the insignificant ramblings of a disturbed graphic designer
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Seattle
We went to Seattle last weekend to attend the wedding of our friends Patty and Rich, who met in Seattle but actually live in the Bay Area now. We stayed with our friends Chris and Jana, who used to live in the Bay Area but have since relocated to Seattle (Wedgwood, actually). Are you confused yet?
The wedding was an opportunity for Velma to see some old college friends she doesn’t get to see very often. Rich was one of Velma’s best friends in college, and they were part of the swing dancing scene in St. Louis, and later in the Bay Area.
Velma and I used to work in the same building as Jana, and Chris and Jana asked us to be the photographers for their wedding a few years back, in a park in the South Bay. They’ve since relocated to Seattle (Wedgwood), and were kind enough to put us up and show us around a bit too (I haven’t been to Seattle in over a decade). Not to mention picking us up and dropping us off at the airport! Friends can be awesome, can’t they?
We spent most of our time in the Fremont District and Queen Anne, and Jana and Velma spent a solid chunk of time in World Spice downtown, behind Pike Place.
Here are a few of the places/things I enjoyed in/around Seattle:
Eat Local A cool organic café and grocery on Queen Anne Avenue N. They use local ingredients and make small batches that are perfect for couples or individuals to pick up on their way home. They also brew Stumptown Coffee.
Nikki McClure Nikki McClure makes extraordinarily beautiful papercut illustrations in a woodcut-like style. You may have seen her calendars or notecards, or recognize her work from books or magazines. We came across a whole bunch of her work (including a few framed originals, which are fascinating to look at up close) in the above-mentioned Eat Local shop, since she illustrated all their product labels.
Destee Nation Shirt Company Chris took us to his favorite T-shirt shop. I really liked several of the designs, but since my travel bags were pretty stuffed and I didn’t want to spend much money on this trip, I decided I’d wait and maybe purchase from their website later.
Revival Ink I saw this artist’s tees and hoodies at a boutique in Queen Anne and at the Fremont Sunday Market too. I liked two or three of the prints a lot, and would’ve bought one of the hoodies, but while they’re a more earth-friendly 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton, they have those terribly cheap zippers that seem to jam within a month of use.
Chocolopolis Another of Chris’s faves, this shop features some exquisite artisan chocolates from around the world, and has free samples out all day.
Hollywood Schoolhouse This is where the wedding was held, a lovely but slightly quirky historical building. The 1912 brick structure hosts lots of weddings and banquets, and has some interesting decorations.
Gas Works Park This 19-acre park is on the site of a former coal-powered gas and oil plant, acquired by the city in the ’60s and opened to the public in 1975. Right on Lake Union, in the middle of Seattle, the park features stunning vistas of downtown and the lakeside portions of the city (Velma, Jana, and Chris pictured above, enjoying the view).
Lenin Since we were only a block away, we simply had to stop and see the 16-foot bronze statue of Lenin in the Fremont. Olya had told me about this (appropriately enough) a couple years ago; I hadn’t seen it when I visited Seattle my first time. If you have a spare quarter-million bucks, you can buy Comrade Lenin for your yard. He’s for sale.
The Fremont Troll The other thing I hadn’t seen last time was the famous Troll. Somehow Holly and I entirely missed the Fremont neighborhood, although we squeezed in practically everything else in our three-day vacation about a decade ago.
World Spice Merchants This popular spot behind Pike Place Market occupied Velma and Jana so long I had to walk around outside because the strong smells were becoming too much for my allergies. Most interesting to me was the Mongolian tea brick, actual bricks of tea which in the past were broken up to use as currency.
Posted by espd at 9:48 PM |
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Sunday, July 20, 2008
Tor.com finally relaunches
The science fiction and fantasy publisher has been teasing people for months with free desktops and even full-length book downloads, in anticipation of the relaunch of their website. It went live today, and they've linked to all the previous free downloads for one final week. Hop on over if you like John Scalzi, Charles Wilson, Harry Turtledove, Peter David, et al.
Posted by espd at 4:20 PM |
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Friday, June 20, 2008
FreakAngels
FreakAngels is a new web comic about a flooded, post-apocalyptic London inhabited by the 12 telepaths who caused the world to end. It’s written by the excellent Warren Ellis, and illustrated by the exceptional Paul Duffield.
Ynnej turned me on to this comic a week or two ago, but I didn’t bother to read it until tonight, and now I'm jonesin’ for the next installment.
Didn't happen. This Sunday I spent most of my afternoon at the old Hunters Point Shipyard looking at the work of artists whom I'd never seen before at all, either because they were new tenants, they hadn't opened their studios the past times I'd attended (not everyone participates every time), or they were borrowing space from other resident artists who weren't showing this spring.
Here's a sampling of the new art I really liked...
Sharon Beals I really liked her nest series, which you can see on Flickr. The small pictures are great but don't do justice to seeing the truly stunning large-format prints she was displaying in her studio. www.sharonbeals.com www.flickr.com/photos/planetcitizen
Zabrina Tipton Zabrina's San Francisco Urbanscapes appealed to me both because of the familiar hometown sights and because the saturated colors and posterized look evoked some of the 1970s pop art I grew up looking at in magazines. sfguild.exposuremanager.com www.zabrinatipton.com
Rebecca Haseltine Haseltine makes her “pourings” using pigments and water, achieving an interesting effect on a translucent mylar that's almost incandescent when displayed in front of a window. www.rebeccahaseltine.com
Leslie Lowenger I liked a couple of the prints by this artist, especially the one pictured above. www.leslielowinger.com
Alan Mazzetti I usually prefer abstract painters to strictly representational, and Alan Mazzetti's didn't disappoint. I especially enjoyed his Foils series, inspired by wine, and talked with him about the interesting characteristics of viewpoint and motion exhibited in his Probabilities series. www.amazzetti.net
David Goldberg I talked with David about traditional photography and his adept use of multiple exposures. I couldn't find him on the web, though.
Kathryn Kain I may have mentioned Kain before, but she was displaying two large pink works from 2006 (I think) that were stupendous. Since they were predominantly pink, it was amazing that I loved them so much, since that's my least favorite color. Unfortunately they're not on her website, and there's nothing else featured there that I particularly like. www.kathrynkain.com
I also saw jewelry by two artists I really liked, which is rare since I'm not interested in most jewelry. Many of the pictures on their respective websites don't really do justice to their work, but in person they were fabulous. Josie Adele – www.fluidance.com www.claudiakussano.com
Even though I've mentioned them before, I'm going to feature these two artists whose work continues to blow me away.
Donate to Wikimedia Foundation Okay, the close-up on the eyes and the creepy hand-wringing is weird, but the rest of this video is good. I'm going to talk with Velma about adding the Wikimedia Foundation to our giving list. And if you've ever used Wikipedia for anything at all, you might consider a donation too. wikimediafoundation.org
Also Also is a really cool design company with a really cool site. Jason will probably like this one. I think he should redesign his site something like this — using Flash to tell an amusing story that's also the site's navigation itself. www.also-online.com
Julia Rothman Julia is a partner in Also (mentioned above) and does all their illustrations. She also does really cool pattern and surface design independently of Also. And if that wasn't enough alsos, she also runs this great blog called Book By Its Cover covering artful books about comics, design, etc. (below). www.juliarothman.com
Maker Faire and the Alternative Press Expo (part 1)
Two of the coolest things I went to in the past few months were the Maker Faire and the Alternative Press Expo. Take my advice: Put both of these events on your calendar for next year!
The Maker Faire is a big fair for DIY gadget enthusiasts. There were some great things to see, including a guy who figured out how to made his own Segway and a massive city made entirely of Legos. But I'll let this CNET Crave video do the talking.
At the Alternative Press Expo I bought a big stack of comics, books, graphic novels, and artwork. I missed this event last year and I'm really glad I got to go this year. It was fantastic and very inspiring. One of the best parts is that, unlike the bigger Wondercon at Moscone, most of the tables are manned (personed?) by the artists themselves. So I ended up seeing my old friend Lloyd Dangle of Troubletown fame (a comic you've probably seen in your local alternative newsweekly), and met a bunch of other fantastic artists. Oh, and I also went to the panel featuring Bryan Lee O'Malley, creator of the Scott Pilgrim series that I enjoyed so much last year.
The stuff I got this year
"God Made Dirt, and Dirt Don't Hurt" A really cool DVD and booklet of awesome artwork by David Lee and the Triplewide Design Collective. www.triplewide.net
Restitution Press An awesome silkscreened booklet by the guys at Restitution Press, and a signed print by one of the artists, Ryan Graff. www.RestitutionPress.com Their domain seems to have been recently taken over by a newspaper, but their MySpace page (sorry) is still up. You can also see some pictures of their work in this Flickr set.
"Tea Club" Signed by the artist, Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang (a.k.a. PMBQ). Plus a custom PMBQ illustration of a panda wearing headphones and eating toast (also signed). www.tea-club.net
"Lava Punch: First Launch" I bought the zine from Bay Area artist Jillian Ogle, who also did a custom illustration inside it for me. www.soylentworks.com
Scott Pilgrim I got Bryan Lee O'Malley to sign my copies of "Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life" and "Lost at Sea." Scott Pilgrim was my favorite find in the past couple years. It's hilarious. But I fully expect the series to take forever to wrap up, since the third book was delayed by many months, and I just get a sense from O'Malley that getting things done is, for him, kind of like pulling teeth. www.scottpilgrim.com
Troubletown Lloyd Dangle, who I first met around fifteen years ago during my volunteer time with the Graphic Artists Guild's NorCal Chapter, signed copies of his Troubletown books "Told You So" and "Funky Hipster Trash." www.troubletown.com
Optic Nerve I got a good deal on Adrian Tomine's "Optic Nerve" issues 1-7 and 9-11 (I have no idea why they didn't have #8). www.drawnandquarterly.com
"Wet Moon 2: Unseen Feet" I'd bought the first book by Ross Campbell a year ago or so, and the second one just came out recently. A couple freebies came with "Wet Moon": "The Damned" by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, and "Maintenance" by Jim Massey and Robbi Rodriguez. www.greenoblivion.com/wetmoon.html
Sean Seamus McWhinny Velma got two comics: "Diary of a Catering Whore" and "Head Trip: by Sean Seamus McWhinny. www.seanseamus.com
"Runoff" I bought a three-book series called "Runoff" from an artist named Tom Manning (signed). I read the first one on my trip to Boston, and it was really good. I'm taking the other two to Missouri next week. Apparently the director of "Pan's Labyrinth" is considering making a movie from the comics. www.robotsandmonkeys.com
"The ACME Novelty Library: Volume 17" I love Chris Ware's work. So I finally bought this. quimby.gnus.org/warehouse
"Fleet Street Scandal: Volume One" Artists Kevin Dart and Chris Turnham both signed this book for me, plus a print of Kevin's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" artwork. This book is swaaaank. www.fleetstreetscandal.com
Monster Sex A set of "Monster Sex" cards/prints by the splendid illustrator Jen Wang. I should've gotten her to sign the cool red envelope they come in, but she seemed pretty busy with other customers and I was on a schedule by that point, hurriedly trying to see the entire last aisle quickly because Velma was waiting to leave. www.jenwang.net
That's all just the stuff I bought. You should see the stack of postcards and samples I have! In the next installment Part 2 below, I'll feature even more cool art.
Part 2: The stuff I saw
Update June 2008: Okay, I've had this list for a year and never set aside enough time to grab some images for it, but today I decided it was finally time. Here are the other artists and things I saw at APE 2007. I'm looking forward to APE 2008, coming this fall.
Daniel M. Davis An Arizona artist with two books of cute monster illustrations and a website with lots of good tips for other cartoonists and self-publishers. www.SteamCrow.com
Pandoras Trunk A cooperative art boutique and gallery in the Haight. Artist Nome Edonna's work pictured here. www.PandorasTrunk.com
Cartoonists With Attitude A group of social commentary and political cartoonists. Barry Deutsch is one of the contributors, whose Hereville webcomic is pictured above ("Possibly the best comic about a troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl you'll read all week."). www.CartoonistsWithAttitude.org
Masheka Wood A Brooklyn, NY, comic artist who debuted his first book, "Deep Doodle," at the expo. www.WhatMashekaDid.com
A Comic a Day A blog that reviews a new issue of a different comic book series every day. AComicADay.blogspot.com
Michael Paulus Interesting artist who works in myriad media. You may have seen his series of cartoon character skeletons. www.michaelpaulus.com/gallery
Ben Walker I really like his style, and his site's pretty cool too. www.benwalkerart.com
On Saturday I went to Wondercon, the huge comics convention at Moscone. I know all of you are rolling your eyes at this point (except Ynnej), but I swear it's not all about dorks waiting in line to see the sneak peak of Spider-Man 3, and dorks enthusiastically clutching that long-sought-after early edition Superman comic they've been looking for since they were eleven, and dorks dressing up as Wolverine and Sailor Moon.
Well, okay, it's a lot about that for a lot of the people who attend.
But I don't go for any of that stuff. I'm pretty selective in my comics reading. I've never been into any of that super hero crap, so about half the offerings at Wondercon are totally lost on me. I'm more into newer talent and small alternative publishers. Plus there are hundreds of booths with everything from T-shirts to graphic novels of the sort I like.
And then there's the Artists Alley, where dozens of illustrators sit at tables and greet people, sketch, sign autographs, schmooze, and whatnot. And we're talking about famous comics artists like Sergio Aragones (Mad) sitting next to up-and-comers you've never heard of. And some of the newer talent — in fact, a lot of it — is just phenomenal.
I didn't spend very much time at all in panels this year, since I was alone (Ynnej, how dare you move to Seattle!) and it's not nearly as much fun to watch a panel or the Star Wars Fan Films by oneself. And without, y'know, a fifth of Jack Daniels.
Anyway, I spent most of my time on the exhibitor floor and found some really awesome finds, such as four 1941 pulp science fiction magazines with original Robert A. Heinlein stories in them. I also picked up a few new things by Oni Press, one of my favorite alternative comics publishers, and a few other new finds.
I also met Joshua Ellingson, whose work I was familiar with because I'd actually bought one of his prints at a seasonal local artisan's store around the corner last year.
Next up, I can't wait for the Alternative Press Expo on April 21 and 22, because some of my favorite artists will be there; Bryan Lee O'Malley (Scott Pilgrim) and Art Spiegelman (Maus) for example.
Update: You can still get this DVD (as of Nov 2007)! I found it in "This American Life"'s online store when I went to donate money to the show. I got it and it's really cool. Visit their site and scroll down to the Lost Buildings DVD.
The wedding was an opportunity for Velma to see some old college friends she doesn’t get to see very often. Rich was one of Velma’s best friends in college, and they were part of the swing dancing scene in St. Louis, and later in the Bay Area.
Eat Local
Aaron
Alexis
Anne
Anya
April
Ari
Bo
Brian
Bryan
Chris
Dave & Terri
Dave H.
Debby
Drue
Fibu
Four Waters
Fwegan (aka Ynnej)
Holly
Hilary
Internet Rockstar
Jason
Jen
Jesse
Jessica
Kansinee
Karl
Laura
Leah
Marc
Martin
Matt
Mike
MJ
Morgan
OkayDave
Olya
Paco
Peter
Rick
Rocky
Ryan
Stellah
Tatum 
Trent
Velma
Veronica
Yu-Po