Posted on

Business 101: Get Paid First [CENSORED]

If you are looking for the original posting of this it has been removed. The business operator asked me to take the business name off of the post. This is a censored version.

I don’t know about you, but I hate the business aspect about being an independent designer. Writing invoices, bill collection, contracts and the like are not my specialty. Sometimes, hell most of the time, I get so excited about starting on a new job for a client that I neglect to go through the motions and secure a deposit. The fact that 70% of potential clients need a rush doesn’t help either. They are usually in such a frenzy that I try to get them what they need as soon as possible. Living in a small town and getting paid is not usually an issue. Every once in a while you will deal with some asshole that screens his phone calls and drops off the face of the earth, but not usually. If only I had listened to the words of wisdom from my screen printing mentor the following story might have not happened:

“An error on your account doesn’t constitute an emergency on mine.”

Last summer I was contacted about creating a logo and printing it on some shirts for the reopening of [CENSORED]. [CENSORED] said that they were in a big hurry to get things done and needed a rush turnaround on the shirts. I met up with him as soon as possible with a product catalog gave him prices and shirt options and then discussed the logo they needed. I went home that night excited about gaining a client that I knew would  be around for a long time and would need a lot of work as they are planing on franchising. I started working on a logo immediately and sent him a low-res version of it to gauge his feelings on the direction I was going in so that I would waste time on something he hated.

He responded that he liked it, but not much else.

I figured that he was busy trying to get things ready for his opening and would of course ask for the shirts to be done in a day. So I called and sent him emails every other day to remind him that he needed to confirm on the number of shirts and the logo before I could continue with the job.

Eventually the restaurant opened and I was never contacted. I didn’t even know they were open until I drove by it one day and saw a crappy version of my logo staring back at me from the front door. I couldn’t believe it.

[CENSORED] had paid someone else to copy my intellectual property, which they did poorly, when he could have just paid me for the original. Why would someone do this? So far it is the first time this has happened to me and I intend to not let it happen again. So far they have lost a chimichanga loving customer, but I hope that they lose so much more.

You guys think I have a case?

Posted on

UTLTRN goes to the dogs

Several months ago I was given the opportunity to decorate a dog house in order to raise money for the new Rotary Dog Park that is coming to Sonora. It was an assignment that had little direction and gave me quite the creative block. Once they delivered the dog house I realized I had never painted something so large and did not know who the target market was. At first I thought that the houses were going to decorate the park so I was going to throw some monstrous dogs from lore on the roof. Cerberus, chupacabra or an axe-handle hound perhaps.

I then found that the houses were going to be separately raffled off and figured that I should make it a little more appealing to the general public so that it would generate more money for the park. With that in mind I looked to the people around me for inspiration. My dad had just bought me a book on 1950s sci-fi art that I started to look through. I realized while leafing through the book that both my dad and brother love antiques. Old, rusty junk that does nothing but collect dust and “value”. This lead me to create Dogfight 2020, a rusty, retro spaceship paint job that a dog might enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the help of Chelsea and Joel Wilde, I taped off and spray painted the roof of the house. On the left side of the roof I painted out a bomber-style bulldog head and on the left you will see how many space-pirate-cats the pilot has shot down. I weathered the house with various aerosol paints to get a dirty and rusty look. I finished it off with some aluminum flashing and several coats of clear. This project was a great opportunity for me to work with spray paint. It is a medium that I rarely utilize, but often admire. I look forward to more aerosol fueled projects and collaborations in the future.

The turn out for the initial presentation was great. Below you can see a glimpse of the most sought after house of the collection, Judy Grossman’s tribute to the SF Giant’s World Series win. You will be able to purchase raffle tickets for the houses at the Sonora Home & Garden Show that will be held at the Fairgrounds from March 13-20th. That will be your only chance to get your hands on one of these dog houses so mark it on your calendar and and buy a raffle ticket. After all it is for a good cause.

Posted on

New to 2011

This year has seen some new changes in Tuolumne’s old art scene. CSAC and the George Post Gallery has a new home under the traffic light in down town Sonora. If you haven’t seen the In Focus photography show they have up right now I suggest you do before they take it down. “Boots” by Mark Bergstrom, show here won first place for color photography. I don’t quite agree with their choice, but then again I am not a photographer. Go check it out and see them all for yourself.

David Garcia of the Annex/Ventanna Gallery has extended into the old George Post Gallery space so we ought to be seeing more high caliber art fill those walls as well. I spoke with Mr. Garcia on Friday and he said that they will be having an opening at some point this coming March. That gives us at least three large galleries in the downtown area now which makes the Night Out for Art that much better. Oh yeah, and if you didn’t know every second Saturday of the month the galleries, restaurants and some shops will stay open later and serve wine and cheese and all that good stuff.

I spent last Saturday night in Backspace listening to Minor Birds live and hob knobing with the other attendees. They have started selling an exclusive line of shirts designed by Corey West and printed by yours truly. They are planning on having me print a lot more stuff for them in the near future so go and visit them for more information. They are working really hard to help build a lively and interesting retail scene in our dusty old down town.

The coming months will also see some movement in the new art scene. The second coming of Alley Art at the Black Oak Casino is in talks and this time we will be seeing some entries from some of the more established local artist like Don Hukari. I am very excited at the possibilities of making this an annual show that people can look forward to every year when they come to see the Pro/Am Bowling Tournament that Black Oak puts on. This time around I look forward to displaying the pieces of art in the prominent and professional manner that they deserve. Hopefully I can get a velvet rope to keep the old people from groping the pins with their pruney mitts this time around. Even little kids know not to touch art, COME ON!

Also group of eager artist and community members (Job Stauffer, Michelle Steranko, Chelsea & Joel Wilde, Jen & Thabo Fletcher, Mindy Marlowe and I) are also working on a video game themed art show titled Gold Cartridge. We will be releasing the call to artists soon and are currently working to secure a venue to display the show. This is fixin’ to be an awesome, full video game culture immersion event that you will not want to miss for any reason.  Our current plan is to open it in down town during one of the Night Out for Art Saturdays so stay tuned for more information as the story develops.

Posted on

What Dreams Are Made Of

Here is a piece I created last October for little Nate’s first birthday.  I hope that someday he will grow up to appreciate it. Who wouldn’t appreciate a skater teddy bear jumping over a vomiting unicorn? It is bright, colorful and happy, just as a painting for a one-year-old should be. The flash on my camera was a little harsh so it is not the greatest photo, but you get the gist of it. I plan on using the teddy bear as a mascot for little Nate and his journey through life.