The Artista Gang
The Fairfax Years and Artista Gang
At C.O.D, Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan began their several years of close friendship and collaboration. Their studio was the entire upper floor of a commercial building at 50B Bolinas Road in downtown Fairfax, with a fabric store and art supply store downstairs, and a new age music venue and restaurant next door. They upgraded the main room with a discarded piece of carpet, and papered the walls with their artwork as it was produced over the years. During this time, Pat and Dave, with a little help from Kelley, painted the ARTISTA rainbow dragon squeezed from a paint tube. This was the birth of the ARTISTA ART GANG, eventually numbering over 700 members. Almost in synch with the ARTISTA arrival, Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan created the fictitious California Homegrowers Association. In the wild 80’s, Pat Ryan and Dave Sheridan collaborated on the first pot brand labels and postcards in the California orange crate art style.