SNAZZY BOUQUET

New Studio!

2011-08-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

I really, really want to get back to keeping a more consistent blog. I find it so much more fulfilling than posting blurbs on FB. Unfortunately, posting in a format with 600 daily viewers is a more efficient way for getting the word out about my art and music adventures, so I've been spending most of my online time updating in that realm. But my intention is to get back to the blogg!

This is exciting.. I just moved into a new studio space! After four years at the one-of-a-kind Dumpster Values complex, I found I was avoiding going to work there. I needed a change, something fresh and bright, to recharge my seriously withered art habits. Ask, and ye shall find! As soon as I put in my notice at DV, I ran into my super awesome friend Brandi, who just happened to mention that she had a small room in her house she wanted to rent out. Its bright and quiet, and looks out over her beautiful backyard and garden. There are two cats and one small dog! And yes, that is a painting of Crystal Gale in the works.. part of a series of fast, messy paintings of 'Ladies of the Dollar Bin'. The Lp's you see over and over again in the cheap bin at the record store. The series will be unveiled at fall Artswalk!

♥♥♥ PUNK SINGER ♥♥♥

2011-04-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

First time I heard her, I just stood still and stared at the record. What. And I've never understood how many music historians have categorized her voice as 'screechy' or 'dischordant'; its simply beautiful and STRONG. Rest in peace, Poly Styrene.

The Extending Process of Grief

2011-04-25T21:33:00.001-07:00

Its weird now with Facebook. Its like a perpetual yearbook or broken arm cast, you can keep writing your sentiments forever to show all your nostalgia and love. but when someone dies, sometimes they keep existing in this realm. A tagged photo appears of yourself at a hilarious, fun pub night 10 years ago with this beautiful bright shining person next to you. Except they don't get to be alive on earth anymore. And then you keep shuffling, through online archived picture after picture, looking for another sweet word or funny comment they left for you, maybe a year or two before they died. And then 'you', a rational agnostic type, skeptical of other realms and whatnot, choose to leave this person messages on their 'page'.. their yearbook, their broken arm cast. Because of the billions of electronic particles blasting through space, surely one part of the message you launched (typing on plastic keys, words coded into a new language, routed through a dsl cable and finally, hurled into outer space and back) will collide with this beautiful, shiny, special, and now deceased, person's eternal fucking energy/spirit. because they are brighter, always more alive, than death.

I started seeing a counselor with a lot of experience to help me. Its been a really positive experience thus far.. she works with a very interesting method called EMDR, which stimulates both hemispheres of one's brain while revisiting a traumatic event. Then, while still in this mode (which is very simply and gently activated by holding little 'buzzers' in each hand), you go back back back, falling deeper into a well of feeling and associations. I imagine hypnosis acts on similar principles. But while in this state, the counselor helps prompt you to let go of the death stuff and see this radiant friend free of her disease, her cancer, and the hospice process. And then I did see her, the shiny beautiful her, standing on the bow of a sailboat, waving so happily and ecstatically, wearing her classic yellow 'Tahiti' shirt that she acquired when she was 12 while sailing the South Pacific with her family. She is on this sailboat, and its the most perfect summer day in the Northwest. The ship is leaving the port; she is free, she is excited, she has her ecstatic smile from ear to ear.

I still cry some days. I don't understand it, and I have a good reserve of anger and confusion from witnessing a bright light be aggressively put out by something I can't understand: cancer. But when I start to go there now.. thinking of her in the bed wasting away with pain and suffering, I can change it if I concentrate. Natalie is on the bow of her perfect sailboat; ready, happy, and ecstatic for another adventure.

Springtime in the Garden

2011-04-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

New illustration work! This is the spring 2011 issue of St. Martin's University alumni magazine, Insights. When I first got the assignment, we discussed doing something bright and spring-y incorporating the themes of regeneration, and of older and younger generations coming together. So, I chose to work with the bronze statue of St. Benedict that lives on campus.. here he is chilling out with his crow friend:

And here's my finsihed product. Trying to paint the likeness of the statue was a real challenge! I think it came out pretty good though. Its always nice to have a project where you have to push your boundaries and perceived limitations as an artist.

New Music!

2011-04-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

I listened to the new Thao and Mirah record via NPR yesterday.. its STUNNING. I have to admit that I haven't really followed either of their music before, except when I recognize Mirah's sweet voice over the Kaos 89.3 radio waves now and then. Kill Rock Stars, you have done it again; putting out an unexpected, interesting, and beautiful record. My favorite tracks so far are 'Little Cup' and 'Spaced Out Orbit'. I love all the instrumentation and production as well. Let's hear it for an excellent record performed by two women and co-produced by a third woman! Release date is April 26th, you can pre-order from KRS here.

*photos by the lovely and talented Sarah Cass.

Sproingggg!

2011-04-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that Spring (FINALLY) has sprung out here in Kamilche. Today is beautiful, and yesterday we were treated to this epic double rainbow!

I went up to Tacoma for Wayzgoose, which was crazy and crowded and awesome. A bookstore crammed with letterpress nerds! I was in heaven..

A new print I made for the festivities; it'll be in my shoppe soon. Now that I've done a lot of song lyrics, perhaps its time to do a set exclusively dedicated to movie quotes!

Hair!

2011-03-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for the next year is to grow my hair out. I haven't had a haircut since last july (except my own uneven bang trims at home) and the front section of blonde has finally grown out. I don't really like have long hair, it gets in my way and takes too long to dry! But, I do enjoy a challenge.. so I'm gonna let it be, au naturelle, for the next year until I have enough to cut off and donate to this program, which makes wigs for women undergoing cancer treatment. This is in tribute and in solidarity with my beautiful friend Natalie, who passed away last August.

*A little worried about that 'hair may not be more than 5 % grey' part! I don't even know if I have grey hair in the back! Who wants to check for me??

Love Notes

2011-02-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

Hey look! it's a new letterpress print in my shoppe. This one pays homage to that enigma-wrapped-in-a-puzzle, inexplicably perplexing Joe Cocker:

This print is super limited-edition, as getting the transparent tri-color effect just right was extremely befuddling. But not quite as befuddling as this guy:

Drink in the magic!

A Touch of Today

2011-01-25T13:20:00.001-08:00

My painting style is really tight and picky and perfectionistic. Although I love painting, I was starting to question whether or not I actually found it enjoyable.. or if it just appealed to my self-torturing Virgo side. So I've begun an experiment, and its FUN! It turns out that I do like painting!! This experiment involves busting out a fast, loose piece when I get to my studio. And using the pallette knife a lot to mess up the image, which I LOVE. Since I have a big pile of discarded Lp's laying around (I collect them from the recycle pile at Rainy Day Records and usually cut them up as backing for my letterpress prints), those became the source materiel. No masking, no thinking, just painting. Here are some pieces from a little series I've started calling Ladies of The Dollar Bin:

Tammy Wynette, Greatest Hits

Nancy Wilson, A Touch of Today

Donna Fargo, The Happiest Girl in The World

Fun fun fun.

Vids

2011-01-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

Can you imagine what it would feel like to open your mouth and have this voice come out? I mean, DAMMMMMMN. Wish the video was better though.

I wish it looked more like THIS:

In spirit I mean.. I don't think everyone needs to go prancing around in underwear to make a good video.. but there's just something about Why Don't You Love Me that's sooooooo awesome. It's my favorite video of last year, next to Grass Widow's Fried Egg. Observe the magic:

New Year

2011-01-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

Gearing up to switch over to the peaceful Year of the Rabbit from the tumultuous Year of the Tiger. Stoked!

Speaking of the new year, here's JT doing the inaugural Kamilche Polar Bear swim on 1/1/11 at 11:11 am. BRRRRRRRR. I was sidelined with a crummy cold. Next one is scheduled for 11/11/11 at 11:11. Be there!

And as for the old year, I capped it off with BOOGIEBOARDING in Maui.. yes, I, Sarah U., landlubber extraordinaire, went whizzing along waves and it was FUN.

Speaking of travels, starting off the new year with a trip to Joshua Tree is highly recommended.

Crisp blue skies, mysterious J-Trees, piles o' slabs.. magical. And THE SUNSET!

Looking west..

..then turn your head east..

..and back west again. That, my friends, is some high-grade delicious nature crack. I'm applying for the JTNP artist-in-residency program, hopefully hopefully come this fall I can commune with the jackrabbits and roadrunners in the middle of the California desert.

Otis Love

2011-01-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

Is there such a thing as Dog Of A Lifetime?

Yes, there is. Ten months since I said goodbye and I love you the same, Otis. My heart.

The Daybook Project

2010-11-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

Exciting news! The Open Daybook, envisioned/compiled/edited by David P. Earle, is almost here!!

I have a print in it, along with work from 364 amazing artists! Its a perpetual-calendar type of thing.. David asked each of us to create a single piece of work on a particular day that we were assigned. I was going to do something painted, but printmaking is so much more immediate that I switched over and did a little tribute to John Muir. I'm so excited to see the finished product! It's official release date is November 30th, but you can pre-order it here. There are some events coming up in Los Angeles for it's release, hopefully I can make it down to the show at LACE in January.

LACMA is having a Book Release Party for the Open Day Book on December 5 from 4 to 6pm.
LACE will be having a show of the work included in the Open Day Book Project, exhibit is set to open January 6, 2011.

Highway Robbery!

2010-11-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

I just perused this list of the most beautiful public libraries in America, and was SHOCKED that one of my most special places on all of the west coast was omitted!! The BRAND LIBRARY, folks! Look at this beauty:

Who needs fancy stainless-steel ultra modern architecture when you've got a Taj Mahal theme, arabesques, a Japanese Tea Garden, and one of my favorite sculptures ever?

I have to say, I was pretty stoked to hear cartoonist Jim Woodring wax all kinds of nostalgic about his deep love of the Brand Library in the documentary The Lobster and the Liver that played last week during the Olympia Film Fest! Fascinating film, btw.

A public all-art-and-music library in the heart of the Valley? Yes, please!

Birthday Surprise

2010-11-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

This grainy photo I saw this morning on FB totally made my day!

My old pal Kimya Dawson's awesome hubby Ange bought her one of my paintings as a birthday surprise!! They live in an incredible log house with their daughter Panda (cutie pictured above), and these foxes are gonna look just about perfect in there.

In other grainy photo news, here's my Corin Tucker Band tshirt design in actual physical form! Freshly printed by Scott and his robot down at Olympia Screen. So excited to get my paws on one; they'll be available in the KRS shop soon!

Punks on Film!

2010-11-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Destroy All Movies came to Olympia!!

Hailed as "The most dazzlingly insane film reference book of all time, Destroy All Movies!!! is an informative, hilarious and impossibly complete guide to every appearance of a punk (or new waver!) to hit the screen in the 20th Century", its 600 pages goodness, co-authored by former Olympians and bonafide film nerds Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly!

Zack was my bandmate in one of the many, many, many incarnations of Witchypoo. Dare I say it, but I think we had one of the most stellar lineups. Joe Preston, Jessica Espeleta, Slim Moon, Zack and myself. When we came back from tour, three members declared it 'the WORST trip' they ever took, while Zack and I looked at each other and said 'that was FUN!'. go figure.

At the Olympia Timberland Library's event last night, Zack and Bryan showed a HILARIOUS 15-minute mashed-up montage of some of the 'best' punk moments ever captured on film.. it'll be up on the interwebs later this week; I'll be sure to post a link!

Mountains

2010-11-13T22:32:00.001-08:00

NEWSFLASH!

I have made a really sad 10 posts this entire year to blogger! Holy WOW, that is crazy. An extreme downward trend, much like the economy, and much much like the amount of daylight available to northwest-dwellers lately. Crummy.

I knew I was being aloof.. floating around in the woods of Kamilche and working in the dark recesses of Community Print. But truthfully, it took just glancing at those stats to realize that i have been in a weird space. Depression is a rough word that I don't like to throw around, so I will just say 'weird space' for now.

I didn't write about our dog Otis dying or Natalie dying or the time that I've spent since Natalie's death with her son Dillon, and her husband Dee. I haven't been painting, just working quickly with letterpress, trying to keep afloat, and yeah I also played electric guitar again for the first time in 5 years, that was something! Now we're looking down the barrel of a long deep dark Olympia winter, and I'm trying.. going back to Hot Yoga (best therapy for this brain and body), getting back in the painting zone, and borrowing lots of instructional videos from the library. Should I Master the Bullwhip? Fish for Elusive Steelhead? Learn the Secrets of Ninjitsu??

I think I'll just be psyched that my community is amazing, and that New Things are happening constantly.. like Wild Flag, like getting a plane ticket to Maui, like walking my dog Rosebud on the most perfect unbelievably sunny and crisp November day, with Mt. Rainier peaking out above the treeline, across the inlet, sneaking into my Mason County viewpoint to remind me of big, big things that blow up and stand still and guard over our little world with precise beauty and soothing familiarity.

Wild Flag at Northern, Olympia Washington, 11/10/10 from sarah utter on Vimeo.

New Stuff + Kings Books

2010-11-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'll be at Kings Books in Tacoma today peddling my letterpress wares at the TACOMA IS FOR LOVERS artists craft fair! You can pick up on of these guys:

Hall & Oates represent!

Carpenters, speaking the truth..

..and look at these stylish new totes! Perfect for groceries, sundries, library books, and records. oh! also buyolympia is having a FREE SHIPPING event through tomorrow night!

Under The Sun

2010-09-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

I got a new camera! FINALLY. I think Jt was noticing how lost I've been without a way to visually record daily experiences, and so upon my 35th birthday, generously presented me with a digital buddy. Which I hope means a return to regular blogging, because this year has had a lot more downs than ups, and reveling in epic pools of loss is no way to live. Here are some nice things from the past few weeks:

This is a small hot springs located way, way, wayyyyy out in the eastern Oregon outback. I loved the landscape.. the high desert, low fluffy clouds against blue sky, nice buttes, wild ponies, raptors, junipers and pines.

Rosebud liked it too. She enjoys environments best described as 'scrubby'.

We drove through Burns, Oregon, land of fantastic signage! And dreamt of getting 20 of our most creative and enterprising friends to move there with us.. land is cheap, and the Steak Castle is for sale. Wanna go?

Oh! And we met a FALCONER!! Just as he was collecting his three minions and putting them back into the truck after a beautiful sunset flight. This is a view of the less glamorous side of falconry, the shitty side.

Sunset in the high desert. Magical. I'm headed back to the studio now, after 3 months of inactivity. I hope to have ridiculous amounts of new projects and happier days to share.

Mime Machine

2010-05-18T15:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it turns out I am a terrible blogger after all. My camera is broken, but that's not really a proper excuse. I think something about stupid Spacebook and their extremely addictive scrabble application has usurped my energy for posting daily updates over here. Lame! I will say it here and now: I'm coming back to the land of BLOGGG!

I had an awesome art show in Portland, and Mecca Normal blew us all away (as usual). I really need to get some personal trainer tips from Jean.. holy moley, nice guns!

Two brave folks bought a painting of an ECHIDNA, one of the world's only egg-laying mammals. Whoa.

And then I went on tour with Western Hymn. West Coast Extravaganza! Since the camera was broken I will give you a brief rundown:

1. The van needs a name. Space Goblin?
2. PURPLE RHINESTONE EAGLE!
3. Merch trends are weird. No one likes tshirts?
4. I ate a burrito in the Mission.
5. So many awesome friends and all of their awesome cats and dogs and hamster/chinchillas.
6. I LOST MY SLEEPING BAG IN SANTA CRUZ.
7. and parlayed that into a really bad mood in Oakland.
8. Bezerkely!
9. Los Angeles and the outlying area is where all of my best friends live.
10. I love playing music live.
11. A row of pelicans working in formation over the waves of No Cal.
12. Phil's coffee is the best, but man: it is made out of CRACK CAFFEINE.
13. I am 34 and have a hard time staying up till 3 am every night (worth it, though).
14. Home sweet Kamilche.

FRIDAY!

2010-04-26T11:25:00.001-07:00

I'm having an art opening with lots of new work, some old work, and giclee prints at the beautiful buyolympia.com gallery, Land, in Portland on Friday April 30th. There will be catering by the Korean taco truck!! And, MECCA NORMAL will be playing a set at the opening! So rad. Check it out:

Starts at 6 pm, with MN playing at 8. Hope to see you there! And, as if that wasn't enough excitement for one night, I'll be dj'ing a dance party at Valentine's w/ my buddies Maggie Vail and Justin Trosper from 10 pm onward. It's a fundraiser for Team Natalie -- come boogie with us!

OLYMPIA!

2010-04-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

hey oly!! this rad show is happening on saturday! come on out and help us make $$ for the team natalie fund!

TEAM NATALIE!

2010-03-30T03:53:00.000-07:00

My awesome, radical, and inspiring friend Natalie Cox is fighting a rare and aggressive form of cancer called Angiosarcoma. She needs all the love and support of the community that helped to raise us: we both put in time at The Punk Rock Dollar Theater aka the State-Tri Cinemas (back in the early 90's), and we both have played in punk bands (Neon Panda!!), growing up in the amazing Olympia DIY scene. I just set up this little blog page where Nat can post updates on her treatment at the Natural Oncology Center in Del Mar, but in the meantime we need to raise some serious $$$ so that Natalie, her hubby Dee, and son Dillon can focus on her health and remission and not worry about the costs of treatment, travel (they live in England), and medications. GO TEAM NATALIE! To donate directly to the cause, just send a paypal donation to midnighttosix@btinternet.com.

I kept trying to make a direct link to her paypal page, but blogger is being a real jerk about it! You can also go to my facebook page and there is a 'donate' button if you scroll down on the left hand side -- instant link. Hooray!!

News + Prints

2010-03-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Upcoming awesomeness!

I'm having an art show at Land, the sweet little shop/gallery that Buyolympia.com opened in Portland. There will be birds, foxes, squirrels, moths, and.. an echidna. And vino and the Korean taco truck!! Kimchee tofu tacos! But the most exciting part is that the radical Mecca Normal of Vancouver, will be PLAYING at the opening!

April 30th - 6 pm - Land Gallery - 3925 N. Mississippi - Portland, OR.

CONVERSATION
between SARAH UTTER and Mecca Normal's JEAN SMITH

Jean:
I like the idea of Mecca Normal doing something to make the event cohesive as opposed to us doing a set of unrelated songs.... you know, unless the critters in your paintings have been doing more online dating than I suspect...

Sarah:
I'm so excited that Mecca Normal will be playing at the opening! -- and yes, in a way it is maybe an odd pairing. Fairly non-subversive paintings of penguins and owls with your music, but what I think is interesting about our two different representations of 'art' is the confrontational aspect.

Jean:
David and I are at the beginning of a project called The Black Dot Museum for Political Art and Music. The museum will be online with traveling exhibits, some of which will include our lecture "How Art & Music can Change the World". I'm trying to figure out where your work fits into what we're doing.

Sarah:
My work is very much about repetitive patterns in nature colliding with man-made imitations such as textiles or wallpaper. I've always been a bit of a 'maximumist', overloading each painting with bright colors and graphic elements. It's a busy environment, but what remains still/quiet in each piece is the stare of the fox or egret or echidna -- unblinking, looking right at the viewer. I feel like Mecca Normal is also unblinking, looking right at the listener. It can be uncomfortable, in a way, but in a good way!

Jean:
The idea for the museum is to have artists submit their work to be archived, featured and in some cases exhibited. If general promo and the museum name are available as infrastructure to share, then this may create a way to have centrally-curated group exhibits reciprocally hosted in cities and towns, here and there, encouraging artists to travel to their openings to give talks and exchange ideas etc. I dunno... like an indie music touring structure for painters.

Sarah:
Compared to the music I've made, painting and visual art has always been my happy place, a space I go to feel good things and play.

Jean:
For myself, I see almost everything as 'political' or it seems that I can look at things in that way, whereas I notice other artists take the term literally and create narrative art intending to have the viewer understand a specific political perspective or event, let's say. I intend to make political a broader and more inclusive idea. It isn't essential to me that the viewer "gets it".

Sarah:
I don't have much interest (right now, at least) to make paintings that explore the darker realms of existence, because I feel like that's what I do all day long when I'm going on walks or grocery shopping or whatever. Having my little existential crises peppered with bouts of laughter, but mostly over-thinking life and the world and what it all means, etc. So then I go to my studio and play with bright colors and talk to squirrels and it is a major release from everything else there is to think about. It's a more automatic way of working; I rarely plan out a painting or do any sketches, I just pick a starting color and go with it.

Jean:
What I'm getting at here is... is your art political?

Sarah:
I've always had a difficult time with the word 'political' in relationship to my own music or art. As a woman in a loud rock band, putting out albums on a label known for its roster of very political female artists, I often felt critiqued for 'not being political enough'. When I was asked by interviewers about my lyrics, why they weren't more feminist or radical or whatever, I always felt baffled. Like, 'hey -- I am a woman who has taught herself to play electric guitar, who has composed music, who has written words to go with this music, who has driven herself and her friends around the country playing shows without financial help, who has led workshops to teach guitar to young women, who has endured sexist creeps at every turn to continue doing what it is I want to do, to not have a 9-5 life and/or a marriage and kids -- that's not radical enough for you??!' I think I've always felt that my approach to being a feminist is to live this life as an artist free of guilt or self-judgment (still working on that, btw), and to remain prolifically busy with my hands.

Jean:
Can you tell me about the art for the show at Land (in Portland Oregon)?

Sarah:
I'm super stoked for the April 30th show/performance/party and feel honored that you have written 'Blue Sky and Branches' especially for it!! All of my work is on my website at http://www.sarahutter.com, just click on the 'art' tab. There will be 6 new big paintings of the animals at the end of the alphabet, u - z, those are hanging right now at the Tacoma Public Library and haven't been photographed, and then I'm going to make a bunch of smaller pieces this month on wood panels. Not sure if they will just be birds or what. Like I said, I'm kind of a spontaneous worker!

And also, the Reading is Sexy limited-edition letterpress print is available in the shop. So much going on!

Re-Toolin'

2010-01-25T12:52:00.001-08:00

I did a little maintenance and makeover over at ye olde website. Oddly, this default blogger template came up w/ a really bitchin' color combo, so I borrowed it for a subtle, yet valentine-y home page. Could it be that I'm favoring 'understatedness' right now? CRAZE. Now.. if only I could figure out how to post mixtape podcasts! Baby steps, Utter, baby steps. Behold:

Speaking of mixtapes, the Western Hymn album is finally available online for purchase! Both K Records and Kill Rock Stars are distributing it. Its just a few clicks away from actually being listed on the KRS site, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, grab a copy of letterpressed northwest punk rock goodness at K: go here.

And finally, a shot of what's going on in the studio as of last week. A mess, basically! I'm working on 6 big new paintings for the show Animal Abecedary, which will be up at the Handforth Gallery in Tacoma during March. My mom is in the show too!

Blogg Love

2010-01-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jena from the fabulous Modish blog for featuring my prints.. rad! Snag one while you can, they are selling fast and I have another totally new batch on the horizon.

I promise to post some new work soon.. I'm in the middle of a tornado of projects! 6 big new paintings for a show in March at the Handforth Gallery, signpainting class (!), scrabble addiction, full body-mind cleanse (a totally boring but healthy way to spend January.. no sugar, alchohol, wheat, soy, fruit, root veggies, etc.), designing a wine label for Deux Punx (SO STOKED FOR THIS ONE!), letterpressing Western Hymn Lps and Cds, playing shows, getting back into the Hot Yoga practice. Whew. I'm exhausted already.

P.S. I finally watched 'Beautiful Losers' streaming online, and it was pretty inspiring.. particularly the Margaret Kilgallen part. Though I still have a lot of questions rolling around about women in the Art scene. I'm glad to see a few up front and center in this doc, but disappointed at the general imbalance.

Paint Paws

2009-12-17T11:42:00.001-08:00

My studio is next door to many wonderful things-- the world's best pizza, a plethora of vietnamese restaurants, an all-ages venue-- but I recently discovered a new fave. A cabinet shop, Carras Cabinets, and their infinite recycle bin of thick wood scraps.

This is a piece I just made for my nephew, who lives in Florida. I love working on reclaimed materials that aren't janky; I'm totally really not into pastiche-style assemblages on found cardboard scraps (and believe me, there was once a time when I loved and made that kind of work!). I like a clean edge and nice presentation. I'm thinking of launching a line of these wood mini-paintings after the new year.. so many projects!

By Hand and Machine: A Gift Guide

2009-12-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

I made a super limited run of letterpressed gift tags for the shop! They come in packs of ten, all hand-set type on reclaimed paper (a lot of fancy letterpressed goods you see these days are made with polymer plates, which are usually designed on a computer. Don't get me wrong, a lot of this work is beautiful! But I definitely think there's something special about working the old-old-old-fashioned way). Wrap your goods with style and flair!

Now, I'm all for making presents for your loved ones. Most of my special peeps are getting something made by my tiny hands. But, there are also little manufactured treats out there that are what I deem to be SIMPLY THE BEST.. just say no to the obligatory go-to's of yesteryear (candles, a wallet in a box, picture frame, shoeshine kit!) and take a moment to peruse these beauties:

1. RUSSIAN KUSMI TEA
'Prince Vladimir' is the BEST black tea! anyone but a total fool will love this. Bonus = pretty tin.

2. PETZL HEAD LAMP
No one (unless you are a spelunker or night cyclist) thinks they need one of these. Then --poof-- someone gifts you one and your life changes FOREVER!! You could give one of these to your granny and she would be so stoked.

3. HEROES OF THE TORAH GLASSWARE
Jews and gentiles alike find these little juice cups delightful!
I gifted a set to my BF last year and they now live in the 'no touchy' section of our kitchen-- so prized that they may not risk breakage by actually being used. They are display ware. A perfect office gift!

4. ALAFFIA SHEA BUTTER
A snazzy stocking stuffer. Their shea butter is a miracle on craggy gross winter skin, and you can dab it your hair for shine too! Plus awesome points for supporting their company; the founder -- Olowo-n'djo Tchala -- grew up in Africa and works with villagers there to fairly harvest the oil that is then brought to OLYMPIA (!!) where his small company handcrafts each batch of butter.

5. CRAPHOUND
I hate making flyers and other propaganda on the computer, and I have a feeling that copy machines will someday become as hip as that other dinosaur of documentation, the polaroid. My bible is CRAPHOUND. Thank god (Sean Tejaratchi) has made three of these rare beauties available again, with another reissue due any day now. PRINT AND DESTROY!

Dog Bloggin'

2009-12-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

My pal Brandi just forwarded me this image titled Unfinanced Love and said 'this reminds me of you and Rosebud'!! SO TRUE. If any of you out there aren't familiar with our saga, Rosebud is my scrappy little feral hound that I rescued while living in LA. Then she came down with an insane freak bacterial infection in her chest cavity and almost died.. but after $10,000 in vet bills, she lived and is currently thriving out here in the paradise of Kamilche. I LOVE THIS PAINTING! Artist: Sara Antoinette Martin. Check out here other work right here.

Rosebud in her body bandage with chest tubes (I only started taking pictures after she turned a corner on day 3 in the doggy ICU.. it was just too brutally sad the first few days):

Truly: Unfinanced Love. She's the sweetest.

Friday Friday Friday

2009-11-28T12:03:00.001-08:00

It's happening! Our record release party!! I know, we've only been a band for like a month or something (ok, actually since March) but when you work with seasoned professionals like Craig and Kris, and recording wizard Matt Buscher, you get RESULTS! And so we have in hand 300 full-length Lp vinyl records. All that's missing is the cover art, which i'll be letterpressing today down at Community Print. Come to the party!

Happy Manxgiving!

2009-11-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

5 little paintings I just finished for a charity gala thingy in Tacoma.. my mom and her friend are decorating a tree (sponsored by the Humane Society) with 100 tiny paintings of dogs, cats, and bunnies made by Northwest artists, and then the tree will be auctioned off to benefit the Mary Bridge Childrens' Hospital. Happy Howlidays and Merry Catsmas to all!

Good Advice

2009-11-23T19:00:00.001-08:00

Lookee! Another new letterpress print available in my shop, right here. Only 20 available, hurry hurry!

Keep On With The Force Don't Stop
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Keep On With The Force Don't Stop
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Keep On With The Force Don't Stop
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Keep On With The Force Don't Stop
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
[Ad-Lib To Fade]

Print Treats

2009-11-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

Exciting!! Four of my Song Lyrics series of letterpress prints are now available in my shop! Each is 8.5" x 11", and limited to an edition of 20. Signed and numbered on the back, and packaged w/ a reclaimed LP cover. Oh, and printed on thick cover stock that was slated for the dumpster (extra inventory from a print shop here in town). Choose between the sweet stylings of Neil Young, John Denver, Paul Weller, and Lionel Richie. And there's one more on the way.. hint: sequined glove.

Cyber Shout-Out

2009-11-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

I totally missed this!! The lovely Tula (of the even more lovely Whorange blogg) included my one of my Poketo wallets in her Halloween Orange n' Black roundup.. thanks Tula! Visit the page here.

Projects

2009-10-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Here is what I've been working on!

The 26th Annual Olympia Film Festival poster and program. The film lineup looks ruling this year! Meet me in the mezzanine.

I also finished painting this bench for the City, part of the downtown beautification program. It lives on the Franklin side of Dumpster Values, where my studio is.

Western Hymn (the band I play in) is in full effect:

We finished recording our debut album, and I letterpressed fancy recycled cardboard cd packs for a limited release..

Vinyl will be available soon.

And if you're in the Olympia area, please come to the Bike N' Bike benefit this Wednesday, 10/7! We'll be playing w/ the fabulous Broken Water and other bands tba. 1611 4th Ave. Bike to the show!

For The Longest Time

2009-08-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

I took a total vacation from the Blogg! Where have I been? Here, in Kamilche, and over there, in Olympia. Splitting my time between dog-wrangling and art-making. Mostly letterpressing; my pal Themba Lewis and I just finished a MAJOR poster project, funded by the City! I need to find a large-format scanner, so I can post the fruits of our (serious) labor. We had to pull some crazy late-night sweltering summer letterpress jams in Community Print to meet our August 1st deadline.. a few tears were shed in frustration, sweating over the Vandercook and trying to register everything just so. Here's one of Themba's:

And an in-process shot of one I made about pioneering environmentalist (and Oly resident) Margaret McKenny:

The magical lair, Community Print:

Also I've been doing a bit of night canoeing, watching the bioluminescent dinoflagellates glow in the oars' wake.

Mostly with this guy, when he's home from park ranger duties at Mt. St. Helens:

And what's on my plate for August/September?

1. Paint a bench for the City (i heart public arts grants!)
2. Finish the Olympia Film Festival poster/tickets/program.
3. Keep on printing!
4. Western Hymn jamming.
5. Start work for the 2010 Tacoma Public Library show.
6. New shirts for Buyolympia.com
7. Hug this guy:

8. Design cover art for Angelo Spencer's bitchin' upcoming release on K.
9. Paint cover art for Chalk Circle re-issue (!!!!!!!!!!!!)
10. Try not to panic; I will get it all done.

And with that, I leave you with a little montage of a print project I finished last week:

Update and Interview

2009-05-28T19:46:00.001-07:00

So, things are happening!! There's the commission from the City of Olympia for the letterpress posters, I've been tapped to paint the Olympia Film Society's 26th Annual Film Festival poster, and I just found out yesterday that this downtown business association thingy is paying me $1000 to paint a bench!! Crazy. Right before I received the phone call about the bench commission, I was literally wandering around in the woods by myself having an existential dialogue about my place in the world.. feeling aimless/useless as an artist. Wondering if I should just go to Grad School and become a teacher. And then all of these projects fell in my lap! The Universe is indeed mysterious.

On top of all this great art news, I've been playing in a band called Western Hymn that is so inspiring to me.. I get to step back and play bass with two incredible musicians; I am learning how to work with a drummer, really figure out how to integrate the parts, for the first time. This kid Steve interviewed me for his metal (!) zine called Rot and Roll, about my old band, Bangs. Here you go!

1)you and maggie had bangs when you were in bangs. what are the advantages and disadvantages to having bangs? do you still keep your bangs cut?
The advantages to having bangs are two-fold: first, when grown to the appropriate length, they can be used a social defense-mechanism to avoid eye contact and hide one's shyness. secondly, if you have those premature wrinkles across your forehead from worrying and/or questioning your place in the world all the time, bangs can be a curtain of youth. yup, i still got bangs.

2)going through some youtube footage i noticed you dye your hair. how often do you dye your hair?
These are weird questions! Who cares? Ok, for anyone who actually cares.. I dye my hair on a whim when i feel like it. I usually do blonde, but then when it starts melting off from over-processing i go back to dark brown. i experimented with growing out my natural mousy-brown shade when i was 27 and it was BORING. so here i am back at blonde again. but let me explain that the name Bangs was never really about hairstyles.. it was a reference to many things, for me it was all about cacophonous noise, and for Maggie (I think) it had to do with her affinity for Lester Bangs.

3)do you still play in bands?
I took 4 years off to focus on visual art, but have recently started playing in a band called Western Hymn. I am super psyched about this band! I play bass, my friend Craig Extine (he was the guitar player/singer in the band The Old Haunts) sings and plays guitar, and our pal Kris Cunningham is the drummer extraordinaire. We're gearing up to do our first recording in the end of June.

4)besides birds and backgrounds, what do you like to paint?
Anything! Except people. I paint all kinds of animals.. tigers, raccoons, housecats, deer, foxes, penguins, owls. I paint on paper and on objects like tambourines. I paint on walls and on the floor, it's basically what I do all day long.

5)what mediums do you paint with and how long does it take to finish a picture?
I paint with acrylic on paper.. the size of the piece determines the length of time needed. For a bigger piece, like 27" x 36", it might take me two weeks.. I'm definitely not the kind of artist that can 'knock out' a painting in a few afternoons. I take lots of breaks to look at field guides and go on walks. I practice headstands while the paint dries.

6)how long have you painted and played guitar? how long after you started did you feel comfortable playing or painting?
I started playing guitar when I turned 17 (I'm 33 now); I received an awesome cheap pointy-headstock Yamaha electric guitar for my birthday! But I come from a musical family (my dad was a jazz drummer), so it's always been a part of my life.. before I played guitar I played violin for years. I would say I was fairly horrible at guitar for the first year, but also incredibly determined-- I practiced scales over and over in my room. I played in my first band at age 19, we were called Plastique, we were a two-piece that put out a couple of 7"'s on K Records. I was terrified at the first show (I've never been much of a ham or center-of-attention person), but after that I just let go and performing became incredibly transformational at best, and at the least, a good form of cathartic energy-burning. Visual art was always my first love (my mom's an artist and really creative), so I basically was on the path to becoming a cartoonist or painter when I got 'sidetracked' in high school by the punk music scene-- there were tons of great all-ages shows happening at that time. I didn't get back to art (aside from making flyers and tshirts, graphic design stuff) until I went back to school in my mid-20's and took a full-time painting course. I think I've always realized that you have to be willing to be REALLY bad at something for a while in order to get really good at it, so that's how I approached painting. Though I still get really nervous when I have art shows, way more so than when I play with a band. Because when I put up my pictures on a wall, you're really seeing what the inside of my head looks like, and that can make anyone feel a bit vulnerable.

7)what else do you do artistically?
I maintain my painting habit by doing graphic design; I have a line of t-shirts on the great site Buyolympia.com that has done just well enough to pay my cheap rent.. hooray! So, there's that. I make flyers for local venues, I'm involved in a cooperative printmaking studio called Community Print here in Olympia; I do letterpressing and silkscreening for various projects. I take photos for my blogg, I play records at my friends' bar for fun, I try to stay busy with my hands everyday.

8)what musical equipment do you play on?
For guitar, I play an '85 Gibson SG through a Marshall JCM800 combo amp. I also am strongly in favor of old Music Man guitar heads! I played on a variety of Music Man gear in the early days. I think RAT pedals are the best simple distortion pedal, but I don't play through one anymore. I have a tuner and a distortion pedal called a 'HOT CAKE' that I bought in New Zealand from the guy that builds them, Paul Crowther himself, the original drummer from Split Enz.. he gave me a really nice deal.
Now that I'm playing bass, I'm borrowing a bunch of gear. I'm playing a Univox Hi-Flyer 3/4 scale bass through an Acoustic head (not sure of the model), and an old Fender 15" speaker cabinet. No effects, just a tuner and guitar cables. Sounds great!

9)what influenced bangs' music and lyrics?
That's a separate question for Maggie and I. We both grew up in Olympia and are steeped in the early 90's punk scene, but have fairly different influences. I loved Black Sabbath, she loved the Who. I loved the Stooges, she loved the Replacements. I think we found common ground in the Go-Go's and Cheap Trick.
Lyric-wise, I've always written songs to 'get something off of my chest' whether it's about an ended relationship, getting harassed on the street, or my own battles with anxiety and depression. I'm not very abstract, it's usually pretty literal.

10)why did bangs end?
For no other reason than that I decided to move to Los Angeles. It was a totally amicable break-up; I just needed a change of scenery after living in Olympia for 27 years. Our last show was amazing and bittersweet. I loved playing in Bangs!

11)what would you like to do if bangs were still around?
Well, touring Europe and Asia were always two things we really wanted to do that never happened. We were fortunate to get to tour the US a bunch of times w/ amazing bands, and also spend time overseas playing in England, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. And I would hope we would still have the same drummer!

12)what songs do you miss playing?
I don't really think of old bands that way. I just miss playing with that group of friends.. not songs in particular. I guess if I had to name one, I'd pick our cover of 'Southern Girls' by Cheap Trick as I got to do some really fun things on guitar, and Maggie held down the vocals.

13)i saw you play with sleater kinney and the gossip in cleveland years ago. what were they like and what do you think of the music they've created over time?
Both groups are comprised of stellar people and musicians. Our shows with both bands, who were gracious enough to play with us on tour, were always a highlight. Sleater-Kinney's fans are the most supportive music freaks I've ever met! I actually sold merch for S-K after I moved to California, and had a great time touring with them as part of their 'crew'. With both of those bands, I can remember seeing their first shows in living rooms or basements of Olympia, and to see the places they've gone through an insane work/tour ethic and talent is unbelievable. Very inspiring to say the least!

Button Button

2009-05-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hey pals!
It's been so long.. I've been a busy bee, hatching a hundred plans for the summer, 80% of which involve making art: letterpress, painting, music. It's gonna be a rad sunny time! I promise to update more often with new work and anecdotes and random pictures of dogs and seaweed. Until then, behold the latest creation from the Utter/Buyolympia.com laboratories! The OFFICIAL 'I Heart Public Transportation' button!

Seen here on Buyoly's #1 top model, Vinnie C.!

My Hands Are Filthy

2009-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow night is Olympia's big old spring Artswalk.. and instead of showing paintings, I'm going to be hanging tough in my favorite ramshackle renegade printmaking hive, Community Print. If you're downtown, do stop by! We'll be having an open studio, print show, and print sale, and I believe there will be a letterpress demo. Come see how the MAGIC happens!

You can pick up one of these bad boys for ten bucks! Btw, isn't it time we all reclaimed that particular slang term? From now on, I'm gonna call mass rad super cool objects of desire 'bad girls'. Summer of bad girls, coming up!

Letterpressed Goodness

2009-04-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is EXCITING: my friend Themba and I received a grant from the City of Olympia with which we can run creatively wild! We will be making a series of 10 letterpressed posters depicting lesser-known tidbits of Oly's 150 years (opium dens! gunfights! sloppy joes!). To gather inspiration, I started taking a look-see around the interweb, and found these beautiful pieces, which are on display RIGHT NOW at the University of Puget Sound's library gallery. Behold the Feminist Broadside Series, designed by Chandler O’Leary of Anagram Press and printed by Jessica Spring of Springtide Press:

Beauty! The pink and orange print is still available right here.

With Extra Flair

2009-04-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

I think I just wanted to hang onto Hawaii tight and never let it go, and so I stopped updating the blog. BUT! I have an art opening happening this Thursday, April 16th in lovely Tacoma, Washington at Two Vaults gallery. Among the new work is..

more TAMBOURINES!

(jingle jingly jingles)

(and more jingling)

Here's the info!

Opening Thursday, April 16th
Reception 5 - 9 pm
Two Vaults
602 Fawcett Ave
Tacoma, WA 98402

And now I have a very rambunctious, but patient, feral Ibizan Hound staring at me longingly, and so we must go on a forest adventure. Hope to see you Thursday! I'll tell you all about my next project on the horizon, involving teapots and letterpressed Black Flag lyrics. (I had a vision).

In the Middle of the Sea

2009-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

HAWAII, friends. The Big Island. Best escape-the-everlasting-Northwest-winter plan. Here's what it felt like:

Black sand, white sand, two volcanoes, lava beds, rainforest, caves, snow, surf, dolphins, whales, sea turtles, coral. Living Aloha.

New Shirt Alert!

2009-03-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

Calling all fans of THE BUS! Or the train, or the vanpool.. or even the Monorail? It's a shirt just for you! Fly the flag of Mass Transit with pride on this soft organic tee, brand new in my Buyolympia shoppe.

Check out the Bus Chick's blog too, full of interesting tidbits from a dedicated public transportation rider in Seattle. Or this blog, which catalogues overheard conversations by riders and drivers of the Minneapolis Metro. They sort stories by route!

Got any good mass transit stories??

Paper Goods

2009-02-24T23:45:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day I made J.T. two letterpressed treats, and here's the second one.. a quote from his fave, John Muir:

Also..may I implore you:

OLYMPIA! Please come to this super RAD show on Thursday!!

It's a big show of buddies.. Brandt and Quitty do their magical acoustic country thing, Congratulations includes seamstress extraordinaire Abby of Abigal Adams fame, Si Claro is an all-star lineup with Brian Girgus (Lowercase) and Bianca Sparta (Erase Errata), and Mona Reels are Peter David Connelly with the Schief Sisters doing heartbreaking pop. At the deliciously-scented Voyeur!

Totally 'Zined

2009-02-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wow! An old high school buddy, Jonathan Shipley (whose mom was indeed my fearless 4-H troop leader back in the day), interviewed me for Venus Zine's webmag..

..you can check it out right here. And guess what? I impulse bought a ticket to HAWAII. Because I need a little hammock/sunshine/snorkel time right about now. Sssssssssshakabrahhhhhhhhhhh!

Schmalentines

2009-02-15T12:19:00.001-08:00

I'm having a love affair.

It involves fruits, vegetables, and a certain somebody called The Juiceman.

This is the delicious concoction I whipped up yesterday: The Mr. Peabody. A nod to my favorite cartoon dog, and also to the shade of this lovely, lovely bev. One carrot, one apple, one celery stalk, one leaf kale, on chunk ginger, and a small lemon. YUM!

And if you're interested, that nice little woodland glass can be found here along with my favorite set of juice glasses, the 'Heroes of the Torah'.

And here's one of the letterpress prints I made for J.T. in honor of Valentine's Day.. a simple name round-up of our little fur family. I also made him a John Muir quote print, but I'll post that later..

And BIG NEWS! I'm finally back in the realm of music-making. I've been playing bass with my friends Craig and Kris, and it sounds AWESOME. Kind-of a spooky punk/surf vibe. Stay tuned!

Fun-Sized

2009-02-07T10:37:00.001-08:00

I am very very excited to share my first foray into Kidz Shirtz!! I've done teeny tiny baby onesies and tees before, but these two designs are exclusively for 'tots'.. I guess that means ages 4 and up? Anyhow, here's the stylish Vinnie; he'll show you how to WORK IT:

That's his coy 'who, me?' pose. Modeling Clever Fox in an evergreen 50/50/25 Am.Apparel. So soft!

I'm pretty sure this is Vinnie's signature 'Superstar!' move. Wearing the purple version of Lion Fever.

I think you've got a future in The Biz, kid!

Mason County Style

2009-02-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

Camp Kamilche -HEARTS- houseguests. There's nothing better than hosting pals for a few days of woods-walking, nature crafts, and lumberjack spotting. This week's campers?

Tamala and Paloma! Direct from Los Angeles. They seriously hit the Northwest Winter Weather jackpot.. sunny and magical all week long. With extra mystical fog rising off of the inlet for a cinematic touch:

Beauty! We drove into nearby Shelton for a day of thrifting.. and as seems to be the case whenever Tamala's in town, we actually scored amazing goods! I am now the proud owner of a beautiful homemade Log-Lamp. And we raided the crafting section, on a hunt for googly-eyes (which turned out to be in abundance), with the plan of crafting some nature pals back at home. Add a pinecone, a teddybear nose, and a bow-tie, and amazing things can happen..

Don't be scared of these little guys, they're good luck talismans!

Terrifying, but somehow adorable. We had to plug in the hairdryer for last-minute styling..

And then came the photoshoot:

Tamala and Cone-Tamala. The resemblance is stunning!

Paloma and her little buddy. With new glasses from the thrift!

And so, after much Otis-snuggling and the required trip to the Casino, we sent those two nuts back on the road. See you next time, Campers!

From the Desk of Miss U.

2009-01-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

Oh bloggggg.. it's been so long! For no other reason than that I managed to parlay that whole post-holiday lazytimes jam into an entire month. But! I'm back in action.
First up:

I try to keep busy in the print shop. I just printed a batch of biz-cards for a tattoo-pal.. front and back, one by one. A nice way to spend a cold, rainy day.

And we went back to the mountain! I am slowly regaining some lost shredding skills. And am reminded of the fact that most people look like little kids when they put on this much clothing, which is why teenage boys accidentally try to flirt with me when we ride the chair. I actually told one young lad that 'my bones were too brittle' to join him in the terrain park.

Let's see.. what else?

Tamala is coming to visit on Monday! Direct from LA, ready to tackle the Shelton thrift scene with me. Good times!

Sanctuary

2009-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

There's this great thing happening in blogg-land! I mean, of course it's an attention-getter for album promotion, but an extremely generous and worthwhile one..

For every blog that posts a link to Neko Case's new single, 'People Got a Lotta Nerve', her record label Anti will donate $5 to Best Friends Animal Society. The most amazing sanctuary I plan on visiting in March! Here's the link to the free download:
http://www.anti.com/media/download/708
That's a huge fundraiser!! Makes me incredible happy.

Bodysurfin'

2009-01-20T00:42:00.001-08:00

That's what I'm talkin' about:

STOKED! And btw, have you seen Yacht Rock?

OMG FOREVZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

My Infinitely Flawed Mitts

2009-01-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

The other evening my friend Themba and I had a mutual bro-down about this phenomenon: If we don't make something with our hands everyday, we go kind-of bonkers. So, this is what I kept busy with on January 17th, 2009. A 5-color silkscreen experiment in the works.. is it patches? flags? a decorative chamois??

Lion Triangle Zigzag Thingy, in progress.

Do you get high off of color? Cuz I do. PUPILS DILATE!

I'm gonna slap some Mint Green and Mars Black on this sucker before we're done.

Dreamcruisers

2009-01-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

I love love love spending my day in the realm of graphic communications:

A screen I just burned. What will I make with it?? The possibilities are endless.

Zines to the maxx. I feel like I've sold a lot of these over the past few years, have any of you learned anything from it? I'd love stories.

And Devon's flyer is done! To the Olympia Party Safari peeps: Jesspo will be in town with Devon this weekend, watch out for wicked GOOD TIMEZ.

And lastly, a bittersweet report from the desk of Margaret: The P.T. Cruiser is offically dead. Which means I will never realize the fantasy of getting 'upgraded' at the Avis desk, only to have them drive out this golden dreamcruiser:

INCA GOLD, my friends. Inca Gold.

Bits n' Bytes

2009-01-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

Random things I want to tell you about, circa TODAY:

Magic Kombucha. Brewed right here in Olympia by the fabulous Rachel Carns, dispensed in many different libation and beverage forms at QB, and available for purchase at the Olympia Food Co-op. Truly, it is 'The Champagne of Kombuchas'. Bonus: If you live in Olympia, and are interested in saving the 24 hour free-flowing Artesian Well (from which this tasty Kombucha is born), i.e. the dispensary of delicious water that fell as rain in nearby foothills over 2000 years ago, join Rachel and myself at the Downtown Library this Saturday, January 17th, 2:30 to 4:30 pm!

NEW SHOOZ.

And look what showed up at the door last night! Justin with a headwound. Don't worry, it's just a theatrical re-enactment. He's taking a class that certifies him as a 'Wilderness First Responder', sort-of a mountain medic. Each day the students take turns role playing possible trauma situations.. this is 'Man Falls Out Of Tree While Foraging For Wild Mushrooms'. Not Kidding. Then J.T. was all 'And I have internal bleeding, too!'

OUCH.

Makin' Copies

2009-01-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

Remember the stupid SNL skit from the 80's/90's where that guy would go 'Makin' copies.. copyrama.. Ran-dyyy! The Rand-man! Alright! The Rand Old Opry, makin' copies..' etc.? Sometimes I feel like that guy. When I'm hanging tough at Kinko's, making flyers for shows:

Ever since I was a teenager I've been skulking around copy shops. I'm just a little bit old enough to remember the times before Photoshop/Illustrator, when zines and stickers and other youth propaganda was made by hand in the middle of the night at some strip mall Kinko's. Reading copies of Cometbus and staying up all hours jacked-up on unlimited refill sodas from Taco Bell, making awesomely terrible collages of 90210 mixed with the Melvins. Only now it's the afternoon, and I'm battling 3 other luddites over the remaining few dinosaur copy machines. Still good times, just less resources for us copiers. Not to mention that every time I hang there, they play 'It's a Cruel, Cruel Cruel Summer' which always makes me sad/nostalgic/melancholy.

Which brings me back to Community Print! It's a luddite's paradise. Here's Phase Two of the Devon Williams letterpress poster; today I'll go back in and do a third color around the edges. Full report to be filed tomorrow.

Handmade Weekend

2009-01-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Studio visit with Faythe Levine! Of the aforementioned Handmade Nation book tour..

.. seen here working the crowd at Orca Books with her RAD poncho. If you haven't already watched the trailer for the upcoming Handmade Nation documentary, check it out here. Massively inspiring!

So inspiring, in fact, that I jumped back in the letterpress studio this weekend and started Phase One of a flyer for my L.A. buddy Devon Williams' upcoming Olympia show:

Set the type.. check. (Ed. note: this crazy quick-and-dirty method of letterpress setup has also been known as 'Jazz Style'! I have no patience for doing things the super picky way.)

First round of printing.. double check. Today I'll go back in the studio and do a second color overlay, and then a third color for the border.

Oh! I also wanted to share some of the homemade gifts I bestowed upon Justin for xmas:

Gnarly Mountaineering Tea©! For the Old-Style Mountain Climber in all of us. I took photocopies of classic climbers and altered a box of chamomile teabags with these little laminated guys. It was a hit! Inspiration came from a post a while back on Design Sponge.

And some homemade t-shirts! I recently took a silkscreening workshop at Community Print, and made these designs with J.T. in mind. The first is a nod to our nautical 'hood, and the second is a totally nerdy geology joke, as in 'Don't take this gneiss chert for granite'! Oh man..

Making It Awesome

2009-01-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

Attention Olympians!

Tomorrow night, Saturday Jan. 10th, Faythe Levine will be at Orca Books with her fabulous creation, Handmade Nation!

Join us for the afterparty at QB, where Dj Books and myself will be crafting a wicked set of tunes out of our towering wall of vinyl! We will knit together choice Funk, sweet Soul, silky Slow Jamz, and all the odds n' ends of the musical scrap pile. 10 pm till close, first set in almost a MONTH!

Barbizon

2009-01-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Stella Marrs, Olympia ex-pat and master of the graphic postcard since way-back-when, just emailed me to share this set of short interview clips with lady pals talking about Barbie-doll memories. Part of her thesis project. I've got a bit in it, along with Anna Oxygen (hilarious Barbie Bag Lady© jingle), Nikki Mcclure, Kanako Wynkoop and lots of other rad women. Check it out here!

I've been having some wicked adventure dreams lately. Early in the A.M. I had one where I was walking down the forest trail with the dogs, but entered an underground tunnel. Five wild animals were chasing me, but the one that could almost catch me was some sort of Wolverine-Ewok hybrid. Luckily I found a wooden door to pull shut in the nick of time!

All of my dreams are about houses, apartments, hotels, doors, and wild animals. Interpretations?

Y2K09!

2009-01-05T16:34:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am ready for change. Like having a car that isn't broken. So, if all goes according to plan, my car will be working later on tonight with a combination of a jumpstart from Justin's truck while simultaneously aiming an extension-corded hair dryer at the car's ECU (computer thingy). This is what I've spent my day hatching. Do the goggles make me look CRAAAAZE?

ed. note: I promise that I will return to posting fun art things and pictures not relating to snow-accessories. Just as soon as I can get out of this house and into town. The hairdryer plan will work.

Shredddmasters

2008-12-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

J.T. works at one of those old-timey outfitting shops that has a rental zone.. which means having access to a personal (and free) arsenal of XTREME SNOWSPORT gear. So, with a little gentle coaxing, I found myself at White Pass wearing a mish-mash of winterproof clothing and facing down a mountain with a glorified sled strapped to my feet.

Justin had never hit the slopes, I hadn't gone since maybe 1995, so we were a good team. We quickly mastered the bunny run and then I decided that we just needed to go to the very top and take the long way down. And you know what?

I got totally PUMPED! I really forgot how fun whizzing down a hill can be. Justin did really well, although he took some nasty first-timer spills that landed him with a serious case of sore ribs. But he gets the prize for totally going-for-it! And the prize for most awesome apparel:

Victory!!

Polar Bunnies

2008-12-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Snow Burglar.

Happy.

Cozy.

Fluffy Fluffertons

2008-12-21T13:43:00.001-08:00

It is so crazily beautiful outside my window right now. The biggest, downiest snow-feathers are making their descent onto the already blanketed white bluff, and beyond that the steely grey of Totten Inlet winter waves lap at our shores. That said, this is still a problem:

Lil' Dusty is hanging tough, tucked in for the duration of this strange blizzard us Puget Sounders rarely see. However! I did catch an early ride into town yesterday in J.T.'s Man-Truck©, which temporarily lifted my cabin fever (seriously, I was beginning to grow a beard and have a strange glint in my eye much like a prospector). I finished some super-secret holiday projects, and brought home a batch of letterpressed cards to do some silkscreening upon. Gotta stay busy, especially if I'm going to be socked in for another 3 days. Where's that cognac?

Snowed In: Day 3

2008-12-19T15:50:00.001-08:00

The Saga Continues: the forecast for this weekend is snow mixed with showers of mysterious and foreboding 'Ice Pellets', so who knows how long my rural confines will continue! But, we find things to do.. instead of sledding down our impossibly steep driveway on garbage can lids, we opted for a more sound adventure: I channeled my inner Yeti through snowshoes, and Justin worked on his x-country moves. A jaunt through the woods behind our house on a unbelievable sunny, snowy day:

Yeti Feet.

Snowtis.

Ok, this is actually a picture of one of the peaks above Ross Lake from last summer's canoe trip, but doesn't it look RAD with the pola-droid treatment? I'm a little obsessed.

Rosebud likes to bury her entire head in snow. She is a very special being.

Another special being. And now we are back at the cozy chalet, toasting the afternoon with Hot Mexican Chocolate Cognac toddies, apres-snowshoe/ski style.

And, because said chalet is a wee bit on the messy side (the occupants of Camp Kamilche are not known for their neat-freakness. Nor are they 'totally gross', they are just distracted artist-types that tend to make piles of paper wherever they go, and also cohabitate with four hairy individuals), instead of an interior shot, you will get another pic of a dog:

ADORBZ.

Shake It Like A..

2008-12-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

I just found this rad online photo thingy! POLADROID.. it takes any photo file and converts it in a few seconds to a very accurate polaroid-style version, complete with white frame. I do miss the days of 'Roids. Check it out:

Snow day is getting more fun. Thank you, mighty Computron.

Cozy Times at Camp Kamilche

2008-12-18T14:50:00.001-08:00

There's a monstrous blizzard outside of these walls, and I'm snowbound. I tried mercilessly to maneuver Lil' Dusty (my old toyota) up our steep steep driveway, but to no avail. It was pretty exciting; I felt like I was taking place in a special challenge at the Stuntdriving Academy of Burbank! But after much slipping/sliding and a shoveling workout, it was clear my situation was hopeless. And so here I am, inside our warm little snow-globe, worrying about a million projects I want to finish at my studio by xmas when I should be enjoying all the beauty right outside the window.

We did take a nice walk in the woods this morning, myself all bundled up in a gigantor puffy-jacket. Looking not unlike a human marshmallow mixed with some sort of waterproof pirate (nothing says 'cutting-edge fashion' like rainpants tucked into rubber boots). There were little bits of color, like these rosehips:

And Rosebud was ready for action.. 'Hurry up! Down the snowy roads we go!'

J.T. went x-country skiing in a parking lot last night! I love his dedication to all things outdoors. And here's the No. 1 Snowbuddy, Otis. Special freckleness and all.

Today's Obsessions

2008-12-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

These vegetables,

and this man:

And also Ibizan Hounds wearing jerseys.

Dogbloggin'

2008-12-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

SHHHHHHH...

..Genius At Work:

Geometrix

2008-12-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon these beautiful hand-screened cards during my Friday jaunt through the interweb. I've been getting into silkscreening a bit lately; Community Print is my winter hangout!

Each card was made with old-fashioned care and love by Esther Ramirez aka Essimar Papel.

From Esther's shop page: Send a gentle Kiss or Hello through paper.

Communicate your color with a card or handmade delicate collage.

Yessss. Communicate your color.

Delicious and Proud

2008-12-11T20:06:00.001-08:00

It's supposed to SNOW this weekend! Craaaaaaze. It hasn't been this cold in 20 years; I heard the radio man say it this afternoon. For some reason I am still gallivanting about town in a sweatshirt? It just doesn't seem that frigid.. yet. But what better way to warm up your frosty torso than with this new sunshiney t-shirt I made for Buyoly? Behold: Lion Fever.

Goes excellently with mulled wine, hot spiced cider, and stroopwaffels. Let the holiday pig-out begin!!

Process/Progress

2008-12-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

Bad blogger! Disappearing like that for weeks with no explanation.. I've just been hunkered down at the studio, which is totally looking Mass Rad these days with special office carpeting scraps and a big sturdy work table courtesy of my friend, Young Chad the builder. I kind-of helped with the building: I nailed nails.

This is Scott (human) and Bela (feline). Scott operates Olympia Screen, our town's little silkscreening hive complete with a robotic press that reminds me of the Octopus ride at Lakefair. I paint a portrait of Bela, Scott helps me with screening projects. Olympia is the town of the mighty barter!

This is the process so far: photos, tracing paper sketch, letterpressing, then blocking in the key parts. The best part comes later, in the details.. whiskers and catttttitude!

And P.S.. the Clever Fox shirts are now available in my shoppe, complete with awesome glow-in-the-dark eyes!!

Toast Not Bombs

2008-11-24T11:56:00.001-08:00

So I was just google-searching 'how to make my podcast widget look better' because not only do I plan to give you some autumn-style musical treats, but also because I have no idea how to program computers and most default graphics look terrible. I only got as far as googling 'how to make' and I paused on this Top Ten list:

How to make money
How to make a website
How to make out

How to make a toga
How to make a resume
How to make pumpkin seeds
How to make jello shots
How to make a paper airplane

How to make french toast
How to make a bomb

Hmmm. This is the popular ranking of the ten things that Americans desperately need instructions for. I'm so happy that people are wanting to roast pumpkin seeds before building a bomb, but I'm worried about adding togas and jello shots to the mix. As for 'How to make out', well.. that's just sad.

ed. note: FRENCH TOAST NOW AVAILABLE IN CANS.

The Dog Lady

2008-11-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

I paint all the time. But do I draw? Barely ever. Luckily I took a silkscreening workshop at Community Print yesterday, where my friends and I all made our own Crusty-Patches®! I couldn't resist showcasing my hidden (ok, not-so-hidden) psyche:

This little weirdo, The Hairless, is my fave:

And tomorrow, my neighbor Young Chad is going to help me build a big long table in my studio, perfect for drawing. Perhaps it will become my winter JAM.

BLOWOUT

2008-11-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

So many shirts for just $10!! Get 'em while you can!!

In other news, I'm doing a very boring 'cleanse' involving no sugar, wheat, or alcohol. B-O-R-I-N-G. However, this has prompted me to consume vast amounts of movies, to get my mind off of OHMYGODCARAMELBUTTEREDFRENCHBREADGIMLET. So, while I can't exactly recommend plain kefir flax shakes for breakfast, I can tell you about this great documentary I watched last night: The Cats of Mirikitani.

Actually, without any sugar or wheat or alcohol to fuel my typing, I'm just going to let you read about it here.

Castle of Solace

2008-11-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I re-arranged my studio a bit; I hung a bunch of recent work, grouping it all together on the long wall. And I stepped back, and thought:

1. Hey! That's what the inside of my head really looks like!
2. Mondrian's Tree.
3. Am I turning into a H.Darger type? Obsessive revisits to characters that have backstories/interactions only known to myself?
4. I really need to start painting more tigers. Tigers = FUN.

And 5: I am a creature of extreme habit. I will paint on the floor even though I know it's bad for my back. I will buy the same shoes as last time. I will eat a egg and coffee for breakfast tomorrow. Repeat to infinity. There is comfort in routine. Realizing that you are conservative (and I'm talking in the sense of risk-taking, shaking things up.. not in a social or political sense) can be an awfully strange feeling.

Scorpzzz

2008-11-10T18:00:00.000-08:00

It's Scorpio time again! All my pals are having bdays.. including the one and only Justin!

Today! I love that on the calendar I wrote 'Justin turns 35!', only to see it crossed out and corrected with '36' a few days later. Oops. In my heart you shall remain forever young. I wish I could say that I was gifting you with a gaggle of rescue pups, but since we don't live on a farm, that's not gonna happen. I hope this memory foam pillow is a worthy substitute! And homemade squash ravioli with walnut-sage buttercream sauce too.. tickets to Iceland; that might have to wait till xmas.

Carrot Milk

2008-11-07T18:48:00.001-08:00

FREE SHIPPING WEEKEND starts right...

..NOW!! Grab a 2009 calendar or corn mug, and don't forget to show some love to my pals:

Sam McPheeters!

Wynne Greenwood!

Abigail Adams! And so many more. We are all part of the extended Buyolympia.com dysfunctional-artist family. Our Thanksgivings are AWESOME.

And a big gigantic Olympia THANK YOU to my new pal Tula, over at the superrrrad Whorange for featuring my calendar. Check out her blog for delicious style and design features!

Roadrunner Xing

2008-11-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

What is the collective sound of thousands of individual plops and blops pouring down upon the roof, garden, grass? DRIZZLE, my friends. That's right, the grey doom has finally arrived in the Northwest. Only 7 more months of rain!

If you live in sunny, temperate Southern California (which is such a total moment of 'grass is greener' personal admition; I spent many an October afternoon cursing and sweating on the freeway in those consecutive 105 degree Valley days..), might I suggest a trip to Joshua Tree? There's going to be a RAD art swap meet on Saturday at the High Desert Test Sites curated by those crazy Yao sisters! And Kye and Julia are making grab bags.. they have a lot of stuff. I mean a lot.

Meet me at Skull Rock!

Epiccccccccc

2008-11-05T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dudes! HIGH-FIVES all around!!

Knut the Polar Bear wants to especially give some skin to my Mom, who voted for the VERY FIRST TIME in her life!

The Macca says THUMBS UP!

I don't even know who's cat this is, it just pops up when you google image search 'happiness'.

Consult Your Mescal Oracles

2008-11-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little.. oh, I don't know.. ANXIOUS? I have prepared tipz:

1. Avoid those local bar election get-together drinkathons. Sit with a pet, at home, on the comfy couch. Enjoy wine.
2. Or, go to the forest, desert, mountains. Turn off the TV. Reign in compulsive internet-checking.
3. Take a warm bath. Read lightly.. camping catalogues and the giant book of Dog Breeds will do.
4. Cook yourself and a loved one a delicious CALM CASSEROLE. Here are your ingredients:

medium yellow onion, diced
touch of olive oil
two cloves garlic, minced
one cup of great northern beans (like white kidneys)
one block firm tofu, drained and squared
one pepper, sliced.. try a sweet yellow/red bell, or a roasted pasilla
6 or 7 small corn tortillas
two cups green or red enchilada sauce, either is fine (see how MELLOW this is? nice)
cumin, red pepper flakes, chile powder, apple cider vinegar, tapatio, lime, salt and pepper to taste.

plain yogurt
one or two avocados

Enjoying your wine? Oh.. also, you should put on some music. NO TV. NO NPR. Soul collections and various string quartets might be nice. But NO KRONOS.

Heat the oven to 400. Put a cast-iron on medium, and sweat out that onion in a little olive oil. About 5 minutes. Toss in the garlic and brown for a moment. Add tofu cubes, douse in cumin, chile powder, tapatio, salt, pepper, and a little apple cider vinegar. Turn the heat up a bit and let the tofu soak up the flavor for a few. Add beans. Turn off heat. Take out a potato masher or pastry cutter. Mash beans and tofu together till chunky but not totally incorporated. Country-style. Throw in peppers. Add lime juice, more salt and pepper to taste, and perhaps some additional ACV or red pepper flakes.

Coat the bottom of a 7.5 x 11" glass baking dish (or whatever kind of casserole pan you have lying around.. no biggie) with a cup of enchilada sauce. Lay down two or three tortillas to completely cover the bottom. Add the filling, spread it out evenly. cover with some more tortillas. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top, douse completely. Do you like cheese? Grate some sharp cheddar over the top or sprinkle on some cotija. Bake that sucker for 30-40 minutes, till you see everything bubbling nicely up from the bottom. Cool for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with a blop of plain yogurt and sliced avacado. Serves 3 or 4.

Ok, now you can do a little check to see how the FATE OF THE WORLD is going. Just for a sec.

Feel better? Good. Or, you can always go vision-quest style and do the anagram of Calm Casserole: consult your Mescal Oracles, but I wouldn't reccommend it on a night like tonight. Better to save it for New Year's!

ed. note: i am ~~scared shitless~~ basking in some sort of temporary relief! the only way i ~~can deal with~~ could have dealt with a day like today is to try to pass on calm advice to others. plus the wine helps ~~a little~~ a lot.

And Then I Did A Headstand on the Dance Floor!

2008-11-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove into Shelton, white-knuckling it for a good stretch on the undivided 101 while logging trucks zoomed towards me during a particularly epic afternoon rainstorm. This specialness was waiting for me when I pulled into town:

A double!! Total score. It's been grey and soggy up here, but not without it's own certain beauty. Today J.T. and I discussed that great hypothetical question.. 'if you had to move somewhere in the continental US, realistically, but you could move wherever you wanted, where would you go?'. We both pulled out the immediate gut-responses.. not eastcoast, not midwest. San Diego got tossed around a bit, Flagstaff was mentioned (?!), I rooted for my fave, Portland, and Justin mused on the Central Coast of Cali. Los Angeles has already been crossed off the list. Speaking of L.A., Dia de Los Muertos was all up in our DJ night last night at the QB Lounge.. Justin pulled together a TIGHT set of spooktacular tunes, I dressed up like a sugar skull.

And you know, I have to say.. I think this whole mexi-goth thing is a good look for me! I felt strangely comfortable donning so much raccoon-eye. The black lipgloss though.. that makes eating a Large Peanut Cilantro Salad with Avocado and Tofu a touch on the messy side.

Will Mraw For Food

2008-11-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

Oh hey!

'Sup?

I'm just watching Otis finish off this jar of almond butter. Look at those bunny ears! And speaking of ears..

..I decided to bring back the 1970's Utter Family Budget Halloween Costume and go as a leopard. Items needed: One hat. One pair paper cat ears. Sharpie or eyeliner for whiskers. Optional leopard-print sweater/tshirt/jacket. Voila!

But the best costume I saw was my friend Lucy who, being recently canned from her teaching job, dressed-up as a giant pink slip and proceeded to hand them out to us during the night. Genius!

Haunted Hive

2008-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

The best parts about today, so far:

Claws.

Actual mail!

Costume parts..

..and treats too!

Calendars galore.

The beginning of a raccoon triptych for Kenny and his family. WACKOONS!

AND, the tiny corner that is FORKS, WASHINGTON is about to go off, twin-peaks-north-bend-style. Can't wait!!

Foxy Brown

2008-10-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

So guess what's getting ready to print in Port Angeles by Mike Kunka as we speak?

That's right.. it's the Fox In Clover shirt! New for my shoppe on Buyoly. With special glow-in-the-dark eyes! This is not the actual product, rather a computer collage made with this pants-less american apparel model. Trust me, when it debuts on Buyolympia.com, there will be pants.

That's just the way we roll.

I Can Has Epic Shave-cut

2008-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Okay.. I stole this pic of Kime's cat off of her bloggg because he is so CRAZY! I mean.. look at him! Just chillin' in L.A. with his wacko haircut and a laptop. Someone needs to LOLcat this guy, stat..

He's like some sort of shaved muppet! I think Kime's kitty and my Ringo, in all of his newly-shorn glory, need to make a POSSE.

Winos Forever

2008-10-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday J.T. and I trekked to Mt. St. Helens.. it was a perfect day.

We went to a special 'Volunteer Appreciation' thingy to celebrate Justin's summer work.. 143 hours of volunteer Mountain Stewarding! Here's Mt. Adams, peaking over the fog:

On the way home, we stopped by a winemaking party for the micro-winery that is Deux Punx:

Aaron and Dan! Here we have Adam and Brandt sorting the syrah grapes that those winos trucked back from Eastern Washington (note Brandt's ability to multi-task by texting and sorting simultaneously)..

Morgan, my old neighborhood pal from the 70's-80's, is cranking the squisher/crusher machine:

I remember being really, super bummed in 1984 that I didn't get to go to Purple Rain with Morgan and my brother Erik and all the older boys for Morgan's birthday. It was Prince! And rated R!

And here's Aaron, une de les deux punx. Oui! Trois ans de l'ecole francais et je suis tres mal! J'ai faim.

We Support Our Vets

2008-10-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

So, as is the usual around here, we've had some visits to the emergency vet lately.. our pets HEART going to the doctor in the middle of the night!

The good news is, everyone's fine now. Ringo has a shaved hind end, much like a baboon, that he is parading proudly. Be glad I am giving you the side view. He had a whopper of an abscess hiding under that fur and a temperature of 104! Poor guy. A week later, and he's cone-free. Back to his ways as a stealthy rodent killing machine. Just heads and stomachs on the welcome mat every morning, the rest is apparently a tasty snack.

And then there's this guy! Still stuck in cone-land as he managed to remove part of his front paw's pad through obsessive licking/chewing.. OUCH! Now he has a cone, a sock, and a ridiculous baggie (sometimes Grocery Outlet for a touch o' class) rubber-banded around his foot for our daily walk in the woods.

Animals!

I've found that the best way to keep Otis happy in this situation is to blast the new Metallica, remove his cone, and let him go bonkers on a raw bone. Video to be uploaded shortly.

Put My Toes in the Sand

2008-10-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

When visiting southern California, there's apparently only one way to roll..

..in a P.T. Cruiser! The guy at the rental place thought he was giving me a sweet upgrade from my reserved Kia Optima, and could not understand why I was like 'No. No No No.' when they drove it out from the garage. And then he just got kind of irritated and told me it was a P.T. or nothing. So cruising P.T.-style I would be. And guess what? It grew on me. I embraced my inner ZZ-Top and gave special 'awesome PT!' waves to all my fellow Cruisers of LA. Of which there are so, so many.

Hey look, it's Margaret! She got to roll in the PT. I took her to Griffith Park where we accidentally did some serious mountain scrambling.. we had to get vertical when we lost the trail to the Observatory. Clinging to craggy limetone while the shale slipped underfoot and broken glass threatened to gouge. Sorry Margaret! It was kind of my bad idea. But we made it!

One thing I like to do when I visit LA is go to friends' workplaces and bug them, as everybody has to WORK all the time down there! Crazy. So here I am bugging my pal Deanna in Santa Monica..

..and Angie of Poketo at their Downtown headquarters.

And then I went to Family and bugged Dave Stone while he was at work playing a show! It was a really beautiful set. No modular synths, just guitar pedal washes of sound. We hit up Canters afterwards, total 1995 style! When I first used to visit LA, I met Dave Stone and a bunch of us would go to Jabberjaw and then Domiano's for pizza or Canters for borscht or french fries. Rad past blast!

And here is one of my great hosts, Joanne aka the Joanimal! We kind-of had a neverending slumber party going on at her place in Koreatown, catching up on adventures and exchanging tales of teenage follies. And our great pal Tamala showed up one night, which is when we staged this secret photo shoot of Joanne and the Ewok.

Over at Kye and Julia's I attended a dinner party, celebrating Kye's bday.. Julia whipped up a delicious veggie feast and I tried to absorb the awesomeness of all their crazy collections. Like these guys:

..and that's just the tip of the Stuff Iceberg!

I was stoked to see that Kye has made a band called 'Isthmus', because here in Olympia we have an actual Isthmus of Controversy in our downtown, with developers trying to build 'luxury condos', while the rest of us try to talk some sense into the City Planners. Isthmus is the great Olympia buzzword of 2008. And now a band from Solano Canyon!

isthmus |ˈisməs|
noun ( pl. -muses )
a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land.

I took Joanne on a Valley adventure one sunny afternoon.. we went to the Brand Library in Glendale..

..and to the beautiful and delicious Wat Thai temple in Sun Valley. Fried Sweet Potatoes! Thai Ice Tea (aka Crack). Something called Beef Ball Soup, which Joanne declared totally tasty. I love all the altars.. bright bright colors, elephants, incense.

Then on to the American Way thrift store in Burbank, which is always Out Of Control! We picked up some black tshirts to do a craft/repurpose exchange. I bleach-dyed the one I made for Joanne and added some painted geometric patterns... and there was no shoplifting for sure with this crazy security motorhome parked outside!

Joanne lives in this really neat old building in Koreatown, where Marlene Dietrich used to come to get her clothes embroidered! I love weird L.A. history.

I passed along the Sarah Style Spartan breakfast plan.. coffee and A Egg.

And then it was time to roll on out of sunshiney, tshirt-wearing, palm-tree lined Los Angeles.. back to the soggy Northwest autumn (which is beautiful, but WET! and COLD!). I gave the P.T. a hug (well, a mental one) and then jetted back to Sea-Tac with some new records and a fresh haircut. And two pounds of Baklava. Which, as of 5 days later, has been completely devoured by the Kamilche Adventure Crew. Hope to see you in the springtime, L.A.!

Oh MAN!

2008-10-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

So Jessie Frances, purveyor of those beautiful Everyday Fancies, totally pulled a fast one and 'tagged' me.. which is apparently a blogging term for making one feel compelled to answer personal questions for no other reason other than to forestall the guilt you might experience by ignoring their invitation. It's kind of like an online version of 'Jinx', that junior high thingy where you have to stay silent until someone 'unjinxes' you by saying your name. Or something.

So here are the rules:
• Link to the person who tagged you.(check)
• Mention the rules. (mentioned)
• Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.(crap)
• Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.(sorry in advance!)
• Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

1. I've never been on a waterslide

2. I was part of the World's Longest Banana Split at the Lacey Cinemas parking lot in 1985. With my brother and this guy.

3. One time I met Gene Simmons and he curtseyed to me; odd. Incidentally the three images that scared me most as a child were KISS, Darth Vader, and Debbie Harry.

4. I like the new Metallica Record. Except James H. really needs to move away from personal, therapy-style lyrics and back into more conceptual 'Sanitarium'-like ones. Just saying.

5. I have a hard time saying the word 'peninsula', which kind of blows as I actually live on one, the Olympic Peninsula. It has also been pointed out to me that my pronunciations of 'garbanzo' and 'penguin' are weird as well.

I tag thee:
1. Natalia from Lost Teeth
2. Allison/Jeremy from a&j
3. Melanie from Coloring Outside the Lines
4. Helen from Orange You Lucky
5. Allison from The Lark
6. Fawn at Fawn Gehweiler

What word is hard for you to pronounce?

Leaving Los Angeles

2008-10-16T11:30:00.001-07:00

Greetings! I'm BACK!!

I had a warm, hilarious, delicious, and relaxing time in Los Angeles. I never thought that city could make me feel so restored! I'll post some pictures soon, but in the meantime I just thought I'd share what's coming up in the tshirt shopppp. If you're ever in Glendale, and visiting the amazing Brand Library (there's a link over there to your right), ask to see the old World's Best Logos books from the 70's. If the nice librarian is working she'll dig them out of the basement storage! And then you can go to Kinkos and make things. Like foxes with glow-in-the-dark eyes..

Upcoming!
P.S. Check out UTTERWORLD for a bunch of updates!

Bloghopping

2008-10-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Check it out! I posted a photo diary thingy over on the Poketo blogg here, to celebrate the release of my new wallets and print.

Today I'm off to the copy shop to make a flyer for an upcoming Pierced Arrows show, and then I need to find some new flip-flops because I'm off to L.A. tomorrow and it is SUNNY!

I will be:
1. eating 5 pounds (give or take) of guacamole
2. hugging all my pals
3. visiting the Poketo HQ
4. going to the DSS/No Age show
5. dancing at Part Time Punks?
6. hiking at Griffith Park
7. free thursday at MOCA!
8. haircut
9. culver city art safari
10. main library branch downtown, brand library in glendale
11. baklava!

Start the Presses

2008-10-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Lookee here!

Could it be?? A calendar on it's way to print?

YES! Thanks to the diligent work of Pat at Buyolympia.com, this proof copy is slated to hit the presses in the coming week. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Hoot Nanny Hoot!

2008-10-03T15:58:00.001-07:00

My camera is busted! Lame. It's still suffering from some sort of post-camping malaise. But! Mariella was sweet enough to lend me her camera for the week, so i could do a little photo-diary thing for Poketo, all about my new art show that's opening tonight!

HOOTENANNY! There are three of these tambourines.. penguins, swans, owls. Plus five other paintings. If you're in Olympia, please come to the opening tonight! It's at Room 30, 408 Washington Street. 5 - 10 pm, and did I mention there will be complimentary HOT NUTS?! That's what I'm talkin' about..

Out of this mess comes the HOOTENANNY!

Yeah, the Stevie Nicks lady from a few posts back definitely inspired me. Hope to see you tonight! And a big P.S. and Thank You to Design for Mankind, which featured my owl wallet today on their awesome blog!!

Cat a Tonic

2008-09-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

So it's the big 33! A magic year, for sure. And to do it up in style, I even got my astro chart done (paging Dave Stone.. where are you??). Turns out I'm a Virgo (duh), with Aries moon and Sagittarius rising (double duh). And which according to a quick internet search, yielded my closest star-sign celebrity affiliate:

Ingrid Bergman! A true Virgo-Aries-Sag (sigh). And yeah, I'll take that.

I also just saw this post from Tobi, made me nostalgic and happy, plus it's about my canoe-buddy justin, so I thought I'd share:

YOKO-ANTHEM
So okay, I want to write about anthem…one time when I was sitting in the smithfield giant henry boys vern and justin came up to me and asked if I wanted to go play drums with them in their practice space and so, thinking that maybe the cute one (chris jordan, naturally) would stop by, I agreed. After a while of practicing at an incredible volume and trying to figure out which songs were Black Flag covers and which covers were Giant Henry songs I started to feel classic dork girl symptoms coming over me. I mean, think about it…what if they were playing a Black Flag song and I was playing drums that were totally else?!!! Then I would be a complete jerk…and I kept psyching myself out over this and then when we finally switched instruments I was relieved and decided to sing into the microphone. The words that came into my head=anthem:

anthem
justin likes surf music
justin likes surf music
justin likes surf music
justin likes surf music
it killed my friends
it killed my friends
it killed my friends
it’s happening again
REPEAT
in the trailer when chris is gone
turn on the radio to hear his
favorite song
turn on the radio to hear his
favorite song
hardcore generation
hardcore generation
hardcore generation
hardcore generation
teenage boy generation
teenage boy generation
not my generation
not my generation not this generation not this generation
it doesn’t speak to me
no not at all
I don’t see anything
there’s something wrong
I can’t understand
your favorite song
‘you will never hear surf music again’

But one thing I want to make clear is that the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Which means only just that the words are more about what happened to me as a teenage punk rocker in love hanging out with my boyfriend’s crowd and it’s a true story and it all has to do with….YOKO.
um…so if you have ever gone out with anybody in a band then you have been most likely been made to feel unimportant or excluded at least once or twice .I know when I was in high school I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to fit into the guy scene instead of realizing that my whole thing was just as cool, just as interesting, just as valid, just as important as theirs. And maybe it did just so happen to be that way and maybe that’s just the way it is and maybe nobody was trying to make me feel left out but all of that doesn’t really count because, in effect, I was paralyzed. And the more I think about it the more it tells me about how underground music can be really just as oppressive, and in a lot of the same ways even, as anything else. I mean if you look at the fact that most bands are mostly or all guys and then look at how if you are a girl hanging out with a band you have less say then they do because everything is totally based on what their band is doing then you start to see how the whole thing is structured to make girls feel dumb. From band practice schedules to various band projects to shows to tours to recording to everything revolves around the band…boys. And I think most girls know what it feels like to sit around in your boyfriend’s bedroom, talking about records with all of his friends and having a lot of what you say (that is if you even bother to say anything) either dismissed or misunderstood.
And a lot of guys give their girlfriends rock lessons so that they can learn and memorize the important details for future reference. Don’t get me wrong, talking about bands is one of my favorite pass times. I just think that a lot of times it is done in a way that makes other people feel left out and that all too often it’s us girls who feel like we don’t know anything worthy of mention *** REMEMBER *** there’s nothing wrong with being a dork unless you don’t have other dorks to bond with and all too often us dork girls live in isolation, like donna says: misfits unite! um…and it all comes down to YOKO ONO. You see, part of the revolution (GIRL STYLE NOW) is about rescuing our true heroines from obscurity, or in Yoko’s case, from disgrace.
So part of what your boyfriend teaches you is that Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles. And as his girlfriend, according to this, you could very easily do the same thing to him and he has to be careful that this doesn’t happen. In essence, besides being completely unfair to both you and Yoko this works in a way that makes you into the opposite of his band and it’s that whole western duality thing about women and also forbidden fruit and all that bullshit and when you are being made into the opposite of his band you are sort of being relegated to the audience and it takes that much longer for it to become a real idea that you could participate instead of just watch. One way this is evident is in the movies. Name one movie about a band in which the girlfriend is not made into the evil diversion. There are two that I can think of off the top of my head (and they always want to know why I hate the movies). But besides being the victim of the girlfriend-is-distraction thing Yoko was so fucking ahead of her time. I mean in a lot of ways she is the first punk rock girl singer ever. What she was doing was so completely unheard of and she needs to be recognized for what she did, provide a true alternative to the corporate bullshit john lennon was faced with in the Beatles at that time. Not to mention that the Plastic Ono Band was totally subversive in both form and content…those early records are absolutely incredible and name another asian woman in rock…I can’t think of any….um so let it be known, from now on, that Yoko Ono paved the way, in more ways than one for us angry grrl rockers and maybe in the future girls will learn to question the motives behind the need in music for so many standards. I for one refuse to be the opposite of any band and encourage others to do the same.
So I guess anthem is just about me sitting on my boyfriend’s bed in high school and having an argument with his friend about jimi hendrix ‘you will never hear surf music again’ and how hardcore had become just as stupid and tame as surf music was in the ‘60s and that it was time for something new. I think maybe Bikini Kill is going to write your favorite song. --Tobi Vail, winter 1991

New Kicks

2008-09-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

There's a kind-of amazing thing going on here. You can customize a pair of Keds with your paintings/photos/handwriting! Owl Shoes:

Hootenanny Shoes:

I could do this all day.

The Rhythm is Gonna Get You

2008-09-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

So I was google-image-searching the word 'tambourine' today, for a painting in the 'Hootenanny' show, when I came across this amazing website:

It's Stevie.

On Tambourines.

Wow.

I must warn you though: if you google search 'tambourine' at all, you're eventually going to end up on this man's site. Don't say I didn't tell you.

Last Summer Fling

2008-09-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

Epic canoe trip: North Cascades, Ross Lake. 30 miles of paddling; island camping, hammock time. Flora, fauna, food. Icy waters, hidden grottos. Lightning Creek, waterfalls, ravens: Paradise!

I don't think I've fully absorbed the concept of 'packing lightly'.. which is where canoe camping comes in handy. Check out the Orange Lady! Loaded to the gills. What's in there anyway? Food. Plenty of food. A small library. And a hammock.

We seriously lucked out on weather. Perfect blue skies. Calm waters. Starry canopies..

..and then this guy made an appearance:

Tinfoil Hat Man! Protecting his mind from those pesky transmissions. Actually, that thing is called a 'Pot Parka'.. but which Justin will simply call The Cozy.

I started plotting a Mountain Yoga Canoe camp, and taking promotional pics for the brochure. Here we have the Balancing Stick Pose. Good for getting your heart rate up. But then, as usual, my camera died! Right there on day 3. It has issues with the concept of 'moist mountain air'.

Luckily I had already snapped off a pick of this little pal. The SUPER SOLAR SHOWER. Quite simply, the best camping invention. Ever.

Our home on Cougar Island. Luckily, no cougars in sight.

But we spotted this brave swimming visitor from the mainland the next day on Ten Mile Island. Can you see her?

Justin multi-tasked by fishing and bathing simultaneously; sadly, our dream of a trout and cornbread dinner never materialized. Though there were a couple big lunkers that got away (I swear). Piece of advice: when fishing in Ross Lake, the Dick Nite is a sure bet. You angler-types know what I mean..

..and then, right as you start to get really in the canoe-camping 'zone', at peace with the daily loading and unloading, the camp-buiding and tearing down, the eating of smores and cous-cous, the fatigue of 'Paddlers' Shouler', the battles with mosquitos and deer mice, the dirt under nails and grease in hair, well.. it's time to go home. Thank you to the lake, the osprey and eagles, the sound of the owl in the night, the waterfalls and lodgepole pines. Hope to see you next year!

Pocket Art

2008-09-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

Exciting! My new Poketo wallets are now available online!!

Now you can put a Little Forest Penguin in your pocket/backpack/glovebox/tote. They're coated in plastic! Go ahead, put a drink on it.

The Penguin does not mind.

Always Projects

2008-09-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Working on:

Penguin with a Panflute!

A story about my signpainter friend..

..and hosing off one happy muddy dog. Back soon.

Painting Music Yes Now!

2008-08-25T22:43:00.001-07:00

Portland! I'm a'comin'!! Next Monday, 9/1, for this amazing group art show curated by the fabulous Michelle Kline! PLUS, I'll be playing solid soul/funk/foreign voices for your dancing pleasure from 7-9 pm! Hope to see you there, MANIACS!

" G E T T I N G T H E R E "
a m a p s h o w
m o n d a y S e p t e m b e r 1 s t
T I G A - 7 p m
1 5 t h & P r e s c o t t
s o u l / f u n k / p s y c h j a m s . . . d . j . m i s s U !
moe bowstern : nikki chapman :
teena davies : joseph derouselle : david earle :
jennifer gleach : anna huff : michelle kline : warren lee : matt lindsay : wade metheny : tara jane o'neil : jane paik : teresa robinson :
danny sasaki : geoff soule : sarah utter : elizabeth venable :

Post-Summer Vacation

2008-08-23T12:39:00.001-07:00

California.. I'm a'comin'! Just got my ticket for October.. what will we do??

1. Eat up all the deliciousness of L.A.: Baklava at the Factory, Tuna Tetakki at Chiba, Falafel at Carousel, guac and horchata at Poquito Mas, Forever Young Salad and Flax Tea at Leonore's.. the list is endless!

2. Hike in the Verdugo Hills, watch over the Valley, stare at the giganticness.

3. Roof party/potluck Part II at Tamala's!

4. Picnic at the Brand Library/dig through old logo books from the basement.

5. Art!

6. Hug all friends.

7. Maxx/Relax..

Can't wait!