Coming Up Roses

Photo by Alin Dragulin

Ryan Jacob Smith  is an artist. His work has a timeless artifact quality to it, like paintings on stained, brittle old paper found a generation or two after being made by your scientific, artsy great uncle (the uncle with an eye patch). Ryan has shown in galleries like Upper Playground (San Francisco), Giant Robot (Los Angeles), Land (Portland), the Belfry (Seattle), and Cinders (New York). He has successfully navigated the commercial art world without becoming a tool. So I was surprised and excited to find out he started doing tattoos. Heck, I wanted one!

I’ve seen artists over the years get out of the feast-or-famine lifestyle with normal steady-paying jobs, like a musician giving up their music to become a tax accountant. But that’s not the case with Ryan. As a tattooer, his hands are constantly busy creating art. This isn’t a departure from making art—it’s his art growing in a new direction.

Ryan’s tattoos are inspired by traditional tattoo folk art (hat tip to George Burchett, Amund Dietzel, and Bert Grimm), mixed with modern urban folk art (chin up to Wes Lang, Margaret Kilgallen, and Barry McGee).

His tattoos are all black. This style keeps the design simple and works on all shades of skin. It’s all about strong line work, solid shading, and classic artwork that will age well with your body. 

Ryan tattoos moths, leaves, skulls, hands, roses, and other organic things. “You could draw a rose a hundred different ways and it’s still a rose.”

Photo by Alin Dragulin

Words by Justin “Scrappers” Morrison

Citradelic Presents...

Watch out for some epic Spring & Summer shows presented by our pals at New Belgium.

Win tickets to shows in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more... just keep en eye on your favorite social media lava flow to win: Twitter // Instagram // Facebook

This show series celebrates the music their new brew Citradelic makes in your mouth. Citradelic is a sweet & tangy dance of hops and tangerine bouncing on your tongue, getting way down, slapping the floor, grinding hard on the taste buds, like two trippy amoebas merging in and out of each other, and having way too much fun till the sun comes up...and..and..and... it's also good beer to drink.

Happy 100th Birthday Party National Parks!

Getting into the HBD spirit with Parks Project

Photos of Bryce Canyon National Park by Liz Devine

The USA’s National Park Service turns 100 years old on August 25, 2016, and Stay Wild magazine knows we’ll see you at the party. What kind of gift do you bring to this epic HBD party? Ummm… no idea. Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii probably wants something different than the Grand Canyon. The National Parks are like that friend who doesn’t want “things”—they’d rather just spend quality time with you while you restore a hiking trail or clean up tourist garbage at a historic picnic area. But what’s a party without a birthday gift? 

Parks Project is a clothing brand that loves the National Parks. Their goods are responsibly made to promote, protect, and preserve the parks through an impressive list of projects ranging from Denali bear care to Laguna Coast plant restoration. We hit up Sevag Kazanci from Parks Project for birthday party advice, and he knew just what to say.

What’s the perfect gift for the National Parks?

A big basket of love from all of us, and a hefty dose of education for all park visitors on human impact and what we can do to better support our parks. Probably a little envelope of cash, too, like you used to get from grandma to cover a bit of the budget deficit. 

What kind of festivities does the Parks Project have planned for the party?

So wow, the ideal day has a little bit of everything. Morning hike to a peak, soak in the goodness. Then we gotta stick to putting on a volunteer event, trying to lead by example. Great way to bond and celebrate. Couple of cold ones creekside after, too. Maybe a little evening music and campfire laughs.

Who do you hope comes to the party?

Teddy Roosevelt brings the ideas, John Muir handles the guest list, Ansel Adams takes photos, Mardy Murie documents the party, maybe Bob Dylan and the Roots collab on music… and my mom’s comin’ too. 

Aside from your impressive list of current projects, what new ones are on the way?

More localized projects. Perhaps tackle a skatepark project, and some international ones, too. There are so many amazing stories out there, from rangers in African parks to sustainability efforts in Southeast Asia. We can’t wait to bring them to life.   

Get involved with Parks Project parksproject.us

EXPO is GO!

Thanks for patiently waiting for this news. We've been promoting the Stay Wild EXPO for over 2 years and finally have details to share!

We've got some epic bands booked, workshops planned, field trips lined up, awesome exhibitors, even awesomer sponsors, and all the adventure we've been seeking together. 

CHECK IT OUT >>>