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Subscribe to the Wertzeen

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Friendlies: I'm attempting a little experiment over here. We (the royal we) have created a monthly inbox zine called Wertzeen. If you sign up, it will arrive, like a magic mist, in your email inbox. Once a month, and no more than once a month. It is a zine without the paper: a zeen. We’ll keep you informed not just of our illustrative scribblings and meanderings but also of the happenings of the Bay Area creative community. It will be good fun, and it means you no harm. It is free and easy. If this interests you, click on over to this page.

I'm posting issue #001 tomorrow, and I can't wait.

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Oakland Pride Poster

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.. and when I say LOVE you best believe I'm in LOVE L-U-V. A one-color poster design for the Oakland Museum and Oakland Pride. I'll be with the OMCA's "mobile unit", teaching folks how to screenprint their own take-away posters at the Pride festivities. We'll be close to the intersection of Broadway and 14th. Come say hi!

Oooh, Sheila E. Love her.

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special ghosts at the burlington hotel

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friendlies, our little uke band special ghosts (it's andy, isabel, and yours truly) is playing the burlington hotel on july 18th. if you haven't been to port costa yet, it's time to treat yourself. be sure to have dinner at the bull valley roadhouse before the show.

here's a flyer, and some images of isabel and i screenprinting little stuffed ghost pillows for sale at the show. thanks to bloom press for hosting.

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a blast from the past : when the studio was in the basement

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Friendlies, I unearthed these 2008 CVB posters a few weeks back and put them back up in the shop so I thought I'd unearth the video of me making them in the basement. In the most hoopty sweater-and-haircut combination possible. See also the final poster and the sketch for the Cracker record that inspired the poster. Enjoy.

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the day lassie went to the moon poster : in the shop!

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Dear Friends of Music, this is a project that I've been working on for a while now, and I'm glad to finally see it on paper. David Lowery from Camper Van Beethoven asked if I'd consider making the song The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon (one of my favorites) into a kid's book, and I thought it was a great idea for a poster as well as a book (the book is still to come!). Well, a bunch of hours of sketching, drawing, and printing later, here she is. Have a gander, and if you'd like, head over to the shop to buy yourself one. Printed with love by yours truly at Bloom Press in Oakland with the kind assistance of Nat Swope.

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Montclair Mural: all done!

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Dear Friendlies, I had the pleasure with working with Ron Rifkin at the Design Office and Daniel Swafford from the Montclair Village Association in creating street banners and this mural dedicated to sweet little Montclair Village in Oakland, California. Yesterday was the dedication ceremony. More about the mural (and the kind folks who made it happen) here.

Here's the completed illustration. This image was used for banners that were (and are!) flying over Montclair.

This is Pam Consear from Rare Bird and the Skyline High Art Club, who spent weeks and weeks painting the mural.

Ta-daa!

Guess who came to the Dedication Ceremony? That's Daniel, Ron, and I, plus Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and Councilmember Libby Schaff.

Beast of the Bay 2014

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Friendlies, our good friends at Bay Woof have awarded the Wertzateria the "Best Pet Artist" as part of the Beast of the Bay Awards. Arf!

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"You’ll recognize Oakland-based illustrator and printer, Michael’s work from last year’s Beast of the Bay Awards logo and winners’ issue cover, if not from his other high-visibility projects all across the Bay Area, including logos and posters for the Oakland Museum, SF MOMA, and the de Young. Perhaps inspired by his “vicious beast” Olive, animals appear in lots of his work. Visit the website to view many dazzling samples of his work and buy posters and picture books. Be sure to check out his fun and fabulous downloadable e-book, Dog Dreams. Michael uses silkscreen, computer graphics, whatever it takes to create his distinctive, bright, graphic art. Amazing!"

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2014 calendars in the shop

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Friendlies, the 2014 calendars are here & up for sale in the shop. This calendar is a collection of screenprints I've made since 2003. Also in the shop you'll find both the winter tour posters I just completed for the CVB/Cracker family. Enjoy!

Thank you and hugs: Carolee, Wayne, Isabel, Kristy, Nat Swope at Bloom Press. Big thanks to my sister Julie Wertz for making this happen every year, and to the fine folks at Lee Wood Press in San Francisco for the amazing printing job (as usual).

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