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.