Wednesday, June 29, 2011

tumblin or pierre (the remix)


look at this!
i found it on the internet! actually this person did. i didn't even know the power of tumblr until these fliers started going everywhere. but there is a tumblr power. i am kind of digging this person's new age version of pierre. maybe it is pierre's essence. if you squint you can kind of see pierre in the background. and you know i have a soft spot for the new age. did this person make it though? i can't tell with the tumblr.
that said, i know i can forget to give credit sometimes (like, say, to the old book i scanned this picture of pierre from), but throw a blog a bone and let the world know: pierre is unleashed!
i also just noticed that this was published yesterday. the internet is crazy!
also, somebody start an all-pierre tumblr. do it!

sniff on

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

pole jam


forget hitting the streets, it's about hitting the sidewalks.

movie review


i went to see Beginners the other night. that is the new movie by mike mills. i enjoyed it. i don't know if "enjoy" is the right word. i think that word should mean a happy smiling thing. and i was smiling, but it wasn't the same sort of smile that you get from, say, watching Airplane for the 25th time. so maybe not "enjoy" but "experienced and was provoked to thought and reflection" and here's one reason why: this thing hit way too close to home for me. at least portions of the ewen mcgregor character.

let's see:
-his pet can communicate telepathically (at least that's how i interpreted it)
-he has a sick and aging relative he's trying to take care of (replace the gay part with just being a lot more vulnerable and open when the shit hits the fan and we're getting there)
-he is a graphic designer/illustrator type and his clients just want him to do his "thing" and not what he really wants to do which is more of an honest artistic vision. i mean, in this film, he does album art for a band and they don't really like it. that is the story of my life. (sometimes. most of the time it's not like that, but when it is that's all i think about and all i can remember)(me: i don't want to draw a seakat for your son's birthday cake! (ok, i probably would do that)) as the film went on and certain events occurred, my inner dialogue kept repeating, "come on!" and "get out of my brain."

the whole movie wasn't like that and that's not even what the movie was about theme-wise, but these little coincidences were the doorway for my own personal and truly subjective experience of the film. which was one of loss and birth and disappointment and hope and all those things that make life what it is. i think there is a lot to be said about making the seemingly insignificant things in life magical, but there's also something important about talking about the big deals in life that seem totally unmagical and brutally normal. like handling your relative's mail and bills or seeing someone you love in pain.

another thing i really appreciated about this movie was mr. mills ability to bring his 2-d visual art into the process. i was a little familiar with his "fireworks" drawings and his overall visual output and they translated pretty seamlessly into the movie. even the autobiographical elements i've read just a little bit about specifically popped up in there. that must have been hard to do. to throw in all the specifics, i mean. the movie is all specifics about mr. mills' life. to the wording! it made me think a lot about bringing ideas together and making it all just one big thing: drawings, photos, music, writing. just put it all in there.

and the last thing i'll go on about is how easy it would have been to make parts of this movie really cute and corny. i get the squirms when things get too precious, like when people sing a song together with a ukelele and look into each others eyes and then look away and look back and they are dressed as muppets and then they go skinnydipping and act like shy 10 year olds. that stuff makes me feel uncomfortable. the parts that were funny were funny and totally normal! i feel like we are like big dumb kids in so many ways and i don't need it shoved in my face. Beginners did not do that. i appreciate it! but again, that's just my own deal. you might see things differently. you might think this movie was sad and mopey but it's not. it's really a glad and appreciative movie. appreciative. right? i was into it! let us go and appreciate!

update: found this.
Buddy Bertrand's Blues by Beginners Soundtrack

Monday, June 27, 2011

exciting investment opportunity


i am now a professional sign maker.
you can start businesses for the signs i make.
now available!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

groms


(not pictured: nap area)

totally got burned by a 13 year old at the skatepark:
kid: "so do you guys usually just skate vert?"
me: "no. i'm just kind of old now."
(silence)

also overheard from the same group of 13 year olds:
-"smell my finger, dude."
-"i'm bonin' ollies like i bone chicks!"

then somebody spit on my hat.
ah, youth!

Monday, June 20, 2011

weekend warriors


had a yard sale


sold this to a 15 year old neighborhood girl. i was afraid her parents might come back to my house and demand a refund, but is this stuff even shocking anymore? when i was in 7th grade i was in a skate contest and i they played easy-e during my run. i was really embarrassed because my mom was there. she never said anything about it. maybe because there's not much that's "gangsta" about a middle school skate contest in a church parking lot.


milton glaser painted a 600 foot mural on this federal building in indianapolis in 1974. i can't find a good picture online of it when it was completed and it's looking pretty faded now. a little rainbow of goodness underneath an otherwise oppressive and bummer of a building.

Friday, June 17, 2011

curb sniffin



notes:
-the zine of fliers is gonna be next week. really want it to be good and it's been a busy week.
-missing the old van this week. RIP silver pickle.
-that's all i got

Thursday, June 16, 2011

charms

this week the new vetiver album, "the errant charm" came out on sub pop records. i did the art and design for it and i'm pretty stoked on how it all came together. i was also doubly happy to work with andy cabic and sub pop again.


every time i work on some artwork for andy, the singer and songwriter for vetiver, it's a collaborative process. this time we talked a lot about old ECM record art and the mood of the new album. i was able to get really into the record over the period of time we were working on the art and in the end this is what came out. a nice heavy super gloss all over the outside, too.


washes and shiny blackness all around.


really like the way the innersleeve comes out of the LP jacket. a whole bunch of color out of the dark.


we tried a lot of different lettering and ended up going with this hand-done version of a bubbly-looking cursive. it might be the cleanest type i've ever drawn.


we also made a little promotional art booklet for people who pre-ordered the record through the site.


more washy color on the inside.


the booklet is made up of a selection of watercolor outtakes from the art process paired with photos by alissa anderson. it's about 16-pages in all.


alissa's photos are so great and have been a part of vetiver since the get-go.


the good people at sub pop also made a nice shirt out of the cover art. also available in black. fern not included.

and in all seriousness, this is a great record that rewards repeated listening, patience and headphone time. don't sleep! you can get one now from sub pop or from your local independent record shop. let's support the important things in life, bands and local shops being just a couple of good things that make things a little easier.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

french summer


if you're hanging around in paris with nothing to do this saturday, there's another art show going on. it runs the rest of the summer and it includes some serigraphs printed by the wonderful anaick moriceau. good things!


i wish i was in paris. with these guys.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

uncle snuffy's woodshop


i built this thing. it shall be called "grampa's waterfall".


an obstacle for all ages, finally seeing the light of day and a little early summer usage.


a total make!

send s.a.s.e. for ramp plans.

Friday, June 10, 2011

wild life



notes:
-i put my copies of the iron and wine tour poster i made up in my online shoppe
-it's hot out
-i will be in a couple shows in paris starting next week
-mickey newbury
-zine of fliers next week

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

salty salute


this is a fun project i got to work on recently, now up and out.
from keepsausalitosalty.com: "Buy a shirt and help keep your favorite Bay Area town just the way it is. Ten percent of each T-shirt sale supports a public information outreach effort to keep Sausalito citizens informed about local development issues."


photo of a photo by bill daniel. the world needs more houseboats.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

serpent power

sunday swim


went on a drive-a-round on sunday. that means you have a vague destination in your head and you end up spending almost all your time in the car because you didn't call ahead to make sure things would be open or check the weather before you left. but check out that little van.


as soon as we got to our destination, it started raining like the end of the world. so we had to wait it out a little bit in the parking lot.


i tried to ask if we could take photos of this leg sun dial sculpture but i went into the office and it was bare butts as far as the eye could see. i like to think of myself as a pretty mellow person, but all the casual butts kind of threw me for a second. just a bunch naked dudes hanging out drinking beers. it was a weird vibe. i wasn't ready. anyway, we snuck in while the security gate was up and got a crappy photo of it in the rain.

"The Sun Aura Nudist Resort opened in 1933. Back then it was called Club Zoro and its founder was Alois Knapp, a Chicago lawyer, German Nacktkulturist, editor of Sunshine and Health magazine, and "the father of nudism in America."

The club eventually passed into the hands of Dale and Mary Drost. Their son, Dick, had big ideas: he renamed the place Naked City, made it the home of the Ms. Nude Teeny Bopper Contest and the "Erin Go Bra-less" Dance on St. Patrick's Day, and had built the giant lady's leg sundial, 63 feet long and properly positioned to tell time -- a useful feature for wristwatchless nudists.

Naked City closed in 1986 when Dick was run out of Indiana on child molestation charges, but the leg remains and so does the resort, now under new management. The circular main building with the mirror gold windows is a combination office-sauna-restaurant."

Nude Beach by Birds Of America