If you find yourself in Portland this Friday, check out Make it Or Brake It at Grass Hut. Our friend Snaggs is showing off some amazing wares, and will be joined by other talented artists, all showcasing art you can hold, spin, love and sometimes even use in daily life. Joy.

I was inside the Collum Gallery when Ryohei Tanaka’s papercuts caught my attention. The crisp lines, bright colors and symmetry of the work reminded me instantly of vector graphics. His work feels contemporary and fresh, yet it’s done in an ancient medium that we’ve ALL practiced and most likely forgotten (remember making paper snowflakes as a kid?) I was struck by the realization that paper, scissors, and talent can often compete with the latest software from Adobe. Next time I’m stuck inside Illustrator and suffering from pixel fatigue, I should pick up a pair of scissors and see what happens. Thanks for the inspiration, Ryohei.

Bwana Spoons + Abe Lincoln Jr.
Pencil Fights and poo!
Friday, July 10, 2009
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Schmancy Gallery
1932 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA

One of our favorite artists will be in Seattle to launch his new book “WTF”. It’ll be fun!

Read more about the collection and animation on Arbito’s blog.

Ryan’s latest show is at Zeitgeist coffee in Pioneer Square on Thursday, January 8th, from 6-8pm.

Architecture definitely has a big influence on you. Are there specific architects/buildings/time periods that appeal to you?

I love the Warwick hotel on 4th avenue in Seattle. It’s a sort of awkward looking 60’s design with octagonal windows. I like Marina towers in Chicago, Centrepoint building in London for the same reasons. Sometimes I work from photographs of buildings I’ve never seen in person, and when I happen upon them, it’s like spotting a celebrity.

How do you feel your work as a fine artist influences your work as a graphic designer?

I suppose I always approach a project thinking primarily about color and composition, and probably more often use these things to solve issues.

What other artists influence you?

Well, I have books featuring Edward Hopper, Gerhardt Richter, Andy Warhol, John Singer Sargent, and all those heavy hitters. Nowadays I prefer to troll flickr or blogs. Currently my favorite painters usually do work that is incredibly different from mine….I like fantastic fantasy outsider art, but I don’t incorporate it into my stuff (I don’t think). But I like anything that is simple and pretty.

Have you been to the Edward Hopper exhibit at SAM yet?

I haven’t made it there yet but I’m going this week. So much to do….

Are there any current favorites you’d like to mention from your blog and flickr trolling?

This is one of my favorite blogs:http://pantherhouse.com/newshelton (Warning! Some of the images are not workplace appropriate.) I actually find a lot of my flickr pools from this blog. Unfortunately I don’t save them, so I have no idea what they were. Sorry!

Who do you think has had the greatest influence on your work?

It’s hard to say at this point. I suppose anybody who has ever told me they liked something I did.

Working at graphic design 8 + hours a day can be creatively exhausting. What keeps you inspired and motivated to pursue your artistic goals?

It’s like eating well…all about creating good habits. Periods of non-creating are usually due to lapse in diligence. You crave the same foods you eat, I always say, and I think its true.

I think other aspiring artists and designers would love to know…what are those good habits? Or is this a situation that if you told us you’d have to kill us?

My secret is to wake up early and just pick up a brush and fill in some shape with some color. Its easier to work when I’m not trying to figure out what to do next, and morning is the easiest time to do that. Plus whatever you look at or start is on your mind until the following morning.

How was your experience at RISD, and how do you feel it helped prepare your for the fields of fine art / graphic design?

RISD was a very DIY school. I went from ‘94 – ‘98 so right when I graduated people were starting to really actually use e-mail. Flash websites were popping up and video production was starting to be accessible to the consumer. I paid more attention to video since that was my major, but I learned how to walk the line between technology and ideas. A person can either spend all of their time and energy updating and learning the newest and latest or executing their ideas in the best possible way. One of my classmates became a super 8 film artist, one invented their own software called Processing. I think I’m trying to figure out my own balance.

The Animaticus Foundation presents the
Third Annual 2D OR NOT 2D Animation Festival
at the Boeing Imax Theater in Pacific Science Center in Seattle

Friday, November 14th 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Saturday, November 15th 11:00 am – 11:00pm

This year’s “2D OR NOT 2D Animation Festival” has to be the most exciting and extensive festival ever held in the Pacific Northwest! Not only are there hours of newly animated films (in 2D, 3D, Claymation and Cut-Out styles, from around the world) but there are also incredible top-drawer, industry speakers appearing, showing their work and teaching some of their amazing techniques. All submitted films will be vying for a coveted “Golden Pencil Award” in several categories, announced at a special Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening. The Awards Ceremony will also be the time when the “Roy E. Disney Award” will be announced… a special, non-competitive award that is presented to the person or organization who the organizers fell have most contributed to the world of animation in recent times. Rounding up the entire festival will be the special Gala Event, where attendees, speakers and invited guests will be able to meet ‘n greet each other in a relaxed social setting, entertained by the “Pontiac Bay Orchastra“, conducted by Hollywood composer Hummie Mann.

Keynote presenters Include:

• DON HAHN ~ Emmy Award-winning producer for Disney and Tim Burton. His credits include “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King” and will be presenting a rarely seen selection of Disney shorts
• BARRY COOK ~ Director of “Mulan”
• DEAN YEAGLE ~ Animator/ Creator of Playboy’s “Mandy”

Workshops presenters include:

• DANIEL DOCIU ~ Chief Art Director for ArenaNet; creators of “GuildWars”
• PETER MOEHRLE ~ Production and Background Artist for Disney and other major studios
• MICHEL GAGNE ~ Designer and Animator extraordinaire, creator of the “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet”

Friday, August 29th
8pm
Northwest Film Forum
1515 12th Ave
Seattle, WA

Multimedia dance duo Hooliganship (Peter Burr and Christopher Doulgeris) present the freshest incarnation of Cartune Xprez, a 70–minute animation party that celebrates the wilderness of imagination through motion pictures. Featured artists include Bruce Bickford, Shana Moulton, Takeshi Murata, Paper Rad and others. Included in this cartoon theater will be their most recent piece entitled “Realer” in which audiences don 3D glasses and bear witness to a televised parade gone awry. This program provides a rare opportunity to see videos by emerging and internationally known artists. Collectively, their resumes include collaborations with Frank Zappa and major exhibitions at the Whitney Biennial, the MOMA in New York, the Sundance Film Festival and many other institutions throughout the world.

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/41765

Plexi’s own Ryan Worsley will be showing some of her award-winning film work this Thursday.
Check it!

The Nuthouse presents…
Thursday, July 17th
Rendezvous Jewlbox Theatre
2322 2nd Ave
10pm – 2am
$5
21 and over

The Shankers
The Femurs
Award-winning films by Aaron Bourget, Ryan Worsley, and others
DJ Winston Darling

“Nauseously Optimistic”
Shawn Wolfe at
Wall of Sound
315 E. Pine St.
Seattle, WA

Friday, July 18
7pm – 9pm

—

“I Die Daily: The Making of Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle”
Opening Reception with the filmmaker Matthew Wallin
911 Media Arts Gallery
402 9th Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
Friday, July 18th
6pm – 10pm

“I Die Daily” is a film that documents the making of Matthew Barney’s epic 5-part film “The Cremaster Cycle” as well as Barney’s rise in the contemporary art world. Filmmaker Matthew Wallin spent a decade of his life exploring the creation of the Cycle.

911 Seattle Media Arts will be presenting material from the documentary.

The Americans
at Grass Hut Gallery
811 E. Burnside
Portland, OR

Opens at noon on the 4th of July
Bar Bee Que, Fireworks, Beer, Lemon-aid and art.

Line up:
Dawn Riddle
Scott Barry
Ryan Jacob Smith
Claire Miller
Scrappers
Jesse Brown
Kim Scafuro
Justin Lovato
Nick doodles art
Shawn Wolfe
Brad Simon
Dr. Medz
Ross McSweeney
Ryan Berkley
Pete Toms
Bwana Spoons
Brett Superstar
Chuck Hill
John Black
Ademar Matinian
Sean Alexander
THE HANNA
BT Livermore
Arbito
Dickbird
Jimm Lasser
Caley Feeney
Aidan Koch
Amy Morrison
Devi Pellerin
Niles Armstrong
Tripper Dungan
Reverend Benny Bob
Steve Mathews
Shayla Hason
Tom Webb
Josh Herbolsheimer
Merideth Hamm
Mark Gunderson
David Wein