to our youth?
Christian: Follow your interests. Find a way to pay your rent doing what you love. The world has enough boring people doing boring things to make a lot of money. Pursue what you want for the love of it. Not for what it may get you. Try things out. Our lives aren’t quite as broad experienced as we tend to think they are. Travel as much as possible. Try different foods. Walk a block you never walked. Carry a camera. It’s funny how you’ll notice things you never noticed before.

Stoked: What have you learned from action sports?
Christian: It ain’t easy. It might look that way from the outside, but it takes a lot of practice. And if you can’t get in that zone of enjoying where you are at the moment you’ll constantly be frustrated with the gap between where your skills are and where you want to be, whether it’s on a skateboard, snowboard, in your art, or amassing your wealth. We can always be envious, if we can’t focus on just loving where we are at the moment and committing ourselves to whatever we’re doing. The growth comes when you look back. You never notice it in the moment.

Stoked: Why is it important to support a program like Stoked?
Christian: Stoked helps expose people to things they might not experience on their own. It makes these sports accessible. But more than that, it connects people who might not otherwise. For the benefit of both the mentors and the mentees.

Tags:   Christian Acker · Handselecta · Interview Testimonial · Zoo YorkNo Comments.

Thanks so much to Lauren Ross for these amazing photos. You will definitely see more of these pictures.

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Thanks for the great response to Stoked Sessions NYC! This is going to be a great fundraiser for us. Buy tickets today!

Enjoy these Waajeed beats to some art. Great visual candy for a few minutes while at your computer.

Tags:   Stoked Sessions NYC · waajeedNo Comments.

Tags:   Danny Way · Los Angeles · Ryan Sheckler · X GamesNo Comments.

Here’s a short clip from the group Y event last week by Stoked Phoebe. Many thanks to group Y!

Tags:   Carey Hart · Fox Racing · Group Y · Los Angeles · Sal MasekelaNo Comments.

Some of you may or may not know that we are housed in Zoo York’s headquarters. They’ve supported us for the past 3 years by providing us with office space, phone, internet, inspiration, and more! We have nothing but love for the Zoo and Marc Ecko Enterprises. Marc Ecko Enterprises as well as Marc Ecko have redesigned their sites and included us in their corporate profile. We’re under their “Philanthropy” section. We’re really fortunate and grateful to be a part of this wonderful and creative company.

Zoo York was just recently featured on Vimby.com

VIMBY - Zoo York

Tags:   Marc Ecko · Marc Ecko Enterprises · Vimby.com · Zoo YorkNo Comments.

Abe Lincoln Jr. grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and came up in the hardcore punk scene in the early 80’s. Skateboarding & punk rock were the only things that mattered to him as a teenager and those two influences shaped who he is today for better and for worse. Abe Jr. spent a great deal of time being one of those “Troubled Youths” you read about. By pure luck he made it through all that when a lot of people he knew didn’t. Now he’s an Artist and Designer who’s been grinding for a long time, first with Street Art and now Pop Art. He’d rather create something that makes a person laugh or stop and say “WTF?!!?” than impress art critics. Abe Jr. was a contributor to our Stoked Sessions LA event is an overall great guy! We look forward to collaborating together in the future. Check out his site Girls Bike.

Chase Dunny for Kid Robot.

Stoked: What is your definition of success?
Abe Jr: Success is how you feel at the end of a project. I don’t measure success by how much money or props I get at the end of the day (though both are really nice). If I felt that I’ve created something that I’m proud of, then that to me is a success.

Stoked: What inspires you to do what you do?
Abe Jr: My main inspiration was my daughter initially. When she was born something clicked inside me and I started making art again after a 10 year hiatus. Once I started doing art again I was fortunate that people liked my work and saw the sense of humor in it, and I kept being asked to do cooler and cooler projects. Now my motivation is to grow as an Artist and Designer and create work that I love and try to get it out to as many people as possible.

Baller Status deck for Stoked Sessions LA

Stoked: How important is it to have a supportive community within your field of work?
Abe Jr: I think it’s very important to have a community and support from within it. When I first discovered Street Art it had the exact same vibe that Punk had but it was new and wasn’t trying to recreate something that happened a long time ago.

Stoked: What have you learned from a particular action sport (snowboarding, skateboarding, or surfing)?
Abe Jr: I learned more about tenacity and sticking with things from skateboarding then all the pep talks from guidance counselors and “role models” combined. The rewards of dialing a hard trick to me was concrete as opposed to the “life choices” they were talking about in school.

Stoked: What are you Stoked about these days?
Abe Jr: My Wife and Kids, my Art, even the day job ain’t so bad. The projects I’m working on now are things I would have never imagined doing even a couple years ago so I guess I’m stoked on my life, who’d have guessed?

Le Cirque Des Oiseaux - - New 19 x 27″ 3 Color Silkscreen Print for Little Art Book

Tags:   abe lincoln jr · Interviews · street artists · TestimonialsNo Comments.