an introduction

see, seeing, being seen

Thank you so much for being here for my inaugural newsletter! This has been percolating in my brain for years, and I’m finally feeling *somewhat* ready to get this baby out into the world.

In an effort to expand my creative practice, and to spend more of my time looking and noticing (rather than scrolling), I’ve given myself a goal of writing once a month - focusing on what I’m thinking about, where I’m at in my creative process, and what’s visually inspiring me. I’ll most likely do all of this through the lens of sign painting (since that’s currently both my main practice and how I make a living), but I’m also giving myself permission to wiggle around and pivot in this new container. Because - as we all know - inspiration can strike from any direction, and creativity can take many forms!

MEANDERING THOUGHTS :

Will I suffer a vulnerability hangover immediately after I hit the send button on this first newsletter? YOU BETCHA. But my hope is that I feel the fear and still continue to do it because I value growth, even at the risk of a possible failure. As if I’m brushing up against the edges of my current container - like a hermit crab exploring the boundaries of its shell until deciding to move on to a bigger space to call home.

I associate being and feeling seen with a complicated set of emotions - it feels very vulnerable to share my life and process on this platform, and, as we all know, vulnerability is not always a comfortable place.

I’ve been noticing these themes in my professional life as well - being seen is essentially what a sign painter provides for their clients. I’ve always found it interesting that one of the golden rules of commercial sign painting is to paint “what you DO rather than who you are.” Can a parallel be made from business to individual here - are signs just another form of wanting to be seen? How can I feel truly seen? Does that come more from what I do than from who I am? Are the two really any different? How much of what I do is who I am?

How do you feel about being seen? Do you draw a line between your artwork being seen versus you as a human being? Or are they so inextricably linked that you essentially ARE your work? Asking the hard-hitting questions over here, lol, but I find all of this so interesting to think about! I love how this newsletter is getting me to use my brain in ways I don’t normally get to do. (I feel like I’m writing art history papers for college again, which - ngl - was always a fun time for me.)

IN THE STUDIO:

At the moment I’m BUSY with studio work - I just counted, and I will have painted NINE sandwich board signs over the course of just a few months. If you’re a fellow sign painter, then you’ll feel me on this. Building and painting a gorgeous a-frame sign is extremely validating (that moment when you hinge the two pieces of wood together successfully is a pure THRILL) - BUT they are one of the most labor intensive signs out there. I’ll be ready to take a little break from them and focus on some good old-fashioned window and wall signs for a bit!

In the process of painting all those sandwich board signs, I mixed A LOT of custom colors. It’s honestly one of my favorite things about sign painting. More often than not, clients come to me with established branding and specific color callouts - and I then get to translate those colors for screen and print into REAL LIFE PAINT. I’m including a photo if anyone is curious as to what this process looks like. It’s controlled color chaos! Methodically unhinged! My handwriting gets worse as I tweak the formulas, as if a mad color scientist was taking over my body! So much of sign painting is about precision and skill, which is why I think it’s so much fun to let myself get messy during this part of the experience. And for anyone wondering, I’m using 1-Shot or Ronan brand lettering enamels.

WHAT I’M LOOKING AT:

I keep this picture on my fridge - a snapshot from 1975 that I found in one of my grandmother’s photo albums:

I love this photo. It reminds me that sign painting doesn’t always have to be “correct” or follow “the rules” or be overly ornate. There’s a charm and joy in this sign that keeps me grounded to the reality of what I do. When I get stuck in a negative thought loop about something I’ve painted “not being good enough”, it’s a healthy reminder to step back and remind myself that I’m just painting a silly little sign! It’s not life or death! As long as you can read it, it’s all good!

I’ve googled both this troupe and the German acting school that it’s parked in front of, to no avail. I hope that someone somewhere is telling stories about that one summer they traveled in a VW bus across Europe as part of a puppet theater clown troupe. I’m also really tickled thinking about someone in my family (most likely my grandmother) being so excited about seeing this bus that they stopped to snap a photo and deemed it worthy to put in a photo album.

I’ve been looking at images from the The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930 almost daily after reading this article from Letterform Archive. I mean, LOOK AT THIS STUNNER:

Also spending lots of time digging into the Met Open Access Collection just for funsies, and found this book (dated 1608!!!) of woodcut designs for lace and embroidery:

I’m so intrigued by the multiple processes involved here - someone first makes an impossibly intricate woodcut (by hand!) that then gets printed as an instructional image into a book (by hand!), which then gets translated into impossibly intricate lace and embroidery textiles. ALL BY HAND. It boggles my mind and I love it.

I’ve also been chipping away at Peter Korn’s Why We Make Things and Why It Matters. It’s dense at times, but I have been enjoying it when I have the attention span. My brain is constantly trying to unravel the layers of identity around being a fine artist vs. commercial artist vs. craftsperson, and I’ve found that this book helps me navigate these channels in a way that feels both meaningful and validating. So for that alone, it’s worth a read!

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION:

Upcoming fall workshops -

• September 14th I’m back at Outlet PDX for Hand Lettering & Sign Painting Techniques for RISO - last time we offered this class it sold out FAST, so I’m very excited to teach it again!

• Tuesday evenings in October I’ll be at Wildcraft Studio School for a four week Sign Painting Class

• November 3rd I’ll be teaching a NEW class at Wildcraft called Sign Design & Layout - we’re going to focus heavily on process and group feedback in this, and I’m SO EXCITED!

A BIG THANK YOU for being here! Feel free to respond with thoughts, ideas, and suggestions on what you’d like to see in upcoming newsletters! And if you’d like to book me for a future sign, design project or workshop, please reach out - I’d love to collaborate with you!

Until next time :)

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