Josh Keyes is a tough artist to put into words.

Initially, “painstaking” seems like the most appropriate term to describe his hyper-realistic paintings– after all, the detail is above the average human being’s level of artistic devotion. What else would describe the process? Focused? Acute? Zoinks? No matter. When words fail in an introduction, we always have the rest of the interview to suss it out.

READ MORE…

Congratulations to Greg.

This is him on Rano Raraku volcano crater on Easter Island. It’s pretty damn far, and pretty damn exotic — and for that he will receive two pairs of Alex & Chloe sunglasses. Time to find a travel companion Greg!

Tune in next week for another exiciting episode in expensive win-ables on Big Ticket Tuesday.

One part audience engagement, one part marketing, and with a few techniques from Barack Obama’s online outreach team’s playbook thrown in, Indie GoGo could be a Godsend for independent filmmakers. After filtering by location and topic, the social marketplace invites film fans to learn more about projects currently being developed (not to mention throw a few dollars their way). Not only do films generate an early fan base before release, but the site creates a simple way for producers to know who their audiences are and the kinds of perks they’re interested in, whether it be widgets or visits to the set. IndieGoGo opened shop earlier this year but has already helped a Polish film about a Jewish dwarf who hid in garbage cans to survive the Holocaust and a mockumentary web series about 1970s rockers achieve their fundraising goals.

Danae Ringelmann, one of three co-founders who spearheads film finance efforts, calls the network’s Do It With Others (DIWO, a collaborative approach with DIY spirit) outlook a good way to be proactive since distributors aren’t solely responsible for generating fans anymore. While people who liked a film could previously only support it by buying a physical copy, this model encourages transparency to create a more inclusive relationship between filmmakers and open source-familiar fans. Consider it mini patronage at its finest.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt may hold the title of world’s fastest man, but we think you can take him. Even if your leg muscles have atrophied from all of that time you spend seated in front of your computer, you can still defeat this year’s Olympic gold medalist in both the the 100M and 200M dash. All you need is a pair of limber fingers, a computer and a little bit of heart. It also helps if you go to PumaRunning.com and check out the You Vs. Bolt flash game, which challenges users to outrun the irie island nation’s answer to The Flash as you go head to head, flapping your digits as fast as you can to hopefully best Bolt’s world record of 9.69 seconds. If at first you don’t succeed try, try, again…and let us know how you do. We finished in 9.68 seconds.

Like the comeback of three-piece suits, what’s old is now new and watches are no exception. Started by two young professionals, Hodinkee is not your average watch site. The name comes from a modified Czech word for watch. Structured in a blog format, the site highlights timepieces that Benjamin Clymer and his partner Dan Wieder find through meticulous combing of the internet. Frustrated by the lack of information on vintage pieces, the pair started the site as both an information center as well as to promote watch styles and fashion that may have been forgotten. While sites like Timezone and Watchuseek can keep you occupied talking about the latest and greatest models and features, a casual one-time visit to Hodinkee might yield something you’ve never seen before; a real gem. Most entries are links to actual watches for sale so the site is perfect for impulse buyers. Personally, I appreciate having a resource such as this. It saves me time and energy from having to look all over the Internet for that special wristwatch. Though only approaching their three month anniversary, the pair have big plans in store for the site including collaborations with companies to highlight items that may be tucked away in their vaults.

The Venice Art Biennial. The Sao Paulo Art Biennial. The Whitney Biennial. The Belo Horizonte International Graffiti Biennial. Wait — hold up. The Belo what-what? New to join the line of art biennials is an event in one of Brazil’s biggest cities, geared specifically for graffiti heads but testament to the country’s support of street artists, which comes at the same time as press is drumming up excitement for the Art Biennal due to set fire to Sao Paulo later this year. The Graffiti Biennial will be a nine-day, history-setting expo (starting August 30) that promises 60 selected graffiti artists including Tinho, most of them Brazilian but a few culled from around the world. Exhibits, seminars and music shows will make up the event. Sao Paulo’s Art Biennial has become one of the most important among its kind in recent years, and if all goes well, the Graffiti Biennial idea could spawn across the world. Doesn’t the “Venice International Graffiti Biennial” have a nice ring to it?

We’re all looking for ways to be more green. And one of those great ways is by reusing objects that we often throw away. For instance, our friend recently turned us on to reusing plastic take out containers as tupperware, so we can help save the earth and a little hard-earned cash at the same time. Blightster, a new product designed by Chilean artist Rodrigo Alonso follows the same approach. He’s taken a container that is often tossed out, incorporated a light within it and thus, transformed it into a versatile lamp.

We love Michael Young and ODM’s watches and we’ve got the blog post to prove it. Now they have joined forces to create the “Zen” SV27-1 Commemorative Watch to honor Hong Kong’s return to China and the innovative brands that have developed from the Hong Kong scene. We don’t know enough about the Chinese political landscape to understand why Hong Kong’s return to China is being celebrated only in the design community, but we do know the watch looks great. Look for these to appear on the wrist of an Olympic Athlete near you.

When we travel we like to pack light to make room for shopping. When I was in Prague last week I made sure to make my rounds to see some of the Czech fashion. We admit the shop Kebab doesn’t have the most appetizing of names, especially for clothes, the shop does have some great indie fashion brands (nice to see some SupremeBeing) and local Czech clothing all representing a really young and energetic style. The shop is downtown but a couple blocks from the tourist high street shops just to keep its street cred. Have a look at the clothes and mingle with some of the young hip Czechsters.