Happy Holidays, let's make art – 12.21.24
Congrats on making it to the airport bar of the calendar year—time isn't real here and there's no judgment. Sleep in, open wine at noon, and make art until you fall asleep at the workbench.
I hope you’re getting to celebrate this season with your friends, family, and loved ones in whatever way fills you with the most joy. I know I need a big ole reset after the decade year that was 2024. Our house is keeping it casual: gumbo, red wine, books, and smooth jazz playing in the background 24/7.
And because “Mac’s reset” normally just means being in the woods without phone signal, we’re going to escape the city for New Year’s. Look out for the upcoming edition of Photos from the road: Sequoia NP (in the snow) ❄️🌲
Working on
Arches National Park
Hey, so like, I wasn’t kidding. We’re going to be at this one together for weeks.
A few of things are going on with this print:
I use an oil based ink that makes for a better overall quality print, but it takes days (if not a week+ when it’s humid) to dry between pulls.
I keep running out of little supplies that make my life easier, and am usually waiting for those to arrive while the print is drying. So you know, day by day we go.
It’s snowboarding season. And in this house, when the snow is good and the pass is open, we make a late night run for the mountain.
But we’re getting so much closer to being done! I’ll spare you the next detail pull and we can evaluate the final product together in the next issue before this print gets launched to the shop.
I’ve moved onto the second block. So all of that talk of registering the print in the last issue is coming into full swing now. From left to right, you can see the blue layer from the first block, the full second block, and the hand mixed sort of sandy base color for the arches.
The trick of this color is that 90% of that peachy goop is actually a transparent ink. So when it sets into white paper, you get that first image where the arches become bright and vibrant and tan. It’ll also make for a very easy background to start layering detail because the next layer won’t have to compete as much optically with a heavier color underneath.
Here’s what will happen next: the same block used here for the base color will now be carved even further down to make the first layer of detail. I’ll print that with a darker, desert-y orange. And then carve it down again for the last layer of detail. And then print once more with a darker brown.
But here we go! The registration is working like a charm.
Listening to
Specifically, the song Fire on the Mountain has been stuck in my head. And I usually put on Grateful Dead radio on Spotify to give myself those sweet sweet endless hours of jams. So I guess what we’re really talking is: The Dead, Marshall Tucker Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Cabinet, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
If there’s one thing I need when we’re sliding through an active snowstorm in the Tahoe woods, it’s that cozy embrace of a six minute guitar solo that seems to both warm you from the inside and make you want to send it off of a 12 foot cliff in slow motion (I can’t do that yet, by the way).
Drinking
A day on the mountain means a night in a cabin with the fire going and a whiskey to warm you up.
Meghan and I had the pleasure of staying for a few weeks in Utah last ski season. I go out to SLC pretty frequently for work, so we figured we may as well give the champagne powder a go and enjoy the mountains while I worked on weekdays. It was phenomenal. And while up there, we accidentally stumbled upon the High West distillery. It’s tucked away in a private canyon that’s off the beaten path enough for elk to stand in front of your Jeep while you’re driving through the storm…
We tried a few of their blends later in their tasting room. The Campfire stood out—I’m not normally a rye person, or a super peaty Scotch person, but High West’s blend of the two with their bourbon makes for a perfectly smoky and balanced whiskey. It’s as good straight as it is in an old fashioned. And it’ll warm you up without burning your throat.
Hey, did I mention it’s ski season?
Happy Holidays! Enjoy yourselves. See you out there 🏔️
“it’s that cozy embrace of a six minute guitar solo that seems to both warm you from the inside”
I felt that. Happy holidays, Mac!