Ahh, September in Seattle

It is always a relief from the Texas summer, and this one has been brutal! I'll be joining other poster arteests once again for Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival at the lovely Seattle Center on Labor Day weekend. So, if you happen to be at the fest, stop by the Fisher Pavillion and visit my booth. Here's a little something new I'll have for sale there:

Okkervil River Poster

I'm organizing a poster series for the 35th season of Austin City Limits, and I chose the recent Okkervil River taping for myself. It was great show and a big thrill to make art for my old friends.

As seen in Spin

The latest issue of Spin Magazine has a review of the new Gigposters book, and they chose one of my Magnolia Electric Company posters as a sample. Too bad they had to crop the sides to make it fit their layout. The photo is one I took of the actual magazine, since I couldn't find it on their site. They have a quote from Jason Molina:

"These special pieces can set a real tone for the show... I remember seeing this poster the moment we got out of the van and we grabbed one right away" 

New poster

I am back in the saddle with this poster for Bonnie Prince Billy. It was a challenge to get a good photograph of this because the values of the ink ended up being very subtle, and the texture within the figure is delicate. Got some ideas for my next poster, my former workers in song Okkervil River are doing an Austin City Limits taping! Check out my post on gigposters.com about the poster series I'm coordinating for ACL's 35th season.

FLATSTOCK 20!

It's that time again, time for all of gawd's children, young and old, rich and poor, hip and not-so-hip, to congregate amongst the hallowed makeshift cardboard halls that is Flatstock. If I'm not mistaken, this is Flatstock's 6th year at SXSW, and I've been present at every one of them. Join me and dozens of other poster alchemists (such as Pete Cardoso above) for FOUR days of sensory overload as we proudly display our colorful oeuvres in a maze of paper and personality. More importantly, BUY some stuff so we as a people can continue to practice our screenprinted swan song until Gabe's horn drowneth us out. Bring cash.

Flatstock Poster Convention
Austin Convention Center - Austin, TX
March 19-22
11:00am to 6:00pm
FREE ADMISSION!

C.W. Roelle

CW Roelle is a friend of mine from Providence, RI who works in wire. His amazingly intricate pieces are made from one continuous piece of black wire and show so much character, depth and fluidity that you'd think they were formed by nature itself.

Oh Joy!

I've become a huge fan of Will Oldham over the years. His Bonnie Prince Billy albums constantly revealing new elements of his song-writing prowess, and always giving me aural pleasure. His new album "Beware" is scheduled to be released on 3/17, and based on my fondness for "Lie Down in the Light", I am giddy with anticipation. There's a video of one of the new tracks called "I am Goodbye" on the Drag City web site. BTW - I'll be doing a poster for Will Oldham's Austin appearance in June!

Fatherhood

So, I wish I could say that I've been busy making new art for 2009, but so far that has not been the case. Instead, I have been happily caring for my baby girl, whom my wife and I adopted in December. Her name is Neko and although she is a handful, she has already inspired creativity in me which hopefully I will have time to execute soon. On top of my fatherly duties, my print shop is full of furniture while we put new floors in 2/3 of our house. Excuses, excuses, I know. Soon I will be back in action making new things. In the meantime, buy one of my calendars at etsy. Baby needs more diapers!

Gig Posters Volume I: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century

I'm excited about the new book from the creator of gigposters.com, Clay Hayes, called "Gig Posters Volume I: Rock Show Art of the 21st Century". Although its not scheduled to ship until April, he's got a fancy preorder on his site that gets you extra goodies. Why should you buy it? Because I'm in it!!