Art Visionary Box Set

I received my copy of the Art Visionary Box Set in the mail a little while ago. It's a gorgeous collection of limited edition prints, art booklets and original art put together by Damian Michaels, who also contributes some amazing work to the set. Other contributors include Alex Grey, Ben Tolman, Wolfgang Grasse, and Tom Mckee.

My own contribution is a signed, limited edition version of my long out of print art zine, Thought Cloud Shrines. I'll be doing more work for Art Visionary magazine soon! www.artvisionary.com

holiday cookies

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas! These are some cookies I decorated at my friends Andrice and Jesse's holiday party. They have probably all been eaten by now.

Krampus on the tree!

I got really fascinated by the Christmas myth of Krampus, so I had to make a decoration for our tree! Supposedly he originated in Austria. He accompanies Saint Nick on his rounds and scares the kids who have been bad. Apparently there are huge gatherings of people who dress up as Krampus every year. There's even a gathering in Portland, but I missed it. Something about Santa Claus hanging out with a scary monster is really amazing to me. If you google image him, you'll find all kinds of crazy renditions. Save a place for Krampus on your tree!

One more week!

My solo show at Giant Robot is coming down in a week. There's still some pieces left, including some of my personal favorites: http://www.gr2.net/artshow.php This will probably be the last big gallery show I do for awhile since I'm planning to put more and more of my focus towards comics. Huge thanks to everyone at Giant Robot and everyone who came out to the show and supported my work!

snapshots

I've been working on my new comic. It's been hard to tell how it's going sometimes, but I'm really excited to be working on it. I don't want to say too much about it yet, but here are some snapshots of a few places that one of my characters has been. More sneak peeks soon!

My Brother at Laika!

I helped my brother Matt move up to Portland about a month ago. Today he starts his job at Laika (the stop-motion animation studio that made Coroline). It's really exciting to see him working in the field he loves!

Let's Relax Together

I screen printed this drawing onto a shirt a couple of weeks ago because it made me laugh. It was made during a somewhat stressful time, so I guess it was actually a bit of art therapy. It worked!

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

While I was staying at The Den in LA, a bunch of us went on a field trip to the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The main reason I wanted to go was the fact that no one who has been there seems to know how to describe it. Now I have been there myself and I don't know how to describe it either. I think every city should have a museum of perplexing things to explore. It would be fun to create one in Portland. Here's their website: www.mjt.org

THE DEN

While I was in LA for the Giant Robot show, I got to stay with an awesome group of artists and musicians. They were basically the best hosts ever and I felt lucky that I got to spend so much time with them. They've turned their house into a community art hub called The Den and do all kinds of inspiring projects. Above is Alex Chiu and his pillow helmet.

Here's Alex again with one of his paintings. Check out more at www.alexdoodles.com
Alex and Ann Chiu, doing their thing. They also put out a Zine called Eyeball Burp that's worth checking out. I'll probably be contributing to it soon: http://eyeballburp.blogspot.com/

Alex and I did two collaborative doodles while I was there. This is the one that Alex started,
and this is the one I started...
I also did collaborations with bigger groups of people while I was there. It's an ongoing household activity for them. There is art everywhere!

I got my face painted by Jenny Yoo. She paints on live people and objects, then photographs them. The end result looks like a 3D painting. I'll post the end result when she sends it to me. For now you can see some of her work at www.jenny-yoo.com.
Justin Nakasone is in the band Wells with the rest of the house. I got to hear them practice a few times. Really fun music to draw to. http://www.myspace.com/wellsofpeople Thanks for the crazy aweseome week everyone!

Giant Robot show, up and running...

I just got back from my trip to LA. It was such an incredible, action packed trip! It's going to take a number of posts to properly report all the exciting things that happened. For now, here's some images from the art show. Opening night went great. Everyone at Giant Robot was wonderful and a nice crowd showed up. The show is up for sale online now: http://www.gr2.net/artshow.php# and you can check out a slide show and synopses of the event at: http://www.giantrobot.com/index.php/blogs/transmissions-post/theo_ellsworth_at_gr2

Best American Comics 2010

I was very excited to have one of my stories picked by Neil Gaiman for the newest instalment of the Best American Comics series. I got my copy in the mail right before I took off for my LA trip.

I was also commissioned to do the end page design, so I tried to go all out and design something different for both the front and back.
My 15 page story, Norman Eight's Left Arm, was included in the book, alongside so many great cartoonists that I admire. It was nice to have my little comic picked by such an inspiring story teller. Felt like the kind of encouragement I needed!

Giant Robot, Saturday night!

I'm flying to LA early in the morning, and immediately hanging all my pieces at the gallery. The opening is Saturday night! I've been working non-stop to put this show together. There's always a hundred things I wish I had time to add, but I'm really happy with how it all came together. If you're in the area, come say hi!

Ghost Goggles

I made another pair of Ghost Goggles for Halloween this year. It seems to be becoming somewhat of a tradition.

They're made out of layers of glued paper attached to a wooden picture frame insert that just happened to be the exact size as my head.

They are used for ghost detection and communication.
They Work! They really work!

Study Group 12!

Zack Soto Just released the 4th instalment of his awesome art and comics anthology, Study Group 12. It's got hand printed silk screened covers, and a nice line up of artists inside. I was super excited when he handed me my contributor copy at the Alternative Press Expo. It's A hand numbered, limited edition of 500. I've got number 49. I love this kind of stuff. Copies should be available online any day now: www.studygroup12.com

Back from adventures and leaving again

--- I got back from an amazing trip about a week ago, but things have been too crazy to sit down and write about it. I flew down to San Fransisco, was picked up by Sam, in his truck filled with everything he owns, including his house plants.

--- We drove down to stay with our dear friend, Luke Lamar, who lives at Looking Glass Studios in Carmel. Him and his roommates Dan and Marlin live in a crazy clubhouse environment filled with paintings in progress, recording equipment, and rope swings. Much time was spent on various roof tops. I've got to get back down there for a longer visit soon.

---We then headed back up to San Fransisco for a great time at the Alternative Press Expo. Thanks to everyone who came by and supported my work!

---I helped my brother load up a U-Haul the next day and drove his car up to Portland for him. It's amazing having him in the same town as me again. We've been wanting to do some stop motion animation collaborations for years now, and it's looking like we can finally get started! His Stop Motion Film "El Diablo" just got accepted for the ASIFA Hollywood Student Film Festival, which is happening on the same day as my Solo Show!

---Next stop: LA! for my Solo Show at Giant Robot!

FFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

So much going on!

--Tomorrow I'm flying down to San Fransisco, then immeadiately driving down to Monterey to visit my old friend, Luke!

--Then I'm heading back up to SF for the Alternative press Expo www.comic-con.org/ape on the 16th and 17th. I'll be at table 434 all weekend, right next to my publisher, Secret Acres. I'm tabling with my friend Sam Kulla, who will have his book, High Contrast Review for sale. I'll also be carrying some awesome comics and prints by my friend Sean Christensen.

--Then I'll be helping my brother, Matt load up a U-Haul full of his stuff so he can move up to Portland. I'll be driving his car up to Portland for him. I'm looking forwards to the solo road trip. Highway driving = thinking time. My brother and I will hopefully be getting a studio together sometime soon. I haven't lived in the same town as my brother for years and years, so I'm really excited.

--Once I'm home I'll be finishing up the last few pieces for my solo show at Giant Robot and flying down for the opening on November 6th.

--Then maybe I will relax.

High Contrast Review (print edition)

My good friend Sam Kulla (who also officiated Heather and Is wedding) just completed the anthology he's been working on. It has entries from people he's met from all over the world.

I actually hand silk screened all the covers myself with silver and black ink. Here's a shot of them all piled in Sam's room. The image is a photo Sam took of someone he met in China. We gave the covers to the printer and had them professionally bound. I think they turned out pretty nice!

I did some illustrations for an article on food in fairy tales and nursery rhymes, complete with recipes.

There's also some shots from our crazy house head photo shoot in down town Portland.

The book is a limited edition of 250 and is up for sale at his site: http://highcontrastreview.com/shop/highcon

I'll also have copies for sale at the Alternative Press Expo in San Fran!

Giant Robot, Los Angeles

Here's the show card for my upcoming solo show at Giant Robot. I've been having a lot of fun finishing all the new pieces for this!

This is my largest wood cut out character I've made so far. It stands 2 feet tall. I've gotta go find more larger pieces of wood now.

It was a weird experience working on this one. Because of its size, I had to cradle it like a child as I worked.This is one of the many small framed pieces I've been finishing up. I'll give more sneak peeks soon! I was actually born in LA and I haven't spent a lot of time there since I was a kid, so it feels symbolic to be going back down there with a pile of things I've made. In the press release I describe the show as "portraits of beings from far away, living in locations too small to see".