Patch Somerville - Studio Visitors

This is a painting of me and other friends that patch painted in while I visited him in New Orleans last year. That was one of the best experiences I have had to date. I was there for a week but it felt like a weekend. I ate everything I laid eyes on though it was before i realized that I have a pretty serious gluten intolerance. Please visit www.Patchsomerville.com to see more work.

Giving A Hand To Hands

It's evident that my fascination with hands is real. In retrospect most of my work has a hand or two in it. We are surrounded by what our hands have accomplished. this may seem incredibly obvious but hands are more important than i have the capacity to express. I just want to take a moment to show my appreciation...."thanks guys, sorry for treating you like crap, but we have a lot to do, your Master, GHOOM." Boom.

Book

Here is another book commission. The request was for the book to be portable, durable, accessible, and subtle. I immediately thought of the Japanese stab-bound method. The front cover is hinged for easy access to the pages, and the back cover is rigid for more stability for writing on the go. Another request was for some of the paper to be graphed, so for every ten leaves of blank paper there are five sheets of graph paper (there are about 100 sheets total). The cover is book cloth finished with shellac which makes the book water-resistant and extra resilient to everyday abuse. The inside cover is adorned with a striking masked figure that I found in an old magazine. The waxed linen used is "Victorian Rose" ( I purchased the thread solely because of the name). Finally the book is about 5.5 x 7.5" which is ideal size for those with average sized hands. Commission #3

Studio Collab

This is a collaboration I did with Sera Baghdadi, One of my studiomates. We met in the middle with this idea since we both have been drawing these obscure little characters for years. You could say that my little guys were inspired by everyday objects like hot dogs, balloons, and jelly beans, though I have left them unnamed to leave any dialogue about them open for interpretation. If I could speak for her characters, I would say that One sees these buddies in everything from childhood drawings to popular video games from decades past. Either way they remain ambiguous. Both characters fill the gap between the real and intangible. They can be both unobtrusive, migrating in and out of the periphery of idle thoughts, or be very meaningful, symbolizing a full spectrum of names, concepts and ideas. The ghosts can be a simple caricature of how we perceive the paranormal, or can represent lost moments. the objects surrounding the ghosts have less ethereal connotations and reach more for the tangible side of ambiguity. Where the ghosts show their joys and frustration through those little raisin eyes, my guys simply express the importance of placement and pattern, or the lack thereof. Either way the duplicity is evident. As for the sludge - it serves as a binding agent; a viscous glue that holds the image together. The sludge, on the other hand, separates the objects, keeping them isolated in the chaos in which they exist. These are some pretty heavy symbols that we carry with us, but its nothing to take seriously.

Open Studio Tour D.C.

I think I will be sitting in for this on the Sunday of this weekend. See you there.

Fact Checking

Just as I suspected; Garnet is the suitable abrasive for horn. I should have used garnet to sand down all this horn I've got Lying around. It goes to show you, no amount of hard work can account for incompetence. Oh well.

Leather Bound Book

A client wanted a Journal. During our interaction he offered me an old bag that he was getting rid of. The bag was made of Italian leather and was well-worn. I have enough bags so I declined the offer. I proposed that he repurpose this bag for a book instead. His face lit up as I explained how the bag, which he had carried close to him for many months during lots of travel, could live on as something just as useful. I ripped that bag apart the first chance I could get. I enjoy knowing how things are constructed. I also enjoy destroying things. this project satisfied both categories. The pages are Mohawk Superfine, My favorite bookmaking paper. I get that from the MICA bookstore in Baltimore. The inside cover is from the Paper Source in Georgetown. This was my second bookmaking project.

OLD STUFF

I have been scanning all the paper in my possession. It's a game I play. I found this postcard illustration I did in high school of a Narwhal harnessed with a flashlight navigating through sea mines. I must have been listening to a lot of Sigur Ros at the time. I was very fascinated with grey-scale Prismacolor markers back then and wanted to see how far I could push the limits of their blending capabilities. I wish Narwhals had flashlights. I wish I had a pet Narwhal. I wish I was a Narwhal.

Lemons to Orangeade

My camera is dying. I almost threw it away. I later realized (rationalized) that my camera is simply developing it's own visual landscape. Why should my camera work like everyone elses. the color is off, the clarity is poor, and the images are riddled with static. I think that is nice. With all that said, here is a picture of some dead bird's feet.