Upcoming Upcomings

I've put a majority of my artistic pursuits on hold in lieu of design contest entry(s) that have commanded a majority of my attention, combined with my day job and freelance work that was already on my plate to begin with. I'll be updating the blog soon with new work and new stories, I'm hoping this will be sooner than later.

Incoming/ Upcoming

Not much to say. Been working on a few things. Thought I'd share a picture:

 

Full stories to come during the month.

Lions, Tigers, Bears Poster

A new print piece I made for the Montserrat College of Art annual illustration show. This year the theme was the Wizard of Oz. I figured I could make something for the show with my set of skills, despite not actually being an illustrator. I had thought to screen print the image to paper but to learn enough about screen printing in the short time I had to make the image seemed a little foolhardy, so I ended up printing it digitally. And since I had the option to print it without size restriction since it was digital, I wanted to make it a poster instead of just a standard mounted printout.

I decided to make it look like something that might be considered "poppy" or "trendy", so having the bright colors in here seemed to be a smart option. That, combined with the vertical arrangement, made the traffic light theme the logical choice. But even though the animal faces are obvious, I had to be sure to follow with the theme, throwing the "Oh My" logo for faux branding.

After the show, some people have asked for their own copy of the poster (and have even offered money for them too). I might have to consider selling copies of these things in the near future.

The Dicky Print - 12/30/11

I’ve made images that incorporate text as a sort of canvas that creates an image when seen from certain distances, usually important people or writer’s whose faces are inside words they had said or written. I had called the series of these images “Speech,” because frankly I wasn’t in the mood to think of something that wasn’t straight out of an art school show. I have made a considerable amount of money with these images, mostly for the Artrageous auctions where the proceeds go to fund various programs and supplies at Montserrat College of Art. The first one I ever made featured Abraham Lincoln. That’s the back story as to these images. Now I want to tell you the back story to this one.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a ska-punk band that was formed in 1983 in Boston, Massachusetts and during the 90’s became one of the key bands that brought this genre into mainstream music. With over 20 years under their belts as a band and even after the passing of ska punk’s mainstream influence they are still going strong. Every year, they preform a special series of concerts in Boston known as the Hometown Throwdown as a way to thank their local fan base and to end the year with a bang. I have been fortunate enough to attend this event for three years. The energy in these concerts is really unlike anything else I know and I can’t get enough of it.

Every completed piece in “Speech” usually focuses on a dead politician or writer, someone who has left words behind that have been remembered. The reason I create these images at all is because that these people who left those words or wrote the speeches and passages that are still with us today are still very much alive because of them. The words give them a sorta of life of their own. And to me personally, the songs of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones have been music thank I can learn from. This band makes me happy that I happen to live in this part of the world near Boston, hell, it even makes me feel proud to be from this area. And I wanted to get that feeling down somehow. So I decided to make a “speech” for someone who was still alive, the song writer and front man himself Dicky Barrett.

I used the song that I had heard the most by the Bosstones “The Impression That I Get” (below) which was played heavily during the nineties and the song that launched their career into the mainstream. It was either that or the first Bosstones song that I ever heard, called “I Wrote It.” Finding the right image to use as reference was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be, I managed to stumble on a great site online and found exactly what I was looking for (also below). I tried to make this one a little differently, using more materials to create a greater sense of depth with colors. The transparent layers stacked up on each other like an animation cel, everything stacked on top of each other in the right order. I was constricted by the text from the song but it wasn’t too great of a hassle to work with. I had to make sure everything fit together nicely or else the whole thing would fall to crap.

After finally getting the layers together, constantly trying to frame it straight and almost killing myself every time I messed up and had to try again, I did manage to finish the damn thing. I would like to think that this piece was the next step in how I make these particular pieces of art, but I had to make sure that I kept the same sensibilities in this piece that I had when I made the first print with Abraham Lincoln. So I had finally gotten it done despite setbacks.

I decided to give it to Dicky himself, a fan gift I suppose. I felt it was the least I could do for a man who had written songs that have offered me a great many things. They helped me unwind when I desperately needed to, offered me ideas about how to write and gave me insight on things that I was clueless about otherwise. I suppose I could call him a hero of mine because of how much I respect him. I had thought to deliver it somehow at the upcoming throwdown, but the likelihood of this actually working was slim. I lived on the Bosstones fan forums for any possible clues and I discovered my possible opportunity. On the evening before the third show, the band met up at an Irish bar called “McGreevy’s” on Boylston St. in Boston for a fan meet and greet. After the times were confirmed,

So I got on the train that evening on December 30th 2011, heading to a place I’d never been to before carrying the print in a plastic sleeve in my messenger bag. I found the bar. Got in the unruly crowd within the bar, sneaking through whoever I could to get to the back. I remember seeing a lot of the people from the show I attended a few days before, it was a little crazy. But to make a long story short:

I didn’t sign the back of the print, I felt that putting my name on it would be cheap but I ultimately wish I did. But given certain facts I think it's best that I didn't use this to promote myself, this wasn't that kind of thing. I was able to bring 2011 to a proper close. I met the man, I gave him the art, mission accomplished. It was weird meeting Dicky Barrett in person because on one hand, there is the whole hero aspect in your head and on the other you know he’s a human being too. But I digress, not everyone gets the chance to have meetings like this with people like Dicky Barrett let alone to be praised by people like Dicky Barrett for making something like the print. Because now when I look at that picture, I can know that the work I did was appreciated by someone who I respect and when it comes to the times when you think to yourself that your not good enough, it makes a world of difference.

So that's the story. I didn’t mean to sound sentimental or mushy, I suppose it can’t be helped. I'm putting up here in the ethers of the internet for the world to read. I can only hope that you, dear readers, can get something from all this. And that I don't get sued. But that's just something I hope for every day when I wake up.

-Jordan

http://www.bosstonesmusic.com/ 

Reference image from skapunkphotos.com

Adding a Porfolio

I finally got around to doing something on this damned blog that might actually be progressive. I'll be hosting a portfolio of my Graphic Design and other such fun projects online as a new page of Windmill Gears. Should be fun, might get known for it. All I need to do now is get it to work.

God help me.

And I thought it might actually be nice to update this blog and use it. This will be the last post here until the new year (which is only hours away but whatever). I hope that next year or even next month has more in store for me using this blog rather than just having it sit here. It has potential, at the very least.

See you next year.

Re-Purposing: Disassembling a K-Cup

I have considered using junk objects and re-purposing them for other things. It's not something I do all the time nor is it something I broadcast. But I think it would be interesting to see what I can come up with. For this new project, I have decided to take a closer look at the Keurig Coffee Cups and see what I can come up with.

So I heard about these Keurig Coffee machines a while ago, single cup coffee makers that are decently popular at the moment. Almost every bank or business I walk into has one. But I heard there was some issues with these coffee makers because of their coffee containers called K-Cups. Plastic cup that holds inside a coffee filter connected to the walls of the plastic cup with a sticky adhesive and of course the coffee or drink mix sitting in the filter.  I know this because I took one apart.

I ended up using a fork to breach the plastic foil seal on the top, those suckers are AIR TIGHT and probably for good reason. but I was sort of surprised with how it looked inside. For some reason, I didn't expect to see a filter. Sort of stupid to think that in hindsight but I digress. The reason for this "operation" was to see the issue with why it might be difficult to recycle these cups as they are after use. Each piece separately can be placed in the proper recycling outlet but I don't find it likely that people would even bother taking them apart like I did to recycle them. Throwing them away would be much easier than dealing with the headache.

So I have been considering what can be done with these thin walled plastic cups. How could I re purpose them in lieu of just throwing them away and letting them take place in a landfill? Well, with a puncture hole on the bottom from being used for coffee, they can't retain liquids unless the bottom is fixed. (When you place a K-Cup in the machine, it punctures the top and the bottom of the cup to allow water to pass through) I'm considering my options with what the machine has already provided me.

Pinstripe 23 - Threadless

So I thought I would try to give threadless another shot and I decided to work with an earlier design from the summer. If you look back a little,  you might see that 23 on a pair of headphones that made it all the way to the final stages of the Skullcandy Aviator headphone competition last summer. I wanted to see what I could do with the design and so I ended up making this. It's currently up for votes and if you happen to have a moment to spare, any positive input would be greatly appreciated. 

Follow this link to see.

As for other work, especially my on going series and projects like the "Plastic Beach" images, well to be honest I have done little to nothing with those. It's not that I have forgotten they are there, it's just that I've begun to lose motivation to bother with them. It's a shame really, because I was hoping to have these images completed one year ago. Despite certain personal setbacks, I'll at least finish most of them . . . if not all.