Author Archives: tinypine

Spikey/Soft

Posted on April 3rd, 2009

I know, I know…. it’s been awhile since the last post…. I have been very busy busy on lots of projects for the past three weeks!

The other day I had a good reason to have a bunch of photos taken of my apartment… It was fun, mostly because I had a professional photographer, Joshua Targownik, snapping the pictures. He did an amazing job and took this particular one… (more are forthcoming, I promise)….

I wanted to talk about this understated set though it it probably understated compare to the rest of my colorful surroundings full of phones and flowers. I took a copper etching class a couple of years ago and found it completely delightful even though I am a letterpress printer for a living. It was a chance to play and make art completely without a computer (usually I do the artwork & typesetting on the computer and then print… you know…).

Anyways, I got into the idea of juxtaposing two similarly shaped things which had the same lines but completely different meanings. Now, I am not sure if my idea comes across totally, but I etched out a dandelion puff and a spider web. Mind you, they were scrapped freehand completely in copper using a sharpish needle… I didn’t exercise a lot of control over my lines but I liked the look. was trying to use the same kinds of lines in both images but in different directions… sort of.. they both have the same base structure but the small lines either connect to one another or puff out… I think maybe the dandelion puff is the feminine and the spiderweb is the masculine. the same, but different…

Then using a very simple but wonderful process & press, I printed these on handmade paper. This is so yummy because the copper plate completely mushes the texture out of the paper, leaving the area around it smoooooooth. I love that part! yum!

I mounted them on pale yellow handmade paper with a natural deckle and taped some string to the back and then I had two new pieces of art for my walls. Lovely!

I am goodbye, too…

Posted on March 10th, 2009

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I went to film school. That’s no secret about me. I LOVED working on films in college. I was the laborious production designer and/or editor on many films during my time at Northwestern…. There is a nice stash of VHS tapes next to my TV to proove it. Too bad the VHS may not even work anymore!

The first actual “film” I made was a collaboration with my friends John Randono and Abbey Rothstein. The assignment was to shoot on a Bolex an in camera edit which would be processed and then screened in front of class to a song of our choosing. The catch was that this screening would be the first time we would be seeing the film so there was some pressure. Long story short, our group decided on “I am a Cinematographer” by Palace to be the song and it was so perfectly in sync that I took it upon myself to contact Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy) to ask him if we could actually use his song in conjunction with the film with his official permission. Shortly I received a phone call and a yes (this was 11 years ago).

Next thing I know, by a strange pattern of coincidence, I have made two videos for Will’s “The Letting Go” record (Ebb Tide and Strange Form of Life) which were shot and edited very very very cheaply and consumerly… mostly because I believe it is the skills and the quality of the work that speaks strongest about a piece of art…. Quality doesn’t rest in the medium. does that make sense??

When Will asked me about doing a third video for his latest record “Beware”, I was excited to once again do a music video for just fun… It’s great to have a break from letterpress and print and to be able to use my eyeballs for a moving form of art… (though technically, stationery does move through the mail, right?). I pointed Will’s attention towards another college friend/filmmaker – Leif Johnson – who frequently positions his eyeballs behind lenses of film and video cameras.

I wasn’t present, but I hear that the wrap party was longer than the shoot since they only had a fraction of daylight left to get the singing and walking in…. Leif gave me the footage and about a week later, I had put this little ditty together on Final Cut Express. Just a little exercise of my college education!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5__UQbZVcMU&w=320&h=240]

That film school really is paying off…. yup… I got really good at syncing Mr. Bonny while he chomped on chewing gum singing along with himself in harmony…. I am putting THAT on my resume… Enjoy!

The Telephone

Posted on February 25th, 2009

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Anyone who has been to my living quarters in the past 12 years could tell you 1 thing about me. I love telephones. I have 50 or more rotary telephones in my apartment. Lots of different styles and colors. Every room as more than a couple of different stles sitting around. It can be a bit overwhelming. Ask Joanna, my former roommate. In our old apartment, I think her bedroom was the only one not taken over by my collection. And I probably even tried to sneak some in there at some point when she was out of town……

I love the uniformity of rotary telephones from the 50’s thru the 70’s. They had the same exact shape for years. Different colors would come out but there was really only one style. I have almost all of the colors in that same style except pink…. (just so you all know whomever is reading this and wants to know what to get me for my birthday……..

telefon_01

This morning, my neighbor two doors down, Brian sent me some links of overwhelming pleasing rotary telephone art. I almost exploded with smiles. The fact that they have this many of the exact same telephone just is terribly pleasing. The artist is Rune Guneriussen. and I am gathering this person is from Norway… There are many other cool shots on this site so check it out….

What really happened when I saw this is that I got a hankering for a phone from Norway… just like these. AND I really wanted my telephones to be shot as little pieces of art….

I do have LOTS of foreign phones from my friends’ travels. Represented are the following countries: Thailand, England, Egypt, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, France, Serbia and Canada…. so maybe one day I will document them all…

tiffany blue princess black and white

In the meantime, I was reminded of the photos I took the other day testing out a semi broken 35mm camera… here is one of my phones. It’s not foreign, but since you can’t tell from the black and white photo, it’s a tiffany blue princess phone. I love it…..

Is it post-modern to blog about a blog about Tiny Pine?

Posted on February 18th, 2009

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My friend and one of my favoritest picture-makers Gia Canali has a blog and she just interviewed me a couple of days ago for it. I thought it would be fun to link to the blog because that would maybe become a blog vortex of clicking and no one would ever leave! yay!

It was actually really fun to do the interview. I did fell a little funny that my answers would be on the internet but I then i realized that I am already talking on the internet…. so I must be a little bit entertaining if YOU are reading this right now? right? Hopefully I can come across sort of knowledgeable too! (Don’t tell me any differently, please!)

I was a little surprised when I read back over my answers in some spots… particularly the Ugly Betty comments – you will have to read her blog to know what I am referring to – because I had just seen an episode a couple of days before and I felt maybe that I was misinformed about soy inks, or that the writers didn’t research very well… I think it was the latter.

Here's the card I made for Gia's Business

I loved talking about Verdie, my press, and I think I come off a little more chatty than I am on this blog about myself…. if you can imagine that. It’s easier sometimes to answer questions than to just make up what you want to say……..

But enough about me and Tiny Pine, let’s talk about GIA! She is a great photographer. We have both been apart of a couple of weddings as the vendors. She is super organic in her style and aesthetic. She uses both film and digital photography (kind of like how I use letterpress and laser or inkjet) and she does a variety of printing processes and treats her photos in lovely ways. I think we are sort of fraternal twins, maybe. We come from the same place but we do different things. (We were just talking on the phone about how we both are from the country and mountains and if that comes across in our work…)

Anyways…. I am so glad she decided to feature me in her blog…. I will do the same for my fraternal twin… Gia Canali is great. take a look at her site!

happy heart day!

Posted on February 13th, 2009

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Love letters are probably why I am in this business. I am sentimental and romantic and when someone puts love into a scrap of paper, whether it is only friendly or something more, I cherish it. Words, images, craftiness. I have a little box where I keep these little things… paper pieces from old romances – letters, postcards and notes. I think I have a piece of paper where an old flame had mailed something to me…. I cut my address out of the box, like when you have to send in the UPC seal of a product. I have that little memory of a thought.

So, it’s Valentines Day tomorrow, and all the little romantic bits of me are getting drummed up… That paragraph above is a perfect example! And all I can think about is writing love letters. It’s almost worth it to be far away from the person you love so you could send and receive love by post…. What’s so nice is that the words are very permanent and tangible. And then you can put them in a little box and one day someone will find them and isn’t that just romantic?

When I was working at soolip as a designer, we created a product with the perfect, I mean PERFECT love letter materials. I helped design it. It really has everything you need except a pen and nice thoughts. It has onionskin paper – which is not being made anymore – a handmade and printed shimmery and soft Dirty Byrd envelope (one of my bestest friends) AND one of my favorite things of all times…. Vintage Stamps.

I swear, if someone gave me one of these, I would shower them with kisses. And I designed this thing. So. that should give a clue about how much I love the love letter kit…

You can order them from soolip.com, but really, you don’t need this kit to tell someone how much you care… so in lieu of time, get out a sticky note, a legal pad or the back of a bill and let them know!

If you haven’t posted your letter by the time you are reading this, you may be late and there may be an slightly sad or annoyed valentine on the other end…. so you better give that person some chocolates too… along with your love letter!

xoxo,

jennifer

Little Verdie in her New Home

Posted on February 3rd, 2009

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In the past couple of weeks there has been LOTS of change at Tiny Pine Press because I moved my studio across town, from a becoming over-crowded space to a shared studio with lots more privacy, without shutting down production and even squeezing in jury duty throwing a baby shower for one of my best friends (who had her baby today!! and I got to be in the room for the birth shooting video and photos).

In that time, I moved Verdie, my Chandler & Price Pilot Press. I was so nervous about shifting her weight that I had my friend drive her separately, very very slowly in his ultra large SUV and daring him make any dramatic stops…. begging him to drive with ease and quiet through Friday afternoon traffic in Los Angeles, changing freeways 4 times…

She faired just fine, and I placed Verdie into her new home. I tested her out sans ink to make sure nothing shifted somehow – she IS held together by bolts. OLD bolts – and then I left her.

She has a room with a view out the window in this new place. She has her own room. It’s sort of small but she is small (only 200 lbs.) She sits on her tiny table made of pine and just waits for me.

Tomorrow I am making the final move…. Putting all the computery things in the big office space section of the studio, and I am going to print 3 runs on Verdie and see how she likes her new space. I think she does… there is a little window that lets in a good amount of light and it is quite cozy in there with everything in reachable distance.

Here’s a picture of my little press, in her new space… Doesn’t she look so happy??

A Crow and a Swan

Posted on January 27th, 2009

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soy crow

These days I feel inclined to write a lot about ways to reuse or recycle things we sometimes think of as waste. Let’s talk trash!

I have always used soy-based inks for letterpress printing, except for the metallics which don’t come in soy. When I mix an ink color for a job, I try to only mix the right amount… you only use a teensy bit really to print. But sometimes it just happens that the ink blob gets bigger and bigger as you try to get the right shade of whatever. It just happens….

When I was working at soolip in west hollywood as the designer, the printer at the time, Joel Larson, would make crazy paintings with his leftover ink. They were beautiful abstract works that he would layer on to whatever scraps of paper he had lying around.

I took that as inspiration when I had extra ink to get rid of. So even though I tried only to mix as much as I need, there is always some leftovers and so I started making paintings of my own.

soy swan

These two birds are my favorites so far. Soy has a much faster drying time than most oil or rubber based inks for some reason. And what is cool and sort of unique is the way it dries when layered on the paper thick. It takes a sort of brainy texture giving the ink pile depth, almost sculptural.

Just a side note, the cardboard pieces are the packaging from the letterpress plate shipment. Making art from trash….my favorite thing!

Raised to Reuse

Posted on January 23rd, 2009

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I am a real conservative when it comes to printing. Not conservative in a political or religious way… but in an environmental way. In my family we reused as much as possible. This is a photo of my cousin JC’s drying rack. He washes and reuses the ziplock bags multiple times (I love how he hangs them to dry) (the photos a little blurry). I try to reuse as much as possible. At work and at home.

This week I got to reuse in the best way.

A client had sent out 150 save the dates. They were 100% tree free or recylced based on what we could get paper-wise because she has a big commitment to conservation as well. Of those sent, she had the wrong addresses for 6 people, so the save the dates came back to her. Instead of resending out new save the dates, requiring me to make up some more from scratch, she brought the returned ones back to me and I printed new envelopes and reused those perfectly good save the dates.

Now, I know that this form of reusing seems fairly simple and obvious. But I have been working at this career for 5 years now, and I can only remember a couple of other times when I did this. Sometimes reusing returns is necessary because we run out of whatever it is that is being sent (same as this case). But running out is actually directly related to being a conservative printer. I can’t stand wasting paper so I don’t usually print many over what is ordered.

And this client’s decision to bring the save the dates back so I could reuse them, well, that’s a testament to her commitment.

For the record, when I do have extras, I try to reuse those as make-ready for letterpress or for the big scrap bin for making valentines, birthday cards or other crafty things. Here’s a photo from a mess in my apartment floor from the “sometimes annual pre-valentine’s day ice cream social” that I have so my friends can make art with the year’s printing leftovers.

Can you tell I was the president of the energy club in high school?? I also represented the energy club in the beauty pageant when I was 14. I am not posting that picture, though. No Way!

I will tell you that it was a really big pink puffy dress…. Someone should reuse that thing for a big tablecloth and matching napkins.