From Austin Cowboy Gear to a Piece of Molokai Art!

A few years ago, my wife, daughter, and I took a trip to Austin, Texas.

While we were there, we stopped by Allen Boots to have a little fun and try on some cowboy gear. Of course, I had to test out the boots, hat, and everything that was in the store.

We took a few pictures, not really thinking much of it at the time.

Then my younger brother who is always messing with me took one of those pictures of me in my cowboy gear and sent it to the artist from Molokai, Hawaii, Philip Valdez, also known as Da Beast. (Da one and only….Da Beeasssstttt)

My brother and I would always crack up watching this video of Ant and Seb, so of course my brother had to tell Da Beast to sing this while drawing my picture haha! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yidaAUqEtBw

What makes this piece even more special to me is that it became the first Da Beast image to make its way to the mainland! 

That makes me Image #1 that reached California. Yessah!

There’s something cool about seeing a simple picture turn into something completely different through someone else’s creativity. I was just having fun with my family in Austin, putting on some cowboy gear. Da Beast took that moment and put his own style, personality, and artistic expression into it. Shout out to my brother Mikey for making this possible!

That’s what I love about art.

God gave us all the gift of imagination. We all see things differently. We all have our own way of creating, telling stories, and expressing ourselves. If anyone is willing to put their name and work out in the world, in any form of art, I’m all for it.

And in a world that can feel pretty wild sometimes, it’s nice to see people sharing creativity instead of tearing each other down. Art gives us a way to connect, laugh, tell stories, and share a little bit of who we are.

That’s also something I think about with the work we’re doing at Erly.

Maybe one day we’ll even get to collaborate with Da Beast and bring some of that Molokai creativity into Erly.

That would be fire!

For now, I’m just grateful to have Image #1 because Da Beast is blowing up!

Remember take life easy and have fun. Life goes by fast. Spread peace, love, and respect all the time. Big up!

Yessah blessah no stressah!