this year's model

I have been thinking about a bird again. Specifically about how to make a bird, a certain bird, so I made a couple models out of cardboard and hot glue. It seems pretty simple, and I probably saw something like this someplace that I can’t remember, but it felt like a revelation. A revelation in scrap material. It deserves to be made many times out of wood, maybe someday out of scrap metal or cast from a melted-down-something-else. I had to resist adding lines. I’d like to paint the wood one. I’d like to make 100 of these out of wood and hang them from a ceiling along with flying people, UFOs, airplanes, and some kind of air (also made of wood).

Have you listened to This Year’s Model by Elvis Costello lately? It’s still pretty good. I go back and forth on the work of Elvis. Sometimes it feels like all too much, too many words too many chords. Other times it feels exquisite and crafted beyond my understanding. There are no foods that you want to eat every day and that’s how I feel about music. Whatever I am hungry for that is what I need, so the body tells me. As far as This Year’s Model, do you know about the designer Barney Bubbles? He did a lot of stellar mind-blowing design work for the early EC records among many others (Hawkwind, Ian Dury, and my favorite: The Sutherland Brothers debut album) the kind of design that shows you how graphic design can be True Art and visionary. Do yourself a favor and do a quick dive and you will not be disappointed. And perhaps listen to Armed Forces or the self-titled Sutherland Brothers record and tell me humans cannot transcend this earthly realm for just one moment.

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look what I found

I found a pile of these prints in my flat files. I have a lot of flat files and I don’t go through them as often as I should. I find the state of my studio is an accurate reflection of my mind and that means the past few/several/all years it’s been a real mess. So that’s how it is that I can have a stash of prints hiding under the rubble.

I made this original image (SKATEBOARD PEOPLE) some years ago, I can’t really remember. Sometime when I was doing a lot of gestural ink drawings. No wait! Now I remember: I made them for an art show I had at 35th North Skateshop in Seattle around 2014 or 2015. It was all ink drawings of skateboarding skateboarders. Now it all makes sense. That was a fun and hectic time: I had a young son and we were traveling for the first time as a family unit and we would drive around Green Lake in the middle of the night to get him to sleep. I was so tired.

This print was popular with people it seemed and that always feels good. I printed it a couple times and it always went away quickly. In 2020 my friend and fellow artist Thomas Campbell brought up the idea of making this print into a board graphic and reprinting the image in a two-color version to match as part of his Um Yeah Arts project which published books, made movies, skateboards, records and whatever else he felt like at the time. So that’s what we did! There were two different colorways: the one above (yellow/maroon) and a blue/maroon. Both went quick and brought joy and peace to many (I can only hope).

So I found this hidden pile of prints: proofs, extras from the original edition. Nat Swope printed them in Oakland, California and must have sent me the over-run. It seemed like these want to be in the world and not in my flat files. I have signed and numbered this AP edition and put them in my online store in the hopes that people who missed out before can get one and maybe I can fund some other projects I have simmering. I’m donating a portion of the proceeds from print sales to a local organization that provides programming and support to LGBTQ+ youth. (if you are interested I the organization or want to see some receipts, feel free to reach out) T

I’m going to start digging through my files more often, who knows what I may find. Or maybe I will leave that for my old age or for somebody else to do. I am always more interested in what it is happening right now and what is new but now and then I am pleasantly surprised by a discovery of some older work that still may resonate with other people and myself. who knows how these things work? My advice is let it do its thing and see what you see.

this is it

This is it. This is place where I will be sharing new work, old work, sketches, ideas, photos, updates, announcements, musings, recommendations, and whatever else comes up. I used to do a blog pretty regularly back in the old days and I have long been meaning to ease back in. This is me easing. This is me starting. Again. I don’t know what it will look like or if it will be interesting but here we are.

I’ll start with a simple one: A month or so ago I made a poster/admat/image for the band Phish. It was fun to work on this and very cool to see the response online and elsewhere. I even saw a picture on instagram of it on a billboard. (If you are in LA and see this billboard and take a photo and want to send it to me that would be wonderful)

What is it about flowers? I like drawing the shapes of the leaves and the winding of the stems. Flowers are symbols of lots of things: life, growth, beauty, fragility, strength, love, hope, and death even. I like to keep these things mysterious to myself and see where they might fit. I don’t think i’m interested in solutions or final answers for many things related to art and music. But drawing flowers and making prints of flowers and looking at flowers: let’s hope it stays interesting and fun and meaningful in some nebulous way. Maybe I will see you in the pit at the Phish show?