as promised, i finished all the new stuff up and photographed things this weekend. these quiet drawings are a huge pain in the ass to photograph. after several attempts with my studio lighting, one stand's halogen burnt out, so what do you do? you go outdoors. there is plenty of snow on the ground, and there isn't a cloud in the sky, so things were perfect for good lighting.
i still feel strongly about my grass blade drawings. but like i said... they're incredibly difficult to shoot. even the professional photographer i work with has had a hard time with these drawings.
i'm not, however, completely nuts about the painting. it's not wonderful by any means, and on top of that, it took painstakingly long to finish because of a huge array of problems. these carved text pieces are extremely difficult to pull off. the only one i feel strongly about throughout the years is this one, if i may link to my main site.
but i digress. here you go. enjoy. you should probably click on the thumbnails to see larger views with more detail.
matt pulford josephine (one) pencil and colored pencil on paper 32 x 20 inches, 2008
matt pulford josephine (two) pencil and colored pencil on paper 32 x 20 inches, 2008
matt pulford Sandburg: Baltic Fog Notes latex paint on routed wood / canvas 40 x 30 inches, 2008
A minor update... two new drawings plus a new painting will be posted sometime this weekend — here and on the main art site. in the dead of winter i often make work that is minimal and quiet, catalyzed by music or poetry about hard midwestern winters, loss, and life/death. it's at this time that i usually listen to stripped down music by masters such as Nick Drake, Nick Cave, or by the gentleman whose music is below. here's "careless love" by Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham, aka palace Brothers, aka Palace Music). i found this user video version on youtube, enjoyed thoroughly, and wanted to share.
i say sorry i say bye bye i say miss you i say cry cry
it seems the grandmother that partially raised me is now in her final years of life, and the body of drawings i will be posting are all titled after her first name.
finished up a new drawing but i have to wait to photograph it with the good studio lights; you see, things are a hopping and there's barely room to stand down there. actually, the main reason is a painting that's finally almost done, after two months of abuse on the stubborn thing.
for now, don caballero entertains you; damon che's drumming bewilders you:
Don Caballero Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex The Grog Shop, Cleveland, 2007
Don Caballero You Drink a Lot of Coffee for a Teenager (fan video)
I was just eating some din, watching a DVD of old Gang of Four live footage, and decided to share a couple favorites off the video. the first one is "He'd Send in the Army." Second is "Damaged Goods." Looks like someone recorded the latter with a camcorder facing their television, so... sorry about that. There's nothing better on youtube.
I loves me some Gang of Four. weird political art punk you can shake your ass to. Andy Gill is one of my favorite guitar players.
He'd Send in the Army live in london 1980
Damaged Goods live in new york city (Hurrah's) 1980
today i began work on an intaglio print that will become part of a suite exchange portfolio that will travel the country to at least a couple exhibition sites. my particular print will be at least a 4-plate landscape piece. as of now, it's beginning layer is a blend-rolled flat. on top of that will be three zinc plate etchings, mostly made by removing a simple hard ground with some painterly solvent brushwork and then aquatinting that.
the edition size will be 9. paper size is 18" x 15". any medium at all can be utilized - intaglio, lithography, relief of any sort, collagraph, etcetera. the artists involved are all illinois state university art alumni, and old friends. all seven of us get one of each other's prints; one print gets framed up for the traveling exhibition; and another print gets donated as a portfolio suite that gets auctioned off to help fund our alma mater's printmaking department.
here's the roster. click on the artists' names for their individual web sites:
i have to give a hearty thanks to Kat Anderson of Saint Ambrose University for coming up with the "work exchange" arrangement that allows me to print at the university. i truly appreciate it tons.
if you're curious about my piece, i haven't even pulled any proofs yet. i can, however, post a pic of the four plates. click on the image below for a larger view. and in case you're wondering, the order of printing runs clockwise from top left.
I was talking about the DVD series Burn to Shine the other day, and decided to post a snippet from it here. Burn to Shine is partly the brainchild of Brendan Canty — Fugazi drummer — so when I first heard about it, I was of course interested (Fugazi has pretty much been my favorite band for almost 15 years now).
The concept behind the series goes like this:
As you can see, each episode focuses on the (mostly) independent-label bands of several cities, and a house in selected city that is slated for demolition. A "curator" for each city is chosen to in turn choose which bands will play one song each during the course of one day inside the abandoned house. The curator of the Chicago episode (the only one i own) is Bob Weston — Shellac bass player and all-around nice guy.
basically, the film opens with an introductory story about the home being demolished. then the 8 to 12 bands' sets are shown in order of recording during the day. finally, the film closes with the demolition of the house. Yes... "art film"... but this is some good shit, folks. trust me.
The Chicago episode focuses on a home up near the north end of Lake Shore Drive, in a residential section of the Uptown/Loyola neighborhood. The story of the residence starts off as a sweet one — it being one house out of three built at the same time, many years back, as gifts from a father to his three different daughters. But throughout the years, this one particular house out of the three ages beyond repair, and must be destroyed to make way for new and improved housing.
Shellac, Wilco, and even The Ponys — a band that an old drinking chum from my college days plays guitar for — are featured on this episode. But no one on this DVD blows me away more than Tortoise does. What do you get when a bunch of punk rockers get into their 40s and decide they have always loved Miles Davis?
