Author: Nick Ringelstetter

While Ringelstetter was in Tarpon Springs, Florida on his super tour, he met an eccentric, fun individual named Jay Kafcus. Kafcus loved Ringelstetter’s work and commissioned him to paint a mural at his house because he loved the Forbidden Zone painting. Ringelstetter was booked solid with his upcoming tours, so it was a year later before he was able to make it over to Kafcus’s residence to begin the mural. It would seem that the elements were not on Ringelstetter’s side. It rained for five straight days while he was there and it was the worst weather this section of the country had seen in years, but Ringelstetter pulled through and created a large mural including UFO’s, the Tree of Life, wormholes, portals, Jimmy Hendricks, and Kurt Cobain, just as Cafcus had requested.

Darienne Keniece

While Ringelstetter was working a street show in Gainesville he had a chance run in with a young artist from the area, Kole Trent. Usually Ringelstetter doesn’t like to leave his booth during his shows, but the young artist seemed eager to show what he had been working on, so Ringelstetter followed Trent over to his booth and he was blown away. Trent was only about twenty years old at the time, and Ringelstetter was impressed to see the amount of talent and dedication his new acquaintance had acquired in his short life.

A few years later, during Ringelstetter’s super tour, he found himself in the booth neighboring Trent and they reconnected. Later on, when Ringelstetter went to Cocoa Beach he reached out to Trent and learned that his family had opened a new gallery. The Trent’s offered Ringelstetter a place to work during his next show and asked him to be their first ever guest artist of the month for November. Ringelstetter had been planning to live out of his van, as he usually does on tour, but the Trent’s offered him a room while he was there, making the whole experience a little more relaxing. The time spent there was fun and worthwhile for all involved, as they got to blend together their artist cultures and learn from one another.

Darienne Keniece

If you’ve seen Ringelstetter while he’s traveling then there’s a chance you’ve seen his van too. Knowing that he was going to be on the road for months, Ringelstetter opted to invest in a van, rather than spend money on hotels every single night. The goal was to downsize, and make traveling the country while creating on the road easier. He has said that when he initially purchased this van, he experience a child-like excitement, knowing that he was going to convert it into a mini apartment and use it to pursue his dream. He has no regrets about this decision, as he feels that living on the road and traveling from show to show has been an eye-opening experience.

Darienne Keniece

In the early Ebay days, Johnny Downing, a member of the Viper Club of America found Ringelstetter on Ebay, and after buying a few pieces he reached out for a custom piece, encompassing Downing’s personality and interests, including the Viper Club. Eventually, Ringelstetter got the chance to fly out to Boston to meet Downing and participate in a Viper Run, where members of the club meet up and tour with their Vipers.

But a ride in a sweet car wasn’t all that this venture had to offer. The Viper Club is close with the Orange County Choppers, and Downing coordinated at meet with them for Ringelstetter where he got to hang out with the OCC and tour their shop.

Darienne Keniece

In 2016 while Ringelstetter was on tour in St. Charles, Illinois he was approached by Ron Onesti. Ringelstetter wasn’t sure of this man’s significance at the time, but learned soon enough that he was the guy in the area. He purchased a print and was on his way, or so Ringelstetter thought. Towards the end of the show, Ron came back with two brand new, unopened Dean Guitars and asked Ringelstetter for a custom paint job on both of them. A year later, Ringelstetter was asked to come back to the St. Charles show where he set up close to the Arcada, Onesti’s Rock venue. He delivered the guitars to a happy customer, and learned that they would be on display in the Arcada for all of the patrons to see.

Darienne Keniece

When Ringelstetter was a representative for Phenom Skateboards after transitioning from Proxima Skateboards, he got the chance to be a part of their Skateboard competition. Shortly before this, Ringelstetter had purchased a few brick patterned wall panels to paint on. When he heard about the upcoming competition in Delavan, WI, he offered to bring them along and set up a graffiti wall at the event.

When Ringelstetter arrived he was disheartened to find that it was raining, but it wasn’t long before one of the town’s board members came up with a solution by recommending he set up under the pavilion. The wall ended up fitting perfectly under the shelter, but it took a little while for the people to get started. It seemed that the kids weren’t sure if they were really allowed to paint at first, but once a few got started the crowd rushed over to join in on the action.

It was a few years later before the graffiti wall came out to entertain the public again, but every time it did it was a hit. It wasn’t until the Fall Art Tour in 2019 that the graffiti wall transformed into the immersive graffiti park, adding an extra hook to Ringelstetter’s stop on the tour. This is one of his favorite additions as he enjoys watching people get creative. He plans to continue using the graffiti wall in hopes of sparking the creativity in many along his travels and bringing more art into the world.

Darienne Keniece

In the early days of Ringelstetter’s art shows, he found himself in the position to hold two shows on the same day in two different states. He pulled this off with the help of his cousin Matt Harsha who ran a show in St. Louis while Ringelstetter ran his booth at the Action in Jackson carnival in Jacksonville, Wisconsin with his brother. The St. Louis show took place at a comi-con that caught the attention of a big name star, Tony Todd, who is best known for his role in the film “Candy Man”. Todd purchased one of Ringelstetter’s pieces and posed happily for a picture, as this was Ringelstetter’s first celebrity customer.

Darienne Keniece

Ringelstetter left on his 2018 art tour one week after finishing the “Forbidden Zone” project. The plan was to live on the road for ten months and participate in thirty-six street art shows. The goal was to see how far Ringelstetter could push himself; mind, body, and spirit because he wanted to know what it would be like.

This tour proved to be the most difficult task Ringelstetter has ever signed himself up for. It was as though something in the stars was conspiring to make everything much harder than it needed to be. From the weather to the venues, there was a hitch in every step.

While this tour was downright treacherous in some aspects, it did have its positives. For a portion of the Florida tour, Ringelstetter rented out a living space in the Monster Factory. As it turns out, he was their last “rent-ee”, but it is one of his favorite places in the world. Vince Pompei, owner of the factory, became a fast favorite of Ringelstetter’s, as he views him as “innovative”, “minimalistic”, and the “Einstein of our time”. After living there for four months, Ringelstetter found it easy to see why Pompei liked it there. The park nearby was a chaotic place as it was a bit of a hotspot for drug culture. There was always something going down there, so the entertainment never quit.

Another of Ringelstetter’s favorite places throughout this tour was Littleton, Colorado. It seems that the romance of art shows is dying across the country, but Littleton caters to its artists in a way that makes them feel like the rock stars that they are, creating a fun and enthralling experience for all. Ringelstetter flew his dad and his brother (from separate states) down to enjoy the show with him, and as always he was reminded of the peace that family can bring to you during trying times.

Ringelstetter put on twenty nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty five miles for this tour and he has dubbed it “The Year of Survival” because it was a constant test to see if he could pull together the funds to make it to the next stop. While this tour was more work than it was worth, Ringelstetter is still happy he signed up for as many stops as he did because otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to get by. This tour brought a mixture of emotions and constant challenges, but despite the external factors Ringelstetter continued his mission and realized the lengths he would go to in order to follow his passion.

Darienne Keniece

On Halloween 2018, Ringelstetter participated in a fundraiser held by the Spring Green Area Arts Coalition at the Shed restaurant. The goal was to raise money for artists in the community, and the theme was ”Painting Monsters with Nick”. Ringelstetter knew that he would be using all of the characters each of the twenty participants had created to paint a new original, but at the time he didn’t know that he would be spending three months on it.

The choice was between creating three new originals before Ringelstetter left for his Florida tour, or to put his all into this one painting. Since it was for the kids, Ringelstetter decided to take this painting a step further and make it three dimensional and black light reactive. The results were something that has never been done before in the art world, thanks in great part to every individual who partook in the event.

 

Darienne Keniece