Letterpress Is Coming!!!!!!

My camera was misplaced for the longest while, but I have been needing to document my latest project, the reassemblage of a Chandler & Price 10x15 Platen Press at the Copper Palate Press. Although the plan is to eventually be making photopolymer plates, I couldn't help tracking down some type on ebay to get started. And what better typeface to begin my collection than my much adored Franklin Gothic. This is 24pt. It arrived today and I can't wait to start printing.

I'll be getting more pictures of the press together soon. I'm waiting for a foot treadle to arrive before the bed of the press can be attached to the base. Getting ready to order new rollers and I'm slowly acquiring all the other miscellaneous equipment to get all kinds of great letterpress projects underway. Get ready!

EL-AHRAIRAH: The Prince with a Thousand Enemies (CMYK shirt!)

My latest t-shirt design is based on the 1972 novel, Watership Down, by Richard Adams. El-ahrairah is the rabbits' folktale hero whose mischief and cleverness is much admired by all living rabbits. The name means "Prince with a Thousand Enemies" in Lapine, the rabbit-language. Many of my favorite chapters in the book are these stories they tell of how he tricks/decieves his way out of his crazy predicaments. The text on back is borrowed from the creation-tale Dandelion tells in Ch. 6 describing how the sun-god Frith came to give rabbits their special characteristics.

Colorful halftone image on front with black text-passage on back.

These shirts are hand-screenprinted on 35/65 cotton/poly blend Tultex white shirts. 301 RC Water-based Matsui CMYK inks give the printed portion a super soft feel. I have Unisex sizes (XS-XL) and Girls sizes (XS-L). Limited quantities so order quick (by email for now: jda1984@hotmail.com)! $15 + shipping. [If I'm out of your size I can reprint but please allow 2 weeks. ]

Now, go read Watership Down! (the animated movie is awesome too...)

This shirt also marks my new recent obsession with 4-color process printing and the color halftone filter in photoshop. In all my time printmaking, I've remarkably never printed in this process until now. Makes me want to learn offset really bad! More to come...

Old designs, New Shirts!

The Wolf-Bear and Purple People Eater are back! These pics show some of the variations I was playing around with, but most of the WB's are on white; the PPE's are on the silver.

$15+ship

Soon to be sold through copperpalatepress.com. Or email me and I can check if I have your size/color... (jda1984@hotmail.com)

paper wallet!

I recently bought a new wallet called the Mighty Wallet from DynoMighty Designs while away on vaction in New York to visit my brother. It's basically a folded up paper wallet made from untearable paper that I think is plastic-based. But the nice thing about it is that it could be unfolded enough that I could trace out a template and make my own!

Here's my first prototype:

It's not tear-proof yet, but maybe if I laminate the paper before cutting/folding? We'll see...

(Also, Check out the many different Mighty Wallets on Dynomighty's website... I have the CMYK one!)

THE LAST STAND tee shirt

This is my design for the Copper Palate Press's T-Shirt of the Month Club. Its called "The Last Stand." This fierce sword-wielding monkey graces the front, while the debaucherous but diabolical orangutan, and title, are on back.

Made on CPP's wonderful new 4-color screen press!

ATFP picture reposts

I'm reposting these pictures because I couldn't open/enlarge them in the other post.

SOLO SHOW @CPP: back half

The rear of the studio was made of walls made by stacking up our shop tables and throwing up masonite exhibition walls. I wheat-pasted a nice green triangle pattern on the middle wall which displayed "Tribe of Eve" & "Tribe of Adam." These pieces were made from colorful woodcut backgrounds (on paper) with screenprinted figure drawings on the inside of the glass that floats off the paper background.

Walking around the corner led you through a display of past prints and into an etching project I'm calling "Diana! Diana!" that was also shown as a xeroxed-zine version. Just below another display of prints, I had a table for a book display of a few wooden books, Espresso-book-machine-made books (and coloring utensils for adding to the community-coloring-books), and my recently finished fabric flip book "Crossing the Snowy Plain": a book made from a cover of gessoe'd canvas and text pages from a stack of white washclothes I got at the NPS store. A figure is represented on each page and he has quite the adventure out there crossing the snowy plain...

Then the back wall: A new spiral installation of The Crystalline Garden featuring the lino block it was carved from in the dead center. My laptop played the digital animation version and the flip-book for display right next to the wall installation.

I also put out some old designs I'd done for t-shirts for our faithful fans that keep bringing in shirts fresh for printing. The show was of course helped by my wonderfully talented brother who provided the veggie kabobs and hummus, Mark, Brad, Angela and company on the music filling for Davey (get well!), and all who made it out (especially all you out-of-towners). Thanks!

SOLO SHOW: front of room

I just had my solo show at the Copper Palate Press on Friday. For all who were able to come, thanks for the support. If you couldn't make it, this post is for you.

I didn't have a camera with me for the night of the show, so hopefully if someone has any pictures of the event as it was happening they can post them on facebook or something... I came back the next day to snap these photos which will roughly walk you through the setup of the show.

Starting at the front wall I had three pictures of assemblages beneath blue skies and a birds-in -flight painting on the other side. My most recent work for the show was the hanging catfish made from relief prints on fabric. I was very excited how he turned out.

Then, the epic "Above The Flood Plain" on the main wall: I displayed both the original small drawing version and the translated fabric mural version. The original was drawn around 2007 and the fabric piece was started then, but interrupted when I returned to school. Last summer I started work on it again and had I'm happy I've pieced it together in time for this exhibition. This is by far the largest work I've ever made at roughly 20'x16'.

The Crystalline Garden

View The Crystalline Garden on vimeo.

These prints will be displayed Jan. 21 at the Copper Palate Press studio as part of my show.

Upcoming Solo Show at CPP

!HAPPY 2011!

I'm now counting down the days until my solo show at CPP Jan. 21. I'll be featuring some new textile pieces installed on the walls and from the ceiling... some of my older prints, books, etc. will also be displayed (and for sale...).

Here's a peek at some of what you can see:

Namazu #1: relief printed patterns on fabricAbove the FloodPlain: (paper version) This will be presented also in a huge fabric version that will take over most of the exhibition wall at the Copper Palate.
detail from Tribe of Adam: relief on paper behind screenprint on glass.

And much more!

recent screenprints

for the CPP blacklight show in October: "Purple People-Eater"(detail) 11x17

and for Justin Diggle's annual miniprint exchange: "Six-Pack Attack!" 8x10