We’ll have a bunch of great Stabilo markers and pencils, along with a host of other supplies so you can finely craft the perfect message for that special someone that you left at home, or who ditched you at our table while they dove into the food from another truck. Maybe if you declare your devotion to Chef Ludo by hand-made card, he’ll add a little extra love to your fried chicken!

To kick things off, this week we will be featuring Liquitex BASICS acrylic paints, Princeton Brush Co. RealValue brush sets, and Art Alternatives pre-stretched canvases. Come on down, play with paint on a free 5 x 5″ canvas, and take home a masterpiece.

To go with the demo, Liquitex BASICS and Princeton Brush Co. RealValue brush sets will be 20% off their regular price.

And let us know what else you want to play with — we’re doing this on the spur of the moment, so we haven’t cooked up any solid plans for the coming weeks.

3 – Pick three locally owned stores you’d miss if they disappeared, then return to them. Say hello. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile. Those purchases are what keeps those businesses around.

50 – If just half the employed US population committed to spending $50 in locally owned stores each month, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine what would happen if 3/4 of them did that.

68 – For every $100 spent in locally owned stores, $68 returns to the local economy through payroll taxes, property taxes, sales tax, payroll, and other business related expenditures. When purchasing from a chain or franchise, that amount drops to $43; if it’s spent online, nothing comes home.

1 – The number of people it takes to start the trend… you.

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

Click here for more information on the 3/50 Project.

James Adams received his MFA from California State University, Long Beach in 2008 and holds a degree in biochemistry from the University of Iowa with postgraduate studies in molecular biology at UCLA. A co-curator of the Greater Los Angeles MFA Exhibition 2007 (GLAMFA), James’ work spans across media and disciplines from video and sound to sculpture, printmaking, painting and installation. You can see more work by James Adams on his artreview website.

We wish James the best of luck in his first showing at Photo LA and if you’re in attendance, we hope that you can stop by to view his work.

For tickets and more information, please visit the Photo LA 2009 website.

That Tom Gilmore is at it again – he’s shutting down traffic leading to 4th & Main on December 6th and throwing the Old Bank District a Holiday Block Party. Inside the Old Bank is an Art Bazaar, with downtown galleries and artists selling art priced for gift-giving. Raw Materials will be there, and this is what we’ll be hawking:

• Framed Commemorative Metal Plate of the Los Angeles Time’s “It’s Obama” front page.
• Framed Commemorative color mini-poster of the Los Angeles Time’s “It’s Obama” front page.

As of press time, we still don’t know whether our table will be inside the Bank, or directly outside on Main Street, but we’ll be there, will you? Stop by the table and check out the quality of our custom art framing and/or buy a piece of history for your loft wall.

Take a short break during Art Walk and Get Your Art Sh*t Together.

We’re not being judgmental, Getting Your Sh*t Together (GYST) is business software for artists of all kinds. GYST guides you through the world of business for artists, keeping you organized, guiding you to resources and helping you set up your practice in a way that allows more time for making art. On December 11th, during the December Downtown Art Walk, Raw Materials will host free workshops and software demonstrations of this remarkable software. Tucker Neel from GYST-Ink will be on-hand, sharing resources, and answering your questions.

The first 30 people to RSVP to gyst@rawmaterialsla.com will receive a free Artist Statement review. Simply email your artists statement to gyst@rawmaterialsla.com. GYST-Ink will review it, make suggestions, and return it to you at the event on December 11th. This offer, and a drawing for a free copy of GYST software is only available to people who attend on December 11th. Deadline to RSVP is December 8, 2008.

Raw Materials is the exclusive retailer of GYST and heartily recommends giving a copy to your favorite artist, especially if it’s yourself.

As one of the sponsors of the Downtown Art Walk, we will be open until 9:30pm every second Thursday of the month to accommodate downtown art walkers. We’ve started implementing some of our sale pricing in advance of this Thursday’s Art Walk – Strathmore pads are 20% off! Also, you asked for it and now we have it – books and magazines are in! We have Artforum, Modern Painters, Art in America, Wallpaper, and more.

We are still setting up shelves and awaiting delivery of more inventory from our distributors, but we’ve had lots of new stuff come in the past few weeks. The store is filling up nicely as we gear up for our Big Grand Opening in November, but more on that later. If you haven’t been in lately, stop by, check out our progress, and give us your feedback (or just say hello).