FUN & GAMES, part 1

This month, Laura Decker and I have a show up at Alchemy Coffee in SLC. The title of the show is 'Fun & Games and Good Company'.

The pieces I have on display are the first 3 in a series I'm currently working on called "Fun & Games". Check them out below-

'Hide and Seek', watercolor, pen & ink

'Duck, Duck, Goose', watercolor, pen & ink

'Capture The Flag', watercolor, pen & ink

I've also got a preview of the next in the series, a work in progress titled 'Chicken'-

detail image from 'Chicken', in progress

More to come! I hope everyone will go see our show this month.

note- Laura's work from the show can be seen on her blog.

PRINT & SHIRT

I was invited, along with my BIRDBRAIN partner Laura, to participate in the Saltgrass Printmakers Annual Fundraiser for 2010. This year, they did Tibetan prayer flags, having each artist submit a screenprinted design.

Printing my design on a yellow prayer flag.

For my design, I did an image called 'Beulah's Beauties'. Here are 3 steps in the process.

Pencil, ink & tone, and halftone final for the screenprint.

I ended up printing the image on an ink-bombed old shirt of mine, and liked it so much, it'll be included in the first round of BIRDBRAIN apparel, premiering next year.

BIRDHOUSE IN PROGRESS (pt 2)

Here's another crop of updates. They're images from a series I'm doing for practice as much as anything else. I'm calling it '57', since I've narrowed my selection to 57 images, taken throughout the summer of 2009. I'm working on these between larger projects, but haven't worked on them much recently.

They're pen & ink on bristol, then transferred to watercolor paper. The color is done with a variety of media, but you can be sure colored pencils were involved.
There are images of our trip to San Francisco, to visit our friends Zejian Shen and Sarah Farmer, and our whole group returning to Utah for some space exploration and red rock excursions into Southern Utah. You've maybe seen some related images from Laura's 3 vol. sketchbook collection The People I Know and the Things That We Do.

The goal is to eventually complete an entire series of images cataloging my 3 month/10,000 mile trip. But deadlines have started popping up, so this project is on the back burner.

They're all from the leg of my trip where I met a guy named Buck. This guy was a goldmine of ideas, and I'm writing a little piece about some of the stories this guy had to tell. It's part of a anthology I'm planning for BIRDBRAIN press on classic Americana.



Speaking of Americana, everyone should check out the Oh Nancy Collective, whose collaborative installation is currently on display in Salt Lake City at GARFO Gallery. I saw it last night, and it was pretty awesome.

Here are a few more images from the series, but I haven't gotten around to painting the last two yet.

Back with more soon!

BIRDHOUSE IN PROGRESS (pt 1)

The past couple months, I've undertaken a lot of new projects. Single images, some long-term stuff, plus those ideas that I've always got on the back burner. There's also work to be done over at BIRDBRAIN! I've hit a satisfying, if somewhat meandering pace, and there's a lot of plates in the air.

Over the next few days, I'll be putting up a bunch of new images and works in progress.

Let's start out with a last word on the SLCPL Alt Press Fest 2010! Along with a group of five other participating artists, I contributed a design to the APF's fleet of posters. Printed by BIG FUN founder Ryan Perkins, the posters were all over Salt Lake City, and I think they came out really well.

My design for the APF 2010 poster.

See them all on the Alt Press Fest blog.

The 2nd Annual Craft Lake City has also come and gone, and BIRDBRAIN was there to peddle our wares. The BIRDBRAIN BLOG will be putting up related photos soon. I'd just like to thank everyone that put together Craft Lake City for making it such an excellent venue!

I was also on hand to help the Book Arts Program at the 13th Annual Utah Humanities Book Festival. I did paper marbling stations with my BIRDBRAIN press partner Laura Decker, and I think everyone had a great time.

More updates and works in progress soon.

BIRDHOUSE BLOG LAUNCH/MIDNIGHT BLURG LUNCH

Damn, we're really in the Birdhouse now.

Welcome, and thanks for checking out my new blog! 'BIRDHOUSE' is a vehicle for art, comics, words, and pictures. It's homemade, and sometimes rough around the edges, but made with a lot of love.

After a couple years of wandering, BIRDHOUSE has found a home at BIRDBRAIN press, started by myself and Laura Decker out of Salt Lake City, UT.


covers of BIRDHOUSE #1 & 2, BIRDBRAIN COLLECTIVE #1 Vol. B

This week, we premiered BIRDHOUSE #1 & 2 and the rest of the BIRDBRAIN press line-up (some images above) at the Salt Lake City Public Library's Alternative Press Festival 2010. The whole thing went amazingly well. A really enthusiastic turn out, and a lot of dedicated, talented contributors made it (in my estimation) a huge success! Endless thanks and a big congratulations to Moey Nelson, Clint Watson, and the Alternative Press Collection at SLCPL for putting together such an awesome venue for all the interested artists, zinesters, and comix nuts to come together.*

BIRDBRAIN press at the Alternative Press Festival, Urban Room, SLCPL Main

Next up for BIRDBRAIN press is the 2nd Annual Craft Lake City in August. We'll have a table, so will a lot of other folk, so please come down and check it out!

Until then, watch for updates, news, and new works on the BIRDBRAIN blog network.

*A special entreaty--If you're in the SLC area, and haven't seen it yet, please visit the Alt Press Collection at SLCPL Main, on the 2nd level. There's more zines there than you can shake a stick at, they're constantly getting more, and rumor has it you'll soon be able to find BIRDHOUSE and other BIRDBRAIN press material there. Clint and Moey are awesome, so please support them, us, and the small press community by visiting. Thanks!