Father of Odin

TESTING

2010-03-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

First post from my phone. Hoping this will allow me to post more often and with more "in progress" pictures.

A lot of new stuff coming down the pike that I'm very excited about. Stay tuned.

CBG

2009-12-21T10:04:00.008-05:00

I'm very excited about my most recent tinkerings. I've begun making cigar box guitars. Well, at least I've made two... It's quite a lot of fun though and I think I'll be making a lot more in the near future.

My first attempt was a bit crude, but given that I used wood I had laying around the shop ( mostly Pine ) and old bicycle parts, I can't complain too much. Various bits of an old shifter make up the majority of the hardware. A brake pad is being used as the nut while a chain ring serves as a decorative touch for the sound hole. I used actual guitar strings but was given a bright idea this morning of using brake cable for the strings instead ( shoulda though of that myself...). I'll have to re string it and see what it sounds like. For it's simplicity and crudeness it actually produces quite a naturally distorted sound. I'm determined to mike it and use it in some of my recordings.

The second attempt serves two different purposes. The first being that I get to further smooth out wrinkles that occurred in CBG 1.0 as well as make a gift for my Father for Christmas. My Dad does not play guitar but told me that he always wanted to learn banjo. While I can't afford to buy him a banjo, I can afford to make him a cigar box guitar. One thing I had going for me right out of the gate this time round was a a supplier for real cigar boxes... A co-worker's Father recently closed the doors on a long time cigar shop, leaving hundreds of empty boxes with nothing to do besides take up real estate in his Father's garage. I've made my plea for taking as many as he's willing to give me off his hands.

So, cigar box(es) in hand I laid out my plans. I knew from my first experience that tuning machines were a necessity. It's true, you can make tuning pegs that will kind of work but authentic tuning machines make life easier. I also wanted to pick up a nice piece of hardwood for the neck. $19 later I had enough supplies for two guitars and was ready to go. I had wanted to use fret wire on this piece as well but financially it wasn't viable and I also couldn't wait for shipping so I went ahead without.

All in all I'm very pleased with the outcome, it looks good and is fun to play. The sound in general leaves something to be desired but I've taken note of where I think the problem areas are and will remedy them on my next attempt. It sounds a bit like a half sized guitar mated with a ukulele.

"The Preachers Box"

If you're interested in having a CBG made for you, drop me a line at smhfrlnce@gmail.com and we'll go over specifics. Thanks!

New paintings

2009-12-21T09:58:00.004-05:00

Finished a few new paintings I've yet to post here. The Holidays speed everything up and slow everything down simultaneously. Lots of things going on but not a whole lot being produced. The new year is almost here though and I have lots of plans for January. Stay tuned.

"The Beauties of the Bordeax", Acrylic on wood panel, 24" x 36"

"Old Master", Acrylic on wood panel, 24" x 48".

HIPPO

2009-10-28T17:13:00.001-04:00

Here is a three color serigraph I made of a hippo skull. Would like to do a series of these, I'm thinking a Muntjack skull next...

MAC WORTHINGTON GALLERY

2009-10-28T17:03:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend I was offered representation with the well established Mac Worthington Contemporary Art Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. I'm excited to say the least! My first showing there will be in March but until then, here are a few new pieces I have finished and uploaded to the macworthington.com site.

"Lunch Break" 48" x 24", Acrylic.

"Preacher", 36" x 36", Acrylic.

WHEEL GIRL T-SHIRT CONTEST

2009-10-28T16:55:00.003-04:00

The good people at wheelgirl.com held a t-shirt design contest for the second year in a row this year. After having missed my chance last year I was determined to get something off to them this year! To my surprise, I won! The prize was a super rad day-glo green and navy Chrome messenger bag that I've been proudly sporting for the last week. Thanks for choosing my design wheelgirl.com!

NEW POSTERS

2009-10-28T16:42:00.005-04:00

I just did these two poster for Kurt Vile in Dallas and Murder By Death in Connecticut.

Black Variant.

White Variant.

Murder By Death. Inspired by the song Spring Break 1899.

THE DECEMBERISTS

2009-08-17T19:24:00.003-04:00

I did this poster for the Decemberist's "Hazards of Love Poster Contest" which they posted on one of their fan forums. The contest was for a show they did at SXSW at which they were going to ( and did ) play their new album in it's entirety. I didn't win but I liked doing the poster as it has a lot of fun elements in it and is for one of my favorite bands. Perhaps in the future I'll be able to do a show poster for them. Speaking of which, I picked up this poster by Strawberryluna at the Decemberists show here in PGH on Friday. They were fantastic, as is her poster.

GP COLORING BOOK #2

2009-08-17T19:12:00.004-04:00

I've been forgetting to post about this forever too. I had a chance to get in on the second edition of the Gigposters Coloring Book (Scroll down after the jump) and am super glad I did. I have only a few copies of this left and am keeping them for the personal archive. I highly suggest you pick one up from Gigposters though as it has some very good line art in it from many talented artists and the proceeds go to keeping Gigposters.com up and running. Win win if you ask me!

I WANT YOUR SKULL

2009-08-17T19:07:00.004-04:00

Something I should have posted a while ago was my involvement in the book/zine/website "I Want Your Skull #6" put out by the super cool Ryan August. This has been a while and I've just completely forgotten to post anything about it. I have several copies available if anyone is interested in purchasing one. I'm also getting together a submission for the next book which should be coming out soon.. Enjoy.

Ball point pen with Photoshppery added.

Also, I submitted this for the "Skateboarding Issue" that ended up not happening.

Pen & Ink with Photoshoppery

THE CANVAS PROJECT

2009-08-17T18:29:00.002-04:00

The good people down at The Art House Co Op allowed me to submit for their show " The Canvas Project". The Artists involved with said project were given 5 mini 3" x 3" canvases as well as 5 words ( that were submitted by people who visited the website ) that each artist had to interpret. Here are my five canvases...

"Fiesty", Acrylic

"Slink", Acrylic

"Spore", Acrylic

"Technophobia", Acrylic

"Slot", Acrylic

There you have it. Five words, five little canvases. They, along with a lot of other mini canvases, are on display at the Atlanta Airport Atrium Gallery until September 4th. If you happen to be unfortunate enough to have a layover there, stop by and check it out, I'm sure it's cool.

MY CARDBOARD SPACESHIP ADVENTURE

2009-06-22T20:53:00.004-04:00

Few new things I've done for the good guys in MCSA ( one of the best band names ever in my opinion). These guys are all about color and happiness and for someone who is usually content to dwell in earth tones and melancholy, it's a nice change of pace. Look for these upstanding young men on the Kevin Says stage at the Pittsburgh ( Burgettstown ) stop of this summer's Van's Warped Tour, July 8th.

19" x 12.5" 4 color screen print with split fountain for summer tour.

3 color t-shirt design also for summer tour.

OUR DYING MOMENT

2009-06-22T20:41:00.004-04:00

Local metal band Our Dying Moment asked me to do a design for them for general use. They said they wanted something in the way of a person choking and I think I was able to pull that off. They seemed happy with the design and have gotten shirts made, I'll include picts when I get my copy. The drummer, Mike, has asked me to do another drawing for his other band Neroxx as well so stay tuned. Enjoy.

Final Ink drawing pre- scan.

Photoshopery.

You can see what they've done with the design by visiting their Myspace page here.

NEW PAINTINGS

2009-06-22T20:01:00.008-04:00

Here are a few pictures of some of the new paintings ( no, not ALL the new paintings as it dawned on me that I had not yet photographed them until after they'd been sold!!! Doh! ) that I showed at the Three Rivers Arts Festival a few weeks ago.

Captain Handy's Giant Squid, 9" x 11", Acrylic on handmade wood panel. ( There was also a "Capt. Handy's Tuna, that featured an image of the Capt. himself standing next to his catch but alas I am a moron and forgot to photograph it... Way to go! )

Gentleman, 9" x 11", Acrylic on handmade wood panel.

Ghost Bike With Rider, 9" x 11", Acrylic on handmade wood panel.

Running, 9" x 11", Acrylic on handmade wood panel.

Passing Storm, 36" x 36", Acrylic on handmade wood panel.

THREE RIVERS ARTS FEST

2009-06-14T07:22:00.003-04:00

I suppose it's a bit late to be posting about this as this is the morning of the last day but I was accepted and have been showing at this years Three Rivers Arts Festival in downtown Pittsburgh. It's been interesting to say the least! The response to my work has been quite polar in that people either seem to love it or hate it. The facial expressions I've encountered have been a true pleasure to watch parade in front of my booth though that's for sure.

There are a few things I'll likely change or alter if and when I do the show again next year or do other shows in the future. I've spoken with several artists, namely Tim Hooper who is a very cool guy, who've been extremely helpful and encouraging to a Rookie like me. I think if I can manage to keep my steam up and continue cranking out pieces, I should be able to get a few gallery gigs in the near future.

I'd like to thank those of you who came and bought pieces from me this week, I'll be in touch with you all with special offers and updates as they come down the pike. Also, thanks to everyone who has helped me out over the last month or so and extended themselves a bit further than normal in an effort to get me here. Really appreciate it.

Pictures forthcoming.

SXSF

2009-03-29T14:20:00.003-04:00

I was asked to do a poster for the inaugural South By SouthFlesh festival. I was given the prompt by the promoter of having a bunch of zombies surrounding all the band names in some way. Was a lot of fun to work on and printed very nicely.

3- Color Screen Print, 12.5" x 19"

THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES

2009-03-29T14:15:00.004-04:00

I love the name of this band and had an idea for this poster right away. I have an affinity for just about all things D&D related, especially where Dwarves are concerned. So, any time I have the opportunity to include one of the diminutive folk, I will.

2 Color Screen Print, 19" x 12.5"

DON CABALLERO

2009-03-29T14:13:00.003-04:00

Another band I know virtually nothing about. I listened to some stuff online to get some inspiration and I'm still not sure where the pirate ship came from. Nothing wrong with a little high seas battle though I suppose...

2 Color Screen Print, 12.5" x 19"

BORIS

2009-03-29T14:07:00.003-04:00

Poster for the band Boris. This was a last minute thing I was asked to do. Threw it together and printed very quickly on short notice. Fun though.

2 color Screen Print, 12.5" x 19"

UPDATE

2009-03-23T06:28:00.002-04:00

So I've been extremely busy as of late, hence the zero posts in several months. I've got more poster designs and art and cool news to share soon as I get the time to upload it! Your patience is appreciated. :-)

RAW MOJO

2008-12-22T13:57:00.006-05:00

Poster design for the band Raw Mojo. I had a lot of fun with the drawing,a little creepy but I think it turned out.

LEMONS TO LEMONADE

2008-11-12T11:04:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post my art show "Captive Corpulence" was canceled, but not before I was able to print the posters for the show! So it goes. As you can see I'm making the most of the situation by turning the former poster into ant art print. If you're interested I'm selling them for $5 plus shipping ( so something like $10 total ) . Leave me a comment here with your interest and I'll get in touch with you. Thanks all.

3 Color Screen Print on Yellow French paper. Originally 12.5" x 19", Now roughly 11" x 17" or so.

CAPTIVE CORPULENCE

2008-11-12T10:04:00.013-05:00

As many of you know I was to have a solo art show at the aforementioned Freebird Gallery. For whatever reason the show is no longer happening. I've decided to post my progress here to let everyone see, in part, what would have been up. Enjoy and please comment as you see fit. Thanks.

"Ditch Digger", 24"x 36", Acrylic with 23k Gold Leaf Embellishment on Wood.

"Sheriff", 36" x 48", Acrylic on Wood.

"The Cyclist", 20ish" x 48", Acrylic on Wood.

"Lost Accessory", 24" x 36", Acrylic with 23k Gold Leaf Embellishment on Canvas

"Split Decision", 24" x 36", Acrylic with 23k Gold Leaf Embellishment on Canvas

"Taco Run At 30DegreesN", 24" x 36", Acrylic on Canvas

TORCHE

2008-11-12T09:59:00.002-05:00

John from Parade of Flesh asked me to do a poster for the upcoming Torche show in Dallas. I immediately got the idea for a Dwarf mining ore in a dimly lit tunnel. The idea to put it on Yellow paper came later, as was the decision to add white. Cool poster though, and a lot of fun to do all around.

PELICAN

2008-10-12T21:34:00.003-04:00

Mark from Manic Productions asked recently if I'd like to do a poster for a Baroness show... Yeah! I like the band and could think of quite a few ways to take a design for them.. For whatever reason that date and location on the tour were canceled. Bummer. I asked if he had anything else I might be into in the not-to-distant-future?... How about a Pelican show? A stuttered response followed....