No Parking in Winnipeg

A photo I took while biking around back alleys in downtown Winnipeg, seeking out urban grit.

BlindSpot logo

Logo I created with ink and typewriter on scratchboard.

Monster illustrations

I illustrated a series of classic monsters for Geez 8; here are two of them. Other monsters in the series were the bogeyman and werewolf.

Saturday sketchbook: Elvis stamp

“The king upon his throne.” I stuck an Elvis postage stamp in my sketchbook and drew on and around it to tastefully commemorate his place of death.

This 1993 stamp is the most collected of all time, according to the U.S. postal service, with over 100 million saved.

Geez issue 7

Geez issue 7 is the monster issue. The wraparound cover painting is by
Mark Bryan, who does smart, satirical art.


Below is a spread from the magazine featuring an underwater photo of me in Lost Lake, in case you were wondering what I look like. My friend Caitlin Keyzer took the picture.

Ugly Feelings poster

A poster I illustrated and designed for Ugly Feelings, a "fun evening of ideas, anecdotes, film and music that explore ugly feelings".

The name of the event came from this book.

Diary boxes

These are closeups of a couple of boxes containing diaries written by my grandmother in the early 1900s. The diaries are interesting snapshots of life almost 100 years ago. And the boxes that contain them, while not that old, have their own worn beauty.

Saturday sketchbook: sob story

A drawing from my sketchbook. Click to enlarge.

Let’s go for a bike ride

These photos appeared in Geez 6. Concept: Aiden Enns; model and photo assistance: Tamara Vaags; photography and some art direction: me.

This reminds me of Bill Bryson writing about people who would drive a mile or two to the gym to walk a couple miles on the treadmill.

Geez issue 6

Geez 6, the Awe and Wonder issue. Cover photo of a rooster by João Estêvão A. de Freitas.

I added a bit of gritty sparkly wonder (middle) to some of the headlines scattered throughout this issue.

Geez 6 also featured this piece (bottom) by Eduardo Recife, artist, illustrator and type designer extraordinaire.

Window pain

Photo I took near the Pearl District in Portland.

Living Stone Outreach

A logo I designed for Living Stone Outreach, a nonprofit group to assist people in meeting their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and education. The initial logo (bottom) was developed because Living Stone is currently focused in Africa, but due to plans to expand beyond that continent, the less geographically-specific solution (top) was created.

Baseball II

I drew on another old baseball. Not sure which one is more successful. I did each panel with a different, more detailed pattern on this one.

Geez spines

We put a short quote on the spine of each Geez magazine, just a little bonus for anyone paying attention. And I add some color so they look nice all together on the shelf. My favorite spine line so far is “maybe there is something more important than being right” from the evangelical issue.

The unsuspecting nihilist

Illustrations I did for Books and Culture magazine for an article entitled Nietzsche was Right, about our disappearing moral foundations. Full image above, detail middle, secondary spot illustration for the same article bottom.

Blind zippers

Photo of a wall in Portland with tattered, weathered music and art posters. I used to walk by this wall every day, so I'd keep my eye on it for interesting images that would emerge from the chance combination of worn wood and torn paper.

Peace poster

Peace poster I designed for a Quaker youth retreat: how can we live our everyday lives in a spirit of nonviolence?

Living Room Theaters

Logo and grand opening invitation for Living Room Theaters in Portland, a high-end theater where you can watch foreign and independent films while enjoying a glass of wine and some tapas. I designed this while at
Staccato Design.

Quaker Skate

A goofy shirt I designed for my friends and me; we all attend North Valley Friends, a local Quaker church, and all skateboard, at least occasionally.

R is for rust

W is for wabi sabi.

I used to go on inner-city field trips in Indianapolis with Eric Kass; we'd photograph old signs and other deteriorating type. I think I shot this on the side of a railroad car. Eric introduced me to this book about wabi sabi, a Japanese concept of aesthetics.

Here is a definition of wabi sabi from another book: "Wabi sabi is an intuitive appreciation of transient beauty in the physical world that reflects the irreversible flow of life in the spiritual world. It is an understated beauty that exists in the modest, rustic, imperfect, or even decayed, an aesthetic sensibility that finds a melancholic beauty in the impermanence of all things."

Sojourners eco book illustration

I did this illustration (top) for Sojourners magazine for a special section on books about ecological issues.

I borrowed the image idea from myself: I had done this ex libris bookplate a few years earlier for Tricia Gates Brown (click to enlarge). It's done in scratchboard. The quote on it is "We are like dwarves on the shoulders of giants, by whose grace we see further than they. Our study of the works of the ancients enables us to give fresh fresh life to their finer ideas, and rescue them from time's oblivion and man's neglect." — Peter of Blois

Geez issue 5

This is the "guilt, grace and social change" issue of Geez. It included these "guilt and grace cycles" thought up and written by Karin Kliewer, with photography by Aiden Enns and retouching by me. Click for a larger view.

As it is in Heaven poster

A poster I did for George Fox University Theatre. The play is about a community of Shaker women in the 1800s and the conflict between the elders and young women who begin to see visions of angels.

118 Days book cover

A book cover for 118 Days about the Christian Peacemaker Teams hostage crisis in Iraq, edited by Tricia Gates Brown. Check it out. Endorsed by Desmond Tutu, Kathy Kelly, Daniel Berrigan and many others.

For the subtitle I used an old speech typewriter given to me by my friend David Brewer. It types in oversized text.

Inspiration

When I was a kid, I found this matchbook and it changed my life, inspiring me to pursue art, helping me end up where I am now.

Okay, that's a complete lie. I got this as an adult, and I know it's sexist and stupid, but it cracks me up. (And perhaps I'm secretly hoping scantily-clad women will someday start to lounge around on my desk, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe it's because I don't have a pipe.)

Struggle

A drawing done for Geez Magazine.

Ear wall installation

This is a piece of art I did for Miller Brooks. It's created from old floppy disks they had saved up; I painted each one so when assembled, they'd create an eight-foot tall pixellated ear. The ear was installed at the end of a hall visible from the entryway to Miller Brooks.

NWYM logo

A couple of logos I did for Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers). The top one was my favorite. The addition of a global element was requested, resulting in the more rustic chosen version (bottom).

These tunes, this circle

Book cover I designed for a volume of poems by Bill Jolliff. The top one is the final version; the bottom one was based on a proposed title that was later changed. I like them both.