Let me start from the beginning
No there is too much... let me sum up.
Hello dear friends. I have a lot going on since the big wheel in the sky clicked over to 2024. I figured I’d get back into the writing groove with an update on some studio/life things. I’ll try not to over-think or linger. You are busy, and time is money.
Art goblins, Damn yer eyes
The summer and fall were really busy for me studio-wise. I started a new series on canvas and started making a ton of small work on paper in graphite, gouache and paint pens. I was indexing a lot of my drawings headed towards a whole project that I don’t-even-know-what-it-is-yet. I was even prototyping this word game I came up with a couple years ago (it’s weird and will frustrate you, I promise.) In general I was feeling stoked on the new direction I’d been heading in.
The holidays hit and my activity dropped to almost zero. January wasn’t any better due to the body-shock that is starting up the daily grind after holiday vacations, my wife starting a new business, and day job changes (I’ll talk about the latter two below). I actually didn’t even think about drawing or painting during all that time which always feels weird, especially since my day-job workspace is in the same room as my art studio.
HOWEVER, I finally started making new drawings a week or two ago, and I’ve been catching myself thinking about my unfinished canvases when I’m out doing other things. That means the art goblins in my brain are hungry again and making me distracted during working hours. This is good because I have a solo painting show coming up this summer and I haven’t even bought supplies or starting work on the series I have planned for it.
$$$
In the meantime, I have a handful of works on paper I’m ready to sell, and will now offer them to you, dear reader, before I put them up on my website. All of these feature minimal color palettes, icons and images I’ve been writing about here on my blog, as well as a healthy mix of textual nonsense. Hot deals, all of them. Plus FREE SHIPPING.
These first two are the most recent things I’ve made this year. Both are 6”x 8”, made with graphite and paint pen. Snug, easily frame-able and a breezy $75 a piece, or $125 for the pair. They are currently untitled but I will come up with something before I send them off so you can be pleasantly surprised or ruefully disappointed.
1.
2.
I’m really enjoying one or two colors with graphite lately. It feels like the classic two-color printing used in old advertising and package design I’ve always loved. Except here things are a little more opinionated.
This next handsome couple is titled “Diatribes for dying scribes I and II” and they planned their outfits. They are a bit bigger - 9” x 12” - and featuring paint pens, graphite, and some gouache. They are $125 each or $225 for the pair if you want a diptych (highly recommended).
3.
4.
A little more densely packed, these take more time to make than the smaller pieces above. These also fit more closely to the way I’m layering the surface with images on my new canvas pieces.
I know buying artwork can be difficult. It’s hard to know if you will like something once it is hanging in your space, and my work is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. I also know that most people want real artwork in their homes. I personally have several artworks in my house by artists I know and I fucking love it. Life is too short not to have real art in your home, no matter the style. I want my stuff to be affordable and easy to acquire. If you have any questions about it or want to see something “similar but different” don’t hesitate to email me back and ask. I probably have something else you would like. Customer service is job one.
TO PURCHASE:
Reply back to this email (or courtney@courtneystubbert.com) with the number/image description of the one you want along with your mailing address and I’ll send you a Paypal link for payment. Once paid I’ll fire off your new art purchase in a protective sleeve and BB gun proof envelope. Did I mention free shipping?
Hot damn, kids, you are winning at life.
No escape from noise
Back in November my project Free Static released a live performance cassette in collab with our local performance space and venue Epic Seconds. This one is available via our bandcamp page, or, if you are in the area you can pick one up at Epic (while supplies last).
Upcoming: DIY Music Residency in June
I’m pretty excited about this one. One of my closest friends since design school, Spencer Reynolds, runs an awesome gallery down in Brookings, OR, and asked me to perform there this summer. Because I’m not one to let an idea stay simple, I decided to complicate matters by turning this opportunity into a week-long, self-initiated residency for myself.
The plan is to spend four or five days in Brookings leading up to the performance, making field recordings in his shop and around the neighborhood and beaches, and then use those sounds in an improvised live performance. It will kind of function like a musique concréte audio postcard about Brookings.
I just submitted a grant for this project so I’ll report back on how things shape up. Even if I don’t get the grant I will still make it happen.
Congrats to the most important person in my life
The biggest life thing lately is that my marvelous wife Kari finished grad school in December and has opened up her own counseling practice near downtown Eugene. It’s exciting (and a bit scary) to step out and open your own business. She’s had to be very patient and work three times as hard as many of her school colleagues just to get this far. Anyone who knows her knows what kind of person she is. She was made for this work.
For my part, I’ve been able to help her get started by doing some branding work and helping her get her website up and running. I wrote about the logo on Instagram last week if you are interested. In the meantime, she has openings so don’t hesitate to reach out to her if you live in Oregon: justthiscounseling.com.
Worky-work, jobby-job
Some of you know I made a major career shift a few years ago and stopped freelancing and also decided to focus strictly on user experience design. I’ve been with the same company since 2021, working on state, federal and nonprofit projects. Back in October I a team working with the Department of Veteran Affairs. It has been educational if not short-lived. Our project was recently canceled and will be ending sometime late March. I’m working on finding a new project team internally, but am also looking for external opportunities. That said I am dusting off the freelance machine and making myself available for UX consulting work. If you or anyone you know has a website, app or other digital product that is not getting the results you need, I can help.
Bonus Round
That last part was boring, so here are some things I’ve been listening to lately in no particular order:
Silencio by Mortiz von Oswald - An originator of dub techno and co-founder of the production duo and label Basic Channel goes all in ambient synthesizers and a 16 voice choir. Haunting and elegaic.
Jump on it by Bill Orcutt - Solo acoustic guitar by a noise noise rock legend. Usually his work is angular and fiesty, spending most of it’s time in the free-improvisational space (which I love). Here he sounds more like your favorite John Fahey record, mellow and restrained. Grab that chablis and put a log on the fire. We are getting naked.
II by Ancient Plastix - I can’t remember which impersonal algorithm fed me this one but I’m glad it did. Dark shifting synths recorded straight to cassette so it’s all warm and vibey. So good.
Live in Luxemborg by Jan Jelinek and Arthur Cleese - Fully improvised set between electronics (synths and samplers) and a live jazz drummer. It’s weird an listenable and you should hear it. Even if just once.
Golden Apples of the Sun by Suzanne Ciani and Johnathan Fitoussi - A synth master and a French composer create a hypnotic and rhythmic soundtrack to the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.
The Crone by MoE - A norwegian avant-sludge/doom/whatever duo crushes spirits in multiple terrestrial planes. Their Spotify bio says “Norway’s most adventerous rock band. If you want to sing along, put on something else.” RIGHT?
There is always more on my list but I’ve given you a lot of homework already, so we’ll end it here.
Make good choices. Clean your plate and brush twice to be sure.
I’ll leave you with a photo of the sun cresting over the trees at Falcon Cove near Canon Beach. Taken last month when my wife and I got some RR away from the insanity.
I’d love to grow this newsletter this year, so please forward this to anyone who might like to read it. You are great.