Some Writing for BIRDBRAIN press

I have not really posted much lately because I have been mostly writing for some zines for BIRDBRAIN press. We hope to have a bunch of writing to publish by Alt Press Festival in July.

Here is a sample from the Diamond Ordinance:

Manteca, California—search in Stockton, CA directory. September 27, 1953.

Victor Malchus Xavier (X), recently promoted to Chairman of the Board roosts in his chair, overseeing the eight men who in 55:29 will determine the ruling of the Diamond Ordinance. Not at all to be confused with the diamond ordnance that will plague the city under the Diamond Ordinance, should it be passed.

Thomas Thomas (+), Richard B. Thomas (*), Joseph William Blackman (>), and Edward Smithson (^) all respectable men in their late 50s, with exactly the same tightly cropped haircut, sit to the right. Simon Krilgram (~), Bartholomew Pinkerton (=), Thomas Marvin Green (<), and Michael Conkling (#) are on the left, equally reputable and well-groomed men, ranging in age from 47-69.

            “Well, as I see it, what we should be most concerned with is the safety of the materials. We really must ensure that the material is unharmed,” says +.

            “Yes, I concur. However, I feel I must repeat that it is of the utmost importance that the product is just as protected. How can we force our minions to comply with the Diamond Ordinance if there are NO DIAMONDS?” > protests, slamming the perfectly round, adequately lacquered table.

            “But what about the artillery? Should we not be concerned with securing our diamond ordnances? Those weapons are worth millions.” With this utterance, < receives looks of despair from his left, and frustration from his right.

This has been the situation for over 3 days, 7 hours, and 31 minutes. X has become quite perturbed and is finding it difficult to refrain from making his opinion well known. Like any juried situation, X holds the ultimate power over the ruling, but an acting head should only veto or announce his thoughts in the direst of circumstances. This mere dullness of bickering back and forth does not constitute a situation of that necessity.

Alternative Press Festival

Thanks to Ryan Perkins, we are designing the posters for the Alternative Press Festival again this year. This makes the 3rd year of collaborative poster design with the talented Ryan Perkins, Max Kelly, Whitney Shaw, Claire Taylor, and Valerie Jar.

We each got a theme, ex Mystery, Classics, Fantasy. I got Romance. Here is my image, without the type.

The Alt Press Festival is on Saturday July 7th this year at the Downtown Main Library. Come see us, BIRDBRAIN press will have table!

More on Corndogs!

Final version of the first letter to Wienerschnitzel. Typewriter written on Mr. French Pop-Tone Pink Lemonade paper in a Construction Safety Orange envelope. We have gained another judge for our project. Now, just lacking the signatures!

 

And the score card, front and back:

We're going to Millie's tomorrow, which has been #1 by many people. Good luck to all.

Corndog Project

A friend and I are collaborating on a Corndog Project. We are going to every* restaurant in Salt Lake City that serves corndogs, hoping to find the PERFECT corndog. Here is documentation of our progress so far:

Here is a draft of a letter we are sending to Wienerschnitzel. The final will be on Mr. French paper and mailed to Wienerschnitzel headquarter in Newport Beach, CA. We will both be signing them of course.

Here is a draft of the "corndog score card" we will be using to score each corndog and it's restaurant. We will send in a copy of the score card with each letter.

*We are trying to hit every restaurant, so, if you know of any restaurants in Salt Lake City that serve corndogs, please let us know. Email me, post on here, call me, etc. Thanks!

B-Day Book for a Buddy

It was my friend's birthday recently and I made her a silly 8 page book. She has two cats, Swordfish and The Chap, who she adores probably as much as I adore my cat, Charles. Here are few pages from the book.

Hooray for Birthdays!

2012 Calendar

I made a limited edition of 2012 Calendars mainly for Christmas presents for my family and friends. They have been a bit hit and I've sold a few and given a few more out. There are still some left so contact me if you want one. Each month was illustrated with a holiday from that month, even August which has no government recognized holidays.

Here is a sampling of months:

Skiers

I found this while cleaning out my computer's Documents folder. This was a drawing I made for my parents last year for Christmas. It's pretty funny, so I thought I'd share.

Final Drawing (from left to right: dad, sister, me, mom)

Sketch

Hilarious original photo circa 1996 (we all had matching one-piece ski suits, and yes, that is a fanny pack)

"Seasons Eatings"

In December, I was once again invited to participate in the University's Art Department's annual mini-print exchange and sale. I letterpress printed this print from photopolymer plates and a linoleum block reduction cut. The original image can be seen in my 2012 calendar, soon to be on this blog!

Seasons Eatings: 8"x10"

Patron Saint of Book Arts

I made this piece for my boss and coworkers (Marnie Powers-Torrey, David Wolske, Emily Tipps, and Becky Thomas) for a panel discussion they were giving at the latest College Book Arts Association conference in the San Francisco Bay Area. The title of the discussion group was "Herding Cats: Instructional Strategies in Twenty-First Century Book Classrooms" and of course you need a Patron Saint to herd all those cats!

Her halo is made from overarching qualities all book artists need to possess. The cats' tags all have terminology that is also important in the world of book arts.

Celebrity Portraits

I finished Celebrity Portraits! and am now putting them online!

 Alec Baldwin

 Jeff Bridges

 Lady Gaga

 Lindsay Lohan

 Mulder and Scully

Sarah Michelle Gellar

The reflective quality of the transparencies depicting Danny and Shelley Duvall in the Jack Nicholson piece wouldn't allow for a good photo. But, it didn't change any from the "in progress" post before. You'll just have to trust that it's great!