Monday, December 15, 2014

randomizer


the struggles of balancing productivity and parenthood lurk around all corners! i am happy to know that  i am not the first but jeez!

winter is here but i need that spring!

in the very beginning of january i will be in california and i will be going to look at this and just wig out about it for months after.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

serious songs for adults


performance of some tunes with my friend Kipp Normand at the Big Car anniverssary at the University Of Indianapolis.
notes:
-even though i look like it, i was not super pissed about anything


Monday, November 24, 2014

your heart is true


there was a time in my life when i worked for a record store in berkeley selling things on ebay. things like records of course, but more often then not it was pieces from a vast collection of promotional materials accumulated over the years by the store's owners. one of those was an Andrew Gold press kit which consisted of a few pages of album info and a glossy 8x10 head shot of Mr. Gold. I didn't know who he was so as a curious young man i did a little research and discovered he was a songwriter and performer who's main claim to fame is writing a song that would later be adapted into a tv show theme song. i wonder how that must feel. like what if i licensed one of my drawings to a cartoon show to make a little extra money and then 30 years later people come up to me and say, "hey man aren't you the dootie dawg guy? he's such a rascal!" would a part of me think, if you like the dootie dawg, check out my fake book about being sad! that's the real deal! you know nothing of my work! (smashes window) but maybe another part would think, something  i did made someone happy and maybe that is all we can hope for!
in the end worrying about your legacy or in some way trying to shape your story might be futile and that's ok! if my mom came home and was like "i'm dating andrew gold" i would say "he wrote the golden girls theme song! remember when we used to watch that every friday night?!those were good times, mom!" and be stoked.
in closing, i should note that the press kit sold to a woman who claimed to be mr. gold's girlfriend.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

SP

is there a more beautiful and good vibes person than stephen powers? probably, but this dude makes me have feelings about things allthe same. i met him once and he was very nice to me.



Monday, November 3, 2014

dj sleek baby

yesterday i raked the leaves and listend to a bunch of unwound.
it worked out great!


today i will think about making things out of wood!


let's go on vacation! something tropical!


carry on with it!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

graves of the week

a few days ago i pulled this record (Graves "Summr Bummr") off the shelf and played it for the first time in a long time. i was drawn to it. and i've been playing it a lot the past few days while i'm drinking coffee or making dinner or playing with the kid. and now i am thinking about it and telling you about it. what a record. it's all the things i like about music and art: understated but thinking about the big things. it's not a crashing tidal wave it's a babbling brook. it's not a free ipad giveaway it's a dubbed tape you find in the shoebox. i can't stop listening to it. 
this record came out on a label called st. ives, which was a sub-label of secretly canadian and their whole deal was letting the artists do whatever they wanted and they made the art out of old SC jackets turned inside out. they started when i was living in indiana the first time and i bought all the first run of things. some of them were by bands that would get more famous later and i ended up selling those st. ives records on ebay later to pay rent. which was awesome! but sometimes i wish i still had those records. but it sure was great to be able to pay rent. 
back to Graves: they have a bunch of records and they are all of Graves, pieces of the puzzlei think. i recently went on Bandcamp and bought a tape called "gravesest hits" which is a collection from all the old records. i can appreciate that and i am appreciating it, and the tape will live in my car for a long time.
and this is what i am really into this week! i urge you to get into something this week! it helps! it works! 


Thursday, October 23, 2014

db / km





i like it when things that i like but think of as being seperate are in fact not seperate. like the alice coltrane record i got that has a drawing on it by gary panter,  it reminds us that none of us are all that seperate. there is a thing about the footage of a kid riding a skateboard in the early 90s that pulls on my heart and left foot. and there is a thing about this song by devendra that also pulls on my heart and my eyelid. i encourage you to find those things for you that bring us together!

Monday, October 20, 2014

ghost butt and smile


notes:
-i was recently reminded that in high school i slept on a waterbed
-i have this nagging urge that i should really know more about jim croce
-do you ever want to watch a  movie but just don't feel like reading subtitles?
-last week black francis played in town and i did not go. this seems like some kind of bummer milestone. my younger self is probably super bummed out.
-i just reorganzied my records and my reggae section is pretty slim. i felt bad about this.
-every night when i am trying to go to sleep i think about all the people i need to send a package off to and i feel bad about what  a flake i have become. to you: i'm sorry, really. i'm working on it.
-i was just thinking about these bright yellow Fuct pants i used to have.
-i'm into tapes these days. i support tapes.
-i want to go on a podcast. i am embarrassed about this. i don't know what it would be about i just would like to sit in front of a laptop and a mic and talk to somebody.
-my kid is so into sitting in a cardboard box and i am so proud of that.
-i can't have nice things


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

posters for your people

these are some new prints i made for my show at mollusk
all promotional posters for the present moment
in some way or manner





all available through mollusk in sf

Friday, October 10, 2014

fruit show

so into fruits and vegetables right now
there is a future in foods
gentelness banana

singing apple

peace fruits flag


Thursday, October 9, 2014

books

these are some books i made for my most recent art show at mollusk in beautiful san francisco california. they are without exception pieces of wood painted just so as to resemble an actual book. they are not real books that you can open and read. they are real things but a different kind of thing than they represent. or not? let's not dig too deep here.

a book about what you're expectig to happen

 don't we all need this? who knows what we're supposed to be doing here? i'll tell you: the person who wrote this for us.

somebody had to do it right? or some thing? here it is condensed.

there are so many ways to live it, here are several.


a collection of them all right here in a beautiful coffee table-suitable display.


new happenings in sad

this is how they handled things 1937-1938

a songbook of songs to sing about/for/to/in spite of all that surrounds

i really am!

finally it can be told! for us by us.


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

travels astral


i went to san francsico and now i am back from san francsico
i ran around and did things and talked to people and showed people things i had made
i am feeling like listening to new records and making new foods
but now i am feeling like being here in the town i live in and not being on the computer
so i 'll show some pictures and sahre some things but later
i promise
how good is this record/tape?

Thursday, September 25, 2014

fruity futures

this morning i heard this song as transition music on NPR.

it was weird. when i was a kid i thought it would be great if the music i liked was what was on tv and the radio, like the world would be cooler. it didn't feel that cool. i don't really feel that cool. what do we call this feeling? it's a like a nostalgia for a future that was not. i'm not sure. 1993 was like the year of hip hop for me. there were a lot of good records. i saw tribe called quest, de la soul, and souls of mischeif at bogart's in cincinnati that year. they took a  really long time to get on stage. i was wearing a white sweater. i saw dog hanging out on the side of the road on the 2 hour drive there. i don't remember what we ate but i thnk it was burger king.

here's a drawing i did for my art show coming up. it's 3 feet square. i'm into the peace fruits as a movement, as a club, as a feeling and force. let's talk about it when i see you.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

rainbo

hello!
i am having an exhibition of new art works! in less than two weeks! with my friends at mollusk in san francisco in the beautiful state of california usa! i will show some pictures soon of the things i have been making as a sneak peek. but at the opening there will be music, beer and the fellowship of buds! won't you come visit? 

Friday, September 12, 2014

friday meditations


this is great to work to. forget about it, watch it reappear. it sounds like a lot of other things but that's ok because it is a thing of itself and the details shift as it contributes to the greater burble and hum. i am into it.


last night i put this on the stereo real loud and pranced around with my kid to it. i have not lsitened to this song in many years but when i first heard it my mind was blown. like the distinctness and deliberateness of everything is crystal. my friend sam used to dig up all kinds of space country jams like this. there are a million things to dig up still. this song still trips me out. good to prance about to.

and this:

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

makes

to do:
make art show
make book
make record
make lunch
make drawing
make up
make bread
make $
make good
make coffee
make it
make shelves to put things on
make some things to put on a shelf
make some calls
make some packages to send off
make it up to you (them) (us)
make the train
make time

Friday, September 5, 2014

cool dorks

i was driving around town this morning going to garage sales and this song came on:

i live in indiana so everytime you turn on the radio there's a 75% chance you will here a little johnny cougar wthin 10 minutes. i have been inoculated since early childhood on him. but something i realized today: this song kind of rules. and this video also kind of rules. i mean, these dudes are dorks. just look at them, with their scarves prancing about in the quarry. but like, sincere dorks. almost overly dork. but they believe in it, man. they believe in the song! i would have loved to have accidentally walked into them shooting this video, lip-synching while wearing their fingerless gloves. i would cheer them on and shout "get it, dudes!" i love it. and you know what: everyone DOES need a hand to hold on to. it does not need to be no rich hand or a strong hand. this shit is real.
it made me think again that i should really move to bloomington. so i watched this:

now i want to get a better bike.
and after all this i came back to my personal king of the sincere romantic cool guy dorks.
here is our eddie:

may you have a pleasant and cozy weekend and may we all be as big of dorks some time in our life.

Monday, August 18, 2014

blankness possibilities and surprises

hello. today i am sharing with you a project that i've been working on for a while in collaboration with Plumb Goods, designers Mcfadden & Thorpe, and head project guru Tucker Nichols. the deal is this: we dreamed up a group of notebooks or sketchbooks or blank books or whatever you want to call them, hid all kinds of secret art things in them (which i am not showing here because we all love discovering and looking and finding) and then made them. and i am stoked on them.
here i will show them all to you and maybe you can go to the plumb site and look at the ones some other artists made, all of which are special in their own way. ok here we go:
 this is the WAKING WAITING WALKING set of three notebooks
one for when you wake up. 
one for when you are waiting for something. 
one for when you are walking around.
they ar all bound differently... 
like a regular book
like a journalist's pad
like a landscape
 and it comes with an accordian fold out book of a drawing i made about the notebooks
 here they are
that gold stamping came out rad
and each book or set of books comes with an interview card where i talk about stuff
katie took that photo in terri's backyard a year or two ago

and now this one:

 this one is the fake book one
you know me: i love fake books
so i made some real ones
 each sketchbook, a nice hardbound thing, comes with two double-sided book covers for a ttoal of four fake books you can look like you are reading or drawing in so you can look smart or dumb or whatevber these things are supposed to make you look like
 here they are
and here it is open 
it really is a nice feeling thing

and we made some inside art and some surprises. 
lots to look at i promise

 and look: another interview card

and then this one:
 this one is record size
and the idea is maybe to use it while you are listening to records
or you can keep it with your records
 and everyone loves inserts with their records so we made some
 here's the pad
 here's a fold-out poster
 here's a mail-order catalog
and here's another interview card 
with a photo by andrew hutchison 
from a show i did at big car in indianapolis indiana

and remember there are secret art things in each one
so please take a look
because we made these for you
and we hope you like them

Monday, July 28, 2014

vans bowl again

i went to huntington beach and helped paint a bowl for the van doren invitational sponsored by vans. this is the true story of that trip. what a thing!
first off: free chardonay in the lobby 5-6. for classy people like me to sip while we are sketching out ideas for a giant mural to paint in a skateboard bowl  for which we have not planned much.

day one! i drew some stuff out in chalk after deciding against something really stupid.

here's a detail of that sketch up. notice the snake. we are getting allegorical up in this piece. 
artist jay howell can be seen peeping on me in the upper left corner.

got them colors down the first day! i tend to think of these things like a print: what color goes first and then what goes on top of it. banana is for scale.

day two!  a dude cometh! it's starting to get hot already and it's like 8am.

in true tom sawyer fashion i tricked michael hsiung into doing some fill-ins for me. not really! michael is a great guy and offered to help! still, i sat in a chair and took this photo of him.

end of day two! the white is in and the black has begun! oh my god there is so much black to do! i am so hot and i want to lay down on the bottom of the ocean.

lucky for me on day three doctor cool banana showed up with a bagel for me. thanks, bro. did i mention this was the last day to paint? yeep!

detail of the strawberry/foot touch interaction area.

here you can see from under the shade tent that it's starting to make sense. the health food is transforming the dream rays into a snakeworm, or is it the other way around? art!


accidental photo that just looks cool. i have finished the black and started to put in some starry dots. time lapse from the photo before: like 5 hours.

stev van doren made me this hot dog and i ate it

finished! agh! if you squint you can see me sitting on the extension. maybe this is the biggest thing  i have painted? i'll find better photos on the internet and put them here. but jeez! this was fun and hard and i am stoked and tired. 

sorry clothes. see you next year!

not shown:
-all the rad dudes i got to hang and paint with
-all the rad food i ate
-how hot it was
-tired bones
-balcony hotel view
-the vans headquarters ramp

sorry! i am terrible at blogging!