Saturday in the Studio – 12.7.24
There's nothing like the smell of oil based ink and mineral spirits in the morning.
Oh hey, thanks for reading. This newsletter is once again encouraging me to have new Cypress work done (even just a little bit) every weekend. So genuinely—if you’re reading this, you’re helping to make Cypress happen. I appreciate you.
Working on
Arches National Park
Pull 1 of 4 is done!
If you kind of squint and tilt your head to the side, you can see the double arch that will (hopefully) register smoothly into the blue sky background. These bad boys are going to dry for the rest of the week before they get the full reduction print treatment with the next block.
What you’re seeing here is the print from one of two linoleum blocks that are perfect opposites. The sky is a single-use block. Once the blue is down, we can toss that one to the side. But with the next block (that still doesn’t really look like an arch, but just trust me), I’ll pull a light sandy color, carve some detail away, pull a darker color, carve some more detail away, and pull the darkest color.
The real key is that each print needs to lay down on the block in exactly the same place, four times in a row. This is called registration. As I carve away more detail, I want the edges of the block to meet up as a seamless edge so that the final image is passably one object. (Hint: if your inkjet printer at home has ever looked like it printed with drunk goggles on and you saw double, that’s misregistration).
I’m honestly not sure how many prints I’ve made over the last few years. I experiment with a lot of things that’ll never see the light of day. But with every print that matters, there comes a moment where I pause in exasperation and admit to myself that this was the most ridiculous method I could’ve chosen to make a print.
This time, that moment came at midnight on a Thursday when I was multiple hours into taping registration stripping tabs to the back of 40 pieces of paper. (I’m realizing now that that sentence sounds like an easy task. I very much wanted to sleep by sheet 20.)
Anyway, it may have been worth it. The first pulls came out pretty spot on. You and I will know together by the next print if this actually works.
Listening to
Jaaaaaaaaazz Queen – a Spotify playlist from Jesse! Kirkcaldy-Lash
This is jazz, not Jazz.
Jazz is funny to me. When I tell a buddy of mine that I’ve been listening to jazz lately, I mean one of two things: free flowing, melodic piano solos from the greats (Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Monk and Ellington, you know, the I need a glass of whiskey and a good book jazz) or New Orleans brass bands (Hot 8, Dirty Dozen, Preservation Hall, hell maybe even some Louis Armstrong). Jazz feels like it just comes on our house speakers on its own based on my mood and activity. Hint: if the cast iron is on the stove, it’s a brass band playing.
But my friend Jesse? He’s usually referring to the most fluid, experimental, 16-different-time-signatures-in-the-same-song type of music you’ve ever heard. So naturally, he’s got a playlist to share with friends that serves as a great introduction to the modern stuff. Honestly, it’s been on repeat in the studio. Standouts on this playlist for me include anything from DOMi & JD BECK—but I’ll admit that I’m kind of cheating because I already own an album of theirs on vinyl and will listen to literally anything that Thundercat collaborates on (who, by the way, is absolutely the best modern jazz artist of our generation).
Oh and this playlist has one extra easter egg! Jesse slipped in a poster as the playlist art. The piece above is The World is a Vampire by Trey Flanigan. The choice makes sense; Trey’s art is equivalent to visual modern jazz if a metal bassist picked up a pen. But I also love this easter egg because Poppy Press, the studio hosting Trey’s art, is dope and you should check them out.
Drinking
2024 Brosseau Blanc Nouveau from Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah!
Extradimensional is my favorite winery in Sonoma, CA. There. I said it.
If you can get over to their tasting room at some point, you’ll get it too. Not only is it the most laid back, welcoming, and most California wine tasting room you’ll experience in all of Sonoma—but more often than not, you’ll be served wine from the mastermind and winemaker behind the whole operation himself, Hardy Wallace. He and his wife, Kate Graham, are making some of the most aromatically expressive blends you’ll ever drink.
We’ve laughed together about how these wines often have aromas of fresh Belgian waffles or strawberry shortcake. And then you taste them and your palette explodes with a complexity that is, quite frankly, bewildering. Your first sip of the newly released 2022 MARIANA'S VINEYARD M-CF somehow starts delicate/medium in body and then suddenly creeps up on you and shouts “hey, I’m still a big red” at the roof of your mouth. Just do me a favor and read the description linked and you’ll understand why all of these wines deserve a taste. Meghan and I love these wines so much that they’re going to appear at our wedding.
Okay okay, back to the Nouveau Blanc. This wine is incredible. It’s reminiscent of my favorite white from Hardy, the Full King Crab. It’s… well, hard to describe. Bright? Fresh and apple-y? The finish listed on their site is “Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!,” so just imagine that as a white wine and you can complete the profile in your mind.
AND?? Extradimensional’s Nouveau wines are bottled in special edition Klean Kanteens as a zero-waste solution to focus on the future of California Wine. Like what’s not to love, people?
I hope you catch the bug like I did. Drink a bottle of their wine, listen to the Extradimensional Wine Life Podcast, and give me a call when you make it out to Sonoma and we can share a glass together.