All month, we have been asking artists what their favorite Beastie Boys' memories are in conjunction with our June 2013 Beastie Boy issue. Today, we ask former cover artist, Greg "Craola" Simkins.  "When I was a young kid, I had to hide my Licensed to Ill cassette and me and my buddies would listen to turned down to a whisper. Flash forward years later and a vinyl version of 'Same Old Bullshit' fell in my hands and 'Egg Raid on Mojo' screamed into my already Descendents/ FYP/Jawbreaker obsessed mind and I couldn't believe it was the same band..."

This past weekend we stopped by Merry Karnowsky Gallery for the opening of Greg ‘Craola’ Sminkins latest exhibition, “Stop Haunting Me, 20 Years.” As the gallery notes, "In this latest exhibition, Simkins’ dream creations have awoken, fully conscious and yet confined to two-dimensional canvas and paper surfaces. The bulk of their animal shapes are closely entwined in phantasmagorical scenes laced with rich narrative and haunting personification." Photos and more after the jump…

We just got a message from our good friend, and former cover artist, Greg "Craola" Simkins about his new show, Stop Haunting Me, that opens this Saturday, April 6 at Merry Karnowsky in LA. The show will feature a series of new paintings and never-before-seen prints. As Craola told us, " As I painted my pieces for this exhibit, two themes kept reoccurring to me. My twentieth year anniversary of writing graffiti under the name 'Craola"', which I began in 1993, was approaching. It is unbelievable that it is 2013 already. I blinked and 20 years flew by."

Former Juxtapoz cover artist Greg "Craola" Simkins has released his 3rd custom brush set through Trekell & Co, Inc. This new set includes a dagger brush which is essential for all of your lettering needs. All 9 brushes in this set are made from golden taklon and have been designed by the artist himself. Each set includes an insert explaining what Greg uses each brush for. Available for purchase through Trekell.com. Watch the video after the jump . . .

Dabs, Myla, Craola, and Witness teamed in painting this large character-based mural in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami. Notice the three-eyed meat clever wielding crayon! Painted for the kids and the older kids who never grew up.

Inquiring about just HOW sculptor/production designer Stacey Ransom and portrait photographer Jason Mitchell create the imaginative "surreality" that they do is like asking David Blaine how he pulls autographed money out of his belly button. There's no answer or method that could satisfy the question.

I admired Greg "Craola" Simkins' art even when said art consisted of working at a video game company ten years ago rendering patches of snow for twelve hours a day...

Stacey Ransom & Jason Mitchell’s highly anticipated debut solo show of photo illustration tableaus and portraiture opens at at Varnish Fine Art in San Francisco, Saturday, Sept. 8th. Mitchell, a director-photographer, and Ransom, a set designer and photo-illustrator, create highly-detailed and visually-lush photo illustrations. The duo, who shot Robert Bowen's portrait in our August 2012 issue, sent us an exclusive portrait preview of their work with Greg "Craola" Simkins.

Saturday, April 21 will see the much-anticipated opening of Greg "Craola" Simkins' his newest solo show, Cloud Theory at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles. We stopped by Greg "Craola" Simkins' southern California studio for a sneak peek at what he’s been working on for his exhibition. Photos and more after the jump….