OF UNCOOL

MOVING

2009-02-18T16:27:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone,

We've moved on to greener pastures...more control and better design.

Update your links to www.ofuncool.com and subscribe to the rss feed to get the new stuff. It is going to be better than ever. I PROMISE.

Thanks!

Walk for Walk

2009-01-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Please do yourself a favor and check out this animation by Amy Lockheart.

Then poke around on her blog!

Expozine 2008

2008-12-03T15:38:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was Expozine in Montreal, and it was a good time. It seemed like there was more people than last year, but I'm not sure, totally packed house. I picked up a few things and got gifted some things by friends. Here is a few photos of things that caught my eye.

walter scott
rick trembles
lisa czech

Meichen Waxer

There is more up on my flickr.

Cody Cochrane

2008-11-27T08:56:00.000-08:00

Kristina: When did you start painting? What got you started?

Cody: Well, I suppose I've always been painting/drawing/doing something with my hands. I think I was always pretty aware that I would end up doing something visual arts related, but I had to test out the waters with a few different things before deciding that painting/illustration was the way to go for me, and not something like clothing design, which I also toyed with for a while.

You went to OCAD (Ontario College of Art & Design)after high school. How was that?

I pretty much hated art school. That Daniel Clowes graphic novel Art School Confidential sums up pretty well why I disliked it so much. Honestly though, I probably didn’t like it simply because I was so directionless and I knew I needed to be doing something, but I wasn’t sure what just yet. I would have appreciated it a lot more if I went now for instance. I have a better idea of what I need to do in life to make me ultimately happy, so it would just be a far more useful tool now. I really like having full use of the printmaking facilities though. That was rad. So instead of finishing art school, I ran away to Scotland. That ended up being a more educational experience anyways.

What kind of tools and methods do you use? Any things you couldn't live without?

In the past year I've been working primarily in gouache, watercolour and ink. Mainly on wood and paper.

I sort of apply the same principals to my drawings and paintings that I would use in printmaking. I have an image in my mind to start with, and then I build up layers of color in some kind of strategic way, until I have something that resembles the image I started with in my mind. Gouache is such a great medium, mainly because the colors come out so flat and opaque, its hard not to love it, although it can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I think the material I couldn’t live without would have to be the Pentel pocket brush pen, which is totally amazing. And then maybe Turner acryl gouache would be a close second.

How often do you work on your art? What is your routine?

I draw or paint every day. On days when I don’t do something, I feel very weird, and bummed, and then have to lie down. It makes me feel gross. So lately my routine is pretty consistent, I get up, usually go for a run, and then try to spend anywhere from 3-7 hours working on either drawings or paintings, depending on how much other stuff I end up distracting myself with.

How would you describe your paintings?

I can say that I hope other people would describe my paintings as funny, although I'm not totally sure how I might try and describe them. They’re meant to be tongue-in-cheek for the most part, so it makes me happy when someone laughs at my work. I think the subject matter can be a bit dark, but that doesn't necessarily make it morbid, its just dark humor. Not to be taken too literally. I would say there's a fair bit of symbolism in there too, so its just a matter of what it means to the viewer. Like a song, maybe one person hears it and cries, and another hears it and feels nothing. Its all personal, I guess.

You used to make show posters when you lived in Glasgow, as part of the design duo Whitehaus. What's happening on that front? Do you think you'll make any more posters or do zines?

Yeah, I've been doing printmaking for about 6 years now, I guess. I love doing it, and making posters in Glasgow was a total dream. When I was living there, there happened to be a scarce number of poster design companies doing what we were doing, so it was pretty rad. We got to do posters for some great bands that I really admire, like Arab Strap, Low, Idlewild and Midlake. I had intended to pick it up fairly quickly after coming back to Toronto, but it's taken me this long to get the studio situation sorted out. Hopefully in the new year, I should have a new studio and I can get back into it. I would love to do a zine, I've been thinking about it for a while. But I would want to hand-print it, because I work better in color, so I will have to wait until I have a print studio set up.

Who or what inspires you?

It sounds pretty lame, but everything inspires me. The day-to-day stuff I see every day is what I thrive on. Being miserable inspires me too. When I'm bummed, that’s when I really throw myself into painting. And I usually get some pretty cool imagery out of it too. But adversely, I also love humor and seeing the funny side to sad situations. I guess on a whole, I just love contrasting emotions. I'm into experiencing the whole spectrum of emotions. That the only way to be, all or nothing!

Does music inspire you when you paint?

Totally! I've basically got two painting/drawing modes; one where I need to listen to a story, in which case I will usually listen to This American Life, or a forensic science show while I'm working. The other mode is music mode. These days I listen to lots of Smog, Bonnie Prince Billy, Micah p. Hinson, The Magnetic Fields, anything kind of reflective. The most recent Timber Timbre album is amazing! And then when I'm more hyper maybe the Misfits, Animal Collective, BBQ, King Khan and the Shrines, Black Lips, Quest for Fire….. I could go on here, but I think that’ll do.

Any artists you think people should check out?

Yes! Jay Dart does pretty rad illustrations, and I just saw Andrew Wilson’s solo show here in Toronto, which was pretty outstanding. Andre Ethier is an amazing painter that everyone should know about, and incidentally, an amazing singer too. Seth Scriver, Tony Romano and Jeff Garcia are all great. And in terms of non-Canadians, I'm always up for some Richard Colman action, as well as Maya Hayuk. We both love drawing hairy legs, so I feel a special kinship with her.

Any dream goals for the future?

To eat copious amounts of pie and ice cream. And maybe also to have a few more solo shows in the new year. I think I would also love to do a residency of six months or so somewhere cool like Paris, Copenhagen, or even New York at some point. That would be pretty nice.

Last words?

No, I think I’m good.

To see more of Cody's work, check out her website.

Sweet n' Low

2008-11-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

There is an art show tonight at Canteen Gallery(238 Dalhousie) here in Ottawa tonight. I happen to be showing some paintings, but you should come check out everyone's stuff if you're around!

* Clare J. Bowers
* Lindsay Campbell
* Guen Douglas
* Duane Hosein
* Jennilee Murray
* Hsinping Pan
* Pierre Richardson

Reception: Friday, November 7th / 7:00 - 10:00pm

Sweet n' Low runs November 7-30.

Fez Gland

2008-10-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

There is a new issue of The Ganzfeld, and sadly it will be the last. It seems like Dan Nadel pulled out all the stops to make this one stick out through. With 288 pages filled with work by Brian Gibson, Lauren Weinstein, Taylor McKimens, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Jessica Ciocci, Chris Ware, Mat Brinkman & Joe Grillo (24 pages of collabs), Erin Rosenthal, Keith McCulloch, Peter Blegvad, Joe Buzzell, Jon Vermilyea, C.F., Eddie Martinez, Chuck Webster, Mike Reddy and more. The spotlight also shines on Marc Smeets, Joanne Greenbaum, Heinz Edelmann and Pshaw.

And it comes with sweet extras like Paper Rad's Problem Solvers DVD.

Pick it up!

Little and Big

2008-10-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

The Little Big Show is going down this Thursday October 16th at the the brand new Canteen Gallery at 238 Dalhousie, sandwiched between Victoire and Milk in Ottawa. The show is a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club and is totally stacked with worldwide talent.

Including:

Amy Alice Thompson
Andrew McKay
Andrew Neyer
APAK
Betsy Walton
Bonnie Durham
Brandi Strickland
Bruno Souliere
Camilla D'Errico
Christopher Bettig
Christopher Bonnette
Clare Cupcake
David O'Connor
Denise Ann Simon
Deth P. Sun
Diane Barcelowsky
Ella Collier
Erik Otto
Evah Fan
Fernanda Cohen
Francis Vallejo
Fred Free
Gretchen Wagoner
Guen Douglas
Hannah Stouffer
Hayden Menzies
Herman Lee
James Blagden
James Gulliver Hancock
Jan Avendano
Jennilee Murray
Jesse Olanday
Jesse Reno
Jimmy Gobeil
Jo Dery
Jonathan Lam
Julia Sonmi Heglund
Julianna Swaney
Justin Richel
Kelly Packer
Kevin Christy
Liam Oscar Thurston
Lindsay Campbell
Lis Timpone
Lisa Marie Godfrey
Lisa Solomon
Liza Corbett
Lizz Hickey
Marysol Foucault
Michael Deforge
Nick Deakin
Nik Dudukovic
Oliver Hibert
Pamela Henderson
Patrick Gildersleeves
Pierre Richardson
Rachel Hauer
Rachel Salomon
Ray Sohn
Rob Mars
Santos Shelton
Sarajo Frieden
Shannon Rankin
Shawn Eisenach
Stefan Grambart
Steven Weissman
Theodor Pelmus
Yarek Waszul
+ more!!

Come check it out and support the BGC!

Facebook Event

Erasing the Past

2008-10-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a cool video of Robert Rauschenberg talking about the de Kooning drawing that he erased in 1953. Here is a 3 page story about it taken from de Kooning: An American Master, by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.

2008-09-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

alicia nauta runs the ocad zine library in toronto and she reviews zines on her blog,

http://zinesforlunch.blogspot.com/

the twist is she doesn't even like zines. it's pretty funny + she posts really rad zines.

go to the zine library and see

or read her blog

i dont care

-jesjit gill

New Antoine Bernard Book

2008-09-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

Bookmaking/Designers/Screenprinters Bongout have published an awesome book chock full of Bernard's drawings. This thing looks awesome. You can buy it at their website.
If you speak German, you can read the interview Vice did with him here.

The Archive

2008-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

A wonderfully shot mini-doc on Paul Mawhinney's massive record collection, consisting of one million albums and one and a half million singles. It could all be yours for $3000000.

Pushead vs. Danzig

2008-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the audio from a 3-hour long interview with Danzig being interrogated by
Pushead. Pure Evil.

Learn your ABCs

2008-08-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

An awesome alphabet poster by Winston Hacking (and modeled by Cody Cochrane), a filmmaker based out of Toronto that runs a film screening night called Film Fort.
Check it out!

Lose the Beauty

2008-08-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

I bought an issue of Tolkion a long long time ago now, which was focused on an art group they called "The Disobedients". I bought it because it had a page on Ed Templeton, a pro skateboarder and artist, but found within it many other amazing and truely inspiring artists. This movie is bascially all of the people from that issue, and I am pretty excited to see it.

John Olson's Paintings

2008-07-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

John Olson recently started selling some paintings online. Swirling messes of paint and collage, partly disturbing, partly pleasing, but totally incredible.

Check them out, they are great deals.

The Burdon of the Humanities

2008-07-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

I was forwarded this very interesting essay by my girlfriend about the pursuit of the humanities as a life choice. It is quite long but is definitely rewarding read. Check it out!

Neptune

2008-06-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get to see Neptune from Boston play a few nights ago in Montreal as part of the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival. Their handmade instruments, which pushed the limits way beyond the traditional synths and noise boxes, into new territory like guitars and amazing electric thumb pianos were a sight to behold. Be sure to check it out if you get the chance.

Pettibon

2008-06-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

A really nice gallery of Raymond Pettibon work from the summer of 2003.

Jon Edwards

2008-05-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

How did you get into photography? How long have you been shooting?
Something caused by the absence of feeling. Preserving life because I don't know how to feel. I had the idea that I might one day be able to if I spend the time looking. I want to call it still recent. Some years if it's my third. I'm not sure.

Can you describe what it was like seeing your first prints?

It's nice to go back into moments I forgot about and imagine that there is something to feel. When I moved on to Polaroid it was amazing and magical to see the prints exist so soon with as much feeling as other film or more. I played games and pretended that the pictures already existed inside the camera and I would just have to find the spot to release them. Now I'm trying to find what's in my head and it might take a few tries before it appears. It's getting steadier.

Whats your process like? What equipment do you use?

Relies heavily on estimation and chance. I want to say I'm instinctive. I get ideas just from past observations and there's always very much I want to try. Sometimes when I have a moment I like to make it into a picture, and for whatever reason I feel inclined to share. I mostly like to be on my own. I've found that self-portraiture is one of the most convenient ways I can convey an idea. I always use a spectra system and build up a confident relationship with the camera before the picture can be ready to release. I try to complete the image before this release and disfavor the use of any subsequent alterations unless it's the stove. Double exposure is my favourite choice. I use a digital projector and a mirror to help me. I'm interested in assemblages and unification. I hate to be straightforward.

How long has it taken you to get where you are visually?

I was born and then I had to find out how to be like this. I couldn't say I've arrived. Where am I now?

Is there anything you'd like to experiment with? Other cameras or different mediums altogether?

I look forward to the time I can spend drawing. I want to work with fabrics and also build what I won't call sculptures. I'll use other cameras again but I make polaroids most comfortably. I am very emotionally crushed by the thought of not being able to do this forever.

Who is making stuff that inspires you these days?
I don't know how to answer this.

Favourite painters, musicians, photographers, fashion designers,
writers, lawyers, doctors?
For now I only love sea monsters.

Do you have any collections?

I'm sad that I have so few at this time. Recently thecray parts were littered along the bike path again but I didn't have the time to gather as many as I need. It's sometimes sad to hold onto them because I have to see the colour fade away. I found the most magnificent blues that I would want as my skin. They grow greyer with each look. Last year's collection is especially depressing to see now exhumed from a closet. I also collect bones but have too few to be proud of. The skull of one cat from a friend and a collected dove that we could not take care of. There are some others.

What does your average day consist of?

For the whole day I frown because these months have not passed.

Your images are always very layered eerie and vibrant. Did it take a lot of experimentation to get to where you are now?

They don't exist sitting there on their own. People think of double exposure as such a random process but it makes sense if you really understand how it works. I think I have a good understanding and I've come up with techniques to achieve specific results. Most notably I took pictures for 150 days but who cares. I see flaws. There's not much I'm entirely satisfied with at this point.

What ideas are you trying to get across to the viewer?

I strive for a certain degree of ambiguity. I offer fragments of ideas and don't often complete the sentences. That's to say I think there is a lot to be gathered. I hope to at least provide a gripping force. Sleep loss theme exists in all present images. Grown from moods if I had any.

Do you have a hard time sleeping?

But I'm in high school still and all of this couldn't ever agree with me. I could always stay asleep if not woken by this schedule. Too much to do or I just avoid it because I know my sleep efforts will regardlessly be unsuccessful. When I go to sleep I think about the most unfortunate awakenings I inevitably face and as the stress builds it becomes a horrid task. It hurts to know what I'll feel when I see that there are so few hours I can spend sleeping and it's so devastating that I stay awake for hours more. The thought of how bad I'll feel the next day is of course less painful than what really hits me. When I get the chance to lie in a bed all I want to do is think.

Somehow in childhood I came to think of sleep as a weakness. Always said with pride that I'm never tired. There's that vulnerability associated with sleeping. I still fear it.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I'll take some walks.

Do you have any dream projects you'd like to put together in the future?

I hope that I'll soon have the power to tell stories and build some new scenes. Things being decorated and not so recognizable as a human form. More water. If I can find some areas and people I want to have in my life I should have what I can't imagine now.

I think your style would translate well with video. Is that something you've explored or wish to?

It's a long-term adjustment. When I can control time I'll see what I can do.

Any last words?
I haven't been paying attention.

You can see more of Jon's work on his flickr.

And The Winner Is!

2008-04-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

Jamie Hardy has won the contest with a whopping 750! way to go Jamie!

The Mark Delong Challenge

2008-04-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

I got an email from Mark today proposing a little challenge to all of you:

I have been playing this game and would like to challenge the public to beat my score. Can I do that on your blog? The challenger has to beat the score and take a screen shot of it. I will send the winner a drawing,some books and a homemade Extra t-shirt. First to beat 695 wins. My high score screen shot is attached. If you don't want to do this I understand.

--
Best,
Mark DeLong

Click on the screen shot below to start playing.

So get on it everyone, first one to beat a score of 695 gets the goods. Email in your screen shot to info@ofuncool.com

Check out the interview with Mark here.

Pizza Party

2008-04-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Gregory and Ansley have started taking pre-orders on their new Philadelphia pizza review book, The Pizza Book.

You can pre-order this beaut here and get a bonus screen-print.

Matt Lock

2008-04-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

How did you get into making art?
I can't ever really recall "getting into making art" to be honest. Growing up at some point I just drew and my parents kind of encouraged it so I drew more. After awhile I kind of got into it and slowly over time realized that I might actually be an artist.

Were Your parents artists or just supported you in what you did?
My Parents have artistic abilities but no will to use them. My dad used to be in a few bands along time ago. My mom drew throughout high school when she wasn't getting stoned.

Your work throws back to a lot of 80s metal/sci-fi. What is it about that type of thing that draws you to it?
Escapism. I am dissatisfied with the state of the current human being and our planet so I seek to mentally escape it each day. Heavy metal music of old and science fiction books happen to be my "route" to a more pleasant state of mind.

Do you have any collections?

A growing record collection. I would like to start a book collection. Just consisting of books I like enough to re-read in the future. I can't get over the ordering from the library though..free books of course.

What does your average day consist of?
Well..I get up,take a shower,make coffee, then have breakfast while I "surf" the internet. I like to devote a good 2 hours or more to working on art. I put some music on and work on art,exercise then go to work for the night. It takes an hour to get to work so I am often thinking a lot while I drive. That is an average day.

Where do you work?

At a data entry/office job. I am a temp but have been there for 3 months and 3 weeks.

Whats your process like?
Hmm it's strange actually. I can be taking a shower or driving,getting ready for bed and a good idea will pop into my mind. I can kind of see a blurry rendition of what it could look like on paper. I might scribble it down on paper. I have many sheets/small pieces of paper with keywords for drawing/painting ideas on them. Of course most of the keywords I will look at days later and think "What the fuck does this mean?" Sometimes of course I start a painting or drawing and it develops into something else on it's own. I allow a fair amount of time for this to happen now,in the past I used to rush my art somewhat.
Who is making art right now that gets you excited? What bands are you listening to?
I really like Mark Delong's art. Him and I just had a righteous exchange of artwork. I also like Justin B. Williams,Misaki Kawai,William Buzzell,Mehdi Hercberg,Frederic Fleury,Dean Stanton,Daniel Jensen and Kalle Runeson.

I listen to about 5 albums a day or more. I listen to far too many bands to list here. MOST recently I can say I have been listening to bands such as Saint Vitus, Gorement, Sarcofagus, Amon Duul II, Manilla Road, Candlemass and a LOT of Steeleye Span.

Is there any mediums you'd like to start experimenting with? Maybe tying in with the stuff you do now?
Yes. I would like to do some prints. I am really dying to do some prints actually. I would like to do a sculpture in the next year. I finally started working on larger sized paper. This took about 2 years because the larger size really intimidated me.

How did you get hooked up with Nieves? They are putting out so much fantastic stuff.
Ben just emailed me and asked me if I was interested. Of course I said yes. Yeah every time I get a newsletter update from them about a new product it's a really killer looking zine or book. They are amassing quite the catalog! I am very proud to have worked with them.

Whats it like living where you do, kind of removed from a lot of the stuff you're involved with.
It's pretty odd sometimes. I went to this opening for a show I was in that took place at Stairwell Gallery in Providence. It was the FIRST time I have ever been to an opening with my work in it. I sometimes think it would be nice to have more contact with the fraction of the art world that I am involved with. On the other hand it's nice being oblivious to any gossip or drama involved with particular galleries or individuals. Being removed from it means missing out certain things but my stuff has developed so well in this state of mind and sort of secluded environment. It's well worth it.

But do you ever feel like you're missing out on certain things?

Of course I do but I have mostly gotten over it by now. I used to get kind of upset because I was in a rush to get my stuff out there,meet other artists and etc. Nowadays I make due by my lonesome and use the internet to do that stuff. If I were content to live in a city I would probably go to art shows more often.

Is there somewhere in the world you'd like to travel to?
Yes there are a dozen or so places. Picking one place I would say Iceland. It's full of amazing history,the terrain is otherworldly,the climate is to my liking and it's very clean and full of mystery.

Do you have a dream project? What are your plans for the future?
A dream project..this is a hard one. I have been wanting to construct a guitar,bass guitar,drum set and microphone stand/mic completely out of logs,sticks,rope,wood glue,paint and leaves. I have had this idea for about 4 months. I think it's becoming a dream project. If it wasn't going to be such a massive undertaking I might do it. I would want to add some full size scarecrow type figures though. Of course I would design them to look like life size versions of my drawings..or try to.

In the next two years I hope to move to a nicer, smaller, more rural area with my friend and his girlfriend. I hope to be fairly good at guitar by then,have longer hair,have learned at least one language, have a well done Cthulhu tattoo and still be making a shitload of drawings/paintings. Oh yeah..at some point I am going to college finally. Just for Information Technology courses.

Any final words?

Thanks for the great interview and interest in my work..remember to eat good,work less and read more.

You can see more of Matt's work at his website.

Mark Delong

2008-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

How long have you been making art? What got you started?
I've been making artwork most of my life. I could draw a square Frankensteins and dragons when i was young. I once traded a jumbo bag of M&M's for a drawing; it was an image of a demon hanging on a cross.

Did you go to school for art? Where did you go?
No I didn't go to art school. I graduated high school, i hated school, they gave me a small tree as a graduation gift, everybody got one. I planted it in a flower bed on the way to the mall and never looked back.

What is your process like? What materials/tools do you use?
I draw on the computer and then print images,connect them to make large work and then paint and collage into the inkjets. I have been doing this for a few years now. I also paint on masonite and work with plaster.I had a dream just last night about a funland and stubby beers; there was all this artwork and some of it was really nice. When I woke up I remembered some of the pieces and they were ok, a few stinkers but still some usable ideas. I like to use imagery from TV too, like paintings you see on the walls in the background. I like the big painting that Frasier Crane has on his wall,the one with the stripes; I've used the scale and some other elements of that piece in my own large pieces.

Who inspires you?
I'm inspired by lots of different people, artists, TV stars, Americans, animals, Alan Alda, cartoonists and my kids.

You've put out some books through Nieves. How did that come about?
I did a book for them in 2006 called "I Don't Love you Gene,I love Eugene".
Then Jason Mclean and I did one Called "Melanie Sheepwash", it was a split book, half Jason and half myself. They are really great to work with and Jason and I have been working on another one that will come out sometime this year or next.

You were also a part of Nog A Dod, explain what that whole process was like.
I was only part of Nog a Dod a small bit. A thing here and there, I'm fairly new to Vancouver; born and raised in New Brunswick.

Whats your relationship with Jason McLean like? How do you two know each other?
Jason and I met at a Jerk with a Bomb show, I gave him a flyer for a show I had upcoming at the Sugar Refinery, it was love at first sight. We have collaborated on quite a few things over the years and our kids play together; they have a band called the Double Boys. Jason is moving to Toronto soon, I will only have two friends left when he leaves. What does that even mean,Toronto?

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I really don't have any spare time, but some late nights Jason and I go to the casino or get some hot eats/cool treats.

Is there anyone else you'd like to collab with in the future?
I'm not sure, maybe something with someone that has resources or skills that I don't have like a screen printer or a musician.

Who is making work these days that you like? what music do you listen to?
I like Jim Shaw, S.P Ehman,Joey Haley, Jason Mclean, Jaret Penner, Dan Colen, Laura Owens, there are lots of people that make art that I like. Lately I have been listening to audio books but i listen to all the regular stuff in music, nothing special. Some oldies. I don't really like static and people mumbling into underwater mics and all of that.

Any dream goals you'd like to undertake in the future?
I would like to take the kids to Yellowstone national park.

Last words?
Thanks, good stuff. Nice to talk to you.

To see more of Mark's work, check out his website.

Jason McLean

2008-04-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

How long have you been making art? What got you started?

i started making art for birthday parties ....doing a lot of tracing of cartoon images
i am 37 i guess i would have been about maybe 6 yrs old

started?hmmmmm i guess my mom's elvis scrap book and my dad's car homemade car ads
really got cooking when i was in an special art public school and ms. lonkey pushed me
hahah

allison moss at the waffle house, 2005, 20 x 12 inches

You're currently in Vancouver, but are moving to Toronto. Why did you decide to make that move?

my family and i wanted change, the dtes in east side was wering' on us the house prices
being closer to family in the east sounded interesting after being away for 17 years
and being closer to major centres nyc and montreal and chicago
we'll see how long the move last my wife heather likes mls.ca

What is your process like? What materials/tools do you use?

process varies on project, the other day i was thinking of drawing on lettuce with a sharpie
so it can be day to day venacular(?)sp i listen and sample alot
and work in different settings, i walk alot...chance plays a big role
tools vary more than you'd think at times it goes from buying food to finding things
i do use acrylic inks and radiograph black i go shopping for art supplies in non art stores

dull silent night, 2006

Does music play a role in what you make? What music do you listen to?
i listen to music ....i play music kinda usually with costumes....
i have some stuff i did with mathieu malouf(modern dad single dad )on my website
i am doing a taking tape called double dad-lots of rambling story telling with mark delonge

recorded in a dark room with furs---watch out london ontario

listen too-----what
i buy music sometimes at the er room in vancouver usualy go for the packaging

like listening to gangstar rap in lee's car and singing ninja turtle songs with my oldest son felix

usta' listen to old art bell programs on coast to coast ever night even got on the air one night

noise(90's) japanese, john cage and david tutor, whale music floppy discs
78 childrens music, bob dylan.....i'm not on facebook band

Who inspires you?

john candy, andy kaufman,basquiat, spelling mistakes,my mom's cooking
robert dayton and july fourth toilet
solder and sons shop in vancouver, the kaos of the dtes
small press books, non -alcoholic beer, carman and donald's market the positive energy

oh and darrin macadam-rusty clay and british man friend

What do you like to do in your spare time?

spare time? hang out with my kids and pick danelions
my brother wants me to go jet sking if he eats a vietnamiese sub
i like to wander(flauneur? sp)

i like to look at fashion---

i do telphone banking

i don't know when spare time is
i like to sleep and dream,dream ,dream

You use a lot of words and wordplay in your word, are they just things that rattle around in your mind or is there a larger message?

eye of the beholder? whatever that means
i would like to learn italian and more french i started learning some spanish with my friend igor
i would like to incorp. other lanugages
the word play might of come from not being able to spell
i like many meanings not just one
confusion-jibber jabber

one drop in the bucket, 2007, 8 x 6 feet

Quite of your sculptures involve sports equipment, are you a big sports fan? Are you going to hip-check me?

sports early on for me in like was key---lots of golf
i like painting on leather--rich people like sports haha
$
greg curnoe influence sports and art-awakwardness is fun

You put out an amazing amount of books. What is it about stapled pages that makes you excited?

you haven't seen half of them
it is a addiction at times-sometimes it fight of the urge to go to the casino
i don't know that much about putting books together
thay' are not zines and never will be
nog a dog nation'
community

trade i like trades and collecting

Whats your relationship with Mark Delong like? How do you two know each other?

double dads we ust to shoot hoops and bet
we go to the casino on bike rides

our kids hangout and we use to have wing night with the canuck games
we met thru his better half katie

it's be sad not to live in the same city as mark

though there is always the phone

title t.b.a. (locket), 2007, 4 x 6 x 2 inches

Is there anyone else you'd like to collab with in the future?

mainly dead people
i always wanted to work with jim henson
i want to do a kids cbc tv show
with friends from all over

a poetry book with my mom this has been in the making for a while
i like to make work with as the all-star schnauzer band again
this will happen when i move out east
1987-the future

Any dream goals you'd like to undertake in the future?

home in nyc
drink beer when i'm 55 with my kids
stress-begon
be happy with heather copeland
reflect
find religion

not have a sore neck

live in the same house for 10 years

live forever

Last words?

the end..thanks it has been fun

p.s don't let the sun catch you crying

sometimes y, 2007, 15 x 10 inches

You can see more of Jason's work at his website.

Pizzoli's New Pants

2008-03-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Gregory has his new website up at long last! Check out all the amazing stuff he has for your eyes and minds!

Above: His recent Animal Collective poster.

Fucked Up Weekend DVD

2008-03-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

The pre-order for this document of the Fucked Up weekend last October are now up. Click here for more info.

Gary Panter's Psychedelic Lightshow

2008-03-21T15:35:00.001-07:00

PUNCH CLOCK EDITIONS

2008-03-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Punch Clock is a studio space in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that outputs some really supreme screen-printed work. Lately Jesjit Gill, who has been featured on this blog has been putting his time to creating really unique books and even a free newsprint zine called Free Drawings, which features lots of Toronto area artists.

Raw Pizza Zine

Free Drawings

Famous Walls Poster/Zine by Micheal Deforge

You can pick them up here.

Gregory Pizzoli

2007-12-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

Pierre: What was it like moving from New Port, RI, to Philadelphia? What made you want to get out of there?
Gregory: Um...it was good. Newport was nice because I had the best job I can imagine, teaching screen-printing to high school students and doing a summer camp with younger kids. Newport is really small tho and expensive, not many people my age (including myself) could afford to live there. I have a lot of friends in Philly and there is a lot more happening here as far as the stuff I'm interested in, music and art, and like minded people.

It seemed like a really weird place, were you born and raised there?
No, actually when we met at the Seripop "Stuck in a Vortex" exhibition I had only lived there for like 6 months I think. I moved up there after college from Pennsylvania to work at the art center - when the center ran out of money and closed there just wasn't enough in Newport to keep me there.

When we drove up there it seemed like it was just a bunch of people and boats, old money. Anyway, how have you been liking Philly? Will Smith-ing it?
Fresh Prince was from West Philly! I live in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia. It's good, I'm in school now, I live with really productive artists

You aren't hood!
Right now I'm as hood as I ever hope to be.

Which program at which school are you attending?
Philly is awesome though, tons of great artists to collaborate with. I'm at University of the Arts. I'm in the Book Arts/Printmaking MFA program. Just finished up the semester last week

Learning letterpress, offset, litho - all sorts of printmaking and bookbinding stuffs.

More skills to add to the madness. Where do you want to take them to eventually?
I just want to keep making stuff. I really enjoyed teaching - so I hope to do that again someday. My work is all over the place right now. I have been doing these books I showed you, free drawings, recipe books, but I have also been doing political stuff - about the murder rate here in Philly - I'm doing a book about a witch who is sick of housework. One of my wheat-pasted things was in Philadelphia's city paper today.

Woah, that's pretty awesome. Hopefully people will notice what its all about.
Yeah - I have been doing a sticker campaign that is more direct - stickers that say "Hello, my name was", like a name tag for each of the people that were murdered in the city last year, 406 people in Philly in 2006. But I am also making books and other stuffs that don't have so much of a political message, like I said, kind of all over the place right now.

Have you been doing band poster work at all? It looks like your hands are really full.
I've been doing some stuff. Recent ones are: Animal Collective, Aids Wolf, Sunset Rubdown, Child Bite. I am slowing down on that scene a bit - I have some stuff planned for a band from Philly called Papertrigger and I think I might do one when Liars come through Philly this spring. I'm just in school now so I think it's important to focus on that.

Don't forget where you came from though! We need you to keep it up. It seemed like going to Den Haag and hanging out with Zeloot was a huge motivational factor for you. Maybe I just wasn't around before that, but when you came back from there you had so many going. What was that like for you?
Going to Den Haag and staying with Zeloot and Manuel was great. They are some of the nicest and most motivated people I have ever met. I was really motivated when I got back. I moved out of my apartment and into this huge warehouse studio space(I've since moved back into a house). I still like doing rock posters. I'll definitely do one for Fucked Corpse if you guys roll through sometime. Like they live in a huge building that was once a school, but it's still a basement, and they are helping me to pay for stuff to come from America just cause we have seen each others work on the Internet, it was crazy.

Seriously. Its amazing how these things pop up all over the world and nobody really knows much about them. It is the kind of thing people will dig up in 50 years and recognize as great.

Zeloot and Helbaard will definitely be remembered. At the very least in The Hague, as far as a I know they are pretty much THE scene over there. Making it happen just to do it.

Its pretty amazing to see her output and how much is just her and her friends. Who else do you admire? Influences?
Dude, too many people. I'm constantly in awe of people like Zeloot being willing to sit down and draw with me. Mike Deforge, Seripop, Chris Kline, Jelle Crama, Peter Dragontail, Meg Hunt, Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch, tons of people...Marc Bell, Bongout, Steinberg, Kay Healy, Tony Millionaire, Suess, Roald Dahl, Little House Comics, Fort Thunder peeps, James Quigley.

Long lists are fun! Its such a nice way to find out about other people.
Yeah, I'm all over the place with influences I guess. I'm really into print-makers and comic people right now though. I just got the new Chippendale book, the maggots collection, my dad has it at his house so I can get it for Xmas. So excited about that. I just read "Jimbo in Purgatory" by Gary Panter, they had it at the library, so good.

It is really good. I got the new CF book Picturebox just put out. I can't wait for the next one.
Yeah, I go crazy for a lot of the providence stuff. That was a lot of the reason I was so interested in going to RI when I did. A ton of the art and music I am into came out of there. Its weird how stuff like that gets hyped after it happens.

Yeah, its great to see the recognition where it is due though. They put in a lot of years, and they have a lot of years left.
Totally, totally, I went back up last year to see the Wunderground exhibit, it was amazing.

I got the catalog of the show and was kind of bummed out that I didn't get to see it in person.
Yeah, I got the book, it was like, almost too many posters. I saw it the day after providence declares war, and I think I saw the Melvins in Boston the next night.

Heavy!
Anyway, I'm a bad interview, I ramble. I'm starting a tee shirt label!

No, no. One last question. Dream project?
Dream project.... I don't know, big installations of wooden/painted characters made with Marc Bell and the ghost of Saul Steinberg. Just to keep making books. If I could support myself and afford to have a family and do it by drawing and printing and writing, that would be a dream.

Sounds like a good life to me. Any final words?
Happy Holidays.

Expozine

2007-11-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend is Montreal's Expozine, a showcase of all kinds of amazing independent bookmakers, comic artists, and zinesters. If you're in the area you should come check it out for sure. Its taking place place on Saturday, November 24 and Sunday, November 25, 2007, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 5035 St-Dominique (Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, between St-Joseph and Laurier, near Laurier Métro)

Manager's Corner

2007-11-18T18:31:00.001-08:00

An awesome short by Baltimore based Skizz Cyzyk.

Rashomon

2007-11-12T08:52:00.001-08:00

Another Kurosawa film found at the library. Rashomon is a story, well 5 recounting of the same story. Beautifully shot by Kazuo Miyagawa, Rashomon is on of the most stunning visual experiences I have ever experienced. The subject matter is pretty heavy but really gets your head going.

Kirby's Monsters

2007-11-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

An archive of tons of old Jack Kirby comics that have never been reprinted over at Monster Blog.

post #2!

2007-10-30T21:15:00.001-07:00

(cross-posted to my Live Journal)

It's Halloween, so I thought I'd post some art by Hideshi Hino. I don't follow alot of manga, but I try to look out for good horror titles because Japan, generally, has that horror shit locked down (what's up with every single American horror comic looking like this, anyway? Do people seriously find that appealing?)

Hino's Bug Boy is probably my all-time favourite piece of horror fiction, so I've never understood why his name isn't brought up in more discussions about horror manga. His artwork has that same horrible/cute balance that's made Junko Mizuno so popular. . . He's been putting out work since 1967, and a number of his comics have been put to film (including one piece he directed himself for Guinea Pigs, a Japanese series so brutal that Charlie Sheen mistook one of the installments for a snuff film. Now, Japan's made it illegal to have a movie with "Guinea Pigs" in its title, so. . . Nice going, Charlie Sheen. Keep up the good work.)

Typical Hino stories play up the everyday traumas of modern life - social isolation, dilapidated towns, unaffected parents. In Bug Boy, a family's dinner is interrupted by their limbless, bandaged, mutant son, dripping in amniotic fluid and moaning in pain. His father's response is "Look at the mess you're making on the floor!" In Oninbo and the Bugs From Hell, an infant tries to strangle its mother while breastfeeding.

Here:

It's funny and cruel and disgusting, which is, like, what horror should be.

Dan Grzeca

2007-10-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

Pierre: Hey Dan!
Dan Grzeca: Hey Bro. Hows it going?

Not too bad, you?
Good. Just put Ella(Dan's daughter) to bed, the stew is on simmer, and I'm goofing off before I get to work in my studio.

Is your studio in your house? Whats the set-up like
My studio is in the basement of our 2 flat in Chicago. Its pretty nice. 7 ft ceilings, pretty spacious. There's a studio for my wife Kristen, who paints, then there is a large studio space that I use for printing and fine art. At this point, all my screen-printing is done on a hand press, pretty DIY. I'm looking into getting an auto-press in the near future, although that is going to probably dovetail into moving the studio, as a Cameo is too damn big to get into my basement space.

You'll be saving your wrists and back a lot of stress and pain if you get the auto. What materials do you use when drawing a poster up? Whats the process you go through?
Yeah, that's for sure. I've been fortunate so far. Ibuprofen, stretching, and wearing braces to prevent injury is helping. I wish Bourbon helped! As far as my process for working on a poster or a print, its heavily drawing based. 99% of the time I am drawing out the key-line with ink and scratch-board or pencil,ink and paper- with the augmentation of my good friend the litho crayon. Each layer is then hand drawn on Vellum or inked on acetate. If it's Vellum, then I am making film of that layer on the OCE machine at Kinkos. I strive to get as much visceral junk as I can on the layers to get it to have as much relation to a drawing or litho as possible. As far as palette, I only determine that after I have finished the drawing, generally.

It comes off pretty unique, The colors and things blend together so well, did this process evolve over a long period of time? A lot of experimentation?
I'd say it all came together and gelled over the last 5 years. I've been painting and drawing continually throughout, so the effect of each medium has definitely rubbed off on each other. When I first started making posters it was from the perspective of "designing" it and having Steve Walters and later Jay Ryan printing them. When I started printing them myself, I really understood the possibilities of how wide-ranging the medium is.

At the moment I'm working on a new body of work titled "the new world" which is a library of images that can work for me as screen-prints or mixed media drawings. 2I tried out a few of these as images on posters, such as the Low poster from April(the coyote). It seems easier for me to switch back and forth between mediums, essentially.Where does your imagery come from? Just from doodling or are they forgotten gods?
Man, I have a huge interest in mythology, for sure. I'm not quite sure exactly where some of the images come from , beyond being some kind of fun I'm having with automatic drawing , which in turn brings out themes that I'm probably thinking about quite a bit (nature replaced by constructs, artificial replacing authentic). I like the "forgotten gods " term. I might have to steal that.I think it would be fair to list the things that excite me and in all fairness influence my work whether I like it or not:

You're more than welcome to it. Yes a list!
American Indian mythology, Runic imagery, All that insane heraldry (although its easy to ripoff- I see that A LOT lately, especially in posters) from the middle ages, architectural and symbol dictionaries are a wealth of inspiration..... I think the example of trying to be true to having some sort of idiosyncratic or original vision means not just "sticking " to some sort of notion of originality, but really searching and being curious about any number of things that make up what YOU are as an artist and person. Some of my favorite artists are ( in no order and from many different fields) Philip Guston, James Quiqley, Pablo Picasso (his prints are fucking amazing. We have a book of them that speaks to my 2 year old very well. Its amazing to see), Seripop, Max Ernst, Mat Daly, Jeff Soto, Jacob Lawrence , Francis Bacon, Robert Motherwell, Diane Arbus, Lee Bontecou, John Porcellino, Chris Ware, Paul Nitsche, Michael DeForge, Tyler Stout, George Grosz, Max Beckmann, Kurt Schwitters, too freaking many.

Well being in Chicago must be very favorable to your ears then?
Absolutely. My first posters were for Ken Vandermark and the jazz series at the Empty Bottle that he and John Corbett curated. Becoming friends with them and the many other musicians here was a huge thing in my life and helped inform my questions as an artist.
It seems like theres something in the water that has so many great artists coming out of there. Be it visual or music or literary.
Yes, Chicago is really great right now; its always changing, and it keeps on getting more and more interesting. On the visual front I'm really happy with the crew of people involved in screen-printing and poster-making. Its a "scene" or camaraderie that is genuine and inspirational. Mat Daly, Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi, Jay Ryan, Steve Walters, Billy and Jason Delicious, so many good people and great artists. Its been fun to watch everyone grow and to see the various studios take form.

Yeah, it seems like its really community based there. Theres a few little gangs (Bird Machine) but everyone is really good friends with everyone else. OR that's how it seems from someone who has never been to the city.
It really is like that. We have all grown out of printing at Jay's or Steve's shop , for the most part. The Chicago Reader had a nice article this summer on the scene and that was the overall vibe- there is no backbiting here, people care about each other, with no bullshit. I think it is somewhat unique, although it shouldn't be! Friends in other cities tell me some silly stories in that regard. I think if you are already part of a minority (art vs. say , uh, accounting) its smart to be in good stead with likeminded people.

Totally, shared resources totally makes it easier for everyone involved and having a place to go get started makes it so much more inviting and easier for people to get into it.
Totally true. Plus, there's someone to drink with!

Hahah. Absolutely! What were you doing before you got into making posters?
I was making paintings. I was showing some art at what used to be a huge and cool festival in Wicker Park called Around the Coyote - all the artists showed in these cool old warehouses (that are of course now condos and dental offices). Bob Hartzell was showing there as well and invited me to start making some posters. He was working with Steve Walters over at the old Screwball Press Loft on Western Ave. So that's how it all started. The first one I made was for the Vandermark Five. It was ridiculous, like 6 colors or something. SUPER CLEAN.

I remember the first thing I saw by you was the Godspeed! You Black Emperor poster you did. It was really puzzling and intriguing. I came across it later in person at Chloe and Yannick's pile of posters when I was doing an internship with them. It was really nice to see it in person. Your style sure has evolved, where would you like to take it from here?
At this point I just want to see where the imagery and technique will let me go. I'm making a bunch of huge art prints and large drawings in the next few months- the screen-printing is a huge part of it. As far as posters, I'm making more improvised music stuff again, which is great. Its funny, the project I just finished is unusual, its a drawing , full color , that I scanned in and sent to a promoter in Krakow Poland for the Resonance Music event, a Jazz concert with US, Ukrainian, Polish and Swedish musicians. I'll send you a jpg later. I almost never make a poster that way. It was financially impossible to print them here and send them over, they wanted 2000 of them.
Woah, that is a pretty awesome job! I'm excited to see how it came out.
It looks crazy. Montreal seems to have a great scene of artists of all sorts as well. I'd like to visit there. I made a Besnard Lakes/Handsome Furs poster and that was fun.

Yeah, Montreal has a lot going on creatively. Everytime I go there I get pretty excited. Working with Seripop has opened my eyes/ears to so many amazing things.
Its really great to see where they have gone/evolved in the last few years. Chloe and Yannick were next to me at Flatstock 2 in 2003 , which seems like a million years ago now. Thinking about posters, I think I would really like to make another poster for The EX someday. I fucking love that band.

What other dream jobs do you have if time/money wasn't an issue.
Really all I want to do is make my work. I want to make these bodies of work to show- I feel a sense of urgency for sure. Maybe because I'm getting older; the birth of my daughter Ella 2 1/2 years ago was a huge event, obviously. I feel about 1000% more creative since she has arrived. I just want to look at the world with more curiousity- which is impossible to do without the temperance of fury at the total mess humanity has made of the planet. Its impossible to reconcile the beauty and ugliness that contrast each other. My main mission right now is to be as true to my vision of creativity as I can and figure out how to bring it to a financial and practical level that can enable me to fully support my family with it. Insurance in the US is fucked (newsflash!), so that alone is terrifying. We are fortunate to own our home, I just want to build on that. I would really like to curate some shows this year. I am talking to venue now about a print show in Chicago. I also would like to publish an art anthology again. I did one in college called Chop Fold and Grind. Id like to resurrect it and fill it with Dale Flattum, Seripop and the like. I should also add that I'm going to be doing some special stuff with Bongout in Berlin in an exhibition capacity at some point in the future. I'm excited about that.

Seriously, its a small world now! Any final words?
I have to check on my stew!

To see more of Dan's work, including awesome process photos check out http://dangrzecaart.blogspot.com/.

Drawn and Quartery's New Store

2007-10-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

I was in Montreal this past weekend and walking for breakfast I stumbled past the new Drawn and Quarterly store. My friend had told me about it at TCAF and I was excited to see it once it was open. It is still pretty early in its development but has so much potential it is really exciting. Its up on Bedard in Mile End so Go check it out.

Storefront

Interior Back

Interior Front

A Beautifully Painted sign by Seth.

I Can't wait to see what they do with the space

Live from the Dirt Palace

2007-10-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

An awesome schizophrenic 8mm film about the Providence collective Dirt Palace. Well it isn't really an film about it rather than a fast paced view of it all, made by Xander Marro and Mat Brinkman.

A Sight for Sore Eyes

2007-09-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here is an out-take from the Fun From None DVD that Load Records put out of the band Sightings performing at No Fun Fest.

A COMICS PANEL

2007-09-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

A really nice interesting illustrated presentation of a panel featuring Ivan Brunetti, Seth, and Chris Ware done by Gordon McAlpin.

Максим Дмитриев - Жизнь и творчество

2007-09-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

Not really sure what the writing says, but the photos speak for themselves.

La Strada

2007-09-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Again the library comes through with the great selection of films. I heard my girlfriend gush over her love of this one a while ago so I jumped at the chance to check La Strada out. It is the first Fredrico Fellini film that I had the pleasure of seeing and it was definitely worth checking out.

The Soviet's Did it Better

2007-09-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

An awesome daily poster with great write-ups.

via boingboing

Art is Dogfood.

2007-09-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Probably the most famous graffiti artist around right now, Banksy, has posted a few of his sketches for his pieces. I get really excited whenever I see new work from him and I really enjoyed getting a behind the scenes look at his process.

Click here to see more.

2007-09-10T08:50:00.000-07:00

As my friend art-teacher Bert Stabler put it, reading McCloud’s first book, *Understanding Comics* is “like getting a lecture on sexual titillation from a talking pair of pants filled with lunchmeat.”

This is my first post as a contributor here, and I thought I'd link to this Noah Berlatsky review of Scott McCloud's Making Comics. There are parts of the review I take issue with, including the notion that copying other artists is such a surefire way to grow as an artist (it's certainly one aspect of studying art, and an important one, as is drawing from life, formal instruction, etc.) But for the most part, I think he's pretty on-point.

I've always had issues with McCloud - I haven't read Making Comics, but Understanding Comics always seemed like a such a drab, joyless read. It bothers me especially to see it as a prerequisite on almost any Graphic Novels course, including a course in French comic books I took in my first year at U of T. It felt very wrongheaded to be studying a Scott McCloud study of a Tintin page, when it was infinitely more effective to refer to the full-size Hergé page to analyze its formal properties.

Red Beard

2007-09-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've discovered that the Library of Ottawa stocks quite a few fantastic movies so I've decided to start doing little movie features. The first one is Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard which I watched last night. At first when I learned it clocked in at a whopping three plus hours I was a little bit put off, but stumbled on none the less.

It is the story of a man who is training to be a doctor and the trials and tribulations that he encounters along the way. There is also a few little sub plots so it seems like kind of a documentary in a way, broken up into little pieces while showing the path he takes to his final decision in the end after all the attacks on his courage and strength. I'm not going to go too much into it as you can read plot summaries on the wiki or, hell watching the film. The Criterion edition has an awesome commentary with film scholar Stephen Prince. It is stunningly well shot and really pulls you in.

To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes.
-Akira Kurosawa

Nina Berman

2007-09-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Some pretty powerful photographs from Nina Berman.

The Bravest Nino

2007-09-01T09:20:00.002-07:00

An awesome comic done by Elio up on flickr.

Daydreams Are Fleeting

2007-08-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

A nice little interview with Gary Panter.

Jesjit Gill

2007-08-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Pierre: How long have you been making things, Jesjit?
Jesjit: For my whole life! When I was a little kid I made drawings of really bloody gun fights and I would make my own X-Men comics. Maybe 5 years ago I started screen-printing, which is everything that I do now.

Did you read a lot of comics or did you just like the artwork and want to do that part of it?
Oh, I read so many comics when I was young, not so much now. I don't think I could afford that kind of habit, but yeah, I was really into superhero comics, like wolverine! I don't think I was very concerned with the art in comics.You didn't really have like a favourite inker or something? Haha. Your posters seem like they're influenced by all kinds of different artists and mediums. What do you do when you're going to design a poster? What influences you?
For the most part I try not to look at posters by other artists when I'm doing one myself, because it really psychs me out. It's hard to say what influences me, because my process isn't a very consistent thing, sometimes I'll draw, sometimes it'll be collage... but for the most part screen-printing brings whatever ideas I have together. Yeah, its the process that influences me, trying to do as much as I can within the limits of the print is what I think is great!

That is a pretty nice cycle of things, never ending. You taught a course this summer on screen-printing, was that really rewarding?
Totally! I was really pumped to share this thing that I love so much with others, and I ended doing one little workshop with a group of like 5 year old kids, and they were so into it! They thought it was magic, and it is! totally a magical thing, being able to make so much with just your hands, very satisfying. That is what I get out of it.
It seems like you really get a lot out of working with others and really want to push the screen-printing technique out there so people see it and appreciate it for what it is. You curated a show of posters in Toronto and also in Kingston, how did that come together?
I was in a group show in Europe last winter, and though I couldn't see it in person, seeing photos of it floored me, and I thought why not do that here? It was a chance to get all of my favorite artists work in one room, so it was pretty humbling, but really great to share this stuff that inspires me with people who aren't poster-art nerds.

Are you planning on doing more things like that in the future?
Yes! Maybe! I don't have anything in mind right now.. I think I'm just trying to concentrate on making stuff for now.Like the collab drawing books? Being a part of those has been so much fun. Its cool how you get people who weren't able to make it out to the jam involved by doing covers or other illustrations for them.
Yeah! I mean why not? Screen-printing is a medium that just lends itself to collaboration. From posters, trading and stuff I end up getting to know so many amazing artists! So it makes total sense.

Is there anyone you want to maybe work with in the future?
Oh, can I just name my favorite artists? Ron Liberti , Zeloot, Seripop , those are people I would want to work with/work with more. Oh Tadanori Yokoo . Is he still alive? Art Chantry... I don't know. Oh! Cosmic Bubblegum, that's someone else I'd like to work with. his bubble letters are amazing!

What do you have on the go right now?
Right now I am printing a drawing zine from that drawing party a few weeks ago called Raw Draw, and a poster for a band from Hamilton called the Junior Boys.
Music obviously plays a huge role in what you do, have you ever been in a band or wanted to do that too?
I played the flute in middle school. and I have a guitar, I know 3 chords. I have been meaning to sit down and practice more, but it's tough I think screen-printing has spoiled me. I think I need the immediate gratification, of like pulling a print.

Totally, it is a pretty unique medium. It seems to give people power to realize it isn't impossible to make something really cool.
Do I talk about screen-printing too much? It comes up every time I talk to someone. I think I've been doing it for so long, that I'm the 'screen-printing guy' , I mean if I just started doing something else, I would stop to exist. There would be a big hole in my life!

Never too much screen-printing talk. Any final words?
Nope!

You can see more of Jesjit's work at http://jesjitgill.com/ and his posters here.

Remember the past?

2007-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

At TCAF I was lucky enough to see a little talk that Peter Maresca gave about his publishing house Sunday Press Books who put out a massive collection of Little Nemo in Slumberland and Gasoline Alley Sunday pages...at their original size!

Seeing those books in person is really an awe inspiring event as they are just beautifully produced and you can really tell that Peter wants people to experience them and their stories as they were intended. They are hardcover and are a whopping 22” x 34”. They are truly beautiful books. Joe Matt helped out with his complete set of Gasoline Alley Sunday's drawn by Frank King as he has probably the best ones available anywhere.

A Reproduction you can get when you order the Walt and Skeezix Book

Here is a great interview with Peter himself.

Shameless

2007-08-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

I'd just like to post this controversy over a poster that Seripop made for a poster exhibit that was going to run in Hamilton and Windsor. Apparently a member of the board of the the gallery in Windsor thought it would somehow be okay to deface the posters that were made for the show because it had a few type-o's on it.

From:

To:

Okay, keep in mind that the space the show was being held in Windsor is a Printmaker's Studio. Don't they realize this kind of thing is a no-no?

Link to Seripop's post on the matter on their blog with comments from heavy hitters

TCAF

2007-08-26T16:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the Toronto Comics Art Festival, with people from all over showing off their comics and related things. I was really excited to make the trip out and see friends and pick up some things from the people who interested me who were going to be attending. I think in the near future I'll start to do some reviews or give things to people I know to write some reviews.

Friday night, Deforge and I wandered over to Innis College Town Hall to check out the Doug Wright Awards and the talk with Chester Brown and Seth ribbing Joe Matt about his lifestyle choices and reminiscing about old times. I tried to record the talk with a tape recorder that I picked up just for that purpose with the intent of putting it up here. Sadly there was mic trouble and the tape recorders internal microphone wasn't really sensitive at all. Anyway, it was pretty interesting to see their dynamic going, with Seth as theaggressor and Joe just kind of trying to make excuses for the things he was being accused of with Chester sitting there smiling and agreeing with Seth.

After the talk the three of them did a signing of their books. I got a few things signed and had Chester judge my later edition of Matt's Peepshow book and the cracking binding of his Louis Riel. It was kind of funny to have him analyzing my books, you can tell he is a collector.

The second day was pretty fun walking around checking things out and buying the things that caught my eye. I'll start the reviews soon, I promise.

Nate Duval

2007-08-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

Pierre: Whenever I see your new posters I'm always amazed at the wide variety of styles you use. Does that happen naturally or is it just how it works with you?
Nate:Why thank you! Well, the reason this happens is because I don't really think I am "good enough" to constantly work in one, recognizable style. I try to treat each poster as a new project and let the band and their music kinda lead the way for what the print will look like. By doing this, I am hoping I am making the poster more about the music than my art, which is important to me.So most of the posters you do are for bands you already know and have an idea what their sound is? Or when working for new bands do you listen to their music to find inspiration within it?
You're a regular Dan Rathers! Yes, I try to only do posters for bands I have listened to and enjoy. I feel that if I don't understand what the music is about or don't like that band, I have a hard time getting the juices flowing on a concept or imagery and the poster usually goes nowhere. I try to "keep up on the scene, maaaaan" and I am lucky to have the luxury of working for two great venues that book great acts. Occasionally I get o ffers to do work from bands I have never heard of, but in thos e cases i DEMAND links to the tunes or Cd's to be sent to me.

Collab with Zeloot

So demanding! You've also done a few collaborative posters with Micheal Deforge and Zeloot, what was the process like on those?
I love to collaborate! They both went down relatively the same way. Initiate the conversation through an email, and get an idea started. I usually let the person I am working with make the first move. From there we kind of just ping pong images back and forth, adding more and more each time via email. After a few pass backs, both parties are happy and the print was done. Both Michael and Eline were dreamy to work with as I really admire both of their work and it was sooper-fun working on both. Collaborating is always so rewa rding with me, as its always a fresh result and something I could never have done by myself. I work with my girlfriend a lot too, her name is Jen Skelley and she is quited an illustrator. I enjoy collaborating so much, Jon Smith and I have a collaborative poster making team going that we call 1982. We have been quite busy lately and have a bunch of cool stuff dropping really soon.

Collab with Deforge

Woah, that's pretty exciting. There seems to be a lot of design super-groups(BONA, Patent Pending ) making posters these days, I guess its strength in numbers. Is there anyone you really want to collab with in the future?
Hmm, really I am always up for a collab with anyone, but I think Delicious and I could make a pretty cool tag team. Also, collabing with ANY of you wild Canadians would be super great in my book as well. I do love me some Canada.

Have you spent a lot of time up here? Or do you just like the idea of it, haha.
I like the beer, the people and the whole art scene. I feel you maniacs have a really great scene going on and the art is really free and creative.

Well thank you! I get excited when I think of all the people I know who make things up here and then even more excited when I meet new people. There is so much great work being made these days worldwide, Its really hard to keep up. What would be a dream project for you?
I would love to set up some sort of collaborative tee shirt or art print series. It would include me picking a bunch of people I admire and working with all of them making a line of fancy tees or a series of prints.

Oh that would be super cool. It would be neat to see what people would come up with if there was unlimited budgets and people could just go crazy. Like jeans designed by Zeloot.
Yes sir.

Do you have any collections? It seems like pretty much every artist/designer collects something.
It is true. I feel that designing does directly relate to collecting things for some reason. I have a lot of concert posters. I started off as just fan of poster art and slowly turned it into (sort of) a career in the past two years. The walls of my apt. are completely covered. I also have a lot of records, but sadly don't make enough time these days to listen to all of them.

What kinds of music do you listen to? Is it pretty in time with the posters you make?
Yes and no. It's a pretty safe bet that I am listening to the bands that I am making posters for at any given time, but I also listen to a lot of garage rock, DJ mixes, older jazz and funk as well. I seem to have a short attention span, which I think is part of the reason why i make so many posters. I am basically unable to do the same thing or listen to the same thing for too long. I think that's another thing I find so enjoyable about making posters, is that they are quick and done in a few days so I can start working on the next one.

For sure, it is a pretty unique area of design. Do you print all of your stuff yourself?
For the most part yes. My friend Journe and I print basically any poster that we can handle ourselves. If someone else is paying for the printing (band or management) sometimes I will HAPPILY send it over to D&L. We use Sherwin Williams house-paint right out of the can, so really the only time we don't print is when I do full color, CMYK prints (which I have been doing a lot of lately, as you will soon see) or if I just have too many posters to print by a certain date. Since Mr. Williams doesn't make C, M, Y paint I leave that to the pros.

Does Journe do any design work himself?
Nope, he has worked as a commercial screen-printer for like 12 years though and made printing my own stuff really easy and trouble free.

Wow, its pretty rad that you have a good friend who knows the ropes. Printing with house-paint seems to be pretty rampant, much to the archival poster aficionados chagrin. I know Seripop uses Pittsburgh Paints for all of their posters and use it to do CMYK process prints, maybe get in touch with them if you're looking for tips. You know, if you even want to get into that.
Whoa, thanks for the tip, I will definitely do that. Its always more cost efficient to print your own, and if I can get my greasy paws on some cheap CMY housepaint it could be TROUBLE!

Here I am divulging trade secrets! Chloe is going to bite me again. Who are your biggest influences and inspirations for doing what you do?
Here goes: I find Zeloot's "modern psychedelic" to be mind blowing, especially being such a huge fan of the early psych stuff. I just love what she is doing. I envy Print Mafia's aesthetic and work ethic a lot. I think Connie and Jim have a great thing going, an awesome look and jaw-dropping production rate. I love Jay Ryan's thick line art, humor and inspiring color palettes, Deforge's amazing illos and Dirk Fowler's super intelligent design solutions. Really I love the whole Gigposter scene as there are just so many folks making inspiring work in such a free forum that you don't see anywhere else in the "design world".

You don't see that kind of creativity in annual reports? You aren't looking hard enough!
El oh Elle. I just mean in every day commercial design. Like, I work part time as a creative director making identity and websites for credit unions... and these posters I make are a savior to me. I get cool freelance gigs, but my favorite work is making posters, as they are as free as can be.

Well I think its pretty awesome that you get the best of both worlds, one to pay the bills and one to keep you happy, haha. Any final words you'd like to share?
Not really, I feel like I said WAY too much already and by this point most of the people reading this will have either fallen asleep on their keyboard or gone outside to play. Thanks again for interviewing me, it was fun and you are top shelf in my book, pal.

Thanks for your time! I'm excited to see the stuff you have in the works!

You can check out more of Nate's stuff by visiting his website.

Stripper's Guide

2007-08-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

An awesome blog about the history of comics by a comics historian.

Great Old Ads

2007-08-13T21:07:00.001-07:00

A gallery of a bunch of great vintage poster ads.

Tina Vasquez

2007-08-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

Pierre: How long have you been making things?
Tina:I've been making things forever! when I was a little kid I used to paper mache soda cans together in the shape of ugly blobs, glue some googly eyes on them, paint them and give them to my mom. as far as printing though I started that in high-school because my parents gave me a kit for Christmas when I was 14 or 15.

Have your parents always been supportive?
Yeah! Completely and totally! Their house is basically a shrine to me! They even have a bunch of wallpaper I made in their living room! they are cool with me doing whatever.

Like covering the whole room?
No, just half a wall, there is a molding in the center of the wall running horizontally, and the wallpaper is on the bottom part of the wall. The top part of the wall is painted to match a green that it is in the print.

Woah, that must look pretty awesome, is your place decorated like that too? Like your stuff accenting the place?
I like the way it looks, my place is a little more psycho than their house. The wallpaper I made them I specifically made to be not as loud as my usual tastes. My apartment has a whole lot of weird paper I glued onto the wall in geometric patterns. I am heavy into op art right now, as is the rest of the country, have you seen the cover of the new Art Forum?

No I haven't yet, whats on it?
That famous piece, I forgot what the name of the woman who did it is, but its a huge circle and it looks like a vortex. Damn it I can't find it, I just bought it too and can't find it, this is going to drive me crazy. I think I left it in my bike basket. The whole issue is about op art. Also I recently saw a article in Elle decor about making an op art decorated home. It looked amazing.

Do you bike a lot?
Yes I do! This has been a really mild summer in Texas, its kind of crazy, normally no way would I be doing it this time of year but it rains all the time and everything is green and in bloom. I can't resist riding down big hills and smelling everything. Also we have a lot of fire flies so riding at night is also awesome. Actually the other day I swear a lighting bug was flickering in time to the song I was listening to, that fire fly was into Mama Cass too!

Who isn't! What kind of music gets you ready to draw or print?
Well when I am printing I like to be pumped. Lately I have been doing a lot of high volume projects, so I have to keep up my stamina since I do everything manually. A lot of rap music for printing. Have you heard that UGK song, International Players Anthem(I Choose You), featuring Outkast?

Not yet, I'm totally out of the loop. What is your dream project? Who would it be for?
My dream project would be probably having a line of nationally distributed school supplies. Is Lisa Frank a real person? I would want to work with her! Her new stuff is not cutting it though. She puts these slutty Bratz looking dolls on folders now.

Like all the ponies and unicorn stuff?
No, its more like holographic rainbow tigers with angel wings.

I think that would totally rule!
I remember having this folder when I was younger. It was a Lisa Frank folder Anyways, it had like a hamburger, and soda, and french fries, and pizza, all floating in this weird outer space where the planets had rainbow rings around them. It was the best folder ever. I think I still have it somewhere.

What else besides folders inspires you?
Vintage books, children's drawings, playgrounds, hair-dos, toys, baby animals, and my friends!

I think Deforge is going to curate a bunch of vintage kids book posts on the blog, I'm really excited to see them
Dude, tell him I want to participate!! I have an insane collection of children's books. I live down the street from this psycho warehouse thrift store and you have to dig through these huge bins full of broken glass and pointy things and the books are like 35 cents but you seriously find REAL treasure there. I found all these vintage golden books in perfect condition and a bunch of little readers from the 1950s with really simple but cute line drawings in 2 colors. I used to be in child-craft stuff a whole lot but I realized everyone and their mom is using those books for reference. I am over child-craft. Although I am not going to lie the illustrations in those books are tops.

You should totally scan a bunch of them and I'll post them up there.
Okay! I will!

Do you have any superstitions?
You mean like in my personal life or having to do with projects?

Either or!
Yeah but they are kind of little things. Like I have to use the same pencil/pen to finish a project that I started with. Or I have to wear socks and taking off my shoes to really draw the right way. Before I go on a long bike ride I have to ask my grandma to make sure I don't get hit by a car (a lot of my friends have had some serious road rash from getting bumped).

What have you been working on these days? I haven't really seen that much of your new work besides that book.

I am actually window dressing, building false walls, printing wallpaper, and acquiring huge bales of organic cotton that grows in colors to arrange in a geometric pattern in the window. I would say my new work is more to do with installation. I am kind of using printing to really bring together a space as a whole.

Is it for a store?
Yeah its for this fancy organic furniture store, they sell like $10,000 couches and stuff. Its kind of insane, but all the furniture is beautiful though. Uma Thurman just bought a couch from them.

Whats the name of the store?
Its called Wildflower Organics. They sell a lot of stuff by people admire, namely Jonathan Adler. I am so into him lately and his whole life really. I even love his husband Simon Doonan, who is the creative director for Barney's New York and does the most insane window dressings I have ever seen. He did this crazy Andy Warhol display I just cant get over I don't even like Warhol all that much either. Simon started out doing small little stores in London and LA and eventually made his way to New York. that is kind of where I think my career is going. I love displays and dioramas. Another dream of mine is to work at a natural history museum and arrange the animals.

That would be so nice!
I am working on some print jobs too right now, but I signed this confidentiality agreement because its for this huge clothing store, but you should be seeing that stuff soon too!

Any parting words?
Yes, school is for suckers.

Thanks for the support big business!

2007-08-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/19/magazines/business2/Liverich_profits.biz2/index.htm?postversion=2007032009

Andy Warhol Cartoon

2007-07-25T08:06:00.001-07:00

A lot more awesome scans can be found here.

Michael Deforge

2007-07-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Pierre: this is going to be terrible
Deforge: yeah, i'm not very smart

should it be proper grammar? ah fuck it
you can edit it later so we both sound eloquent

well it will be less work if we just do it now i am lazy
god fine

So what were some of the earliest things you remember making?
I've always been drawing. . . I tried to make my own horror comic when I was pretty young. It was called "Ballpoint Pen Comics."I've always been drawing. . . I tried to make my own horror comic when I was pretty young. It was called "Ballpoint Pen Comics."

What types of things were in it? Real stories or just random things?
Pretty much random things. It was because I had some weird EC reprint thing that I got in a dollar bin, and it was pretty different from other comics I was reading. So I thought I'd imitate the model, and make things like a baseball game, but with zombies! Stuff like that. I don't think I ever finished most of the stories.
Did you have a lot of collections? I seem to have nothing but collections.
Yeah, I tend to hoard things. Even as a kid I'd catalogue my toys, arrange them in my closet according to color and size. I spent hours doing stuff like that. Probably because I didn't have many friends?

Did you grow up in the same house all through childhood? I moved around a lot so I needed to shave people out of my life every four years or so, so it was kind of nice to have something to take with me. I was also kind of forced into collecting hockey cards by my dad, I didn't even play hockey.
I stayed in Calgary for most of my childhood, then Ottawa, so I didn't move around. I would just collect things to have them, really. Even things I didn't have much interest in, like rocks and coins. I just like owning things.

What kinds of things have you been collecting these days? What have you been reading/listening to?
I buy a lot of kids books. I try to find ones where the illustrations are a bit scary and weird, like maybe they shouldn't have been made for children. Either because the illustrator was bad, or maybe a bit of a pervert. I also like old workout books. My dad has become really health-conscious and buys ridiculous body building magazines, and I thought they were pretty funny, so started keeping an eye out for 60s and 70s fitness mags. I've started using them for collages. I listen to a lot of country lately, like Webb Pierce and that sort of thing. I think Jay Reatard did my favourite "recent" album, with Blood Visions. Oh, and as far as reading goes, I've really enjoyed the Mourning Star comic and Doodaaa by Ralph Steadman

Does a lot of that kind of stuff (the magazines), with the family connections come into play with your work often?
That's a good question. I think my art is definitely preoccupied with childhood things. But I'm not sure- I mean, for something like the magazines, I use those just because they're funny. The family connection there is pretty much incidental.

It seems like when someone says "That's a good question" it is actually a really bad question that the person it is being asked of can't answer.
Yeah, you're no James Lipton, Pierre. But I did think that was a good question. I just didn't have a real answer for it.

*Laughter* Anyway, do you have any exciting projects you're working on?
Well, I'm serializing a comic called Cave Adventure. It's this silly fantasy thing I do, although I didn't do one this week. I'm also working on a horror book, but it's coming along slowly. I'm also doing a lot of collabs lately. I'm doing a book with Gregory Pizzoli with monsters. And it's also a joke book? I hope you edit this interview to make me seem more interesting. And full of mirth?

Dude its fine! I know you enjoy working collaboratively, who else have you worked with?
About a year ago, I did a book last year with Bongout that I'm pretty proud of. I did the drawings, they laid it out and printed it. I do a lot of drawing jams too. Recently, I've been doing collabs with Nate Duval , Jesjit Gill, Tanxxx. . . Jesjit and I just did a ballet/Bad Brains themed zine, I think he's going to print it soon.
All Screen-printed?
That's the idea. But I'm an idiot with silk-screening, so it's up to him really.

That is pretty exciting, he's a squeegee wizard. What do you like to do when you're not creating art or designing?
I cry a lot. And watch Food Network. I really like Paula Deen.

What recipes has she done lately that made you want to gorge?
Today she showed me how to make Coconut Shrimp.

Do you ever actually make the stuff or just get really hungry?
I usually get really hungry and then end up eating microwave popcorn instead of doing any real cooking. I pick up tips though. Like, oh, maybe I'll add some honey to this sauce! Thanks, Bobby Flay. Chef Ramsey I think is my spiritual guide, too.

Who else inspires you to do things with your life?
I go to sweat lodges and take peyote and Chef Ramsey's floating head comes screaming at me being like "GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER DEFORGE, STOP WATCHING TV AND DRAW!" There are a few artists I like, whose work I can really get lost in, and I think that's what inspires me. Octavio Paz's writing has done that. Marc Bell, Jack Kirby. Their work just has this wonderful overwhelming quality to it. Saul Steinberg, too.
I get really excited when i see Saul's drawings, I keep taking out the giant book on his New Yorker work from the library. He just has an unrelenting line.
Yeah! I really admire how he has this really specific line, but his work still retains its energy. . . It still seems spontaneous.

Yeah, i really like his collages as well, taking a piece of something and building up an entire world around it is something really incredible when its done right.
Yeah, I've been appreciating collage a lot more. I think my collabs with Jesjit have helped. I'm jealous of people who can do it right, and really nail a composition. Like Jesjit can just throw these pieces together on a page, and really quickly builds up the skeleton to a perfect composition to work around.

I guess it just takes practice or being blessed by the devil.
Yeah. Drawing is easy, but it takes something special to know how to use a space that well.

Totally. Whats a typical day for you like?
Man, this will be depressing. I don't have a job right now, so I basically wake up early, draw until noon. I work on personal projects in the morning, and then after lunch, I do illustration work, which is the stuff I do to make rent. So yeah, I draw all day. I'm pretty much a hermit. I find it helps to work on the personal stuff in the morning though, all the usual stuff about your mind being fresher then.

I think its great to have a routine. It just makes it so much easier to hammer things out.
Yeah, structure is the only way I get any work done. I'm become a pretty terrible human being once I start to lose it. If I don't have anything to occupy myself with, I tend to get really awful and self destructive.

What techniques and materials do you usually use?
I really use anything to draw with. I like using Staedtler pens, but I turn out pieces in ballpoint if that's all I have lying around. I do a fair bit of digital work, so I use my tablet for that

Do you like working analogue or digital more? Be honest!
I'm more satisfied with finished analogue works. . . I trust my hand more. But digital can be a lot easier. I can't imagine coloring without by tablet now. It really does depend on the project though. I think I'm pretty good with my tablet, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it, and I need to to ink something by hand. I know guys who can be really precise with theirWacoms, so maybe it's just me.

You're just trying to retain some cred.
This interview is going to destroy my reputation.

I have this theory that people who almost die when they're young seem to become artists later in life.
Haha, I like that theory.

Did you ever have brushes with death?
Nope. I've never had any real injuries even. I'm pretty unhealthy though, so I'm probably in danger of dying of malnutrition. Have many cartoonists have near-death experiences as kids? This seems like something I should know.

I think its quite a few, i can't remember any specific ones, but not just cartoonists, musicians, painters and others too. Its really weird.
I always assumed cartoonists were just lonely people. . . social retards. Like me, right?

Lots of autobiographical comics have references to childhood though, and traumatic events.
Yeah, that's true

Just start calling yourself a comic artist and you'll be fine.
I never faced any hardship. I was a pretty poorly adjusted kid, I just didn't have a reason to be!

That seems like a good low point to end this. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, anything else you'd like to add?
No.

You can see more of Deforge's artwork at kingtrash.com.