February 2010

I just made it back from volunteering at the American Birkebeiner (a.k.a. the Birkie) in Hayward/Cable, Wisconsin. The Birkie is the largest and one of the longest ski races in North America. There are two different styles to compete in: the classic (54K) and the freestyle (51k). My cousins Paul and Joe were competing for the second year in a row in the freestyle race. Paul's wife Ashley, Joe Dion (a friend/lumberjack) and myself volunteered at the 4th rest stop serving water and energy drinks to thirsty racers.

Above I'm getting ready to jog along with a skier to deliver hot and tasty energy which they'll need to dominate the "Bitch Hill" up ahead. The hill known as "Bitch Hill" is the toughest climb for the skiers and I've heard that the name is quite fitting. There were over 8 thousand people competing and for the better part of 5 hours we didn't stop handing out drinks. Towards the end people were stopping to enjoy multiple cups of energy and water. Countless amounts of people asked if we had a beer. The beer was for the finish line an they were still 30k away. When things slowed down we sleeked out of our station to go back to the finish line.

After the volunteer session Ashley, Joe and me enjoy refreshments while watching the racers cross the finish line on Hayward's main street. Paul took more than an hour and 20 minutes off his time from last year so we missed getting his picture. Joe on the other hand stopped for a tasty swig of Wisconsin's finest nectar/photo op.

Look here he comes

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The American Birkie is one of coolest Wisconsin events hands down even though it was 30 plus degrees out. I got so into it that I convinced myself that I'm going to compete next year. I should probably start learning how to skate ski.

Also this month Robert Cottingham came to Tandem to collaborate on proofing the final 3 letters on his American Alphabet series of lithographs. This project has been in the works since the mid 90's. It's quite remarkable seeing the final prints in the series come to life. The prints are some of the most complex lithographs that I've seen with upwards of 70 different colors per image. I won't go into detail about what that exactly means but every layer is created by hand and the process is extremely time consuming and labor intensive.

Above I'm sponging a photo positive working litho plate for the letter U. The plate is only able to be rolled up with ink if the surface is wet. The greasy ink will stick to image areas of the plate when the charged roller passes over it. Once the image area is fully inked a piece of paper is put on top and it's run through the press.

Above are two proofs for the final letters. N was also proofed but I don't have an image of it. The Y on the right is one of the most complex letters of them all with 70 colors. When you get close to the print you can really appreciate the subtle details of color throughout the print.

During the two weeks other printers were working on a series of etchings for Bob. Above is an image of the studio. In the background you can see etchings stapled to wall for drying. The etchings are printed wet and we staple them up so when they dry, they dry flat.

On February 15 the 31 first year grad students in the art department had a review exhibition that showcased new work. The show was up for two weeks and it was overall a great experience. The show looked great and it made me feel proud to be part of such an incredible group of artists.

Above is a black and white lithograph that I ended up coloring for the exhibition.

This is what it looks like colored in.

After I finished this piece I decided to cross some items of my list that I've been looking at for months. One of those things was to make shirts for my cousin Mike and his friends for building me a bike.

I screen printed the shirts in my studio. The color of the shirts was a Jedi light saber green and boy was it intense. They really seemed to like them though which is all that maters.

Here is the shirt, three headed dog and all.