Ex-graffiti artist owns graphic design business

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August 14, 2007

Ex-graffiti artist owns graphic design business

Yadira Betances, staff writer The Eagle Tribune Tue Aug 14, 2007, 01:18 AM EDT

LAWRENCE — Some of the best advice artist Ruben Gonzalez ever got didn’t come from an art teacher but from an undercover police officer.

The officer, who nabbed Gonzalez for spray painting a New York subway car after midnight, told the then 14-year-old, “If you are artistic and have a talent, do something positive with your life.”

That’s all Gonzalez needed to hear.

Two decades later, he owns Stylin’ Graphics and Live 2 Impress Car Club in Lawrence, where he designs commercial signs and car decals and does custom paint jobs on cars.

Gonzalez, who has lived in Lawrence for the past 15 years, recently spoke to a dozen members of a youth group sponsored by Lawrence-Methuen Community Coalition.

The 6- to 17-year-olds sat in awe, several with their mouths open, as Gonzalez told them how he went from being a studious boy to a punk just because he wanted to fit in with the “cool” guys.

Gonzalez told the youngsters how his new friends urged him to spray paint graffiti on the trains.

“I was afraid, but I wanted to be cool,” the Manhattan native told the wide-eyed kids.

He soon realized they weren’t his true friends.

“They didn’t care what I did for art. They were watching and ran when I got caught. I was the one getting in trouble,” he said.

Gonzalez, 42, said the officer’s words echoed in his ears and helped him turned his knack for graffiti into a graphic design business.

“For me, it was a wake-up call,” said Gonzalez, the father of four sons, one daughter and a stepdaughter.

“That’s the reason why I’m here. Just like your parents tell you, ‘Don’t talk to strangers,’ and ‘Keep your distance when walking on the street,’ you have to watch out who you hang out with,” he said.

Ricky Vasquez, who coordinates the youth group, said bringing in speakers like Gonzalez is one of the goals of the program.

“There are a lot of bad apples out there and I don’t want the kids to fall into that,” Vasquez said. “I want to show them they can do something else so they can have a better life.”

Ydani Mota, 13, of Methuen said the message sunk in.

“When he was talking, I was thinking, ‘That could happen to me,’” said Ydani, an eighth-grader at Timony School in Methuen.

When his mother found out he was sneaking out of the house after all the lights were out, she took away Gonzalez’s bike as punishment.

“(Months later) I went to the basement looking for the bicycle and there it was next to the boiler, all rusted,” Gonzalez said.

“To see it again was an example for me that when you do good, you get rewarded,” he said.

Gonzalez draws flames, abstract signs and custom designs on cars. He also creates commercial signs, and coordinates car shows.

One of his greatest joys is having son, Jorel Jerediah, 3, in the shop picking up the spatula, grabbing vinyl and placing stickers on the wall, just as his dad does on cars. There is a gleam in his eyes as he thinks of Jorel or one of his other children, picking up the craft one day.

“I see this as an inspiration,” Gonzalez said. “It’s something that comes up and challenges me. I never give up.”