Blog
May 18th, 2015
I have my tiny souvenir bottle of Mount Saint Helens ash sitting on my desk right now, as a reminder that it was thirty-five years ago today that the mountain erupted.
The event happened a year before I was born, so it’s not like I have personal memories of it—but Mt. St. Helens still crops up in my work now and again. It also shows up on the horizon from time to time—
—but not as frequently as you might think. It’s often in its own bank of clouds, so it’s not visible much, even when Mt. Rainier and the other volcanoes are out. In fact, I had never seen Mt. St. Helens up close (despite a few attempts) until ten days ago. With the anniversary of the eruption looming, I figured it was high time I remedied the situation. It just didn’t seem right that so far the only thing I’d seen in any detail was the gift shop.
Speaking of which… Normally I’d say that my sketchbook drawings are my best souvenirs, but I think in this case, there might be an exception:
Our “before and after” salt and pepper shakers, given to us by a geologist friend. I’m not gonna lie: there’s no way I could ever top these (er, no pun intended).
As another “souvenir” of today’s anniversary, I’ve got sketches of Mt. St. Helens from the past few years over on Drawn the Road Again. So go take a look—but head for high ground if you hear any rumbling!
June 26th, 2014
One exhibit might be ending this week, but another is just getting started. On Tuesday night I went to the opening for Ink This!, a new exhibit of contemporary Northwest print arts at the Tacoma Art Museum.
The place was completely packed—both in the lecture space and in the common areas.
I spent so much time catching up with friends and colleagues from all over the region (which is the best part about this show!) that I barely made it upstairs to see the artwork itself.
And then when I got there, I had a pleasant surprise: my piece in the show is prominently displayed, right by the entrance.
It’s such an honor to have my book in a room with so many incredible prints, sculptures, artist books and other work by the people I admire the most.
Most of all, I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to see so many people come up and spend time with my book. That’s the highest compliment anyone could ever pay me.
Many, many thanks to the Tacoma Art Museum for putting this show together; to Margaret Bullock for her amazing work curating the exhibit; to Ann and Peter Darling who lent the book from their private collection for the exhibit; to everyone who has seen the show so far; to the artists themselves; and to the lovely man monitoring the gallery that night, who so kindly gave me permission to take some hip shots with my phone camera. (I couldn’t hide how excited I was to have my work in a museum for the first time—thanks for not laughing at my dorkiness!)
Ink This! will be on display through November 9 October 19 (update: show is closing early to accommodate the opening of a new museum wing), at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma.
May 12th, 2014
Much as I’d love them to be done by now, there’s still about a zillion flats to be cut for my Local Conditions book. I can’t do them all in one go—all that hand-Xacto-knifing is really hard on your hands. So I fit the cutting in wherever I can, whenever I need a break from some other project or process. Still, even though the progress is slow, it feels good to see a whole stack of finished pieces, ready to contribute to the edition.
February 27th, 2014
This gigantic tome (I know you can’t tell from the photograph, but you’ll have to take my word for it—you could pave a street with it) has been a long time in the making. The folks at Codex have finally published the second volume of Book Art Object, and look—I’m in it! It’s a beautiful book, and filled with all kinds of inspiration.
If you don’t hear from me for awhile, you can probably bet I’ll be curled up and reading…
December 7th, 2013
In case you might be wondering, I’m still working on my Mt. Rainier book. I don’t post about it often, but this is a near-constant backdrop to everything I do. Every day, I hand-color a few more prints. Every day, I cut a few more pieces. Every day, I cross a thing or two off the massive list. And every day, I get closer to “done.”
August 6th, 2013
I moved to Washington five years ago today. In that time, I’ve enjoyed a whole lot of apples,
beheld countless spectacular views,
stared out to sea a zillion times,
stood beside many lit (and unlit) beacons,
memorized every crag of my favorite mountain,
lost count of all the city sunsets (even in the rainy Northwest!),
and numbered my lucky stars over and over again that I get to call this place home.
July 12th, 2013
The other day I received the most peculiar thing in the post, from a couple who had recently purchased my Local Conditions artist book.
I opened it up, and inside was their own version of the book, made out of vintage postcards!
I’m pretty sure this is, hands down, the best thing anyone has ever sent me in the mail.
June 24th, 2013
I’m working on something huge (and secret!) that I’ll be launching very soon. In the meantime, I’m going through the studio and doing some housekeeping (both literally and online). As happens with any big shift, it’s time to take a good hard look at anything that doesn’t quite fit the puzzle going forward.
So at noon PST on July 1, I’m going to be making some changes to the shop in preparation for the big thing to come. And while they’ve had a good run, I’ll be removing a few things permanently—including the last remaining hand-painted linocuts from the Flock series.
(Don’t worry, the bird cards aren’t going anywhere!)
Most of the rest of my hand-printed artwork (like the Mt. Rainier and Horse prints) will still be available, but the prices will go up on July 1—some by quite a bit. So if there’s anything you’ve had your eye on for awhile, now might just be the time for you to snag it.
Take your pick over at the shop!
March 18th, 2013
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the last one, but a few weeks ago I was back for my second showing at the Codex International Bookfair. The four-day fair was at a new venue this year—a space so gorgeous just I had to break out the ol’ sketchbook.
This year (and hopefully every year from here on out) we were hosted by the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, CA. Now a part of Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park (bonus points for being part of something else I love), the former Ford plant was used as a major military plant during World War II.
We had completely outgrown the old Codex stomping grounds in Berkeley—so while none of us knew what to expect of the new space, we were just hoping it would be big enough to fit a couple hundred artists under one roof.
We got way more than we bargained for—the space is absolutely cavernous. The bookfair was every bit as overwhelming as last time (just try looking at a few thousand pieces of art in four days!), but the Craneway gave the perfect breathing room to do the artwork justice. With its huge banks of windows and three-story ceiling, it almost felt like I was spending each day outdoors. I hated leaving at the end of each day.
And besides—this was the view from my table. Is there anything better than showing your work on one of the best chunks of real estate in the Bay Area? (Though I have to admit, every morning that one—admittedly awesome—Journey song would pop into my head, just like it always does when I’m in the area.*)
Occasionally I had to remind myself that I wasn’t just there to stare out the window, or bask in the sunshine on the dock outside, or scribble in my sketchbook. But I’m grateful to report that I had a nearly constant stream of visitors to my table to bring me back to reality when I needed it.
Huge props to all the folks who made the commute up to Richmond from San Francisco and Oakland (including Sarah and M-A for their help manning the table!)—judging by the comments I heard all week, you liked the new space as much as I did. And many thanks to all the return visitors from two years ago who came back to say hello (special shout-out to Adam D.!) or leave me with their own goodies. It felt great to be welcomed back.
One last thing: major thanks to Kate Farnady, who created this off-the-cuff stop-motion video of my Local Conditions book, right in the middle of our conversation about it. You made my day.
Codex, I’ll see you in two years—with any luck, right there on the waterfront again.
* Okay, you are not going to believe this, but as I wrote that sentence, that song came up on shuffle in my iTunes! Cross my heart. I’m officially freaked out now…
May 25th, 2012
Speaking of keeping busy, looks like I’m not the only one who’s been working on my Local Conditions book. The kind folks at Stanford University put together a little video demonstrating how book works. So now, instead of having to explain it step-by-step, and hope for the best, I can actually show you in real time. Take a gander:
And if you happen to be in the Bay Area, you can see the book for yourself at the San Francisco Center for the Book. From now through August 31, Local Conditions is on display as part of the exhibition Exploding the Codex. The show highlights unusual and unexpected structures by over forty artists—pieces that blow the lid off of the standard definition of what a book can be. I’m sad not to be able to get there myself before the show closes, but if you’re in the area, stop by on June 15 for the opening reception—and tell ’em hello from me.
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