brother in arms.

I've had the pleasure of spending the last few weeks with a buddy of mine that I've known since the first day's of working at Nike. We both came in at relatively the same time, and grew inseparable pretty quickly. Years later I still count him as one of my closest friends, and every time we see each other (which is a lot less than I'd like) we pick right up where we left off.

Frank is one of those people that burn hotter than you or me. It's a light that draws a lot of us moths, it also requires that he live in a way that meet his standard of passion and decency. Tired of the same old game we've played too many years in the design field, he's resolved to do things differently. Currently Fank is hustling his ass off starting up a new venture called PAXX LAB, an online environment that seeks to spread good instead of harm through creative means. He also happens to be one of the most inspiring designers and photographers. His imagery can burn a hole through your brain, and his work requires that you hand over the keys and let a professional drive. Rest assured you are going to get to a place you've never been before and have a hell of a story to tell in the process.

If you have a passion for something bigger. He's your man. Check out PAXX within the coming months and get on board.

the difference of days

so much can happen in a season. things are starting anew... new focuses.

New Year

Some years are like a forge. Here's looking to sweetness...

Lost Wisdom -Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron & Fred Squire

born on the cusp

At the end, or the beginning of the Cincque Terre trail in the little town of Riomaggiore on the Italian Riviera, there is a spot called the Via dell'Amore, or the "Road of Love". It's become a place where you can find the handwritten scrawl on the walls of the cliff of countless hikers professing their love. Also thousands of locks, symbolizing the undying love of the placer, can be found on the iron railings that protect hikers from the hundred-or-so foot drop into the Ligurian Sea.

The spot itself has become a tourist attraction of sorts. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people must pass by this spot every day. I was going through some photos recently of the trip E and I took to this place not too long ago, and it got me thinking about how this dangerously narrow pathway carved out of the rock of a sheer cliff by human hands, overlooking something breathtakingly, heart-achingly, beautiful, was at the same time just steps away from a fall that would certainly be your end. I think the symbolism was a bit lost on me at the time, but if I ever go back, I think I'll bring a lock.

Born On the Cusp -The American Analog Set

Seven years, 1,000,000 miles.

In June of 2001, Eileen and I (with the help of my two brothers and my parents) packed up a u-haul and headed from Eugene, OR back to Portland. I had spent the last five years of my life trying to figure out how to turn my need to create into a sustainable way of life. That's a gross over simplification. Actually I spent most of that time trying to figure out how to re-write the path I had set out the first eighteen years of my life. Those five years brought a lot of evaluation, growth, questions and even a few answers.

Yesterday I was asked to participate in the University of Oregon Design Department's BFA reviews. They've recently set up shop right here in Portland (something I would have killed to be part of). A hand full of eager student designers/artists were able to join up with Faculty, and some local design professionals, to present their work. It was a great opportunity to bounce their ideas off some folks in the field, and for us to get out of the studio and talk about art.

The reviews went great. I really enjoyed seeing the work, and getting the chance to talk to both the students and the faculty (some of which I hadn't seen since I graduated). It reminded me what a luxury it is to be in the academic setting, and how much I enjoyed that environment. It also gave me a chance to reflect on my own journey from student to where I am today.

It's been an amazingly fast seven years. But when I look back, to think that six years ago, I was working at a McMinemens washing dishes and tending bar, it's crazy how much has happened in that time. I've gotten to know so many amazing people that have influenced my voice as a maker, and have had the opportunity to learn so many things that I remember specifically wondering as a 20 year old student how someone, in my position now, learns.

The answer is time. And possibly finding something you can be so passionate about, that you are willing to spend that much time on.

disco=love

At least that's what it is for my dear friends Matt & Genevieve that go to all the trouble of putting together some of the most intellectually provocative nights of ass shaking you will ever have.

I just recently did some posters for their next gig at the Holocene. It was fast and fun. Hopefully they'll let me do it again some time. I promise to pick a font people can actually read next time (sideways smile). 

the new romantic

Just got a copy of the latest Purple Fashion Mag. the other day and was reading up on the artist Ryan McGinley. Really beautiful stuff that is right in line with what's been attracting me as of late. There is a poetry and romanticism that you rarely get in the slick pages of a fashion mag. With him, you get a sense that he is part of the scene happening. There's an intimacy that can only come off as a genuine love for the subject and willingness to take himself and his subjects into a place of real trust. 

autumn soundtrack for coming home

It's fall, and for some reason, I am really attracted to everything that's just a little off and moody. It's already getting dark by the time I am heading home from work, and the sky is just turning to dusk. It's kinda purple, and the air is getting brisk, I am wrapped up in my scarf and jacket and the last leaves are coming down from the trees. There are a few songs I find myself continually going back to on this walk that turn the 10 minutes into a much more cinematic experience.

Porcelain -Populous with Short Stories

No One Does It Like You -Department of Eagles

Running Up That Hill -Chromatics
(A cover of a Kate Bush song that is just as good)

refocus.

I don't know if it's the weather, or some astral pull, but I am feeling a shift.
Time to start to re-focus on what matters. Time to stop taking and start making.

Here's a little something I made during a project I worked on recently.
You can check it out here if you want.

endless ocean endless sky

It's been a while, but I've been busy.
Just finished a sereies of two posters to commemorate the performance of a dear friend, Tahni Holt.
"endless ocean endless sky", is a dance performance told in 100 chapters through movement, light, sound, and architecture.
It also happens inside of a giant inflatable iceberg.
Definitely worth seeing.

oct 11-14
the commons: PNCA

check it out her site here for more.

I will be selling both of these hand screened posters in an edition of 35 each @ $16 a pop or $30 for both.
They will be available at the performance, but contact me if anyone wants to claim one ahead of time.

You can also buy them online here.

it's all for you... it's for you all.

just finished another series. starting to draw some connections here. more to come, i hope.
the goal it to get a few different ones and then possibly a show? possibly selling? who knows.

done.

Hot off the presses.
8 color screen print.
Hand pulled in my basement.
Edition of 25.
Feels good to get something made.

this just in...

look at what I just got.
If you are really nice to me, I might stamp your hand.
If you're really, really nice to me... I will stamp whatever you want.
This is going to be great for keeping track of who has paid to get into my house.

pick one

screen printing... in the works.

never closer.

spell it out.

A friend, and fellow co-worker, Ben has started his own web site dedicated to the beauty of typography. Thought type was boring? You're not exposed to thisdayintype.com. If you got what it takes, you may just be able to make his calendar.

check it out

I even got to have a go at Memorial Day.

Visit my day.

I'm Famous!

Finally, I am being recognized as the model I truely am.
This is the latest Nixon ad we've made, starring skate phenom Paul Rodriguez Jr.
Of course, anyone that knows my work (or my smarmy jacket) will realize that it's my wrist highlighted in the shot.
I wasn't threatened at all to have P-Rod in the ad as well. I hope it gives him some street cred.
A nice mashup of work from two amazing photographers (Jason Nocito and Ray Gordon).
It was fun how we pulled this one together.

Now I sit back and wait for the royalties roll in...

read me.

I have been reading this book lately and really digging it.
I especially dig it because it was written by my favorite Portland performance artist-come-movie director-come-writer.
The fact that most of the storries are both messed up and beautiful helps too.
Oh yeah... and the jacket that comes in either yellow or bright pink.
I liked the yellow.

swallow

I've been meaning to post this for a while.
My good friends Marty Schnapf and Tahni Holt and a few other folks put together a little performance/ concert about a month back. It was all for the finale of Marty's installation at the downtown Stumptown called "the swallows", in which Marty had projected a series of words on the wall of Stumptown.
10 of us (Marty, Tahni, Sarah Farrell, Tom Thorson and Nancy (interiors project), Jesse Lichtenstein, David Neevel, Liam Kenna (Megadome, Snuggleups), and Katie O'Brien-Clarke (Iretsu)) all created a song around the words from Marty's show. The fun part was that each of us joined in and contributed to each others songs. It was all strung together by a performance/drinking game conceived by Marty and Tahni. Hard to explain, but it worked.

Lots of folks showed up for the performance, and although we didn't have much of a sound system (or stage for that matter) everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The best part for me was meeting a ton of cool new people. I hope to stay in touch.

my contribution.

long time coming

this one too.
if you can, listen to the song "the risen lord" by will oldham off his album "black/rich music".
it's killing me right now, not sure why now.
"now I must conquer the fear of life"

this is what I have been doing currently...

in answer to the question.
been getting into painting again.
not sure what direction it's going right now.

i have to say something if i want to sing....

my legs are so tired from all this standing still.

when we touch...

it's spring.
everything is burgeoning.
i can feel it.

forgive my lateness.

things are on the horizon.
i don't think I will be keeping this site as it is now.
much more interested in connecting with more image than word.
thinking about making a change...
stay posted.

currently.

new

resolved to do more good.
resolved to see you more.
resolved to say something worth saying.
still trying.

Look Closer...

It is finaly done.
The fruits of some intense labor.
It was a long road to getting this done, but it turned out pretty good.
Check it out.

this is what it looks like, being tired...

some people spend their lives making their mark on the world.
i get paid to do it for other people.
hope I don't forget to make my own

somewhere along the way, it begins to reveal itself to you.

to my friends, Robin and Ian

this summer has been a poignant one for me. i have had the privilage of attending several weddings (including my own). part of me wants to mourn the loss of something that i can't quite put my finger on. our lives certainly have changed in the years that we first knew each other, and in many ways, we have each taken the path, that will inevitably move us towards the realizations of our own stories and at the same time, strangely, away from each other’s. it's a life i used to fear and assume (naively) was about giving up. choosing one path inevitably excludes so much that it can look like settling to someone who has yet to make those choices that start their own paths.

my point is this. i see now that we are all moving towards something far more rewarding than i ever thought possible, something sweeter. this adulthood that i feared for so long is about settling... but in a way i could have never understood. it is about finally making the choices that allow us to be the people we never knew we could be. it is about making choices bigger than us in the hopes that we will learn to be better than we are now. it's about faith. and it's more beautiful than anything we could have done in our youths.

congratulations Robin and Ian. two of the most inspiring and beautiful people i know. it has been a privilege to know you both and watch you grow. may each step you take together be sweeter than the last.

www.dancepoddance.com

Alright folks.
It is finally here.
We have been working a long time now, and I can finally say that Dancepod is going down. Please check out the web site we have created for further info.
09.09.06
11pm Portland
Party with Berlin, Mexico City and NY
all at once.
Big ups to Marty.
Way to go all!
visit www.dancepoddance.com for more.

handle with care.

my little brother.

My younger brother, Ryan, got married this weekend to his love, Amy. Congradulations to the both, and welcome to the family Amy. Times like these really expose how fast this all goes. Make time.

and yet it can still tun your heart inside out with it's beauty...

blood for ink.

Happy birthday Dave!