Great News Everybody!

In spite of the recent economy I have been invited to become a founding member of a new, youthful, energetic, kick ass screen printing shop with my two friends Josh Ryan and Calen Davidson. We have resolved to destroy our competition by concentrating on the artwork that goes into each piece we create, weather it be a t-shirt, sticker or poster. Most of the graphic design and illustration applied by other screen printers consist of run-of-the-mill clip art that can be selected by anyone out of a book. The results are boring, lifeless and dated images that have been over applied by the world over. We promise to create unique, original art for each and every customer because that is what the world needs, not more clip art.

Company president, Josh Ryan, is a fantastic fine artist/illustrator who has been honing his talents for over a decade. Zac Calbert, our art director, received his degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in graphic design and visual communication from California State University Long Beach in 2006. He has been hired on several occasions to create the art for multiple print shops and small businesses in the county. Both Calbert and Ryan have been dabbling in printmaking for several years. Calen Davidson majored in marketing at Chico State and has been a recreational cartoonist for well over a decade. He has the business knowledge and selling power to acquire large accounts throughout the region.

The point to all of this being that these three individuals have a passion for the art behind the trade and seek to better the appearance of their community while upholding the tradition of printmaking. Our competitors can only offer a barely acceptable solution to the small business needs of our extended community. Hopefully we will be elbow deep in business by the end of the year.

{Stay tuned for information on our SECRET WEAPON}

UTLTRN v. Tuolumne

It is my goal to have a bad ass printmaking workshop.

  • A place where I can create day and night.
  • A place where I can get friends and family involved in creating.
  • A place open to the public.
  • A place to hold concerts, parties and events.
  • A place to teach and entertain.
  • A place with stickers wallpapering the bathroom.
  • A place with concrete floors, stained with ink.

screenprinting

  • Are you bored with the local “scene”?
  • Are you searching for a reason to stay in Tuolumne County?
  • Would you attend workshops on postering, garment printing and customization?
  • Do you want to know what today’s street artists, printmakers and fashionistas are up too?

I want to expose the local yokel to silk screen and relief printing, social propaganda, custom clothing and a sense of pride in accomplishing what is believed to be solely in the hands of industry. I feel that Tuolumne City is in need for an artistic renaissance. There are several empty buildings that are waiting for occupants. There are several creative, anxious people in town waiting for an opportunity. It is a perfect match and let me tell you no one is going to start this for us. No one in the Chamber of Commerce is looking to nurture the arts. They are going to let fail safe, business-in-a-box chain stores to the county. With the coming arrival of the Black Oak Hotel and Golf Course, Tuolumne City has the opportunity to become a really cool place. Lets kick out the meth heads and sweep up the syringes and Keystone Light cans.

Leave a comment and let me know if I should bother with this place or should I just forget about it and move on.

HoliYeti

This is my latest linocut, Yeti. I wanted to create a simple print in the spirit of the season and rather than using the usual figures I decided to go with a cryptozoology favorite. I printed this at Lisa Smithson’s print shop in Columbia, CA. Her family and I equipped her shed for printing this summer and now that I have been laid off I have a little time to get in there. I plan on making a bunch more relief prints in the future, hopefully enough for a themed show next winter. I will keep you updated on those prints as they evolve. Watch the blog in the near future for an interview with Smithson and read about her awesome plans for introducing printmaking to Tuolumne County!

yeti_print