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Long time no Blog.

What have I been up to in the past few months since last I posted?

Basically, I have kept on working retail, and working as an intern at Mellwood art Center in Louisville. During this time I also had a piece in the Bacon Ball Art Show at the Louisville Water Tower, I had a month long gig working at Identity Customs printing T-shirts that didn't last very long, but taught me a little bit more about screenprinting apparel.

The rest of the time I have been getting my studio into working order and printing. I have made my first CMYK process prints, and have been printing everything I can get my hands on, from aprons, and t-shirts, to book covers, and paper. In addition, I have got my buttonmaker going, and I am making all kinds of buttons.

I have created a page on facebook for all of my printing endeavors and you can find it by doing a Facebook search for "Folk Modern Print and Design" In addition to the Facebook Page, there is an etsy site with some of my stuff for sale at http://www.etsy.com/people/FolkModernArt?ref=si_pr. There is a twitter if you are a twitter-er, under the name Folkmodernart.

So add all of those sites to your sites and look at the new stuff I have been working on.

See you guys around. Thanks for reading after all this time.

Folk Modern

Over the course of the past year or so I have been tossing an idea around in my head but I wasn't quite sure what it was for. In a way it felt like an artist statement, like I was trying to create a new art movement. At first I called it Neo-Folk, and eventually it turned into folk-modernism.

Folk-modernism was a play on post-modernism. The idea being that it was supposed to be "The New Folk". Digital art was becoming more prevalent, and we were entering the information age where the phrase "Print is dead" became true in some extents with books, magazines, and physical cd packaging becoming obsolete. As a reaction to this Folk-modernism was about using these obsolete technologies and ideas to create contemporary work.

It was about people enjoying the communal aspects of print as opposed to the cold humanity-less digital printing.

It was about printmaking as an experience.

It was about making something with your hands that other people would want to touch with their hands.

It was probably something that I would never have tried to sell as an art movement (how pretentious?).

So instead, I kept it to myself, made little doodles here and there and applied to grad school, but did not mention this. Then grad school didn't happen, and I turned 29. I realized that I didn't have a whole lot of options. I couldn't find a job that I liked, or one that would hire me, and I felt like all I did was work retail. I told myself that retail was not my destiny, but maybe it is, I just need to be my own boss and make things that I care about.

I have been telling people for years now that I either want to be a teacher or own my own print shop. So now I am going to try my hand at the whole eBay, Etsy thing and see how that goes.

I will get my home screenprinting set up going, sell some of my art prints, hopefully take on more commissions, and sell some vintage clothing too. Essentially, I hope to build up enough of a presence under the name Folk Modern, so that I eventually make enough money to make it a real life store and pay taxes and everything! You can check out the facebook page right now and "Like" it if you want! Hopefully some more stuff will be coming soon! FOLK MODERN ON FACEBOOK

Need to Print

Bret Easton Ellis as The Patron Saint of Writers

The printmaking urge is hitting me pretty hard. I think that the lack of practice with the possibility of making this into a legit venture is making me antsy. The 10 hours shifts at work are taking for ever and when I am finally set free I go home to disappointing printmaking results.

Tonight I didn't even bother burning as screen. I have accepted the fact that I need new lighting fixtures, and special bulbs to do this right. So tonight I took the plans I printed off the internet, and drew my own special little exploded diagram of what it should look like, and went to both Lowe's and The Home Depot to find the pieces I needed. Neither of them had exactly what I was looking for and I didn't know exactly what kind of bulbs constituted Black Light Bulbs without the UV filter. Home Depot had plant and aquarium bulbs. Is that the same thing??

I think that I am just going to have to do some more research and buy online somewhere. Until then I may just have to start a new relief print, or attempt monoprinting again. Or I will just have to go to work, and then come home and play Call of Duty until I can get the equipment I need. I will say that as frustrating as everything is, and as much as I would like to just say "#$%%^ it!" and go watch TV, it feels good to be heading in this direction, and it is exciting to be back in the game a little bit even if it is a bunch of screw ups.

Printmaking at Home

I once spent an entire day making an edition of prints in my bedroom. It was probably a 5 or 6 color screenprint using drawing fluid and screen blocker based on a portrait of Edie Sedgwick. It took all day, but it worked, looked pretty good, and was pretty well registered.

I also once took over the kitchen floor to make a few screenprints of a city scene using photo emulsion on a giant self constructed screen frame and printed on canvas.

When I graduated from college, I used a screen at home to burn an image I used to make Thank You notes.

I have also ruined 3 or 4 screens trying to do photo emulsion at home.

I have been ready to try it again, and over the past 3 days have done just that. I bought some really nice aluminum frame screens from the internet, and we almost have a room set up at home where we can do arts and craft stuff without messing up the living room with all our art junk.

Every night for the past 3 nights I have coated these screens, and then attempted to burn them. I am using the same lights that I am pretty sure have worked in the past, only this time I am trying to work my way up with the timing so I don't waste my money with these screens.

The first night was 10 minutes and it washed the whole screen out.
The second time was for 20 minutes and it washed the entire image out and left the border.
The third time it was for 30 minutes and washed most of the image out.
Last night I tried it for 45 minutes and it still washed the image out.

This is beginning to frustrate me because i don't have a lot of time on my hands to do this kind of stuff, and I definitely do not have the money to keep buying equipment meant for pros, or using all my photo emulsion on attempts and not prints.

I already bought the new frames, and a new hose attachment for spraying out the emulsion. I have plans from the screenprintingguy.com for an exposure box, so I think that I might have to actually go out and construct this thing from scratch.

It will cost around $100 according to most estimates I have read, but I think really what's going to bug me is buying all the pieces and waiting to construct it. Due to my work schedule, this will no doubt delay my screenprinting by around 4 days just to buy the materials. But I guess it is better to do it right than to keep trying to do it wrong.

Experiment Failure

My idea to do something artistic for the next 40 days was a much bigger undertaking than I initially thought. Today I had an idea for a screenprint planned, but couldn't find some of my supplies, and like always, had a hard time figuring out the best way to burn a screen for printing without ruining the screen.

I found my supplies, and tried to burn the screen, but most of it washed out. I think that for some reason I underestimated how much I have going on in my life also. I normally work 45-50 hours a week not including the 6-8 hours at Mellwood Art Center, or travel time between the places. It would have been easier to quit something than to add something into the mix.

This doesn't mean I give up though. That is kind of the point of this experiment. I wanted to see if I could make 1 piece for each day of lent so maybe if I can just make 40 pieces of artwork in 40 days we can call it a win.

I actually have been thinking that 20 is a more realistic number so that I have time to prep. I realized that prep time is a lot more essential in my work than I thought. I can't just sit down and whip out something, there is a lot of work that goes into printmaking before the print ever begins. I also realized that I should have planned out this whole "art for 40 days" thing a little more in advance. The rules are changing already on the second day.

So I think that the more realistic goal will be to do nothing but print related stuff and just try to aim for 20. If more happen great. Also, I have decided that all work will be standard paper size, and if they are editionable it will be in an edition of 40. If I make a zine, there will be 40, a wood cut print 40 a screenprint 40 and so on. I will call it "Print for Lent".

Art for Lent

Even though I am not really associated with any religion, I love to learn about the different traditions, and the history of different sects. One of the things that I have found most interesting in religions are the practices that require the follower to deprive themselves of something in remembrance of an event, or to achieve a spiritual goal.

Buddhist and Hindu ascetics deprive themselves of worldly possessions and desires to become One, or to escape the cycle of rebirths, Muslims deny themselves during Ramadan, and usually Catholics give up some vice or habit during Lent. I admire these actions for the amount of faith they have to believe in something so strongly, and the will power, and patience, it must take to alter your habits even for a short amount of time.

Every year I say i will not eat from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, then 3 hours later I am eating a burrito. So this year I thought that instead of denying myself something like sodas or meat, I will instead make this 40 days a time where I will ADD something to my life. Instead of denying myself something, I will force myself to make something new everyday. It probably won't help my chances with the man upstairs but it may still be good for my soul.

THE RULES
1.Everyday for 40 days starting on Wednesday March 9, I will do something artistic. I will try not to phone it in, but since I work 7 days a week I can not promise they will all be winners. Get ready for a lot of self portraits.

2.The medium does not matter. I am going to try to make it stuff I would normally make. More than likely there will be zines, prints, and drawings. Some street art type things may creep in, and if for some reason I feel as though a performance art piece is necessary, I will post the video.

3.Some work will take preparation. For example, if I am working on a woodcut, there will be lots of time cutting, but little time printing. in these cases I will still post pics of what I worked on, and describe it, and I will also submit a finished piece to accompany it. More than likely it will be a drawing of some kind.

4.Oh yeah, I will be posting these things on this blog where I will also write about the process, and the piece as necessary.

Update.

It has been quite a while since I have updated anything, especially anything of artistic value. Here is what has been up since my last post. Hopefully it will shed some light on why I have been neglecting the few people who check this page for artistic insights. I know how it feels when a blog suddenly goes MIA with its updates. That is how I feel about www.worldfamousdesignjunkies.com. They haven't updated in almost as long as me.

Anyway. I decided to go back to school. I have applied to Indiana University, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I know, I know, Lincoln is a pretty big jump from the Kentucky/Indiana area.

When I looked into grad school, I wanted a program that offered an MFA and letterpress. Other than that, I wasn't too concerned about where I lived. So I picked places that had and MFA and letterpress, but I picked IU because their program is supposed to be one of the top 10 in the country, and I picked Nebraska because I visited there once and I liked the city, and the campus, and I know 2 people from there. I thought that if I had to move to a strange city, it would be nice to possibly have a few friends already there.

I looked into Nashville, but the closest program I saw was in Knoxville. I don't know enough about the city to apply. I also looked into Oregon and Texas because I knew people in those areas too. I was also seriously considering Wisconsin because I felt like I really liked the teaching styles presented in the videos on their website, and they also were a highly ranked school. I waited too long to apply though and I missed the deadline.

In other news, I have a new internship. It is a lot of fun and I am learning a lot about the way galleries, and realty works. It is nice to be able to work in an environment with cool people who have similar interests. More than anything I think that I like the lack of corporate involvement that I have to deal with the other 5 days a week. I also like that it requires me to be creative and do some real life problem solving. I am writing a blog for them, so my focus has switched a little. Check it out at www.mellwoodartcenter.wordpress.com

Finally the biggest thing in my life is the passing of my dad. He lost his battle with cancer after about 6 months. There are a lot of things to say about this event, but I think that I don't really need to say anything at all.

Other than that, I have just been working my full time gig and playing Call of Duty Black Ops.

I can't really promise that I will be keeping up with this page as much as I used to, but if you ever think about it, check up on me just in case. Between grad school, the internship at the gallery, and the passing of my dad, there are a lot of doors in front of me that are opening, and with that could be new found inspiration for art and blogging.

Help Wanted

I know this is sort of a long shot and will probably result in tons of spam, but I thought with the surprising amount of people who read this blog, it might help.

I am looking for a job. I have a job right now, and have held the same job for almost 10 years. But working retail is not cutting it for me anymore, and I feel like for the good of my soul and my happiness, I need to get out.

Here is what I am looking for.

-full time

-art related including jobs in or related to: screenprinting, t-shirt or poster screenprinting, industrial screenprinting, letterpress, education, gallery work, or design. It doesn't even have to be hands on printing really.

That is about it really.

Here is what I have to offer:

-4 years management experience.

-BFA in studio arts with an emphasis on printmaking.

-Studio Assistant to the intro printmaking class. This included cleaning, coating, and burning screens for screenprinting classes, as well as troubleshooting and demonstrating printmaking processes.

-Internship at Hatch Show Print in Nashville, TN where I worked closely with clients to design and print posters.

-I was hired to teach multiple classes at the Melwood Art Center, including one that I had designed myself, but the classes never filled.

-Excellent attendance!

-Excellent personality, and work ethic!

-Some experience with Photoshop.

-I learn new skills very easily.

The Flaming Lips Screenprinting With Blood

My good friend and former Hatch Show Print intern Michaela Powell sent me this video of The lead singer of the Flaming Lips screenprinting a poster with his own blood. Happy Halloween!



P.S. Check out Michaela's blog AT michaelampowell.wordpress.com/

The Smallest Zine...In The World!!!

Here is something cool. It is a How-to about making the smallest zine in the world. It is essentially a book smaller than a fingernail that combines relief printing, and zine making. The designs for the zine are cut into the eraser on the top of a pencil, and then bound together. Very cool.

Banksy on The Simpsons

When I sat down to watch Sunday night cartoons this week, the intro for The Simpsons had a pretty cool intro. When I first watched it I just thought the word Banksy being written on a few walls was just a pop cultural reference thrown in just because that is what the Simpsons does.

Then when Bart was writing on the chalkboard it said something about how he must not write on the walls. Another Graffiti reference. I thought "Oh, since other episodes of the Simpsons have featured graphic novel artists, and other pop artists, maybe Banksy guest stars for some reason."

Then the "couch gag" happened, and it was very cool looking, and satirical and sad all at the same time.

It wasn't till the next day that I found out that Banksy had actually directed it. But why? He is known for his graffiti art, and his "appropriation" of Paris Hilton's album, both of which usually try to make comments about the society, or the way a certain institution is run.

It seems unlikely for a company to allow an outsider to come in and make something for them that ends up showing them in a negative light, it seems just as unlikely that an artist like Banksy would join forces with a Television cartoon show. So what was he trying to say about the Simpsons, or 20th Century Fox?

Part of me wonders if it was nothing more than to become a bigger part of pop culture? To get his name out a broader audience, while making a joke about the state of corporate branding? He did get everyone talking about the Simpsons again, and he did get his name out there to a broader American audience. Just google "Banksy Simpsons" and see all the news reports, and blogs about this 2 minutes of animation. It's win win. Here is a link to a page where the video can be found.
You can also see versions of it on Youtube, but the quality does not seem to be as good.

New Kanye West and an Older Passion Pit

I don't post too much about music really, or about video stuff that isn't a video showing a printmaking process, but I just googled "New Kanye West" to hear the song he performed on SNL last week, and this came up.

Kanye West, Power (New Album "Good Ass Job" 2010) from WE ARE FROM L.A on Vimeo.

I am pretty excited about the album, and this video(whether official or not) is also pretty cool. I think that the reason I like it is because of the same reasons I like the Passion Pit video "The Reeling". Both of these videos have a quality of printed material given life!

Craft Time!: Stickers to Magnets.

I have a pretty extensive sticker collection. The thing is though, that as a collector, I don't want to use these pretty printed things on just any old thing. So I have an album full of stickers that no one really ever sees. So the other day it hit me! Why not take these stickers I love to look at, and find a way to make them mobile, and reusable?

STEP 1. Go to an office supply store and buy a pack of magnetic paper. These business card sized magnetic sheets were on clearance at STAPLES so we will use them.
STEP 2. I removed the sticky paper on the magnetic paper and stuck them together in different directions to create a more sturdy and powerful backer for the sticker.

STEP 3. Remove the paper from the sticky tops of the magnets, and remove the paper from the sticker and stick them together making sure to smooth it out evenly and avoid air bubbles.
STEP 4. After the sticker is stuck to the magnet carefully cut around the original sticker design and slap it on the fridge, or your car.
OTHER USES.

If you are into the graffiti scene you could make sticker art, or small pieces that people could easily remove, or collect. Collectible street art.

Use magazine images or hand drawn images to create collages on the fridge or cars.

I Need Help Fixing a Vandercook.

Yesterday I went on a little bike ride to the University of Louisville with a side bag full of my work at Hatch Show Print to show my professor. We were all talking about the work, and letterpress printing and then he took me into a small storage room off the side of the Graphic Design rooms and under ceiling tiles and light bulbs was a Vandercook!

Another professor came down and looked at my work and the two of them began making plans to bring out the press, or at least uncover it, get it working, and make that little storage room a room for letterpress. They want my help in revitalizing the press, but I don't know where to even begin to look for resources. I checked out Briar Press a little bit, but couldn't find too much about DIY repairs of presses.

SO I thought that since 5 people at least are reading this, maybe one of you might know of locations on the web or otherwise, that would offer info about printing press repair. I did find a PDF of the manual that comes with a Universal I and a Universal III, but I think I might be working with a Universal II. It is just really hard to tell with it being buried under all that other stuff.

Win a Very Short Version of a Hatch Show Print Internship!

As a part of the Fossil collaboration with Hatch Show Print and other artists, Fossil is giving away a chance to go to Nashville and make your very own Hatch Show Print. I find it interesting that a place like Hatch is taking part in a contest, but I also love the fact that a chance to work in a print shop and make art is a prize. So I approve.

In some ways it is like you are winning a very short version of the Hatch Show internship. Instead of sending a coverletter, resume, going through the interview process, finding a place to live for a few months, and using all your savings to work for free, you just go to the website, and fill out the contest form. I'm not dissing it by far, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was wondering actually if I am eligible to win since I am a former intern. I was only there for 2 months, and had not yet begun to explore the potential of Hatch Show Print's extensive archive. I say sign up for this contest, and if that doesn't work, try to get an internship. You will not regret it.

One Page Artist Book.

Our friends at Firecracker Press (or at least our facebook friends, since I've actually never met them.) have just uploaded pics of their new posters for the Billiken Club. I don't know what that is or anything, but the new posters look pretty rockin, and turn into one page artists books! How cool is that? In Chicago during the Southern Graphics Council Conference a few years back they had a demonstration on how to make what they called "One page artist books". These books were made from one sheet of paper without requiring staples or glue, but made more pages than you would get with traditional folding, and didn't do that whole blank sided double folded pages thing you would get with traditional folds.

So when I went to see the demonstration, the room was packed and we were in the back. I couldn't see a damn thing!! So I didn't get to see the demonstration in full effect, but I bought one in the Shop Columbia gift shop. Anyway, here is a cool link that shows how you fold a piece of paper to get a book, and also shows off one of Firecracker press's new posters. Click the link if you canDIG IT!

AT&T Commercial and Signature Styles.

This is a pretty interesting commercial. I wonder how many college age art students were chilling at home watching TV when this commercial came on and made them recall one of the most talked about artist duos in art history.
Jean Claude and Christo, the artists who are known for wrapping things that are not normally wrapped, and The Gates(google it if you don't remember) in NYC a few years ago, seem to have collaborated with AT&T to create this commercial. But wait! At the end of it, they say that Jean Claude and Christo have no direct or indirect part in this commercial. Isn't it weird that they even have to make that disclaimer? I think that is the thing that is the most curious to me.

Should there be a disclaimer for something like this? I wonder if AT&T thought that they would use the same colors and techniques as Jean Claude and Christo's The Gates from a few years back to somehow connect to the collective pop cultural unconscious, by making us nostalgic for that one year where people who knew nothing about art, just talked about how stupid that whole thing in the park was. This memory of jokes from late night talk shows would some how influence us, making them able to sell a crapload of cellphones or something.

Did they have to put the disclaimer because Jean Claude and Christo's people tried to sue them, or was it a preemptive strike against suing? I like to think that AT&T made this commercial similar to The Gates (for some reason), and Jean Claude and Christo said:

"Hey, we don't sell out to people, and you are ruining our good names! Put a disclaimer on this commercial so art students don't think were corporate sell outs, and maybe we won't sue you!"

In reality, it could have more than likely been the opposite. Maybe AT&T did the commercial for some reason, and Jean Claude and Christo said "Hey, you didn't pay us for that! We're suing!"

I guess it doesn't really matter how it happened, but it is fun to think about. I like copyright laws, but I have mixed emotions. I enjoy the option of appropriation, and use it often in my work. Look at people like Shepard Fairey getting sued over his HOPE image, and people like Jeff Koons who I have heard gets sued all the time. Their work is hugely appropriation driven, but it is in a way which changes the original images, and removes the context, makes them barely noticeable.

Could this be a valid argument for the AT&T commercial? I mean Jean Claude and Christo never wrapped the Hollywood sign, or the St. Louis arch as far as I know. They just used the same artistic process. Yet the disclaimer remains. But do we put disclaimers on every advertisement that uses screenprinting, simply because artists like Lichtenstein, and Warhol used the same process? Or is the process of wrapping things in fabric, such a unique and clearly identifiable process, that it makes it unavoidable to use it without clearly referencing Jean Claude and Christo's copyrighted artistic works?

I was trying to think of other techniques by contemporary artists that used methods singular to that artist, but until we start seeing advertising using the same methods as the "Piss Christ", that dude who made a mold of his head out of frozen blood, the person who made paintings out of elephant dung, and a guy who, if I recall, nailed himself to a Volkswagen as a performance piece, we will just have to let our imaginations run wild with AT&T and Jean Claude and Christo.

Fossil's LONG LIVE VINTAGE campaign @ Hatch Show Print

I can't believe I didn't show you guys this sooner. During the internship we did some work for Fossil(the clothing and watch people). Since we were new, we kind of showed up at the end of everything, but if you look closely, you can see the other interns and myself, running super-speed in the pan of the shop. It was a very cool experience.

Right now at Fossil's website you can find out more about the Long Live Vintage/Long Live Art Campaign. You can also buy a Hatch Show Print poster, and some T-shirts and things like that also.

I < 3 Printmaking.

This video is selling Levis but that's ok. If you don't think about the advertising, and just think about the sound of printing presses, the smell of ink, the swipe of a squeegee across a screen, or the feeling of a blade cutting through a block of wood, then it makes you feel kind of warm and fuzzy. Or at least it does for me.