It’s a Knew Nation When John Groves was 9, he was already painting his name all over the walls of Staten Island, NY, using his alias, “Knew.” Now, at age 19, Groves has brought his art into the Philadelphia region creating custom artwork for friends and fans. What started out as a young boy’s pastime obsession, drawing graffiti whenever he could, transformed into an ever-growing business which he calls, “Knew Ink.”

It all began in high school when Groves would rather draw on notebooks and folders during class than pay attention. “The only thing I ever really did in class was draw, not paying attention and just scribbling and stuff, just having fun.” It was not long until classmates noticed his talent and wanted some of their own. “All through high school people would come up to me and ask if I could do their folders and book bags. Then my friend asked me to airbrush his sweatshirt. That was the first time I ever wrote “Knew Ink.” on anything. Then a few of my friends and I kept thinking of what else we could do with [Knew Ink]. That’s when we thought of sneakers and other clothing.” Soon after mastering his airbrush technique, Groves bought a shirt-press and created t-shirts in his basement where he did most of his business.

It was not until Groves and friend Johan Ruiz, a barber for Precision, collaborated and promoted both their businesses together that helped Knew Ink. take flight. “Johan was my biggest promoter, aside from Facebook. He would display my art in his shop for customers to see. Before I knew it everyone was asking me to make them a canvas.” Since then, Groves has appeared at several music festivals custom body painting, performing live canvases at clubs and shows, and has presented custom canvases to celebrities like Vince Papale, Jimmy Rollins, ?uestlove from The Roots, and others. Just recently, a canvas he did for The Cole Hamels Foundation was auctioned off for $2500.

This is only the beginning for the young artist as Groves will soon be coming out with his own clothing line with GrowTees and yet it still seems too surreal. “I never would have thought I’d be where I am today. It’s funny when I look at pictures when I was 12-years-old posing with my graffiti and now doing the same poses with celebrities. I can’t help but laugh.” --Erin O’Reilly