Nerd City

Great little blurb on HERD over at a wicked blog out of Chicago named Nerd City which has now become part of my daily read. Any site that dedicates postings to old school topics such as Masters of The Universe and original NES games, is tops with me. They also produce an ongoing podcast series discussing the latest in Vinyl, Video games, Design and much much more.

It's no doubt made me embrace the inner geek once again.

more HERD

FANBOYS Trailer

Trailer for FANBOYS to accommodate my current Star Wars phase. Hopefully it's not the case of good trailer....shitty movie. Still a good laugh though....

more HERD !

A few new sneaks......


Also of note, the official show name will now be HERD : rat-ATAT-touille

more HERD......

Finally made use of my Toy Machine stencil !

Of note....all leftover items from the HERD show will go on sale at the ITEM SHOP. More details once dates have been confirmed.

HERD sneak peaks

ITEM solo show #2 planning underway.......

AT-AT show '09

Sneak peak for '09. Thanks Luis!

DESIGN and DESIGN : Book of the Year

SALVADOR will be included in the upcoming Design and Design Book of the Year.

The hard cover publication which is released every January will consist of 730 designs from around the world. Definitely looking forward to seeing what they compiled.

More info here.

Barcode Building

I have to admit i'm seriously geeking out over this building in St.Petersburg, Russia. It's titled 'Barcode' and you can read more about it here.

Pecha Kucha Images

Images from Pecha Kucha 2 are now posted here!

Hot Granny Cushions

Media shots for the Hot Granny Cushion line with Karen Pentland.

Pecha Kucha Night 2 : Done and Dusted in Edmonton

So I made it through my first Pecha Kucha and have to say it was a great time. Though I was pretty nervous leading up to the opening, the wine helped bigtime to ease the situation. Plus it was nice to see that I wasn't the only one who had a bad case of nerves.

All in all it was a solid night. I really have nothing negative to say about the presentations as I know that it takes some courage to head up there and keep the audience captivated for a short period of time. But I did find a moment where one got uncomfortably preachy which created some debate on the way home. That for me was a great thing to come out of the show as it really raised a few questions amongst our group.

As for my routine, I think I did OK as I was able to avoid going to my notes. Plus it seemed like I was up there for only a minute as it really was a complete blur. Response was good during and at the intermission, plus I did get a few new contacts which was great. It definitely was a nice way to end the furniture run under ITEM and head into a new direction starting with the solo gig next year.

Big thanks again to Next Gen Edmonton for the invite. They really did a fantastic job and i'm looking forward to PK3!

Pecha Kucha Tonight!!

All set for tonights Pecha Kucha !

Pecha Kucha Edmonton ... 2 days to go!!

With Pecha Kucha only a couple of days away, I have to admit the nerves are seriously killing me! I think getting word that a 300 plus capacity theatre is now sold out for the event got me crapping a wee bit.

I find i'm gong through moments of cold hands to over confidence. I also realized that the last time I spoke infront of a crowd this size was when I MC'd my Brother-in-laws wedding, which I have to admit, was done with ALOT of alcohol courage. Something that may not work so well with PK.

But in all seriousness, i'll be using this night to talk about the work compiled over the last few years under the ITEM moniker. I'll explain influences such as my love of Designer Vinyl to dealing with my Wife's clutter issues and how i've incorporated it into the ITEM fold. It's basically a chance for me to stop and take a look (very quick look!) at what i've been doing all this time and give me an idea as to where i'm going. Plus i've always avoided explaining the work and figure there's no better way to jump start that ride.

Fuck I just got nervous again!

solo ITEM

Work is well underway for the first ITEM solo show slated for the new year. The image above should give an indication of the shows theme as well as the proposed title....
'rat-AT-AT-touille'.

The exhibit will consist of 12 pieces. Venue and dates TBA.

PARC bench

I'm revisiting an earlier piece called PARC BENCH. The one pictured here is the first version made a couple of years ago for a *FROST exhibit. The intention was to have the user sit on the bench and basically run their fingers through the 'grass' while forgetting the days events.

A revised model is in the works and will be pumped out for '09.

ITEM does PECHA KUCHA

I've been asked to participate in an upcoming Pecha Kucha night here in Edmonton. If you're not familiar with this event, the format is 20 slides at 20 seconds each to present your case.

Let the nerves commence.....now!

BECK : Pay No Mind (Cover)

Sweet little cover of the Beck classic....

itemART

Some free time, a bottle of Scotch and a freshly downloaded Slayer album got me back into painting again. Definitely a nice change up for me.

CLUTTER ad

First ever ad for ITEM hitting CLUTTER Magazine's 13th issue. The ad feature's the one-off Creme Moji.

Custom FRAMESICLES

Set of custom FRAMESICLES at last weeks LAUNCHPAD exhibit. The items were done by a few local Artist/Designers that included graff veteran Steve-Dave who will be working on a full set of 'sicles later this year. His is second from the left in this image.

UNKL decks

My Gravedigger decks (58" in length) for Boardeli Longboards have finally arrived back from UNKLBRAND with an amazing hand screened pattern.

The decks will be on display over at LAUNCHPAD next week and up for sale via Boardeli very, very soon.

LAUNCHPAD

ITEM will be participating in the upcoming LAUNCHPAD show here in Edmonton.

The show will includes customized FRAMESICLES by local Tattoo Artists as well
as a number of custom Vinyl pieces. Plus a limited line of hand screened longboards
by UNKLBRAND!

Once Upon a Time: The Kouri Monster Lamp Custom

The second custom Monster brought to you by my main man from Chicago Chad Kouri.


Currently on display with Made in The West.

SALVADOR mailbox

SALVADOR!!!

EDITH Mailbox : Discontinued

EDITH mailbox is now discontinued.

I've reached my production goal of 15 and have officially ceased production.
Thanks to those that have taken the time and effort in obtaining one from me.

I am now working on a wall mounted mailbox as the third entry in the series.
The Salvador stand-up mailbox will only be a one-off while the upcoming wall unit will be available in a small production run similar to Edith.

Custom MUNNY

ITEM entry for LAUNCHPAD next month....

Made In The West / Kouri MONSTER debut

The second custom MONSTER lamp is set to debut at a wicked show here in Alberta called Made In The West. The exhibit which opens Friday May 22nd in Calgary, will focus on design talents based in Western Canada.

The latest MONSTER by Chicago homeboy Chad Kouri is appropriately titled Once Upon a Time : Kouri Monster Custom. For me this a perfect departure from Motomichi's version and really has Chad's stamp on it. He's basically taken a household design piece and reworked it into Art.

Images coming soon.

SALVADOR mailbox

SALVADOR will be the second entry for my mailbox series. Currently being fabricated and ready for display by the end of May. As well i'm working in a removable planter attachment for the top that is not shown.

Muttpop Display

Had a chance to rattle off a little side display piece with my pal Kevin Holm which we both used to house some of our MUTTPOP vinyl.

Random Shot

Wider shot of Orange Edith sitting infront of Soapbox Films in Burbank. This project actually scored Lettuce the Design Green Award with a first place finish in the Environments category.

Moji Custom

Pretty stoked to line-up a Moji custom by Brooklyn Artist Lou Pimentel. More customs with local designers have also been lined up for the year.

Exhibit Watch

Another Munny show here in Edmonton this spring which will also include a bunch of customized Framesicles by local Tattoo Artists and Graphic Designers. More to come.....

UNKL vs. Boardeli

Boardeli's fresh series of decks from UNKL are close to being released. March 1st pre-sale!