Speed Ballistic

After getting rid of some old junk on freecycle, I printed about 34 of these Musicfest shirts today. There's been a little bit of a learning curve printing on fabric after spending so much time working on paper. I picked up a few cheap Speedball squeegees and was surprised to find that they work a lot better than the expensive ones I already had. Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to print a bunch of brown shirts with a two color variation on this design. Then, I'm going to try to get paid for them.

Once and Again

Here's the first run of Feed shirts. It has been tough getting everything together to print like this at home. I'm used to having everything I need right where I know I can find it. Anyway, I printed 13 shirts in various sizes and colors left over from old projects. Some of these shirts have probably been hanging around for more than ten years.

Get Busy

OK. Here's the first screen produced in my new, home "print studio". I'm going to start printing t-shirts for local businesses, bands, churches, etc. My first job is to make shirts for the Merchant Street Music Fest. While I'm waiting for new screens to come in, I started making some shirts for Feed.

Kitchen Experiment

My friend Nate asked me if he could use one of my prints for the cover of his band's album. I put together a design using an awesome disco font. Today, the album is available on Bandcamp. As far as I can tell, the whole thing is free as a digital download so you should listen to it.

Intelligentsia

Yesterday, I finally managed to get a few pictures of my prints hanging at Intelligentsia.

Ms. Brown's Lounge

If you happen to be in Australia this weekend, specifically Alstonville, New South Wales, then stop in at Barratt Galleries where an exhibition of the exchange portfolio organized by Ms. Brown's Lounge is opening. The show features artwork from 54 international artists in the form of a deck of artist's playing cards. If you are unable to make it to Australia, then simply take a look at the project website, on which, I understand, all of the cards will be available for viewing by the 24th, when the show opens.

Ave Milwaukee

I'm heading up to the city tomorrow to drop off some artwork for the afore mentioned Print Exhibition at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. The show is happening at Anywhere Space - 2328 North Milwaukee and is open to the public Friday through Sunday. There's a ton of other exhibits and musical/dramatic performances happening during the festival, so take the kids over and have a nice weekend in Logan Square.

Whew

I spent the better part of the day rebuilding my home made press. Originally, it was built mostly of 2x4 boards which would flex a lot when printing. It worked fine, but I knew it was just a matter of time before the pressure of the jack pushed the whole thing apart. So I replaced the wooden, top cross beam with a piece of steel I got from my brother. I also shortened the uprights and removed big, wood pieces I had attached to them before. They were there to make it look a little nicer by hiding the angle irons. But really, they just added weight to the press, making it too heavy to port around easily. It is a little lighter now, but still kind of heavy. While I was at it I put in a little frame to help keep the jack straight and in the best position for printing. This has been quite a job, not only because I don't really have the right tools for cutting metal, but also because it is outrageously hot today.

Gutted

About six years ago I bought one of these guitar/mandolin packages offered by Musician's Friend for the low price of $80. I gave away the mandolin to my brother and kept the guitar. I knew some other people that have had these $40 guitars and they typically sound pretty bad and have high strings, rough on the fingers. By some fluke, the guitar I got was a joy to play and actually sounded really nice. I'm not much of a guitar player, but I really enjoy fooling around with it and do so pretty much every day, at least for a few minutes. Today, I knocked over my $40 guitar and broke its head off. This is a real blow. I'm sure I'll never replicate the quality of this particular guitar without spending a significant amount more than $40. If anyone out there has a nice guitar they want to unload for $40 or less, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to have to go back to playing banjo.

Opportunities

On Saturday the first set of prints came in for the Littlest Print Exchange. John Bergmeier is an awesome artist and a real professional. His were the first prints finished for last year's exchange too. I'm still looking for artists to take part in this year's exchange. So far we've got 21 participants and still need 29 more. Take a look at the Littlest Print Blog and submit a portfolio.

Did you know I'm also involved in organizing an art fair? It is going to be a component of the annual Merchant Street Music Fest here in Kankakee. All the info is available on the Feed website. We want to have as many vendors as possible, so if you have some awesome stuff you want to sell check it out. It is going to be completely free for artists so you really don't have an excuse not to do it.

Braap

Remaking

The printing continues with a layer of cyan ink and the science fiction continues with a couple of episodes of the US remake of Life on Mars. More in about 50 minutes.

I stopped to eat some dinner so it took me a little longer than 50 minutes to print the final, black layer of ink. After 2010 gets over, I'm going to start cutting these prints down and numbering them so I can get them in the mail tomorrow.

Harness the Power of Time Travel

I've been watching a ridiculous amount of science fiction TV shows and movies while doing some linoleum block carving over the last few days. Tonight I started printing the blocks. I'm trying to get this print finished for an exchange, however, the edition is due on the tenth and I don't know if I'll get everything finished and shipped before then. I think I can though. As soon as Lifeforce is over I'm going to print a second layer.

Well. That's finished. The red layer went pretty quick. Less than 50 minutes for 25 prints. Maybe I'll work on a third color before I go to bed. Maybe instead I'll eat something and watch Cypher.

Lacking Lustre

A new show went up at Captive Werewolf. It is a selection of photos produced during Feed's View Finding Workshop a couple of weeks ago.

I made a little progress today on the art fair we're organizing for the Merchant Street Music Fest. If you are an artist interested in having a booth at the fair, check out the Feed Website for the info. In my opinion, the more people we have the better it will be.