La Costa Perdida

Friendlies, the new Camper Van Beethoven record is out today, and it is, indeed, a goody goody. The package design and illustrations were done by yours truly. You can stream the whole thing here, and you can buy yourself a copy here. I recommend getting a "hard copy" of the CD, since that will give you the full sensory experience of owning the record (as opposed to having these little pop gems lost in the "shuffle" of your playlists).

Go ahead, treat yourself. Buy the CD from your local music purveyor, wait for it to arrive, pour yourself a frosty beverage, put the CD on, find a comfortable place to sit and listen, and relax. Listen to each track carefully, noting your physical reaction to each song. You might get distracted. That's ok. Sit back down, and listen to the next track. And so on. See? Feels good, right?

Do you know Camper's older musics? You might start with Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty. This is a good collection. If you like that one, you're ready for Cigarettes and Carrot Juice, a box set of their early records. Key Lime Pie is another favorite. Listen, it's all great. Trust me.

You'll find me at The Rickshaw Stop on February 16.

xm

Have a Scruffy Coffee Chrissmess

The t-shirts and hoodies from the Santa Monica - Venice Xmas Run arrived. Cool, huh? Notice that I did not type the word "Christmas". That is because there's a War on Christmas in this country (as evidenced by the lights and baubles and wreaths and whatnot on every single street corner in every single town). Apparently Chrissmess turns me into Snarky Mike Snarkerson!

Hope your Chrissmess is lovely and warm!

Thanks to Mick Hodgson and Ph.D, a Design Office.

xm

SFCB / Dog Dreams Video!

Dear Friendlies, behold! The kind folks at Hard Boiled Industries made this promo video for the San Francisco Center for the Book and Dog Dreams as part of what will be the eBook version of Dog Dreams. Neet!

(And, I'm not joshin' when I tell you I hope to see you at the Center making your own books soon!)

xm

wertz on wwword

Dear Friendlies, there's a new Friendly in our midst. Lucy Sisman (who has an incredibly impressive roster of print clients) is working on a great literary blog called wwwword, and she asked if I'd like to be interviewed for their blog. The result? One of the nicest pieces of writing about my process to date, and an in-depth look at the creation of A Dazzling Display of Dogs.

See for yourself.

Thank you, Lucy!

See Wertz Pull Prints in Public!

My Darlings, my presence has been requested as part of the All of Us or None poster show at the Oakland Museum, and I'm eager (yet full of trepidation). A good friend recently pointed out that my current level of neurosis is rather high, and I think it's because I keep on making public appearances in very public places. Like, for instance, in museums and bookstores. And I don't just appear, darlings, I do things in public. Like sing, or, in this case, pull screenprints that will be given away to the gathered masses for free.

I usually spend a good deal of time by myself with just a pencil and some paper and my dog to talk to, so you understand. Things could go wrong. Terribly wrong. My good friend (and collaborator*) Jim Winters will be there to help out if we have to clean out a screen or extract a squeegee from my eye socket, so that's good.

I'll be pulling (about 50) prints in the gallery from 5:00-6:30 pm on Friday, April 27, 2012, in the galleries of the Oakland Museum. It's free, I think.

Here's the mantra for the evening : IMPERFECT = REAL. Write this on your hand with a sharpie, and come on down to the galleries to see me pull prints. Directly afterwards, I'll be signing the large Peace Sign OMCA Prints at the OMCA Store. See below.

Hope to see you there!

xm

Here's a preview of the print I'll be pulling:

Here's the OMCA Peace Sculpture Print:

Here's me mixing colors for the OMCA print:

* Plus the guy is an amazing artist, and got me on the road to silkscreen - I should be there supporting him, not the other way around.

Dog Dreams opening at Book Shop Santa Cruz!

Friendlies, we're getting the band back together again - again - for a singing and book signing at Bookshop Santa Cruz. This is one of my very favorite bookstores, and we're excited and grateful that they want to host and event with us. We have a long history with the town of Santa Cruz, and Bookshop is one of the best things about Santa Cruz. We always go there when we visit. Usually we go to Zachary's to fuel up, then down to Bookshop. It's a thing we do.

So come on down, check out the surf, grab a book. Come say hi!

WHAT: Dog Dreams singing/signing at BSSC WHERE: Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA WHEN: January 19, 2012, 7:30 pm.

Some video has emerged from the Dog Dreams opening at the Oakland Museum: here it is. It's super goofy.

OH MY GOSH I ALMOST FORGOT AND THERE'S THIS! SUPER CUTE! (t/y Carolee)

xm

new prints & books & tees up in the shop!

Hey kids, It's been a busy summer in the silkscreen studio, and finally I can share some of the work I've been producing. There's a mess of new stuff to peruse on the shop page: the collaborative book by Mister Jim Winters and myself, Queen for Two Weeks, numbered and signed and packed up pretty in a cellophane wrapper. The super-tall-and super-fifties Sutro Tower screenprint. The longer-than tall Lake Merritt (featuring the also-longer-than-tall Lake Merritt Monster). There is also a photograph of an attractive young man modeling the t-shirt design (it looks just like the Sutro Tower print) I did for therethere.

xm

West Coast Passport Campaign : Hostelling International

Friendlies, recently designer Pete Friedrich from Charette Communication Design and I had a brain bubble: wouldn't it be cool if we created a Passport and a set of Illustrated Stamps so that when one travelled from Hostel to Hostel (along the West Coast) one could collect the stamps in one's very own passport? With enough stamps (and a few blisters - that's a long hike), one is eligible for a t-shirt.

Yes, this would be cool. And, if I do say so, they are. Very cool. Here's the stamps I created. And here's a bit about the campaign on the Hostelling site.

... and here's the Passport cover.

Neet, huh? This was a super fun job.

xm

A new bag design for Rickshaw Bagworks

Hey friendlies, check it out. This is a bag design for the rickshaw bag company, which is located in the historic Dogpatch district of San Francisco.

This is why I was up until 2:30 in the morning yesterday and why I can't spell properly today. It's totally worth it. I'll let you know when these are available for purchase!

xm

Silkscreened Ox pillow cover from Karie Aineb

Friendlies: look what my friend Karie sent me! We spent a day silkscreening the ox image onto different fabrics, and then Karie did the rest! The back of the pillow is a lovely dark blue velvet. It's beautifully constructed and sewn. Neet, huh?

xm

Dazzling Dogs Release Recap

Frenz, I'm totally overwhelmed by the positive response - we packed Diesel Books! It was SRO! We also sold out of copies of A Dazzling Display of Dogs (but not to worry - if you want a copy, you can order one here).

For those of you who braved the rainy weather and [maybe even] came out with your kids on a Wednesday night - I thank you! I hope you had as much fun as we did. Thanks also to Tricycle Press (this is, sadly, one of the last books they will publish), Suki and Andy for the music, and Loriana and Carolee for helping out and setting up. Thanks to Betsy Franco for making the trip to Oakland, and to Diesel Books for being so accommodating. If you're in the Bay Area, go buy your books there! It's a great shop.

Here's a little video that Michael Zelner shot (thanks Michael!):

What's next for the book? Well, The Mutts are going to be recording these songs for real sometime soon. Betsy and I are going to be making a book trailer or two for the two books we've published together thus far. There are also rumblings about another collaboration. Stay tuned.

xm

tshirt design for oaklandish

howdies! it's fall on lake merritt, and oaklandish has a new tshirt design from yours truly. say hello to the lake merritt monster.

xm

2010 halloween posters are here!

I AM SO EXCITED. The Halloween posters are done, and they look great! Thanks to Nat Swope at Bloom Press for another amazing print job. 18 x 24", blue, orange, and GLOW IN THE DARK inks! These posters commemorate yet another fabulous Driveway Follies in the Glenview district of Oakland, CA. Do you want one? Yes you do! Go directly to the Wertzateria shop and buy yourself one. As soon as it arrives, put it under some bright light and then get in a totally dark space. Say "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary" in a spooky low voice, then open your eyes to see the Magical Glow of this poster!

BWA HA HA HA HA HA!

If you're in Oakland for Halloween, join Aunt Grandma and Jitters, won't you?

Celebrate Halloween with Aunt Grandma and Jitters, Hosts of Driveway Follies 2010! Glenview's Free Marionette Show and Yard Haunt! 3854 Greenwood Avenue, Oakland.

October 30: 7-10 PM: Puppet Show Only.

October 31: Show begins at Nightfall and repeats throughout the evening.

Adults without children welcome after 9 pm.

See you there!

xm

The Haiti Poster Project

Dear Friendlies, the poster I did for The Haiti Poster Project is now on sale. It's a 18" x 24" 2-color screenprinted poster (printed by Nat @ Bloom Screen Printing Co.), and it's a goody, if I do say so myself.

The Haiti Poster Project was launched three days after the January 12th, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The project is a collaborative effort by the design community to help effect change through our work. Signed and numbered, limited edition posters have been donated by designers and artists from around the world. All money raised will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

xm

cvb apothecary posters are up in the shop!

dear friendlies, the cvb/cracker apothecary posters are up in the shop. two colors, 18 x 24". printed by nat at bloom press. yummy.

xm

p.s. these posters travelled all the way to st. louis, where they got signed by both bands. go get one if you're at one of the shows. also: there's a good interview with david lowery talking about cracker's recent trip to play for the soldiers in iraq here.

EDIT 1.13.10: the first 150 posters of the edition sold out at the first four shows of the tour! i'll be sending another 30 out for the show at the highline ballroom in NYC. there's a small stack available at the shop as well.