feather2pixels

Some pics from Santa Cruz summer retreat 2013:

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.

I recently spent two weeks as destroyer-in-residence at the Breg-man family workshop in Santa Cruz, California, a wonderful coastal town with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of dreadlocked caucausions and aesthetically perfect fences.  Here are some of the items I completed during my time there.

Hillside Supperclub sign: Fabricated from reclaimed wood and carbon steel.  Screenprint to follow.

An armada of steel frames: For my imminent invasion of a gallery near you.

I must acknowledge the huge amount of assistance from Jonathan.  Without loads of his smithing assistance, this would not have been possible and  I would probably be in the hospital with third degree burns.  But not him:

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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:

The art of instant gratification has come a long way since 1977, but this peel-apart Polaroid of my parents and I taken this weekend is pretty much perfect.

I was already on pace to complete this new series for the beginning of February.

So I figured I might as well proceed with my weekend woodwoorking marathon to fabricate the frames on schedule. How could I pass up the chance for such choice alliteration?

It feels good to be manically productive.  I feel that this series has moved me forward in some important and presently not understood way.  Thanks to Jesse and zMom for advice, room, board.

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The payoff: