New work: "Hey, don't drop dat der."

Julia V. Hendrickson, Hey, don't drop dat der. (2010)

Photopolymer etching with collage on paper.

5x7 (image), 9x12 (sheet).

Click the image to view larger.

Music video: Mates of State "Get Better"

Mates of State - Get Better from daniel garcia on Vimeo.

My morning anthem for the time being. From Mates of State's 2008 album Re-Arrange Us.

Video: Sensorium Show's "Disconnected"

Russell's got a new video up on The Sensorium Show, and I helped! With hands and brain power. He did the wizardry. Featuring: my ghost hands and hands-poking-stuff. Those thorns were killer.

If you click "Subscribe" to his channel, you can get an email when he posts new work!

Gift Ideas 2: Out-of-town favorites from Renegade Chicago!

Featuring products from my three favorite out-of-towners from Chicago's Holiday Renegade fair! These are all works on paper, but, gee whiz, I just couldn't help myself!
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 JUST A JAR (Marietta, OH)
Fin de siècle letterpress charm

These cards can be found on Etsy here.

I'm always a sucker for all-things-Ohio, so this little press from the southeastern corner of my home state caught my eye. Sara Alway & Bobby Rosenstock have got a good sense of humor, and these remind me a little of another Ohio favorite, Married to the Sea (here's my vote for a collaboration!). Just A Jar's other projects are neat, too, including a series of posters with quotations from the German philosopher Martin Heidegger; a Do THIS, not THAT classroom (mis)behavior guide poster series; and a Spring 2011 forthcoming book called Soil Mates: A Vegetable Dating Guide. Neato!

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1CANOE2 (Columbia, MO)
Whimsical, illustration-based letterpress

Carrie Shryock & Beth Snyder have some seriously sweet handwriting; the fanciful script is distinctive, the colors bright, and their tendency to organize fun and functional. I've always wanted a collection of "Things That Are Round," as the coasters above illustrate, and the skewed proportions of "Things That Are Long" looks like my kind of math. Those rainbow-hued recipe cards above come with a handmade wooden box that is really mouth-watering (and it just got picked up by Anthropologie, so you may be seeing loads more of the like in the near future).

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KRANK PRESS (Los Angeles, CA)
Modern, simple letterpress cards and prints

Eleanor Nissley works as an architect in LA, and her organized, modern architectural aesthetic shows in her letterpress work. The New York Times Magazine did a post about her back in January 2010, which you can read here.

I love perpetual calendars, and a beautiful, functional calendar that tells you what produce is in season for your area is right up my alley. She had Chicago-area produce calendars at Renegade, but they aren't offered on her website right now, so contact her if you'd like to order one.
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Gift Ideas: Local favorites from Renegade Chicago!

This weekend marked the 5th Annual Holiday Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, held at the beautiful Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. I worked Saturday at the Ork Posters booth, and yesterday got a chance to browse around. It was such a treat to know so many wonderful artists and craftspeople at Renegade this year, mainly through my involvement in the Chicago Printers Guild, and I was really proud of all the hard work my friends put into their stands.

Since I most often write about printmaking and works on paper, I wanted to share a handful of my favorite shops that are based in Chicago that have nothing to do with paper (in no particular order), and a piece or two I liked from each one... gift guide alert!

(Check back soon, because there are more out-of-town favorites from Renegade to come in the next few days!)

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 FIORI FALSI (JESSICA TAYLOR) (Chicago, IL)
Hand-printed fabrics, bags, and accessories

Jessica Taylor, under the name of Fiori Falsi, is a talented friend and fellow printmaker. She screenprints patterns onto the fabric herself, and offers a wonderful line of fashionable, sturdy, well-made bags and purses. She's also able to make custom bags, if you have specific things you want (everyone is picky about their purse!). If you like her style and want to give one as a gift, she offers gift certificates through her website as well (so that way your recipient can customize his/her own!). I've been longing for one for ages!

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KATY COLLIER (Chicago, IL)
Hand-printed fabrics, linens, and cards

Katy Collier is another talented friend and fellow artist (originally from Portland, OR) whose work I love. Her drawing and illustration style is charming and sweet, and she uses simple plant imagery in her linocut prints on fabric. If you have any newborns in your life, she has onesies, and if you'd like to give a housewarming gift, her curtains, tea towels, and napkins are all perfect for such an occasion.

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MAKER and MAKER (Chicago, IL)
Handmade, limited-edition ceramics.

In the persons of Andy Hunt, Tim Woodbrey, and Ali Gibbons, Maker and Maker has clean and simple forms, with funky, rustic designs and glazes. This particular line is classic, vintage Americana. My favorite piece was the buffalo sculpture below (also in rust color). Keep an eye on their Etsy page for new work. They'll be releasing new lines of limited-edition ceramics (new designs, and new glazes) every few months, I believe.

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WINTER SESSION (Chicago, IL)
Durable, functional accessories and bags made from recycled clothes and fabric (with a preppy twist!)

I was very much drawn to the beautiful fabrics (those stripes are just calling my name!) that the folks at Winter Session use, and pleased to see that they use re-purposed clothes to make many or most of their products. Everything is already a little worn and immensely touchable, with that soft, old-cotton feel that you get from favorite shirts you've had lying around for years. They also make smaller accesories that were for sale at Renegade (but not visible on the website) and neat scarves from old men's button-down shirts that drape beautifully and look awesome.

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Video: THE SENSORIUM SHOW

My dear friend Russell Weiss has been working on a project he calls The Sensorium Show, a strange kind of video sketchbook chock-full of hypothetical worlds and inane ponderings: a delight in visual-aural experimentation. Here are the first three videos he's posted, but be sure to check back at the Sensorium Show on YouTube for new videos in the coming weeks.

Watch these, if you can, in full screen HD (change the button that says 360p to read 720p or 1080p) with some good speakers.