I’ll spare you what my brother said about the Afghans seeking to emigrate here after the withdrawal of the U.S.
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If you’ve followed along here from sometime, you know that my brother lives in NJ. He’s an addict, has landed on the wrong side of law many times, and is on the far right. Basically the opposite of me. I can just imagine where he’s getting his news. If any of you that have tried to talk logic with people like him know there’s really no point in arguing. People who have made up their mind, and it would be easier to convince them the North was South.
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The “evil immigrant” is a tired old trope commonly used by politicians and other low-lives to conjure up votes through fear. A fear a few years ago was Syrians and now will be Afghans. On the eve of 9/11 it seems like we never learned anything of the tremendous lesson that could have been learned from our grief. We still are peddled xenophobic lies.
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Here’s a few immgration facts to combat those lies:
MYTH: IMMIGRANTS ARE TAKING OVER
FACT: Immigrants actually only account for 13.5% of the total U.S. population, which is in line with historical norms
MYTH IMMIGRANTS DON'T HELP THE ECONOMY
FACT: Immigrant-owned businesses with employees have an average of 11 employees
MYTH IMMIGRANTS DON'T WORK
FACT: 72.5% of immigrants believe hard work is how you succeed in America and are responsible for half of the total U.S. labor force growth over the last decade
MYTH: IMMIGRANTS ARE ALL MEXICAN
FACT: 30% of immigrants come from Asia, and currently more are coming from China than Mexico
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The best way to combat immigration ignorance is for the ignorant to get to know an immigrant. Those who live in a homogenized community are at a disadvantage, it’s true. However, my brother and I grew up around immigrants from so many different backgrounds, so what’s with our divergent views? It’s who we surround ourselves with currently and the media we consume. While he is consuming fear of the unknown, my consumption is compassion.
My First Press
Was a Chandler and Price from 1899 when I was a junior in art school. It belonged to the father of a person in North Jersey. He printed small pamphlets and Holiday cards for the most part. It was in good condition for not being used in 20 plus years, but it was in the basement. The house might have been built around it.
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My brother and I disassembled it to its smallest parts, taking as many pictures as I could. We dragged all 1,800 lbs of iron and steel up those old wooden stairs and onto a pickup truck and drove it down the shore to my Grandmother’s garage. I carefully cleaned each piece and painted it a dazzling green. My Uncle Lyle and I reassembled it all in the next few months. He really loved seeing all the mechanics of this 19th century wonder, especially when we gave the curved spoke flywheel a turn and it seemed to run almost forever under its own inertia.
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Sadly Lyle passed away shortly after and never got to see anything printed with it. I went off to finish college and moved to San Francisco before I had time to ink up the disk. The press sat oiled up and wrapped to prevent rust for quite some time. Eventually my family started to complain of the undue burden to my grandmother and I had to sell it.
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I wasn’t around for the day it moved out of the garage to a trailer from a guy who bought it off of me. I was happy for the money though. I put it towards buying our first press for the shop in San francisco. I thought it was going to be the last time I ever saw that press again...until the other day
I had a message from Haley show up asking if she could stop by and work when she was in town from Ohio and I agreed. Haley brought some of her printed work in from @justajar and I thought it was cool. She described the press she used, and I waxed my first press that was very similar. Later that day Haley told me the owner of @justajar was the same person who long ago loaded that press up from my grandmother’s garage and started his shop with it. All the art Haley showed me that day was printed on that emerald green Chandler and Price!
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You never know how you are going to be the torch bearer for the next person in this life. That’s what I love about letterpress. Each of these presses has a life and they’re usually much longer than the person that currently owns them. We all just keeping them alive for the next person
When I was 11 I was forced to participate in an Anti-Abortion march.
I didn’t really have an opinion about abortion at that age. I actually didn’t know much about sex. I just knew I didn’t have to go to class that day and got to see the White House, which I thought was pretty cool. We were loaded onto buses very early in the morning. The trip from NJ to DC is 3 ½ long and we had to get there for the first speaker for the March for Life.
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I remember the morning was very cold that January and there were a lot of people already there when we arrived. Many of them are schoolchildren. Adults were holding signs with graphic pictures of fetuses on them and “Impeach Clinton” signs. They were angry. The nuns from my school escorted us to The Mall where we stood still, achingly cold. We were forced to clap for people we didn’t know, and frankly, didn’t understand. I understood we were filler in that crowd, I wondered how many other school kids were bused in like us, and how many actually knew what was happening.
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There was a small gathering of Pro-Choice people that were circled by police. The Anti-Abortion folks were hurling garbage and insults at them as they played music and danced. They had better looking signs. They seemed happy and peaceful compared to all the bitter grimaces I’ve seen all day.
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As we got back on the school bus I asked a nun why we were supposed to hate the people who were Pro-Choice, they seemed nice. She said “they hated life”. I said “actually, it looked like they were having a good time and really enjoyed life”. She smacked me across the face, told me not to talk back, and pushed me towards my seat. The sting lasted most of the ride home.
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This week the news out of Texas stunned us. I’ve seen first hand the people who want to take away Reproductive Rights. I’ve witnessed how controlling and hate filled they are. They are extremists, fundamentalists, and are a small percentage of Americans. I’ve been a child shield in their war and are bolstered up by straw men. This law targets not just all women, it especially hits low income people the hardest. I don’t have simple answers but I know we are on the right side of history.
NEW OUTDOOR WORKSHOP! Landscape Walk and Draw ⛰
I have been walking the California hilltops for years, finding the best perspectives to draw from to make my block prints. I thought it might be nice to take you with me next time.
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Join me for a three hour walk & draw where we’ll be taking in the scenery and creating landscape drawings. We’ll meet up at a different location each time, so you can come to one or come to many, and create new artwork in each spot.
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We’ll walk to one of my favorite spots that I’ve been drawing for years, spread out and start creating. I’ll assist each person there if you have any questions or want some tips on improving your drawing or colors.
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How far will we walk? At max, a mile, but sometimes uphill or on a rocky path. We’ll walk at the group pace, but please be prepared to wear comfortable shoes, sun protection, and feel free to bring snacks, drinks and WATER!
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Each workshop is 90 minutes and will be $35 (Limited of 5 discounted spots for students and/or low income). It is obviously weather dependent, so if it’s raining we’ll reschedule that morning.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts on this new workshop - leave me a comment below! Tickets on sale for the first two sessions now! September 12th and October 3rd!
Indigenous Land Management Now! ~ Print Donation!
With the red sun back and smell of woodsmoke in the air, I’ve been reading a lot about the California Wildfires recently and have been really interested in seeing steps towards indigenous land management in Australia and how it can be implemented in California. (Links in our Stories for more about that).
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Of course, Climate Change is a major contributor to the drying out of California but the 100 years or more of poor land management through fire suppression has really built up fuel all over the land. With cultural burning through indigenous land management methods this fuel is consumed in a controllable manner and replenishes the soil with much needed nutrients...or as Don Hankins from Chico State says “It's a short time frame that we've taken the [cultural burning] part of the equation out. ... The main driver that has helped to shape these ecosystems has been removed because of that colonial impact.”
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How can we do this with all this Private Property? Well luckly a lot of California lands that are on fire are State and Federal property. We need our Government to implement Indigenous Land Managment ASAP. More about this in our stories today.
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Last year I collaborated with @ianhuebert to make “What Will It Take”, a woodblock letterpress print made to support those effected by wildfires. This year we are donating 20% of the sales to @el_dorado_community_foundation and The Almanor Foundation to support victims of the Caldor and Dixie Fires. Links in our profile to purchase and donate!
Gavin Newsom is garbage but the recall is a dumpster fire!
The kind of dumpster that’s filled with rotting hot dogs and hot old beer baking in the blazing summer sun after the fourth of July. The kind of rotting garbage that permeates every pore of your body and you smell it for days. Believe me, I used to be a janitor in my youth, and I know the smell of those dumpsters. It’s so much worse than the lone garbage bag Newsom is.
Anyway, I can’t stand this whole recall election. It’s a complete waste of money ans it was called for by the political party that plays lip service to trying to conserve money. Just wait for a normal election to vote Newsom out. Seriously, fuck you guys. What’s the rush?
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Well, as you can tell, I’m voting NO on the recall. Not so much because I like the POS Newsom, but I think that the Republican’s who started the whole recall vote are a complete waste of oxygen.
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I’ve been really holding my political ideologies back these days.It stirs me up so much and may be bad for my health, but this is just one thing I wanted to say that I think I could make a print for and probably piss off some people by doing it.
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Vote NO, Buy this Print.
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(BTW, this is not paid for by @gavinnewsom , even though I wish he did. We didn’t even get any Shutdown relief from the State of CA, so you know I’m doing this out of pure spite of the Recall people)
Celestial Bodies Roaming on this Vast Expanse
With this work I explore the macro and micro of the universe. These two spheres can be planets, suns, or even representations of humans. Orbiting, engulfing, and revolving, same as it ever was and will be. Various methods were used to produce the gradient effects and inking. This is my first attempt at using hand-made inks in his prints.
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While the original print is sold out - and because of the reductive process means it’s a closed edition - you can still get this print as part of our archival digital open editions. They’re not signed or numbered, but they have a really rad chop mark. They also look great in our assembled in-house hanging wood frames.
2021 All Hands!
Yesterday we had our all hands on deck meeting to see where we were half a year in and let me just say, we did A LOT!
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I don’t know if it’s because we had a fire under our asses because of the shut downs or maybe a little bit of money to play with because of the EIDL loan, but we got a shit ton done in 6 months.
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Thanks for everyone supporting us and buying prints, greeting cards, and helping us dismantle white supremacy. It’s a constant battle and we’re not done with dreaming and reaching for more goals, including the more elusive ones.
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Exciting things coming up we want to share with you:
Figure drawing classes at the Annex!
More Art Prints before the Holidays!
More Wood Type Greeting Cards!
Print Truck special visits to Art Fairs and Friends :)