We don’t often have the chance to see into pro skaters’ family lives. Besides the familiar story of pros leaving home in their teens or growing up in rough situations, disconnected from their families, a lot of pros just don’t want to publicly share their families. (Trust us, we’ve tried.)
So we were excited when Eli offered to let us tag along with him and his mom for a day and ask them questions about their mother-son dynamic (including her reaction to Eli skating the Playboy mansion).
Eli’s mom, Joan Ryan, is an accomplished artist and teacher at the Art Institute of Boston. She’s made graphics for Eli’s former clothing brand and his current board brand Becky, and they’ve collaborated on legit paintings and artwork as well.
We stopped by Eli’s place in Manhattan and then to see some of Joan’s artwork at the Townley Gallery in Tribeca. It’s one thing to see a pro produce boards with scantily clad women on them, but finding out that his mom paints some of those pin-up graphics is way more interesting.
Related Posts
-
JENK TV: KING’S GUIDE TO LIFE
For our first episode, we took a local teenager jewelry shopping and listened to his plans to get rich off skating.
-
LOCALS: THE MAN DOCUMENTING HAWAII’S SKATE UNDERBELLY
Meet Sean, a long time filmer and Hawaii local who captured the grittier side of the island.
-
HOW DID A BUNCH OF SNOWBOARDERS SESSION HOLLYWOOD HIGH?
Safe to say nobody saw this ridiculous snow and skate crossover coming...
-
THE EARTHERS EP. 4 – SKATING ROOFS IN MICHIGAN
Jake has a knack for always finding something enormous to roll off of.
-
LISTEN TO ELI REED’S REGGAE & DANCEHALL MIX
An upbeat playlist to get you dancing, no matter how bored, depressed, or dead you are on the inside.
-
PRESERVING ORIGINAL BRICKS FROM THE BROOKLYN BANKS
We snuck in to the Banks and stole a few bricks to send to the skaters that made them so significant.
-
SECRET HOBBIES WITH ELI REED
Enjoy episode 2 of our new series that finds out what things skaters secretly fan out on (besides kickflips and pants).
-
WATCH BING LIU’S LOST AND FORGOTTEN SKATE CLIPS IN “DIARY” (2012-2019)
The Oscar nominated documentarian shares unseen clips from projects over the years as a loveletter to skateboarding.
Comments
Popular
-
KEITH HUFNAGEL ON THE FUTURE OF HUF
We heard a rumor that HUF was going out of business, so we talked with boss man himself to find out.
-
ANGELA WHITE IS BRINGING SKATING’S MOST ICONIC CAMERA BACK INTO PORN
Her 2000s, gonzo-inspired tour de force was filmed completely on the sleek, sexy, grainy VX2000.
-
CINEMATIC DIY BLOODBATH MEETS BRITISH SKATE VIDEO: THIS IS BLOKES
Blokes punches a heavily ringed hand through your screen, grabs you by the throat and rips you into their alternative reality.
-
WHO THE FUCK IS LILJERRYSPRINGER?
You might unknowingly recognize his paw prints within the musical aesthetic of Bronze 56K and many more.
-
SKATERS RECOMMEND THEIR FAVORITE SKATE PANTS
We hit up some pro skaters and Jenkem contributors known for their 'fits to offer recommendations.
October 24, 2019 3:42 am
Flush
October 24, 2019 10:29 am
he walks around the city in pajamas? New York is weird.
October 24, 2019 8:31 pm
You know, I found that very enjoyable, and even grounding somehow. It’s rad that Eli has such a healthy means of communication and collaboration with his mom. Cool dude, and cool mom.
October 25, 2019 7:53 am
Nice