Doom Town

I'm up a bit earlier than I thought I'd be this morning, which is not to say that I don't enjoy getting up at a decent hour--I've just been trying to catch up on rest lately. Either way, I couldn't be happier to be eating avocados, drinking soy milk, and listening to Tom Waits on this chilly autumn morning in Chicago.
My girlfriend and I ended up having a couple drinks too many and talking enthusiastically last night about everything from politics to our parents to our respective goals and progress in life. It's nice to occasionally have a reminder that not only am I doing what I want to do with my life (at least for moment), but I am with someone who is doing the same.
Seriously, I live for mornings like this. I've got a bunch of boring spreadsheet work to do, but it's totally cool.

Also, this is worth checking out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/oct/18/occupy-protests-map-world

Inside the Rock Poster Frame Print Giveaway!

So a few months ago, I made a print called "Riding into the Wind Without Looking Back" for a bike-themed art show put on by Poster Cabaret. It looks like this. I don't have any copies of it left, but Inside the Rock Poster Frame is doing a giveaway of that print. All you have to do is click here and leave a comment for a chance to win one. Pretty cool, eh?

Candles, stuffed peppers, and bathing cats

Some new prints are available on my site today. Lots of new stuff on the way, too! I've also put a few previously-thought-to-be-sold-out prints back up. Stay tuned.

Look Homeward/Chicago's Calling

I am in Leuven, Belgium right now. Today is the last day of the poster expo at Het Depot for the Orange Factory 14 year weekend. Het Depot is an old elementary school that has been converted into a music venue. Seriously. It's pretty amazing.
Gary Houston and I arrived in Leuven from Dresden (by way of a series of trains that stopped/changed in Frankfort, Koln, and Liege along the way). It was a bit of an ordeal that involved some pretty tight timing, which meant regular episodes of running with our poster cases and luggage to the next train with minutes before our departure. Somehow we made it to Leuven on time and as planned where we were greeted and picked up by our friend Benny and taken to the venue to set up.
The weekend has been good, and the people here have been incredibly welcoming and hospitable. Leuven is full of beautiful old buildings that I can't stop looking at whenever I walk past them.
I finally fly back to Chicago tomorrow after three and a half weeks of traveling around Germany and Belgium exhibiting art and posters. I got to see cities I'd never seen before, stare at shelves in a model ship store for an hour, eat a piece of chocolate cake with avocado filling, sign an autograph, navigate the public transportation system in three different cities, and get rid of nearly all the posters I brought over. Four grown men laughed like kids in church on our way to a museum in Oldenberg and harassed a bunch of a sheep with our bad impersonations of the noises they make. I sent postcards to my lovely girlfriend back in Chicago. I scribbled down thoughts and rough drawings in my sketchbook on trains, at venues, and at the kitchen table in a host's apartment. I engaged in multiple conversations about the cultural relevance of poster art in both North America and Europe, as well as self-employment as a career and the prospect of using that career to build a life for oneself.
For as great as the trip has been, I have been aching to get back home. I've got a whole mess of work to tackle this week, as well as other exciting things on the horizon. Returning home is always such a warm feeling. This time, I can't even wait to step off the plane.

Lack of sleep verses too much sleep

Tonight, Colored Gigs Volume 3 opened in Dresden. The show will be on display again tomorrow night, minus me and Gary Houston, who will be in Leuven, Belgium for the 14 Years Orange Factory poster exhibition. Leuven is over 700 kilometers from Dresden, which means we're getting on a train at 5:50 AM and taking a whole mess of connections through Germany and into Beligum. I am taking a tram to Dresden's central station in about three hours. The last stretch of this trip should be interesting.

OCCUPY WALLSTREET

Mangos, soymilk, dental floss, and gendered nouns

To the left is Dresden as seen from the Rathaus tower. From the circular balcony on eleventh floor, you can see the city from above and in every direction. It was unusually warm, and the clear and sunny weather made for excellent visibility.
Colored Gigs Volume 3 opens this Thursday, September 29th in Dresden and will feature the work (and presence) of rock poster artists from Holland, France, the USA, and Germany of course. I was featured in a writeup about the upcoming show in a German publication, so if you can read German, you can check it out here: Kunst durch Sieb gepresst
(tip: using an online translator is not effective)
In a couple of hours, I am heading to the gallery here in Dresden to meet up with a few people and to discuss some of the mechanics and details of the show (and probably just hang out a bit). The nature of the Colored Gigs shows is pretty punk rock, by which I mean I'm reminded of my days putting together independent punk/indie shows with my friends. With regard for the installation and hanging of artwork, there's a lot of collaborative effort to set up a big event for a couple of nights, and then it seems like it's over as quickly as it came. But as always, it's totally worth it. And just like in punk rock, you form friendships that will last the rest of your life.
The Douze family have gone to great lengths to accommodate the out of town artists and organize and promote this event. It is definitely people like these who are pushing poster culture and actively working to expand its profile in Europe. I look forward to seeing how the scene grows here in Germany and the rest Europe in the next few years.

Fin

Flatstock Europe 6 came to a very tired (but happy) end last night. It was great to meet some of the newcomers to Flatstock, as well as see some familiar faces. Luke Drozd and Graham D. Pilling did subversive audio interviews with various artists and patrons of Flatstock Europe 6. This also featured a segment with me entitled "Justin Time For Cocktails," in which the three of us review fancy drinks we ordered from a bartender who wasn't particularly amused with us. We also renamed some popular drinks. If you're ever in Hamburg, make sure you order the "Sex on or Near the Bench" or a "Something About Cobras."
I'm off to Dresden this evening with a bunch of other artists for Colored Gigs Volume 3, which opens on the 29th. Unfortunately, I'll be cutting my stay in Dresden a bit short in order to make it to Leuven, Belgium for the Orange Factory show. Lots of fun up ahead before I return to Chicago next week.