feather2pixels

In 2009 when I was furiously producing a screenprint on wood for every intersection of Twenty-Fourth Street in the Mission District, I had the foresight to print a few copies on paper.  Here in 2012 I wish my 2009 self had even more foresight because a few copies is not enough.  This delayed regret comes to the fore only now because I just saw a professionally-framed version of Mission Street and it looks fantastic.   Ever the wise art collector, Z-Mom purchased this diptych at my Fall Open Studios with top secret plans to spend three times the amount on a frame job and hang the result on a very prime bit of dining room wall.  Last night in Santa Cruz I saw it for the first time at its new home and I immediately wished I made more.  I don’t really like frames, but this could change my thinking.  At least for multi-panel prints on paper.  It looks great.  It looks better matted and framed than it does unframed.  So thank you, Ziggy.

These are photos of my exhibition of Twenty-Fourth Street Cityscapes on Wood in the office of San Francisco (District 9) Supervisor David Campos at City Hall.  If one is on the premises, getting married or applying for bankruptcy, one could mosey upstairs and check it out.  Every intersection of Twenty-Fourth Street in the Mission is represented except Shotwell and Osage.  They are in an undisclosed location.  A third rate video of this installation is here.

A generous helping of my next generation prints on trash is now installed at the next generation Philz in Noe Valley.

The original Philz, located just an extended stumble down Twenty-Fourth street from Noe Valley, is one of the Mission District’s most gloriously funky and popular coffee shops.  Hard as they try, no other contenders can seem to offer their customers ancient sofas quite as cozy nor Scheffleras quite as overgrown as the original Philz.  However the new breed of Philz are different beasts altogether, with each new iteration reimagined to accommodate  its indigenous clientele the way a young Lothario might modify his affect to the preferences of women in each new territorio.

Phil is ever the shrewd businessman.

For my own selfish reasons, this works to my advantage.  Not only was this the first official “installation” at Noe Philz, but I got three beautiful new walls to fill with recent screenprints.  The only question was could I improve them by hanging my art on them?

I took the opportunity to dig a little deeper in to this ongoing project, focusing on the disposable nature of the cardboard and the act of editioning and framing trash.   Some of the more visually compelling of these pieces were beat up from being installed on the floor of  a CELLspace show, so I decided to spend some time putting others through the ringer, too.  I soaked them, sanded them, smacked them, derided them with harsh language.  Actually I was pretty impressed by how hard it was to make screenprints on cardboard look beat up.

In addition, I let myself go with an idea for completely transforming a few of these into mini dioramas, which was fun.  I cast one of them in prehistoric amber (a.k.a. casting resin) with embedded prehistoric flies (already dead). I custom fit a beautiful tree branch in another, complete with functional pine cone.  A plastic dinosaur is eating one piece from the inside and another is a simply a plastic-faced box containing the remnants of a print.   Even if it’s just me and a few kids who think this was a good idea, I stand by it.  I think.

Here some snaps.  Thanks to Tamara S for staying up till midnight helping me install.

Valencia to Vermont, my installation of 24th Street screenprints on wood, is now hanging in the office of Supervisor David Campos in City Hall.

It is an honor to see my work on the same hallowed walls that enclosed the likes of Harvey Milk, Dianne Feinstein and George Moscone, preventing them from falling out of the building and helping them determine where rooms ended.  This is all the more exciting for me because Mr. Campos does admirable work representing the Mission and Bernal Heights on the progressive wing of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors –these cityscapes document our mutual district by intersection.   What a cool opportunity!

Thanks to Sheila and David for making this possible.  Thanks to EB for helping with a tricky install and the camera work.

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Here is where I am recording the July 2012 configuration of my display at Coyote Counter Collective.  423 40th street in Oakland.  This month I’m showing framed prints on cardboard, Michelle’s beach print on pine, and a mini installation of wooden tiles.

Hello.  I recently completed a small commission to develop this photo into a series of prints, using only nine planks of laminated pine and one slice of homemade Ranier cherry pie:

The commissioner? My sister Michelle. The event?  Her birthday in July.  The final prints can be found in my objects section.  Here is a small sample:

My latest series of prints on trash (three traffic cones in the park at thirty times of day), is up at Cafe LaBoheme.  This is my second showing at Boheme, one the great gathering places of the Mission District.  The pieces are a little misaligned and wobbly because we have to suspend all art from above, but this is basically my vision for this series.  Nice photos coming soon!

Cafe La Boheme (across from 24th Mission BART station)
3318 24th Street
San Francisco, CA

Well, after battling with old expired emulsion, runny ink and a shitty design problems (all mercifully not chronicled here), I finished Stephen’s Print.  It looks like this:

Careful observers will note that I needed to enlarge the size of the dots on his jacket from the previous design.  Details like this consumed me for the most part, but every once in a while the project made me sad.

I took the liberty of spreading a few of these around the neighborhood, particularly in the West end of Precita Park, where Stephen lived.  I found a few strategically placed trees to discretely nail into.  Also I placed a limited edition of prints for public distribution at Charlie’s and Precita Park Cafe.  I think they will either be gone very soon or sitting around forever.

I documented the project in detail for my objects section.

And finally here is a good Times article on the incident.

This is pretty stupid and took too long–much to long–for me to do, but I programmed a “View Pieces by Time of Day” button on my Three Cones page.

Recently I devised plans to expand my series of prints on trash.  Among other things, those plans include building box frames out of scrap hardwood flooring and plywood.  I don’t think most of my work warrants or deserves frames, but there’s something I like about putting a flourish on a frosted flake box I found in the mess hall dumpster.

So it was with great effort that I completed a few prototypes last week.  A box is a concept simple enough for a small child to understand, yet it took me hours to put these together.   Among many other things, something I never realized is hardwood is hard–I learned that the…difficult way.

The art floats flush with the surface and I like how the gap calls attention to the rough edges.  Now all I need is a wood shop, enough flooring to cover a small room, and roughly twenty-four more of these.

At the time, the idea of submitting an absurdly cheap piece to an otherwise respectable art show seemed interesting and fun.

I guess this pitiful letter received two months later pretty much brings my brilliant idea full circle.

OK The image for the Cowboys and Indians pieces is ready.  I printed out the exposure mask from on two 11×17 inch sheets, which will be joined to burn the screen.  This will be a two layer print and this is the top layer.  From the western sand dunes:

After I print the image on the 4 quilts I sewed out of 1970’s Italian comix, the final pieces might look something like the following artist’s conception of the artist’s conception.

On second thought, I hope not. That kind of looks stupid.

Here’s my next step in the Cowboys and Indians piece:  painting the quilted cowboy comix.  I did this with a mix of Mod Podge, water, and screen printing ink.

Selling it like a decoupage pro:

I finally got the chance to visit the home of Keith W in Sacramento.  This long overdue trip gave me the chance to check out Keith’s outstanding collection of Temporary Spaces, which is said to be the finest in the world. This long overdue trip also gave me the chance to check out the size of the embryo growing in his wife Tiffany. Needless to say, both art and kid are taking up a lot of space.  I didn’t pass up the chance for a photo-op with the former.  K.W., next time I hope you jump in there, too.