Hey Bay Area peeps– December is gift-fair time, and I’ll be participating in two fairs on December 12th and 13th.  I’d love to meet you and chat about dogs, veggies, you name it.  Free admission, come on down and browse some beautiful local and handmade items.

The first fair is at the San Francisco Center for the Book the evening of Friday, December 12th.  Join me and other printmakers, book artists, and craftspeople from 6pm to 8pm.

The next day, Saturday, I’ll be at Feria Urbana, an urban fair of local artists and designers selling a wide range of gift-y items: clothing, jewelry, ceramics, and, of course, block prints and letterpress.  The fair will be held in the back garden of Pizzaiolo in Temescal.  Free snacks and drinks!

San Francisco Center for the Book
300 De Haro (entrance at 16th Street)
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.sfcb.com
Fair from 6-8 pm, Friday, Dec 12

Feria Urbana
5008 Telegraph Ave @ 51st
Oakland, CA 94609
www.feriaurbanaSF.com
Fair from 10-3pm, Saturday, Dec 13
Rain or shine!

Custom letterpress pet portraits and custom block print pet portraits are featured in the December 08 Holiday Gift Guide issue of Town and Country Magazine.  At newsstands now.

I love the Alternative Press Expo!  It’s my favorite convention of the year.  Hundreds of independent artists together under one (sometimes leaky) roof in SF.  This year I tabled up with my friends at Volta Press and we were quite busy both days.  So busy that I didn’t get all the time that I wanted to carefully check everything out.  Two artists, though, really stood out.

Veronica Graham of MuteManifold.com was selling some truly awesome stamped maps.  She covered long strips of masa paper with half-inch square linoleum block prints, each block representing one type of landscape, to form complex and gorgeous patterns.  Legend of Zelda meets Dutch Quilting meets Adventure Story meets Something Even More Satistfying.  Check it out.   And while you’re on her site, also check out “California Green”, in her archives.  Very cool.

I also liked Karen Knighton’s small illustrated books.  Characters, drawn on sheets of thin translucent vellum, float above beautiful painted backgrounds.  A great combo of her painting and animation talents, and the end result is very satisfying.  You can see a version of the books at birdenvy.com, although a lot of the pleasure of reading the physical book is lost on the screen.

I’m excited to see what will be at next year’s APE!