Sunday, September 28, 2014

We can't hear a thing when all we think about are all the things we think we might be missin'

September has been a wonderful and productive month here in Portland! I've delved back into the depths of my gold leaf obsession from college days. I'm using the gold leaf as a framing element for my upcoming fine art show at Discovery Wines in Manhattan.

I was lucky enough to do some design work for the fine folks at Discovery Wines as well, which coincided with grape season in Portland. I've never lived somewhere where grapes grow so well. Right now as you walk around the neighborhood, the air smells of grape jelly, rosemary, and ripe figs. It's so fragrant. For Discovery, I wanted to get past the overused imagery of a wine bottle and glass. It seemed too obvious. While vacationing in the Napa Valley this past Spring, I got a great shot of an old fashioned wine press, which I used for this image. Below, the layout drawing:

...and the final! I was really excited to capture the experience of "peeking out" from under a grape arbor.

On a completely different note, my cousin's wife had a baby, and this was a present commissioned for his 40th birthday. Portraits are a scary thing for me (ego gets in the way, sometimes, even for the best of us). Also, capturing a baby's face while still getting a likeness was challenging. I had fun, and learned a thing or two on the way.

I was incredibly honored to be part of the release of Ani DiFranco's new studio album, Allergic to Water, due out next month! My tee shirt is available for pre-order here.

I'm super pumped to be part of 1975's Halloween group art show for the fourth year in a row. This year's theme is "Devil's in the Details", and I wanted to explore where deviled eggs come from.

An old friend of mine opened a restaurant this year. It's awesome to see her success, and be designing for their tee shirts!

I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary in Portland. One of the things I'm doing to celebrate is taking part in Portland Design Week's Mixed Media show at Grand Central Bowling. I get to decorate a bowling pin!