communication arts 2013

Friendlies,

five of the images I created for the new Camper Van Beethoven release “La Costa Perdida” have been accepted by the 2013 jury to appear in Illustration Annual 54, the May/June 2013 issue of Communication Arts.

Exciting!

xm

La Costa Perdida

Friendlies,

the new Camper Van Beethoven record is out today, and it is, indeed, a goody goody. The package design and illustrations were done by yours truly. You can stream the whole thing here, and you can buy yourself a copy here. I recommend getting a “hard copy” of the CD, since that will give you the full sensory experience of owning the record (as opposed to having these little pop gems lost in the “shuffle” of your playlists).

Go ahead, treat yourself. Buy the CD from your local music purveyor, wait for it to arrive, pour yourself a frosty beverage, put the CD on, find a comfortable place to sit and listen, and relax. Listen to each track carefully, noting your physical reaction to each song. You might get distracted. That’s ok. Sit back down, and listen to the next track. And so on. See? Feels good, right?

Do you know Camper’s older musics? You might start with Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty. This is a good collection. If you like that one, you’re ready for Cigarettes and Carrot Juice, a box set of their early records. Key Lime Pie is another favorite. Listen, it’s all great. Trust me.

You’ll find me at The Rickshaw Stop on February 16.

xm

wertz on wwword

Dear Friendlies,

there’s a new Friendly in our midst. Lucy Sisman (who has an incredibly impressive roster of print clients) is working on a great literary blog called wwwword, and she asked if I’d like to be interviewed for their blog. The result? One of the nicest pieces of writing about my process to date, and an in-depth look at the creation of A Dazzling Display of Dogs.

See for yourself.

Thank you, Lucy!

4 New Posters

Friendlies,

I’m finally catching up with the work I’ve been doing in 2012. So TODAY! FOR YOU! there are four NEW! entries on the Wertzateria shop page. Work I’ve been designing (and printing) for the Oakland Museum of California, ALO, and the Camper Van / Cracker Family is all up now and purchasable through this lovely invention called PayPal. Have you heard of it? It’s sweeping the nation!

All of these were lovingly printed by hand (by me) at Bloom Press in Oakland. Go check ‘em out.

xxm

See Wertz Pull Prints in Public!

My Darlings,

my presence has been requested as part of the All of Us or None poster show at the Oakland Museum, and I’m eager (yet full of trepidation). A good friend recently pointed out that my current level of neurosis is rather high, and I think it’s because I keep on making public appearances in very public places. Like, for instance, in museums and bookstores. And I don’t just appear, darlings, I do things in public. Like sing, or, in this case, pull screenprints that will be given away to the gathered masses for free.

I usually spend a good deal of time by myself with just a pencil and some paper and my dog to talk to, so you understand. Things could go wrong. Terribly wrong. My good friend (and collaborator*) Jim Winters will be there to help out if we have to clean out a screen or extract a squeegee from my eye socket, so that’s good.

I’ll be pulling (about 50) prints in the gallery from 5:00-6:30 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012, in the galleries of the Oakland Museum. It’s free, I think.

Here’s the mantra for the evening : IMPERFECT = REAL. Write this on your hand with a sharpie, and come on down to the galleries to see me pull prints. Directly afterwards, I’ll be signing the large Peace Sign OMCA Prints at the OMCA Store. See below.

Hope to see you there!

xm

Here’s a preview of the print I’ll be pulling:

Here’s the OMCA Peace Sculpture Print:

Here’s how messy the process can be:

* Plus the guy is an amazing artist, and got me on the road to silkscreen – I should be there supporting him, not the other way around.

Hear’s Hiss Pop!

Good morning friendlies,

Sara Thacher asked me to contribute graphics to a game (Sara calls it a “playful narrative experience”) for The Exploratorium called Hiss Pop. You’ll be able to play this game (and experience a bit of authentic San Francisco musical culture, including custom-crafted 45rpm records) if you make the scene at The Exploratorium’s After Dark event on March 1. Don’t be square, be there!

Here’s a preview of the imagery. We referenced groovy LP graphics for these, and put our own spin on it.

Turn off the glowing box, jump on the train, and getcherself some cool, dads. The Exploratorium is where. It’s. At.

xm

p.s. Remember these?

Come visit me this weekend @ ZineFest SF!

Hey friendlies,

Jim Winters and I will be sharing table space for the 10th annual Zine Fest in San Francisco.

September 3 + 4, 2011
11am – 6pm
San Francisco County Fair Building
1199 9th Ave and Lincoln Way
in Golden Gate Park

We’ll be selling screen prints and zines as well as our latest collaborative effort, Queen for Two Weeks. There will also be a special appearance (and signing) by our imaginary office assistant, Ondine LaBoeuf. We’ll be sitting right next to the talented and lovely Superdilettante.

Come say hi!

xm

West Coast Passport Campaign : Hostelling International

Friendlies,

recently designer Pete Friedrich from Charette Communication Design and I had a brain bubble: wouldn’t it be cool if we created a Passport and a set of Illustrated Stamps so that when one travelled from Hostel to Hostel (along the West Coast) one could collect the stamps in one’s very own passport? With enough stamps (and a few blisters – that’s a long hike), one is eligible for a t-shirt.

Yes, this would be cool. And, if I do say so, they are. Very cool. Here’s the stamps I created. And here’s a bit about the campaign on the Hostelling site.

… and here’s the Passport cover.

Neet, huh? This was a super fun job.

xm