Meet Jay and Riki Rivera | Graffiti Artists

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jay and Riki Rivera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jay and Riki, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We never thought of Laced and Found as a business. We did know that there was a market for it and that we love graffiti. We knew we were onto something when people began contacting us asking for work and we obliged. There was still so much we didn’t know in regards to charging for murals. As we began taking ourselves more serious we began doing the research and the rest is history so to speak.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an artist duo we believe what really sets us apart from others is our style and pace. Lots of people have gotten to know us as fast painters. I’m assuming this isn’t the norm. Nonetheless we only use spray paint so this is definitely a plus. Our style mixes a lot of traditional graffiti with vintage and modern images. We have fun breaking the regularities that are found in most murals. Where others try and make sense of art we pick it apart. Putting elements together that may normally not be in the same room , per say. We got to where we are today by building long lasting relationships with so many. We get out and meet lots of people, we painted for free at many events and we maintain a professional repor with everyone we encounter. We also work very very very hard, we are punctual and reliable. These characteristics are just a few that we have made habits when repping Laced and Found. Lessons we have learned along the way…never compete with other artists professionally. We all have different styles and clients will hire you based on your style and if you don’t get hired then they just preferred the other style for their project, it doesn’t mean that the other person’s was better or anything like that. Take advice from as many people as you can but ultimately in the end do what you want, if it doesn’t work try something different and if it does work do it again. Lastly be reliable, be professional, and be on time. Doing art is fun and doing it professionally can be stressful but if you do these things it will be amazing. We want people to know that Laced and Found was born out of the love of Graffiti but it has maintained over the years due to small businesses. We haven’t done many corporate jobs, our name hasn’t been thrown on those desks yet. No matter what we stay true to helping small businesses grow because this is what our country is built on. The benefits of dealing with us has always been a fun and exciting process. For most of our clients they have all became friends and that means the world to us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are big on Tiki Bars and great food. We love small bars not the big lights kind of places. We love to travel and hit different cities. So fortunately for our visitors they will get a great taste of tiki drinks and some great visuals of antique shopping. Here in Austin we love to go to Lala’s Golden Nugget for all year round Christmas drinks. Old Thousand has the best Chinese food so dinner there is a must. The fact that we love graffiti means that a stop at the massive graffiti wall at Emo’s is also a must. Then we hit the road and we would go to Dallas for the night. There we would hit up more antique shops and tiki bars. One of the best tiki bars there is The Tarantula. The scenery, the staff and the drinks make this place a guaranteed stop for us.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The list is very long and hopefully this answer suffices, but we would like to shout-out all of the small owned businesses that have trusted us over the years to help them bring their dreams, ideas and imagination to a reality.

Website: www.lacedandfound.com

Instagram: Lacedandfound

Youtube: Lacedandfound

Image Credits
Daniel Martinez