Blog
May 1st, 2015
Thanks to all the prep and planning required for last week’s Wayzgoose, I’m all set up with a boatload of new inventory for spring. First on the list: something to send for Mother’s Day! If you’re looking for the perfect last-minute card for Mom, look no further than the shop.
Or if you’re local, there’s one more chance to stock up on Mother’s Day cards and gifts: tomorrow’s Tacoma is for Lovers craft fair.
Tacoma is for Lovers craft fair
Saturday, May 2, 2015
11 am to 4 pm
King’s Books
218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, WA
I’ll have more than just Mother’s Day cards at the craft fair, though—like these new greeting cards based on the 50 States series. Oregon and California are the newest, and they’re already flying off the shelf. West Coast represent!
Also, just so you know, I have an extremely high-tech setup for photographing my cards. Masking tape and a big ol’ sheet of paper: photo studio of champions.
I did go slightly fancier when it came to photographing my temporary tattoos, thanks to my fancy friends Mariesa and RJ. The tattoos are my favorite product to develop these days, and it’s fun to see how people react to them at craft fairs—turns out it’s just as fun to take pictures of them as it is to design them.
I forgot to tell RJ that I wanted him to wear plaid to complete the whole lumberjack look he generally has going on—but I needn’t have worried. The guy read my mind, and came through like a boss.
And Mariesa’s outfit and gorgeous poise made my illustrations look super classy.
By the end of the day they were both saying they wanted to get the Tacoma tatt for real—
—and I can’t think of a higher compliment than that.
See you tomorrow at the craft fair!
April 27th, 2015
I only have a few photos of Wayzgoose to show you this year, because just manning my table had me so busy that I barely made it outside all weekend. I think making it a two-day event gave us a record-breaking attendance, and the weather came through to allow the steamroller artists to shine.
So I’ll just leave you with a few snippets of the weekend’s highlights,
and hopefully tempt you to come and see us next year!
Many thanks to the fabulous artists and printers who make Wayzgoose the best arts event in Tacoma (not that I’m biased or anything…); to King’s Books and the Tacoma Arts Commission for making it possible; and to our founder Jessica Spring and her crew of volunteers for running a tight ship.
Most of all, thank you to the many hundreds of lovely Tacomans (and Seattleites! And Portlanders, too!) who come to show their support for what we do. My favorite part of Wayzgoose is how every year it reminds me just how much I love my city, and the people in it.
See you next year!
April 24th, 2015
We’re ready for the Wayzgoose tomorrow—are you?
I’ve got a whole host of new paper goods ready to show you (look for some of them online next week), and you’ll find them at my Wayzgoose table this weekend. So if you’re local, strap on your printing apron and come on by for the biggest print event of the year.
See you there!
April 21st, 2015
It’s that time of year again—the annual Tacoma Wayzgoose (our local letterpress and book arts extravaganza) is just around the corner! This will be the eleventh year of the event, and we’re expecting a record crowd. Because attendance has grown so much over the years, we’re expanding to meet the demand. For the first time ever, Wayzgoose will now be a two-day event, with artist vendors and steamroller printing on both days:
11th Annual Tacoma Wayzgoose
Saturday and Sunday, April 25-26, 2015
11 am to 4 pm, Free!
King’s Books
218 St. Helens Avenue, Tacoma, WA
Jessica and I are sitting out the steamroller printing this year, to give more newbies a chance to play, but we will both have tables inside. So make sure to stop by and say howdy, and see all the new goodies we’ll have there!
As always, I like to give a run-down Wayzgeese Past—and the list is getting mighty long! So if you’re new here and don’t know what a Wayzgoose is, or you just want to relive the glory days, here are my posts from previous years:
• 2009 (Tacoma)
• 2010 (Tacoma)
• 2011 (Tacoma)
• 2011 (San Francisco)
• 2012 (Tacoma)
• 2013 (Tacoma)
• 2014 (Tacoma)
All fired up? Good. See you this weekend!
The Tacoma Wayzgoose is a collaboration between King’s Books and Springtide Press with support from the Tacoma Arts Commission. Steamroller Printing is possible through a partnership with neighboring businesses Doyle’s Public House, the Harmon Tap Room, and The Hub. Many thanks to legions of volunteers who make this event possible, especially from our local institutions including Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, Charles Wright Academy, Stadium High School and Tacoma Community College.
April 17th, 2015
Already 2015 is shaping up to be a year of new projects and lots of changes—I have a barrage of new things to share with you, but rather than bombard you with everything all at once, I’ll stick to just a couple for now. For one thing, I’m excited to announce that a selection of my prints and stationery is part of the Shoppe collection at Scoutmob! So these days my normal stack of packages leaving the studio each week has gotten considerably taller.
Scoutmob is a curated online marketplace of goods by independent makers all over the country. Everything on Scoutmob is made by artist-entrepreneurs—small businesses run by makers like me. So when they invited me to be a part of the collection, I felt like I was in good company. I’m inspired by the diversity of goods being made by independent artists—Scoutmob has everything from cards to art to jewelry to housewares to food and drink—and the collection is constantly changing and being updated. So whether you’re new to Scoutmob, or you’re a seasoned shopper looking for new favorites, stop by my Shoppe!
In other news, I’ve been selected for a Tacoma Artist Initiative Program (TAIP) funding award from the Tacoma Arts Commission! This is the second time I’ve been funded by the Arts Commission (the first time was for my Local Conditions artist book)—and this time I’ll be creating a new body of work called Farm to Table.
As you can see above, I’ve been interested in agricultural imagery for some time, and the subject has been creeping into my work for years. This time, though, I’ll be focusing an entire series of illustrations on local, sustainable farming. I’ll be developing a collection of prints and cards in the next two years, and the project will culminate in a solo exhibition in October 2016. Look for more info and new images soon!
April 6th, 2015
I took a rare day off on Friday, to get out of the studio and gather some inspiration in the…um..field.
My trip turned into a mini-adventure,
full of Washington wonders.
Catching the moonrise on my way home was an extra-special bonus, because it reminded me to set an alarm—
—so that I could catch a nice postscript to the day’s excitement.
March 21st, 2015
I might have a personal preference for autumn, but spring really is the Northwest’s best season. The days are rapidly getting longer, everywhere you look is just bursting with color, and—my favorite part—the season lasts and lasts, for months on end.
I have acres of work before me in the studio, but I can’t help spending part of my days on long walks around my neighborhood—I don’t want to miss a second of all this gorgeous pink.
Today, though, I’m indoors at the Flea Market. So if you’re out on the town today and taking in the blossoms, stroll on down to the Fieldhouse and say hello, won’t you? You’ll bring a breath of spring in the door with you.
March 19th, 2015
First of all, thank you so much for your response to my crazy-long Empire Builder post! Your comments, social media shares, emails, and encouragement have been wonderful—and such a tonic for the nervewracking nature of putting something so personal and complicated into the world. Thank you for that.
Secondly, I was walking around my neighborhood yesterday and I passed this sign—which reminded me that I haven’t mentioned the Flea Market that’s coming up this weekend at the UPS Fieldhouse. The UPS Flea Market has been an annual Tacoma tradition since 1968—and in recent years has been expanded to include artisans and crafters.
(An aside: the new “Fieldhouse Full of Awesome Stuff” title is kind of…um, sort of entirely…all my fault. And it makes me giggle every time I see it in print. My friend Lynn is one of the chairpersons of the market; when they were first considering opening the event to artists, she approached me and Jessica to see if we’d be game to participate. She asked us what we might call the new hybrid event, since “Flea Market” was no longer entirely accurate. We were having just as much trouble describing it as Lynn was, and I just blurted out, “It’s like a whole Fieldhouse full of…AWESOME!” So, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn’t at my most articulate that day…)
Anyway, Jessica and I will be sharing a booth (#7, on the main floor, if you’re looking for us) again this year, and we’ll each have new goodies (I mean “awesome”) to show you. Here are the details:
47th Annual University of Puget Sound Flea Market
(and Fieldhouse Full of AWESOME)
This Saturday, March 21, 2015
9 am to 4 pm
Regular admission $5 (benefits student scholarships)
NEW THIS YEAR: early-bird admission at the side door, 8:15 am, $10
UPS Fieldhouse
N. 11th St, between Alder and Union, Tacoma, WA
See you on Saturday!
March 12th, 2015
I just got back from over a month of traveling—first by way of a road trip to the bottom of California and back, and immediately afterward, a one-way Florida-to-Washington drive with a friend. In 33 days I logged well over 8,000 miles, and crossed several vastly different regions of the country. So even with the help of my trusty sketchbooks, my memories of the trip aren’t terribly linear. They’re more of a jumble of images flashing through my mind—so in that spirit, here is a similar jumble of images.
Now that I’m back in the studio, I’m trying hard to get my momentum back on my ongoing projects—and to suppress (for a little while, at least) the ideas that are coming as thick and fast as the images in my memory. We’ll see how long I last before some new project (or twelve) comes out of this trip…
December 25th, 2014
To me this season is not about a certain day, or even a series of holidays—it’s a collection of moments. It’s those moments that I cherish above anything else—especially when they happen with the people I love best, in this part of the world I call home. I hope your season, however you might celebrate or mark it, is filled with the moments you’ll want to remember always.
Merry Christmas, and happy holidays, from our home to yours.
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