Meeting of Styles | Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California | 2025
Aerosol | Collaborative mural production
This trip to Los Angeles was one for the books.
I traveled out with Ruhek, also known as Ruhas, and Tox M, a dope painter from Enid, Oklahoma who I somehow started calling El Mago de Enid. I do not even remember exactly when that started, but it stuck. (I made that up)
The reason for the trip was Meeting of Styles, and from the moment we got there, the whole experience was different.
There was talent everywhere.
I got to meet artists from different places, see people whose work I had followed, meet a couple of familiar names outside of the art world, and paint alongside some of the top artists in the movement.
For our production, we painted around the corner of a building that had previously been a Vans shop.
The overall theme centered around statues and Greek gods.
Each artist chose a different character, and the figures were connected through tools related to painting and graffiti. One might have a roller, another a spray can, marker, extinguisher, or something else connected to the culture.
I chose a Greek warrior.
For a while, I could not figure out what tool I wanted him to carry.
Then we stopped at a Montana paint store and I saw a KRINK extinguisher.
That was it.
I asked one of the employees to hold the extinguisher so I could take a photograph of his hand and use it as a reference. That small moment ended up solving a major part of the composition.
The final warrior stood holding the extinguisher like a weapon, combining the classical statue theme with something pulled directly from graffiti culture.
The entire production came together beautifully.
What made the trip even more memorable, though, was everything happening around the painting.
During Meeting of Styles, I was welcomed into a new crew and, with that, what felt like a new family.
That meant a lot.
Art has continued to introduce me to people in different cities and different parts of the country. Suddenly Los Angeles was not just somewhere I had traveled to paint. It became another place where I had people I could reach out to, paint with, and reconnect with whenever I came back.
The event itself was alive.
The music was going. Artists were working everywhere. Different styles were happening side by side. The culture was present in every direction.
It was one of those environments where you could look around and constantly find something inspiring.
Venice
Toward the end of the trip, after checking out a few different places around Los Angeles, we made our way to Venice Beach.
And of course, we found another wall.
For this piece, I played with the word VENICE, using a different color on the middle E so that within the same word you could also read VNICE.
It was a simple wordplay that made perfect sense for the location. Big shout out to the homies for throwing ideas. I found this dope, how we were just throwing suggestions comfortable amongst each other, just elevating the pieces. Sometimes, people be having some of the dumbest ideas that make you think “Shut up…” but in this case, it was all high caliber artists… all with great ideas.
I got a spot toward the top of the wall, directly above work by NYCHOS, which was crazy to me. The wall itself had work from a lot of talented people, including ENDEM, SAUTE, BRAIN, and others.
For my piece, I also painted a chrome hand extending outward while holding a heart.
With the ocean right there, it almost looked like the hand was offering its heart to the water.
I liked that.
After the intensity and energy of Meeting of Styles, this piece felt like a good way to close out the trip. Different environment, different energy, but still surrounded by artists and still painting.
Big shout out to Datso and Brain for coming through with the Venice spot.
Shout out to Desmoe for the hospitality, Derse, also known as TORIN, Saute, and everybody else who made us feel welcome.
And a big shout out to PMK and the TGL crew for the hospitality and for getting down with us on the Meeting of Styles production.
Trips like this remind me how much bigger the culture is than any one city.
I left Tulsa with Ruhek and El Mago de Enid to go paint in Los Angeles.
I came home with new experiences, new friendships, a new crew, and another place that felt a little less unfamiliar than it did before.
That is one of my favorite things about art.
The walls are cool.
The people you meet along the way make the stories even better.
