Monday, March 25, 2013

evening breakfast promotions

promotional poster for the present moment: breakfast edition
 a yolk focus
these handsome silk screens are my dream come true and they are for sale in my shop

m


sometimes i go to the internet and find videos of concerts and let them roll while i'm working on a drawing or goofing on some other. i was happy to find this because it has always been a joy and inspiration to see what mr. pajo is making. the late 90s were a good time for that. i used to go for long bike rides late at night in the summertime in muncie with aerial m on the headphones, cruise through the empty streets during the coolest part of the day. cut off shorts and a loose button up blowing in the breeze. after i saw him play in bloomington i went looking for a looping pedal. these guys are going for it and they don't even know it. they probably know it, but it's more evident in retrospect maybe.
ten years later, how stoked was i when i got to play music on the same night way back when? how stoked was i that he was playing all misfits covers? i got to geek out a little and he told me some good stories about touring with samhain when he was 17. that is a good memory. is it weird to put yourself into somebody else's zone like that? are you trying to vampire suck that energy from them or are you just excited in an innocent and pure way? is it maybe both a little? the boundaries get blurred if there are any boundaries. let's think of it as a soul high five. even if one is left hanging, it's still a high five with another self that doesn't even understand that it is indeed high fiving you on a deeper level.
in conclusion, i was happy to find this video of a papa m concert and it made me excited to play some music and want to go to a small venue and see a dude sitting down playing guitar with or without other people for a long time.

Friday, March 22, 2013

r.w.p. continued (negative arch)



proposed rainbow with problems public sculpture for indianapolis, indiana
also please put the hoosier dome back



Wednesday, March 20, 2013

r.w.p.


sonata

this book is really great. i finished it last night but i've been getting a lot out of it for a month or so now. this appears to be a biography of john cage, and it is, but it also weaves in and around the work of the zen teacher d.t. suzuki, the new york art world of the 40s-60s, and really and most importantly it's about a worldview of interconnectedness that informed one person's personal life and work and how his energy moved through all the people he knew and those open to it. they call it "interpenetration". i know after reading this book that i really knew nothing about john cage and the spirit behind his music, which is really a conceptual art and a reflection of his insides. he was tapping into some things elemental and simple. he was really doing it, man. that's not to say i'm dropping the needle on some john cage LPs. i'm not, but that's the best part, you don't have to, it's about the idea of it and being present within that idea as it's happening. he got so down to the root of music and experience that he didn't need to play any notes. he released himself to the currents of whateverness. it's heavy. anyway, i read this more as a philosophy book, one that really resonated with me. i found out about it by reading this site, which i always find something good and brain/soul nourishing. i suggest you check it out if you're half interested and like good books. let's call it crooked arm book club selection #8. soon we will be like oprah and give away cars, but instead of cars you will look under your seat and find a big bag of nothing.

Monday, March 18, 2013

jm


let's send good vibes of comfort to all those friends who made music with mr. molina, those if us who connected with his songs in a real and meaningful way, and peace to mr. molina himself. art and music and friendship are powerful, important and heavy things in life and let's try not ever to forget that.

Friday, March 15, 2013

sketchy




i've been feeling sketchy all day long.
big thanks to bloom screen printing in oakland. 
i did these drawings for him a while ago but they feel appropriate today.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

fake children's poster for a fake school






































now enrolling for fall 2013.
your child/student will:
-chop wood
-walk around
-watch a couple good movies
-make lunch
-chill out
-give the dog a bath
-attend lectures by guest speakers on quantum physics, musical appreciation, physical fitness, and home economics
-pottery class
-shred documents

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

filled to the brim

i am trying to make something printy to send into the world every other month or so in 2013. in january there was the calendar and the shirt, and now here is a new thing:
do you know what i mean with this? or maybe you can tell me what you mean. or not?
this is an 18x24 three color silk screen in an edition of 75.
of course it is signed and numbered by myself.
it was printed by the always incredible and amazing Bloom in Oakland.
let's take a closer look at that cup real quick:
mmmm... cosmicy.
this is an idea i've been monkeying with a little bit over the past few months and i am happy to offer it up to planet earth and beyond. we're putting ours in the kitchen. thanks, as always, for taking the time and looking. good vibes!

Monday, March 11, 2013

still more shameless self promotion

                                               
oh snap! there is an interview with me in the new issue (april) of juxtapoz art magazine! 
what a line-up of artists! steadman? come on!
and whoa buddy, look at that spread! my friend and amazing photographer andrew hutchison came over and took this portrait in my living room. my parents will be pumped (i think) and now i can take this and rub it in my Drawing 2 professor's face and scream "i told you i thought that all this colored pencil rendering was stupid and you gave me a D but now i am an art success and a millionaire so eat it and now eat this magazine!.... i'm sorry, i don't mean it. in the long run those horrible colored pencil anatomy drawing assignments were probably helpful and i'm sure you were doing your best. let's go get some coffee and we can talk about how i've been forever scarred because i knew you never liked me" or something to that brutal effect!! seriously, though, ms. kristin farr (the interviewer) and i talked for a long time about a lot of different things and she did a great job and made me feel at ease. being interviewed is weird but at least i got to talk about that one part with the sandwich in "Back To School".
but oh man, back to that portrait. here is an uncropped and unretouched version of the photo so i can show you all the crap i surrounded my self with that has secret meaning:
1. a very small chair my grandpa grumpy (that's right) made for me
2. a portrait of kurt vonnegut and his dog sitting on a bed talking on the phone
3. a book about medieval cities with an antonio frasconi cover
4. a chair my grandpa doc (yes) made for me to sit on while playing cello
5. a drawing of a whale made of a thousand little flowers by katie coles
6. a ceramic cat
7. bozo texino photo by bill daniel
8. dadawah "peace and love" LP
9. my favorite mug
10. a strange false leg that once modeled socks, i think
11. my mom's old rad shelving
12. a puffy fabric picture of a cat
13. carl jung "man and his symbols"
14. the music section of the library
15. a wooden peace symbol hand
16. robert plant

i tried to get julius, the cat, to sit on my lap but he would not cooperate. he could have been famous!


Thursday, March 7, 2013

roots!

the other day i was reading an interview online with my buddy michael taylor of the musical group hiss golden messenger, within which he's asked about reggae music and it's appeal to him as musician. his answer as this: "Well, it’s roots, you know? It’s rootsy in the same way that a Waylon Jennings record is rootsy. Disregarding issues of what is “authentic” or “real,” it’s just roots." fair enough, i say! i went on reading the interview and it's a good one and you should probably read the whole thing because it's insightful and funny and all those good things we like. but as the days have gone on, as i drive around i keep thinking about roots. "it's roots." you know what? that shit is real. and i'm not just talking about reggae music, although that does really fit the bill. i'm talking about boiling things down to the minimum or it's essence. and THAT is what all the stuff i've been into or that's inspired me or made me feel wild has in common. roots! and usually for me that means a person and whatever simple tool they are using to make their art. just a person or a group of persons conjuring up some beauty or magic for themselves or the rest of us. getting down to the human stuff, that is what gets me in music and art and everything else really. so thanks michael taylor for bringing that to my attention which is something i've always kind of known but needed some reminding of. i like the idea of adding to the history of being a human without making it about the tool your using, i guess is what i mean. i think i am also just really tired of looking at a computer screen all the time an having to plug things in. maybe it's reactionary roots? i hope not. maybe this is all part of a process of carrying on being alive and thinking more about why you are doing what you're doing and what is you are actually doing. i am tired of thinking about it now.
now check out this video of jean dubuffet that i think is great and very inspiring. 


Monday, March 4, 2013

off the wall

longtime crooked arm loyalists will remember this thing from last year.
now it can be told (or bought, i guess):
i made this shirt for vans OTW series of things they make.
i know this isn't the toughest shirt in the world. no skulls, pot leaves, or barf. but who among us would not want to frontside boardslide a upside-down rainbocurb? no one. 

also:
how is everybody doing?
carry on,  try to stay mellow.