The Things on Press

I first reached out to Peter Watts to enquire if I could print an edition of his great short story, The Things, two and a half years ago. He was amenable and we quickly signed a contract and I began thinking of how I wanted to visually represent this work.

What makes this story so amazing to me is that it's familiar but told from such a unique and alien perspective, literally. The Things is a retelling of the movie, The Thing, based upon the novella Who Goes There? published by John W. Campbell in 1938. If you know your science fiction and horror, you know about an alien dug up from the frozen wasteland of Antarctica that thaws and wreaks all sorts of havoc. So to read this tale told from the viewpoint of the monster, is just brilliant, in my opinion. The humans in this version are the things and the visitor tries to understand our violent nature.

It took months to determine how best to portray this unique narrative perspective. Bold pen and ink illustrations are printed throughout that interact with the UV illustrations. Under normal light, the alien’s thoughts appear as a blind impression, only subtly visible. When viewed with a UV light, the illustrations unite and form a deeper narrative.

I've been on press for the last week and I'm happy to say that it looks awesome! I finished up the colophon first so I could ship it to Peter for his signature as he was kind enough to sign the pages for me.

I've had to rig the press with a UV light projecting onto the feed table to ensure that ink is being properly laid down. To see sheet after sheet coming off the press with glowing horrors is truly a delight. Only seven plates to go!

2023 McKnight Book Arts Fellowship

I would like to share some amazing news with all of you. I have been selected by a group of esteemed jurors, along with Brien Beidler, another Minneapolis book artist, as a 2023 McKnight Book Arts Fellow!

This is a high honor to me and one I am particularly proud of. I’ve wanted to make books since I was a kid and over the past ten years have made six of them. That the McKnight Foundation found value and potential in my work is a wonderful affirmation of the work I do.

I’ve been a graphic designer for over thirty years and a letterpress printer for fifteen of them. I’ve created untold numbers of logos, invitations, business cards, and packaging for clients over the years and more recently have begun focussing on my art. It’s not an easy shift to switch from a client base to creating art, but it’s what my heart is telling me to do.

If there is one thing I can advise people to do is to follow your passion. We only get one shot on this ball of dirt spinning around the sun, so you need to use your time wisely doing things that give your life meaning. I love to read. I love to explore the world from the printed page. Creating these experiences for myself and others gives me great joy and purpose. Cheers.

Coming Soon! The Beast in the Cave by H. P. Lovecraft

The Beast in the Cave, written by H.P. Lovecraft as a youth and first published in The Vagrant in 1905 is a classic pulp story with a dramatic twist ending. The story is a claustrophobic tale of a visitor lost in Mammoth Cave who begins to hear noises and panics in the eldritch darkness. This illustrated edition is my ode to pulp stories of the early 20th century that beguiled me as a youth. This chapbook is a less expensive entry into collecting my work. If successful, I plan to create more chapbooks of classic pulp stories and offer a beautiful clamshell or slipcase to hold them.

I work on several books at once and this is the next one to go to press. Normally, I launch my books on Kickstarter, but due to additional fees of that platform, am offering this up first on my website on May 1. A prospectus will be mailed out shortly so if you're interested, please send me an email with your address and I can add you to the list. If you've already purchased one of my books, you should receive a prospectus automatically.

This chapbook will be 6x9" in size, hand-stitched in contrasting red thread, and features a sewn-in dust jacket of hot stamped Neenah Moondream paper. This particular paper turns transparent where stamped and so the cover image will provide a beautiful image contrasting with the thick Gmund Heidi Dull Black cover. Inside is a sewn-in flashlight bookmark. Content will be printed with photopolymer plates on Crane’s Classic Crest 100# text.

Heavily illustrated to provide a sense of claustrophobia as the protagonist wanders frightfully in the overwhelming darkness of the cave. Features an afterword by the artist.

Limited to an edition of 100 signed and numbered copies.

Orders will be accepted startting May 1st.

My Latest Book is Complete!

What began well over three years ago when I began looking for the copyright holder to one of my favorite sci-fi stories of all time is now complete. My fully illustrated version of Who Goes There? is now ready to ship!

This book turned out soooo well! I’m very pleased with the results and how adding more colors to the illustrations brought more depth to them. Take a look yourself. The dynamism in this test-tube is superb!

I’ve received great comments from people who have purchased this for their collections. “THIS IS PHENOMENAL!!! Can't believe all the work that went into this! Everything about this is gorgeous!”

This comment and many more like it come from my Kickstarter backers.

Who Goes There?

“The place stank. A queer, mingled stench that only the ice-buried cabins of an Antarctic camp know, compounded of reeking human sweat, and the heavy, fish-oil stench of melted seal blubber. An overtone of liniment combated the musty smell of sweat-and-snow-drenched furs. The acrid odor of burned cooking-fat, and the animal, not-unpleasant smell of dogs, diluted by time, hung in the air."

This opening paragraph of Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell is one of my all-time favorites. Those first three words hit you with a slap and you wrinkle up your nose in response. As you finish the paragraph, you first begin to express disgust and by the end, your mouth is twisted into a horrible rictus. Welcome to the story, my friends. Buckle up because things aren’t going to get any better from here.

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My first introduction to Who Goes There? was stumbling upon John Carpenter’s The Thing on my grandparent’s cable television when I was a kid. I would visit them in the summer and occasionally, rarely, in fact, had the chance to be left home alone to watch whatever I wanted. Without cable at home, this was pure bliss in and era of only three broadcast stations. On that particular day, I stumbled upon The Thing and have been hooked ever since. The movie terrified me to such an extent, I opened the front door and stood outside in the sun to get away from those onscreen horrors! I watch it at least a few times a year because it hits the nostalgia button for me, for one, but also it takes place in the cold bleak solitude of Antarctica, which I would love to experience.

As I was thinking of book projects, I began to look into Who Goes There? as an opportunity to pay homage to a story that’s been such a delight to me for forty-odd years. It took me three years to find the copyright holder, but I finally did and it became a reality in spring of 2020.

At the beginning of a project, I like to start what I call a crazy wall. It’s a reference to the walls you see in detective movies where all the different pieces of the mystery are on display and often connected by string. I’ve always loved them, so my wall of inspiration is called my crazy wall. I’ve put up early sketches, some final prints, and pages of the book I’ve printed. It’s a fun way to keep things from being hidden away in a sketchbook and I like to look at it.

80º North

News on my latest work! In the Fall of 2019, I spent three week artist residency onboard the Tallship Antigua, sailing around Svalbard, Norway deep in the Arctic Circle. Aside from getting married to my lovely wife Laura, this was the most amazing event in my life. Along with 28 artists from around the world, we explored the dramatic and unique terrain of this beautiful place.

I’ve been working on a book for this project and soon i will be able to show you images and talk about what the book is all about.

WIP “Extinction”

2020: A Fiasco WIP

Scratchbuilt model to cast in resin

I’m also a model-maker and love scratch-building pieces for my dioramas. I’ve been bringing my skills as a modeler to my book arts and it’s been a fun crossover. Here I built a dumpster out of polystyrene and spare parts. Those bumpers on the front panel are helicopter blades. It was a fun because the end product needed to look used and abused, so any artifacts and foibles from the build process would just add to the sculpt.

Originally, I wanted the lids to pivot in small hinges, but it became pretty obvious that was going to be difficult to mold, so I switched to lids that were simply removable.