goodfeets umbrella

Fixed Focus

2012-01-26T19:52:00.002-06:00

Just a few more days to get your photos sent in for this nice little exchange. Plus, just for you, a special discounted entry fee (or free if you include appropriate postage.)

Left Ledge

2012-01-19T21:11:00.005-06:00

I took a little break over the holidays but I'm back at it now, stitching away on this project. 61.6% complete now.

Fixed Focus

2012-01-01T12:08:00.002-06:00

My annual printmaking exchange (the Littlest Print Exchange) is in its fourth year now. A few months ago I decided the project should branch out to include photographic prints more prominently. To that end, I launched an LPE side project called Fixed Focus, an open exchange of photography. It is a pretty simple project. Each participating artists sends in an edition of 16 identical photos and, in return, receives a random portfolio consisting of photos by the other participants.

So if you want to participate, just make sixteen 4"x5" horizontal photos and send them to me by January 30th. Make sure to include your name and address, along with a website address so I can give you proper credit. I'll sort the prints out and send you back a nice package by the end of February. All of the sorted details are available at the Fixed Focus Website.

The Details

2011-12-21T12:23:00.003-06:00

I never really enjoyed printing by hand but, without access to a press, my options are pretty limited. So I've been thinking I should make an effort to try it again. Luckily, I came across the No Press Print Exchange which gave me an excuse to pill out my baren and work something out. I carved a linoleum block over the course of two or three days and then printed out a small edition on the kitchen counter. I decided to wax the prints to make them a bit transparent and a little more complicated. They aren't the most elaborate prints I've ever made but there was a pretty tight deadline for the exchange. I do think they came out pretty cool. For such a simple carve, the amount of detail that comes out is surprising.

Last Ditch Microscope

2011-12-15T21:47:00.000-06:00

Navigated those Currents

2011-12-13T08:07:00.006-06:00

Yesterday a package arrived containing my prints from the Interaction Exchange. My selection is especially nice and I'm proud to be a part of this project. I'm lucky to have received prints from S.V. Medaris, Jenny Roholt, Melody Knight Leary, Randy Arnold, Sandra Wimer, Craig Burkhalter, Stacy Elko, Scott Kolbo, Kathleen Piercefield, Pamela Bowens, Jonathan Stewart, Dinah Coakley, Elizabeth A. Jabar, and Stephanie Standish. The entire portfolio of 100 prints is available for viewing at Inkteraction.

I'll take the credit for co-coordinating this exchange but really Jonathan Stewart did the lion's share of the work. Sara Francis also deserves a lot of credit for helping Jonathan collate the prints and make up the packages. So thanks to them.

Navigating the Currents

2011-12-04T00:05:00.003-06:00

All the prints for our long-brewing Inkteraction exchange have finally arrived and Jonathan down in Texas is sorting them out. They should be mailed to all the participants pretty soon now.

The donations from the exchange participants will pay for another year of keeping Interaction alive on the web. We have a good handful of shows of the entire portfolio planned for 2012. If anyone wants to put up an exhibition of one hundred 5x7 prints from artists around the world, let me know and we'll work something out.

49.28%

2011-12-03T00:03:00.002-06:00

I really don't know what else to say about this embroidery project. I've moved past the point where it is physically hurting to work on. My hands are fine now. A little stiffness in my shoulder but it is really fine. As it stands now, I'm just over 49% of the way done with this thing. Sp probably 5 more months if I can keep up this pace. I am thinking about taking a break to work on some smaller quicker projects even though I don't have any specific things in mind.

No Parking or Whatever

2011-11-18T22:24:00.003-06:00

41.6% done. I guess that is almost halfway finished. I'm making my new prediction for a completion date: May 1st, 2012.

Still Stitching

2011-10-21T03:58:00.002-05:00

I'm still plugging away at this cross stitch embroidery project. I've been working on it for about three months now and, if my calculations are correct, I'm almost 28% of the way finished. My whole right side hurts, especially my wrists. At night, my dreams have recently been incorporating elements of stitchery. I thought I would be bored by now, but I'm feeling more invested than ever. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Stitching Time

2011-10-01T21:04:00.005-05:00

So I'm still working on this big cross stitch. As of today, I'm just over 20% of the way finished with it. That's about 101,000 stitches so far. I was worried that it wouldn't look like anything when it was done, but now that I've finished a section with some recognizable detail (and it actually looks like something) I'm feeling a lot more confident about continuing to stitch. If I can keep up this pace I might be finished way ahead of schedule. I was expecting it to take about a year and a half or two years to complete but now I think more like 7 months. We'll see.

Jungle Gym

2011-09-30T03:52:00.002-05:00

There was a possum on our porch the other day peeking into the kitchen and Jessica keeps seeing a skunk in the yard when she comes home at night. Its a regular jungle around here.

Littlest Prints

2011-09-22T02:36:00.005-05:00

This year's Littlest Print Exchange wrapped up nicely. It was the smoothest running exchange yet. No late drop outs, and all the prints came in pretty close to the deadline. We collated all the portfolios and shipped them out a couple of weeks ago.

The complete list of all fifty 2011 participants:
Chad Andrews, Arturo Araujo S.J., Caroline Battle, Stephen Belshaw, Adrian Chin, Christopher Clark, Aaron S. Coleman, Jean-Marc Couffin, Guylaine Couture, Josh Dannin, Bruce Docker, Allen Duffy, Judith Caroline Feist, Linda Germain, Rebecca Godin, Jessica Gowling, Eric Hansen, Stephanie Harvey, Jessie Horning, Ana Hurtado-Gonzalez, Teréz Iacovino, Micheal W. Jones, Karen Joyce, Hem Jyotika, Rachel Kaiser, Melody Knight Leary, Stefanie Liles, Barrett Long, Brendan McCumstie, Nancy Mungcal, Candace Nicol, Alexis Novak, Carrie Ohm, Christine Panushka, Travis Paterson, Tiffany Patterson, Sage Perrott, Mark Renner, Aramas Ridge, John Ryrie, Sarah Sciba, Tessa Shackleford, Marsha Shaw, Shirily, Heather Smith, Amy Sterly, Jonathan Stewart, Peter Tudhope, Alicia Wierschke, Robin Wyss

As usual, there's a gallery of all the prints available on the LPE website so you can see what everyone sent in. A bunch of artists were nice enough to send an extra proof or two so there's also been an update of the exchange store. Prints are only $10 and I'll pay for the shipping.

Now that the 2011 exchange is finished, we're already looking at submissions for the 2012 exchange. If you're interested in participating, simply send a link to a gallery of your work.

Squirrel

2011-09-16T15:50:00.005-05:00

One day last week, we were sitting on the couch watching TV when I heard a little commotion coming from the kitchen door. I glanced over to see a wild squirrel running straight at me under our dining table. I reacted a little badly with a mild yelp and the squirrel high-tailed it out the door. Jess wanted him to come back in, but I haven't quite forgiven him for eating our squash and cucumbers. The next day Jessica and I were exploring Bradbury Mountain State Park. I heard a screechy noise above us and looked up to see a large bird flying away. Something dropped down unto the boughs of a tree a foot or two over our heads. I assumed it was a branch or a clump of leaves or something like that but, in fact, it was a tiny little chipmunk. I guess he was dropped by the bird.

Today were were coming home from shopping and that squash eating squirrel was hanging out in the backyard. I brought out a bag of pumpkin seeds and some raisins. As soon as he saw the bags, the squirrel seemed to know what was happening and came running over to me. I sat on a chair and threw him some treats. He was a little skittish but was certainly willing to get pretty close. I tried to feed him from my hand but he just touched my finger with his nose and scooted off. I think he'll come around soon enough if we keep working on him.

Hang Your Hat

2011-09-04T19:59:00.003-05:00

Here's my submission to the community print exchange Johnathan Stewart and I are coordinating in order to raise the funds needed to keep the print maker's network Inkteraction up and running. I ran a sheet of fairly translucent mulberry paper through an inkject printer multiple times on each side to create a transparent effect that is pretty tough to see in this scan. We're hoping to get the entire portfolio of 100 prints exhibited somewhere so hopefully someone will have the chance to see it in real life.

Three Tomatoes, Two Lights

2011-09-01T16:34:00.005-05:00

Our first tomato finally ripened and was picked a couple of days ago. I think Jessica sliced it yesterday for a sandwich. I hope she enjoyed it. There are only two more so they had better be delicious. The cucumber plants have a bunch of tiny, little cucumbers growing still and a couple that could probably be picked even though they are really strangely shaped. The squash plant only had two fruits and they were both eaten by the squirrel. Or it could have been a possum, some seagulls or slugs. I think it was the squirrel though. I suppose you heard a lot about the hurricane traveling the east coast. By the time it got here it was pretty mild. A little rain in the morning and then some wind in the afternoon. If you were worried about us, we're fine.

Jason and Rachel were here all week with Celeste so we all survived the storm and then took the opportunity to see some things around town. We rode the narrow gauge railroad along the bay and finally made it down to the proper Atlantic Ocean where the park ranger uses his old age to get away with overcharging people entering Two Lights State Park. We had a lot of fun climbing on the rocks, looking into tide pools and searching the woods for mushrooms.

Crossing

2011-08-31T17:31:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a break from it while sorting out the print exchange, but, for the past few weeks I've been working on a large cross stitch. Its about 30 inches square and contains a half a million stitches. It is going to take a while to get completes. I'm estimating 2 years if I don't take too many days off. I'll let you know how it goes. By the way, the prints are all collated and ready to be packaged for shipping.

Littlest Prints

2011-08-30T13:10:00.004-05:00

All the prints are in and we are working on sorting the Littlest Print Exchange 2011 for distribution to the contributing artists. This is the part that takes the most time but hopefully, everything will shipped out within a week or two. I looked into stamps.com as a solution for buying postage but it seems unlikely that we'd use it more than once or twice a year, so the subscription fee would be cost prohibitive. Anyone have any good discount shipping suggestions?

Propagation

2011-08-02T12:47:00.004-05:00

After just about two weeks, the first tiny cucumbers have started to appear on my plants. Three tomatoes popped out of that plant on the first day they hit the dirt and they've steadily (but slowly) grown to the size of golf balls. I hope it produces more than three fruits.

Mystery Beast

2011-08-01T10:36:00.008-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://57splits.bandcamp.com/album/mystery-beast"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Mystery Beast by 57 Splits&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

A new record for the month of August, sampled entirely from local Maine musicians. Check out the links to the original artists and listen to their music please.

Standing Room Only

2011-07-23T23:55:00.004-05:00

Over the last few days, I've been working on ironing out some t-shirt designs for Kitchen Experiment, my friend Nate's band. It looks like budgetary concerns have helped forced us to go with a single color design on a light colored shirt. That's fine with me, but I'd love to see the two color design printed on a nice burnt orange shirt.

Urban Homestead

2011-07-14T13:42:00.004-05:00

I spent this week working on some small scale gardening projects. An old tenant left this planting barrel sitting out by the tree in the back of the apartment. I dragged it over to the part of the yard that actually gets a little bit of sun and planted a yellow squash, a couple of cucumber bushes and a tomato for Jessica. These are all varieties bred for small gardens so they should be ok for this little container. I might have jammed too many plants in there though. We'll see. Luckily I found a couple of tomato cages in the garbage, in case anything needs some support. Yesterday, I scrabbled together some lumber from the basement and put together some planting boxes for our porch. I stopped by the farmers market and picked up some herbs. Oregano, thyme, basil, chives and sage. Today I cooked some zucchini with fresh basil and chives. That tasted pretty good. Now all I have to do is revive the grass in the backyard.

The Best of Both Worlds

2011-06-29T00:10:00.000-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://57splits.bandcamp.com/album/the-best-of-both-worlds"&amp;amp;amp;gt;The Best of Both Worlds by 57 Splits&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Porch

2011-06-28T14:02:00.001-05:00

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

2011-06-19T15:34:00.009-05:00

I'm home alone again so I decided to hang a few more frames. Then I made the bed and cleaned up the room a little bit so I could take a nice picture. At the bottom of the bed you can see the really great quilt Mrs. Douglas made us as a wedding gift. We haven't had to use it yet, but I'm sure it will be a lifesaver when the winter comes.

Early, I went to the Goodwill and bought and awesome painting of a poodle and a frame to put it in. I don't know where I'm going to hang it yet, but when I do, I'll post a pic. The new 57 Splits record is up at bandcamp now. It is supposed to be the record of July, but I'm not very good at holding back.

Home Alone

2011-06-17T14:48:00.003-05:00

Jessica started school today so I stayed home and hung some pictures on the wall. I also freed up the painted-shut bathroom window to clean all the glass the best I could. I took care of a few other chores too.

Other than that, I've been working on some new mixed up music all about our move. Its almost finished and should pop up on Bandcamp pretty soon. Jessica's been working on some tiles, but mostly we've just been doing new apartment stuff. I heard that June 20th is the 2nd annual Six-20 Camera Day, so I'll try to get an old camera out and shoot a few rolls of film around town. I'm hoping the Walmart here has the same cheap film developing system as the one back home.

The Flea Tape

2011-06-09T09:42:00.004-05:00

Since we got married and made the big move across the country the music production has had to slow down a little. Luckily, a record I made a few years ago (just for friends) has resurfaced. I reworked it a little bit and now it is the record of the month of June. Hopefully, a new record will appear on bandcamp around the first of July.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://57splits.bandcamp.com/album/the-flea-tape"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The Flea Tape by 57 Splits&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

I'm Married Now

2011-06-06T16:46:00.001-05:00

Controposto Pose

2011-06-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

Well we made it halfway across the country and are getting everything unpacked here in Portland Maine. When I was packing I rediscovered the tape recorded by my old band, Controposto Pose.

My first band, Cosby, broke up after a member or two decided we should actually learn to play our instruments, a complete betrayal of the Cosby Mission Statement. Mark Foltynewicz, Matt LeRoy and I decided to continue on with a new band. We wrote a couple of songs, but really needed a bass player. Someone told us about Jamie Stutevant, a friend of a friend who had just taken up the bass. He was already practicing with another guy, Andy Bradley. So we all joined together as a five piece band. I came up with the name Controposto Pose after taking a survey of art class. We played a bunch of shows in basements and churches and then Jamie moved to Rockford so we stopped playing together. Mark and I worked on a lot of songs for years after that, but we never tried too hard to be a real band again.

I think the tape must have been recorded in 1993. I know I was listening to Hum's Electra 200o a lot and the Cranberries were on the radio. Jamie and Andy were into Hole's first album. That all adds up to 1993. If I remember right, we recorded in a public access TV station that was closed for the weekend. Ron Romano had an eight-track and a bunch of microphones. I think we were only the first or second band he ever recorded and I'm pretty sure we had only been playing together for a couple of months, so you'll have to excuse the quality. I listen to the tape every few years, sometimes feeling embarrassed, other times surprisingly impressed, but mostly nostalgic.

Right after finding the tape again, I found Jessica's old Walkman. So I put the two together and plugged it into my computer and copied the songs as digital files. I left in any clicks, static or tape noise to make the sound as authentic as possible. I also scanned the original cover liner and lyric booklet. The tape originally came with a couple of stickers that I don't have anymore, maybe they'll turn up.

Anyway, if you feel like it, take a listen to the tape and download it for free.

More News from Germany

2011-05-26T16:46:00.007-05:00

Another couple of reviews have appeared on the web, this time from Germany. Both written about the Kubrick album available for free on Bandcamp. I think they are pretty positive but again, it is hard to tell for sure.
Progolog (translated)
Das Kraftfuttermischwerk (translated)

LPE In Germany

2011-05-26T02:06:00.002-05:00

The 2010 Littlest Print Exchange packages were sent out many months ago but, apparently, Johannes Mundinger has been traveling around and never found time to open the portfolio. He has some unpacking photos on his blog. Even though I'm a bit biased, I still think it looks pretty cool. The site is in German, but it seems like he was happy with it too.

Dr. Doom

2011-05-23T01:11:00.003-05:00

Another review of my music project, 57 Splits, has appeared on the internet. This one comes from the Latvian blog, Vilnis Kronbergs. Even after running it through google translate, I'm not 100% sure what the reviewer thinks about the music. The translation is pretty cryptic. It does end with the pretty definitive, "If a single word, then - brilliant!" so that seems pretty positive.

Inkteraction Community Portfolio Exchange

2011-05-17T12:12:00.005-05:00

I've been working as an administrator for Inkteraction, a social networking community of more than 5000 printmakers across the globe. There are some annual costs for keeping this network afloat. We've decided to coordinate a portfolio exchange among network members to raise the funds needed to cover those subscription costs. If you are a member of Inkteraction, and want to participate, all the info is available on a dedicated, portfolio page on the site, inkteraction.ning.com/page/portfolio-1. If you aren't a member, it is easy enough to join. We'd love to have you.

A New Band A Day

2011-05-15T13:46:00.007-05:00

While we were out of town, a review of my music project appeared on A New Band A Day. It is a pretty positive review with references to De La Soul and The Avalanches, not to mention the Beastie Boy's Paul's Boutique, an album that surely influenced me to try making this kind of sample-based music. I haven't had a chance to check out everything on ANBAD, but the bands posted over the last week or two sound pretty great. Of course, my stuff is still available for free on bandcamp.

Portland

2011-05-14T14:22:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at the library applying for jobs since I can't get the internet at home to cooperate. We got home from our Portland trip yesterday and seem to have secured a decent apartment. I think we're both pretty excited about the move. The picture above is from our new neighborhood. The port (or the bay, or whatever it is) is only about three blocks away. You can see a little sliver of it in the background. There are a few more pics from the trip on Flickr.

Interim

2011-05-09T10:11:00.004-05:00

All of my student's grades are in for this semester. We're driving out to Portland, Maine tonight to look for an apartment and we're hoping to be moved in by the first week on June. It might be a while before I have anything to post here. In the meantime, get out and take some pictures or make a movie or something. Start a website and let me know about your project. Here's a couple of pictures I used for film developing and/or scanning demos this semester.

Stanley Kubrick

2011-05-07T15:47:00.002-05:00

Speaking of bandcamp, I finished a new 57 Splits release for the month of May and never mentioned it here. It is a tribute to the films of Stanley Kubrick. As usual, you can stream it, or download it for free. If you really like it, I wouldn't be opposed to accepting payment.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://57splits.bandcamp.com/album/however-vast-the-darkness-we-must-supply-our-own-light"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;However Vast the Darkness, We Must Supply Our Own Light by 57 Splits&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Kitchen Experiment

2011-05-06T10:03:00.004-05:00

Kitchen Experiment put out a new album on Bandcamp. It is totally free to download or you can just stream it if you want. In any event, they asked me to make some cover art again. They provided the Alva Skates photo as a starting point. It reminded me of the Alley Picking series of photos I made a couple of years ago so I used a few of those and made separate art for each track. I hope you like it.

Merchant Street Musicfest 2011

2011-05-05T13:05:00.005-05:00

The Merchant Street Musicfest is coming up again soon. I haven't been able to help out as much as I would have liked, and I probably won't even be able to attend, but I still feel pretty invested in the whole thing. The line up of musical acts is just about complete but applications from food and art vendors are still being taken. There will be thousands of people passing through the festival grounds so it is a good opportunity for vendors.

Check out merchantstreetmusicfest.com for the current music line up and, while you're there, check out vendor forms for for food and for artists. And let me know if you have any photos or videos from last year.

Littlest Prints

2011-04-28T04:00:00.007-05:00

Since moving the Littlest Print Exchange website from blogger to its own, official domain, traffic has increased on a month my month basis. There are only a couple of days left this month and the visitor count is sadly, about 80 less than it was last month. I'd prefer that the upward trend continues. If you want to help out, simply visit littlestprintexchange.com.

While you're there you might as well look around. There are galleries of the last two portfolios and a list of all the artists participating in the third. Links to everybody's websites are provided. Look around and you'll find an exclusive song from Yea Big. There's also a store featuring prints donated by some of the artists. Prices are super cheap too.

Hellhound

2011-04-27T12:21:00.005-05:00

A new 57 Splits Album. I'm going to try to release six full length records this year. Every track on this one is based around one or more samples from a Robert Johnson song. Hence the title. It is set up for a free download, if you like it.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://57splits.bandcamp.com/album/hellhound-on-my-trail-the-complete-recordings-of-57-splits"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Hellhound on My Trail by 57 Splits&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Extended

2011-04-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

Leftovers

2011-04-24T22:06:00.003-05:00

A package arrived the other day with a stack of prints from the Leftovers II Print Exchange. My selection contained a couple of real standouts including this really nice lithograph from Kathryn Polk. There are some plans to exhibit the entire portfolio so keep an eye out to see if it comes to your area.

In more self-serving news, I came across a nice write up about my work at The Print Perspective. It makes me want to get started on a new body of work.

Max Black

2011-04-22T21:26:00.005-05:00

I made these little xeroxed photo books a couple of years ago. Inside there's about sixteen pages of badly half-toned, black and white pictures. The covers are screen printed, white ink on weird shimmery, black card stock. They were completed in an edition of fourteen books. I want to give them away. Send me an email with your address. The first fourteen will get some low-resolution goodness in the mail.

Champ

2011-04-20T14:19:00.002-05:00

I finished these today with a layer of clear ink over the top of several screen printed layers and an inkjet layer. Getting the inject to print exactly where I wanted it was pretty hit-or-miss and I only ended up with exactly the number of good prints needed for a print exchange meant to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I need to get them packed up and put into the mail to meet the May 1st deadline. Eventually, one print from each edition sent in will be offered for auction. I'll post more info once I know when the auction will be.

I Almost Had an Idea

2011-04-17T02:24:00.001-05:00

Party Balloons

2011-04-16T02:33:00.003-05:00

Just a couple more old negatives "scanned" with the negatizer. I really need to get out and shoot some new pics now that the weather is getting nicer. There's the Rhubard Festival coming up this month that I hope to check out, plus the Farmer's Market is opening up again soon. I should also start going to auctions again where interesting people often congregate and they're so engrossed in what they're doing that they don't notice when they're being photographed.

Also, today, after many months of non-activity, I opened a new show at Captive Werewolf. So check that out.

The Littlest

2011-04-12T06:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the fiftieth member of the 2011 Littlest Print Exchange secured his spot. The complete list of participants can be seen on the 2011 portfolio page. A few diligent artists have already sent in their editions. It is shaping up to be another great portfolio. There are still a handful of exhibitions planned for the 2010 portfolio as well. Any ideas for exhibitions of the portfolio in the Chicago area would be more than welcome. Prints from last year and the year before are still available for a ridiculously low price in the exchange store.

Eff Stop

2011-04-10T02:45:00.004-05:00

All my plans for the day went belly-up because of the rain and my incapacity to properly store the screens I wanted to print today. Oh well. I did manage to do some testing with the Negatizer, running through many f/stops to find the one (f/11-f/14) that gives the best sharpness but doesn't reveal the texture of the laptop screen beyond the negative. I also ran through a lot of white balance settings to find one that gives the truest color (2500 kelvin) and therefore needs the least amount of digital color balancing.

Negatizer

2011-04-09T03:21:00.006-05:00

More from the Negatizer. If you look at the full size image you can see some texture coming though the image. I think that's actually the pixels from the laptop screen I'm using as a light box. I think I can solve it by using a larger lens aperture for shorter depth of field. I might also just shoot into a better light box with a nice clean white surface.

DIY Negative Digitizer

2011-04-07T00:39:00.008-05:00

So I don't have a scanner at my disposal that can handle 120 negatives but I want to get those size negatives into a digital environment. What am I to do? Today, I devised this contraption for shooting negatives with a digital camera. It is basically just a tunnel to keep out any unwanted light. I've attached an old flash extender as a camera mount to keep everything lined up and steady. (A strip of wood with a tripod adapter sized bolt through it would work pretty well.) The negative carrier is nothing more than a folded piece of mat board with a negative sized hole cut though it. The negative is placed inside the carrier and then slipped through a slot through the sides of the tunnel. Once everything is together, you can just point the whole thing at an even light source and shoot away. I pointed it a blank white screen on my computer. I think a white piece of paper with a light shining on it would work as well. The results probably aren't as good as you could get with a decent scanner, but after you get the file into photoshop, invert it and adjust the colors, it doesn't look too bad.

Wampa

2011-04-05T02:55:00.008-05:00

Printed and ready to be shipped to the 5th Annual Oregon Ink Spot International Print Exchange, another of the portfolio exchanges I'm participating in this year. I do have a couple extras if you want one. 5" x 7" screenprint and inkjet. The typical paypal button follows.

Paste Up

2011-04-04T20:07:00.004-05:00

I've been using some Liquitex blending medium and/or drying retarder to add transparency to my screen printing inks. Locally, transparent base is impossible to find and I just haven't gotten around to mail-ordering any. I've been toying with the idea of using wallpaper paste as an ink base. Today I finally made it to the hardware store to check out their selection. I wanted a powdered paste so I can mix it to my own thickness preference. It took a couple of stores before I found paste which wasn't already in paste form. The only brand available was Zinsser Sure Grip.

The instructions list several different water to powder ratios for use with different types of papers. Their ratios also call for the use of the entire package of powder. Obviously I don't need that much ink mixed at one time so I decided to just figure out my own recipe. I came up with mixture of 2 cups water and 3 tablespoons of powder. The package says, "It readily dissolves in cold water without forming lumps". However, my first attempt formed one huge, unworkable lump. So I tried again with hot water, mixing the powder in very gradually. After stirring for about 10 minutes the paste was still fairly lumpy so I poured it into an old blender that I only use for making paper. A few blast of the blender and the paste is smooth as could be. I'll experiment with some printing tonight and see if it needs to be thickened or thinned.

I'm not sure how archival this new ink might be. From what I've read it should be pretty good. I found a Zinsser technical data sheet online which says the paste is "starch based" so I guess it should be fine. The package of powder was about $3.50 and should make at least a gallon of ink. So that's pretty cheap.

Things Are Looking Up

2011-03-30T20:59:00.004-05:00

It seems like 2011 is turning into the year of print exchanges. So far I've sent prints off to Wingtip Press's Leftovers Exchange, The International Print Exchange of South Korea, and Oxbow Press's 2.25 Exchange. Tomorrow I'll ship out an edition of this black and white print for an exchange organized by Micheal W. Jones at letstradeprints.com. I'm considering sending stuff to at least 4 other exchanges, including my own Littlest Print Exchange. And, I'm sure a lot more exchanges will come up that I'll be interested in joining. In fact, I'm thinking of organizing one to raise funds to keep Inkteraction (a printmaker's social network that I'm helping to mediate) on the web.

I've gotten so invested in these projects that I started a website to, hopefully, make it easier for others to find out about upcoming print exchanges. printexchanges.blogspot.com

Friendship

2011-03-19T16:59:00.002-05:00

Just some more experimenting with a CMYK process.

Addison

2011-03-12T23:41:00.005-06:00

Over the last few days, I've been working on a few new mixed up songs. I posted them on Bandcamp where they can be listened to over and over again as much as you like. If you want to download the tracks there's a $2.00 fee which I'll donate directly to the Red Cross. Listen away.

In Progress

2011-03-07T22:45:00.002-06:00

Just something simple I'm working on. I don't know where it will go next, but I need to add something else.

Tae Quaat!

2011-03-06T00:33:00.001-06:00

I made this for a friend of mine. I know it probably doesn't make sense to anyone but her and her family.

New Cliche

2011-03-02T23:49:00.001-06:00

Tobey Anderson sent me an awesome, interactive panorama of the Littlest print Exchange exhibition at Cram Gallery. With it you can spin around the room to take in the entire portfolio. It is a pretty cool toy put together by the Official Cram Photographer, Sandy Fairbairn. Play around with the photo below by dragging your mouse across it. Or view a larger version. And, of course, the entire portfolio, including links to more info on each artist, can be viewed on the exchange website.

Jacob

2011-02-27T21:26:00.003-06:00

I printed 15 of these today. The white ink is a little light. I'm going to try printing a second layer of white when this layer dries. Since I got those pins working, I shouldn't have any trouble getting everything lined up again.

DIY Registration Pins

2011-02-26T22:06:00.008-06:00

Between the silk screen prints I'm planning and the small linoleum block I haven't printed yet, I decided I wanted to get back to working on perfect registration. So the other day I scrounged around through my unorganized boxes of supplies til I found my trusty registration pins. I also managed to get my hands on a decent quality three hole punch. With these two simple tools it is possible to locate sheets of paper in exactly the same position repeatedly and therefore ensure that you print an image located uniformly on every print. This becomes important when working on multiple color layers. Anyway, it seems that the diameter of all hole punches is not uniform. So the holes I can punch are much bigger than the pins I have. If the pins don't fit into the holes tightly, then the paper can shift and your registration will be shot. The paper punch that matches my pins is over $200, a ridiculous amount for a glorified office tool. The pins that match my punch are $2 each and must be bout in lots of 25. I only need two.

Today I punched some holes in a piece of card and went to the hardware store to find supplies to make my own pins. I found a strange little furniture bolt that fit the hole perfectly. Then I picket up some thin sheet metal. Using a dremel I chopped the bolt into four pieces and then epoxied them onto small squares of the sheet metal. It was easier than I expected. Now I have four pins matched up with my hole punch and the whole thing coast about $5.50. I'll put them to the test tomorrow or later tonight to see how well they work.

Jacob Continued

2011-02-22T01:14:00.003-06:00

I spent a little time carving away on this linoleum block today. I guess it is about two thirds of the way carved. I'm bored already. I'll get it done one of these days and get it printed onto a sheet of paper.

Jacob Redux

2011-02-21T02:02:00.003-06:00

I started working on a little linoleum block tonight, transferring a drawing and getting ready to carve. I don't know how it will work out, but the idea is to print white ink onto dark paper, resulting in a positive drawing without the need to carve away huge areas of the block. I was planning to do a simple line drawing but then I got caught up with this picture of my nephew that I seem to be using a lot lately.

Print Exchange Clearing House

2011-02-19T00:00:00.002-06:00

I decided to start a new blog with the aim to make information about upcoming print exchanges easier to find. If anyone knows of (or is the organizer of) an upcoming print exchange, let me know and I'll get that info posted. printexchanges.blogspot.com

Megan

2011-02-16T00:59:00.002-06:00

One of my students from last semester, Megan Askew recently won second place in a photography show. Here's the winning shot. I think it is pretty great and I couldn't be prouder. . . Unless she won first place I guess. Then I'd probably be a little bit prouder.

Lumen Printing

2011-02-15T05:15:00.002-06:00

I did a little experimenting tonight with Lumen Printing as an example for my photography class tomorrow. The process takes advantage of the fact that photo paper darkens when exposed to light outside of the darkroom. A sheet of paper is covered with a negative and then light is pointed at it. Usually the sun would be the light source, but it is dark so I used a halogen shop light (the same one I use for burning silk screens.) After exposure, the paper darkens and an image appears. There is no need to develop in any chemicals. The paper is supposed to be fixed in a very week fixer solution to keep it from darkening further and eventually disappearing. I don't have any fixer around, so I just scanned the image to save it digitally. If the image lasts till tomorrow, I'll try fixing it properly.

Butch

2011-02-14T04:54:00.014-06:00

Black

2011-02-13T22:44:00.004-06:00

It is still amazing to me that a full color image can be produced with just four magic colors. I'll trim these down later and then sign, number and title them. If you think you might want one, let me know.

Cyan

2011-02-13T20:35:00.002-06:00

Things are moving along nicely. It looks like I might have time to finish printing these tonight. Plus, the amount of good quality prints will almost definitely be higher than the number needed for the print exchange. If anyone wants one, I'll offer them for sale at a good, low price.

Magenta

2011-02-13T19:02:00.002-06:00

I re-burned my screen and then finished laying down a layer of magenta ink. You can start to see the image appearing now. It looks like the experiment will work out OK as long as I can manage to keep my registration relatively tight. Hopefully, I'll get a cyan layer printed tonight and then black tomorrow.

Old Yeller

2011-02-13T00:09:00.005-06:00

I started on these screen prints today for a print exchange designed to help us printmakers use up the scraps of leftover paper trimmed off larger prints. These piece of paper are probably too big to really be considered "scraps" but they were leftover from another series of editions. I have a ton of them so I guess this is a good time to use a few of them. The prints don't look like much yet, and the technique is a bit of an experiment, so maybe they never will.

So far printing at home is a bit of a disaster. I don't really have the right space to do the things I want to do. Sometimes, it seems that a sprayer hose in the shower just doesn't work as well as a power washer for removing emulsion from screens. Other times, it blows the emulsion right off before I want it to. That's what happened today. I'm hoping to get a new screen coated and ready to expose as quickly as possible so I can print another color or two and get this job completed before the deadline.

Jacob

2011-02-12T05:43:00.004-06:00

I finished cutting and sewing these little things tonight. I accidentally came up with this idea while doing a bunch of multi-layered screen prints for the Second Chance series last year. The stacks of transparencies (left over after the printing) were in some cases, more interesting than the actual prints. A tiny print exchange (even smaller than my own Littlest Print Exchange) offered up the opportunity to implement the technique.

These prints are only 2.25 inches square. They are made from ten layers of laser prints on transparencies, aligned perfectly with each other, and hand sewn together onto a sheet of paper. The effect of the layered transparencies is tough to capture in a photograph. They have a strange, three dimensional quality and the stacked plastic seems almost metallic. In some ways they are reminiscent of daguerreotypes in that the image vanishes and reappears when tilted in the light. I think I'll try some larger versions soon.

Lay It On

2011-02-11T04:32:00.000-06:00

Songbird

2011-02-10T08:37:00.006-06:00

Here's a way to waste 40 some minutes of your precious time. 57splits.bandcamp.com you can go there and listen to the individual track or download the whole album. It's designed to play all the way through without gaps between songs, but whatever. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to just hit start or download on the player below.

In other bandcamp news: check out the first demos from Halcyon, Nick Garcia's new band.

I Feel Good

2011-02-08T23:48:00.008-06:00

I heard about the RPM Challenge from Derek Blackburn. The goal is to write and record a complete album's worth of music during the month of February. I decided to try making a bunch of songs entirely from bits and pieces sampled from pre-existing music. We'll see how it goes. When I'm finished I'll upload the whole thing at bandcamp for those masochists that might want to listen to it. For now, here's a sample.

I Feel Good by goodfeets

Elemental Matters

2011-02-03T11:44:00.012-06:00

Opening this week is a unique exhibition intersecting the worlds of science and the arts. Elemental Matters: Artists Imagine Chemistry at Philadelphia's Chemical Heritage Foundation Museum features a collection of artwork presenting different ways to experience the elements and the periodic table. The Periodic Table Printmaking Project, a collection of small, hand-pulled prints, one for each element, will be included in the exhibition.

I made a pair of prints, Einsteinium and Indium, for this project back in 2007 and even helped out by designing the website. Apparently, 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry so the exhibit will be up for the entire year. If you are near Philadelphia it might be worth stopping and checking this show out.

If you are interested in collecting some of the periodic table prints, I have two Indium prints for sale. This was a second run from the original etching plate, but the litho plate was replaced with a blue-green silkscreen. That was followed by a bunch of hand drawn colored pencil elements. The last two print are available for only $40 each, postage paid.

Charlie's

2011-01-31T19:01:00.002-06:00

I processed the first negatives out of my little Recesky camera last week during a film developing demo. Today I stopped by the darkroom and made an enlargement of one of the shots to use tomorrow for a contrast filter lesson. I accidentally dropped the negative in the sink and didn't want to wait for it to dry properly, so I just wiped it dry on my shirt. You can see the wipe marks on the print. I actually think they look pretty nice and might use that technique in the future.

Society 6

2011-01-23T14:55:00.003-06:00

I've been posting a bunch of photos and collages on Society 6, where you can purchase high quality reproductions for a pretty good price. I'll be adding a lot more over the next few weeks and continuing to do so as I make new work. Here's one of my favorite old photos from a couple of years ago. Get it now for only $25.

Recesky

2011-01-14T19:33:00.002-06:00

I put together this little model kit today. It is actually a working twin lens reflex camera that shoots on 35mm film. It doesn't have a lot of controls, however the viewing lens and the shooting lens are linked, so you can actually focus via the viewfinder. It also has a removable aperture plate which allow you to change to a wider aperture if you want shorter depth of field. I'm going to put a roll of film in it right now and then develop it next week during my class's processing demonstration.

If you would like to get a camera like this, there are two possibilities; The Gakkenflex was included with issue 25 of Otona no Kagaku Magazine, a Japanese science publication that always comes with some kind of science kit. The other, cheaper option is to look for a Recesky kit, which is a clone of the Gakken camera. It doesn't come with the magazine (which you probably don't want anyway, unless you can read Japanese)and it has a few minor cosmetic changes. It's pretty much the same camera though. You should be able to find on on ebay for about $20 while the Gakken will probably be $50 or $60.

Hole New World

2011-01-08T01:35:00.003-06:00

Last year I sent a few images to be shown in a pinhole photography exhibition in India. Now a book featuring work from that show has been published via Blurb. 191 artists from 41 countries are represented. It looks pretty good.

Proceeds from sales of the book will help to support the Goa Center for Alternative Photography, an art space dedicated solely to the understanding, appreciation, education and promotion of alternative photography in India.

You can preview the entire thing and purchase the book at Blurb.com.

New York City

2010-12-15T21:56:00.000-06:00

LPE 2010

2010-12-04T19:02:00.004-06:00

Well, the Littlest Print Exchange 2010 is officially finished. The last of the completed portfolios went out in today's mail. I also uploaded a gallery of all the prints to the website. So take a couple of minutes and check out the collection. Several artists were nice enough to send a few extra prints so I created a web store where they can be purchased for only $6.00. Most of them are in very short supply of only one or two prints, so if you want one, get on top of it before it is sold out. There is one complete portfolio available for sale. Send me an email if you think you might like to buy it. It will be about $300 for all 50 artworks.

A bunch of exhibitions of the portfolio are in the works. Currently scheduled are a showing at Tiny Meat in Portland Oregon and two Canadian exhibitions at Cram Gallery and Spark Box Studio.

I've already received a bunch of submissions for the 2011 exchange and will start accepting participants in January, so if you want to be included check out the website and send in a portfolio.

Bowling for a Cure

2010-11-11T22:00:00.003-06:00

Things have been pretty slow on the creativity front. I've been overwhelmed with my photography class. The semester is flying by but I've spent a lot of time making sure I have everything together for my students. I also started working in a t-shirt screen printing shop and that is seriously messing with my time and sleep habits. I had the day off today from both those jobs though, so I spent it working out this poster design for my friend's annual charity bowling event. I think I might make a website for the event next time I get a few free hours.

Strong Reaction

2010-10-27T22:56:00.001-05:00

I've been busy sorting out all the prints for the print exchange. There are still two editions which haven't arrived, but when they get here, everything will be ready to go. I really want to get these things sent out as soon as possible.

Collater

2010-10-25T05:28:00.002-05:00

It is just a little more than a week past the deadline for the 2010 Littlest Print Exchange and there are just a few more sets of prints working their way through the mail. I spent some time today getting things set up so I can get everything shipped out as soon as those last editions come in.

Publication

2010-10-24T03:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend I put the finishing touches on the zine that we made at a Feed workshop last week. It turned out to be a Halloween issue so if you want to take a look at it be for the holiday, get over to Libro Bookstore in the Majestic Center and pick one up. Or go to the Feed website where you can order a copy for $2.00. We're hoping to make this into a regular thing, publishing a new zine four times a year or so.

Multiples of Four

2010-10-14T04:43:00.003-05:00

I don't know why I start on these kinds of projects so late at night. I just spent the hours between midnight and four a.m. writing, and laying out a tiny little zine on the subject of, you guessed it, writing and laying out a zine. Friday of this week I'm putting on an informal zine making workshop with our friends at Libro Bookstore down in Feed's old stomping grounds at the Majestic Center. I'm going to have copies of this zine made to give out to anyone that shows up. It contains a handful of simple layout diagrams and a few ideas for binding I think I've crammed a lot of info into fourteen 2.75" x 4.25" pages. If you're looking for something to do on Friday, stop by and help us work on a collaborative zine. P.S. I know the picture at right makes me look like a crazy person.

Welcome Home

2010-10-04T20:27:00.005-05:00

Now that I'm teaching I have the opportunity to take part in this annual exhibition at GSU featuring the work of regional art instructors. I wanted to get something new done for this show since everybody around there has already seen most of my work. I also wanted to do something directly photographic since I'm teaching photography. So I spent the last couple of weeks shooting a series of tiny, pinhole photographs and then today I screen printed a layer of color over the top of the photos. Tonight I'm going to get these things framed up and presentable. Shown together in a group, I think they'll look at least a little bit interesting.

The show opens this Thursday, October 7th. There is an artists reception next week on Wednesday, October 13th at 5:00p.m. Based on previous experience, I'm guessing this show will include artwork from:

Javier Chavira, Christopher Clark, Michael Costanza, Daniel Falco , Eric Gorder, Michael D. Hart, Jane Rhoades Hudak, Joe Milosevich, Jean Janssen, Elise Kendrot, Erik LaGattuta, Carrie Ohm, Heather Page, Beth Parin, Gary Schirmer, Lou Shields, Cheliese Slowik, Jerry Slowik, Michael E. Smith, Jeff Stevenson, Jessica Van Swol

Coding

2010-10-03T19:32:00.004-05:00

We're coming right up on the deadline for this year's Littlest Print Exchange, so I decided it was time for an update to the project's website. I spent a few days working this new site out and registered a real domain name for it. Check it out at littlestprintexchange.com. I'm also opening up submissions for next year's exchange so take a look at the participation page and if you seem like you'd like to take part, send me an email.

Heat Rises

2010-09-29T15:53:00.002-05:00

I spent some time over the last few days working on my contribution to the Littlest Print Exchange. First I screen printed a white background onto sheets of yellow paper. Then I ran those sheets though my inkjet printer. I like this combination of digital and traditional techniques. Last night I sprayed the sheets with a plastic paint which soaks into the paper, sealing the layers together. Today I'll trim them down to the proper size and get ready for the prints from the rest of the participants to start coming in.

Itty Bitty

2010-09-24T21:15:00.008-05:00

I decided to spend the day working out exposure times for the tiny pinhole cameras my photography class is making. Next week I'll send everyone out around the school to take some pics. I want everything to be as simple for them as possible so the experimenting I did today will help me to make an exposure guide. This system aught to be foolproof, but we'll find out for sure on Tuesday.

Weak End

2010-09-23T22:46:00.002-05:00

I spent a few days this week doing some more work for Novelty Closures. If you ever give a bottle of wine as a gift, you should check out their website. They have focused in on basically two good ideas: a gift card which hangs around the neck of a wine bottle, and a unique cork with a compartment for stashing a tiny little gift.

This weekend, I'm going to work on some print exchange business and try to get moving on a short series of photographs for an upcoming show. I'm also trying to make some progress on some logo and business card designs.

A Memory Aid

2010-09-18T00:41:00.004-05:00

I spent a bit of time today cutting a stencil and spray painting these Feed cards to pass out on Sunday. I found these paint samples at the hardware store that are almost exactly the same size as a standard business card so I grabbed a bunch of them in nice, autumny colors. After painting, I used the stencil to trace out the letters in black. Whatever. We'll probably run out before the end of the day.

Fall Arts Stroll

2010-09-16T00:00:00.001-05:00

It looks like I'll be out this weekend with Michael and, hopefully, Jessica selling artwork at the annual Fall Arts Stroll organized by the Community Arts Council and The Kankakee Events Partnership. Michael and I will probably have the same stuff we've been pushing at other events lately. I think Jessica might have a few new things. I wish we had something to promote, but there aren't any big Feed events planned right now. I'm hoping to get some new cards printed and paint some kind of backdrop for our tent before the event. Maybe if I'm feeling super ambitious, I'll print a few shirts to sell.

The Arts Stroll is this Sunday, September 19th from 11L00 to 4:00. This year it is spread over two blocks of Schulyer Avenue on either side of Court Street.

Boxing Day

2010-09-08T18:36:00.002-05:00

Jessica came and spent the day printing box tops for The Littlest Print Exchange. It is really nice to have someone willing to do the work that I don't really want to do. The deadline for finished editions is quickly approaching and I haven't done much thinking about the prints that I want to make for the portfolio this year. I'll probably do some mixture of traditional and digital printing. I have a few other project that I need to finish before October so the rest of the month might be a bit busy.

Closure

2010-09-06T00:19:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I've posted about anything I'm working on. That's because I've been busy working on lesson plans and handouts, and assignments for my new photography class. Also it is because I haven't had any ideas for a while. I did figure out how to print these stoppers for a friend's company that makes wine bottle corks and gift cards. They are having a meeting with some representatives from the Food Network and are hoping these examples can help to sell some products. I hope they can too.

The Unbroken Thread

2010-09-01T01:03:00.003-05:00

Stefen over at Just Aesthetics is putting out monthly downloadable mixtapes themed around social issues. Somehow I was given the opportunity to put together one for the month of September. Though I don't have any real science education, I am fascinated by the scientific process. If I had the opportunity or if I had unlimited time and finances, I would go back to school to study evolution. As it is, I just read the occasional book or science journal on the subject. Even this limited amount of research has convinced me that the part of the population (reportedly more than 60%) which doesn't believe in the reality of evolution, probably just hasn't been properly exposed to the theories. Anyway, if you're interested, head over to the Just Aesthetics site and download the mixtape I made which is composed of songs all about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Moleman

2010-08-25T16:54:00.003-05:00

Anybody in Chicago this weekend should run over to the Music Box Theatre for the advanced screening of The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue the movie co-written, and co-directed by my old friend Mike.

Merchant Street Day Two

2010-08-16T17:24:00.003-05:00

Day two of the Music Fest was even better than day one. The weather started out overcast and we were worried about rain. By 3:00 all the clouds were gone and the blistering sun was beating down again. It didn't seem to stop people from coming out though. By sundown the place was packed with tons of serious dancers enjoying Chicago Afrobeat and Liquid Soul. Even the sloped lawn in front of the local stage was filled for Jaik Willis, Mykel Boyd, e3po and Poundcake. The final count of art and craft vendors is still up in the air, but I'm sure it was more than thirty, which was much better than we expected. We sold enough stuff to make it worthwhile and, more importantly, had a lot of opportunities to promote Feed. Best of all, Jessica made it back from Maine.

Merchant Street Day One

2010-08-14T01:03:00.004-05:00

Despite the cloudless heat followed by sunburn followed by intense rain. The first day of music fest was pretty awesome. When the rain came in everybody rallied together to keep the show going. Joel Paterson and the Modern Sounds were totally awesome professionals, playing under the pavilion of the depot with no sound system. They just turned up their amps and serenaded the drunk dancers. Devon Allman canceled out, so when the rain let up their slot on the main stage was taken over by Red Buffalo who were scheduled for the second stage. In the end we had to cancel two performances from local bands, but I think it went over fine. Everybody who stayed during the rain seemed to be enjoying themselves and most of us were rewarded with free pizza from Parmesan's. Tonight I'm sleeping while covered in aloe. Tomorrow, we'll be back at it starting at noon and we're hoping for better weather.