Well, we’re back from another Chicago - Pitchfork Music Fest Flatstock. And though the weekend started off rainy…it only got better from there.

It’s true…Saturday morning as we all tried to set up booths…it not only rained on us, it poured. It was a constant struggle to keep anything from touching the ground. It’s not good for moral when your setting up paper-products in the rain…i will tell you that. But a couple hours later…presto!…the rain vacated, the sun won out and the rest of the weekend was humid…but dry!

We’ve always had tremendous luck with who we get to share a tent with at Chicago. This year it was Weather Maker Press!

Here she is…Gina, the gal behind Weather Maker…brilliant! She brought this tub of chalk and let all the kids draw with it in front of her booth. Though later she would fall to ground so folks could draw chalk outlines of her lifeless body. I told her she should try being a quieter “dead person”…after a few seconds thought she declared “I can’t help it…I’m a talkative person!”

Oh! And her booth mate Holly was great company too! Apparently she was an extra in the movie Shawn of the Dead. She told us not to try and find her in it…but Holly, we totally found the scene you were in…it was exactly where you said it would be. You looked pretty gruesome.

We also had a Flatstock first! Brian and I closed down the booth completely for the first time EVER at a Flatstock…and it was totally worth it.

This was the second time we’ve seen these guys play…and I can not explain how much fun they are to watch. I mean, these guys ooze everything Brian and I love about rock n’ roll. They’re having a blast on stage, their audience is rocking out…remember when rock music was about having fun and not fronting? Or are we just showing our age?

A few other highlights were finally meeting some new guys like: Plastic Flame and The Half & Half (which we almost shared a booth with!). And catching up with some old friends like: Travis from Furturtle, Clinton from Galaxy Reno, Andy from Boss Construction, and the entire Chicago crew…Nick, Nadine, Dan, Jay and Diana! Good times!!! Thanks for another great year.

Cricket Press has a new site devoted purely to our Wedding Services!

We’re not making a lot of noise on our homepage about it yet because it still needs some tweaking…and well…we’re booked solid in the wedding department until almost December. But!…I think it’s a nice showcase of our portfolio and a service we really want our clientele to know we focus on and provide now!

Here is a glimpse of an art-print series I am working on for this year. The Bees and The Moths are already printed. I’m printing all of these on French’s Poptone-Whip Cream, 140weight…this paper is so nice and lush I am addicted to using it now. The Lightning Bugs will probably be printed in August. All of these are 4-color, 19″x25″ printed in a very, very small edition of 35. I’ll admit…I am really enjoying creating these…there might be more!

Check out our website for more info on these.

FLATSTOCK 17 POSTER CONVENTION
Chicago, IL
Pitchfork Music Festival
July 19th and 20th
11AM to 11PM

Flatstock 17, presented by Pitchfork Music Festival and The American Poster Institute, will be held for two days, July 19th and 20th, 2008 at Union Park on the grounds of the Picthfork Music Festival in Chicago, IL.

“The FLATSTOCK shows provide the general public with an ongoing series of opportunities to see fine poster art in person and to meet the artists who’ve created it — they provide the API with a way to present the poster artists collectively while showcasing the breadth of individual styles they represent.”

You can find an article about our little studio/press in this month’s Chevy Chaser: Hail to the Screen.

The article is really well written in the fact that it covers many of the “not-so-fun” aspects of being a small, freelance design studio.  I especially like the part that covers how Brian and I used to fight constantly before we learned how to print individually…and how that developed into us maintaining our own sets of clients. Thanks so much to Robbie Clark, who conducted the interview and came over to watch us print one afternoon. It was a great experience and we’re flattered! Also, if you could snag hard copies of the Chevy Chaser…I think my art-print “The Collection” is on the cover.

We had a blast at FreeKY Fest (April 26th). We created a special WRFL art print that was printed on site! It was our first experience printing at an event, outside our studio walls…and it was a lot of fun. Met a bunch of new, friendly faces…and answered tons of great questions regarding the printing process. We would do it again in a second! All proceeds from the print were given to the “Boost the Power - Build the Tower” fund.

Received a mention in April’s Elle Magazine. When I was contacted by the magazine back in January asking for some poster images to run in a story…I wasn’t positive if they would really be included. But to my surprise…one was run in a small article about the recent concert poster scene.

I’m extremely flattered to be grouped with a couple of my favorite, female gigposter artists!

As some of you may know…I also create comics in my spare time.
This May I have a new 24-page story called The Boys of The Den - Escape of The Fox Clan premiering and being published by Sugary Serials. Sugary Serials is a comics anthology of all age, full-color comics created with the sensibilities of the Saturday Morning Cartoon in mind. Get ready for stories with vibrant characters and a good mix of danger and fun.

The Boys of the Den could be seen as a loose retelling of the classic Lost Boys story. Set on the wild frontier, in the time of the American Civil War, The Boys of the Den live harmoniously with the Natives and surrounding Animal Clans along a hidden hillside. But the destructive battlefields of war are soon approaching, threatening their way of life and the boys are on a mission to reclaim the only weapon that could help them fight back.

I started working on this story back in October of last year…and recently finished a month or so ago…so, I really can’t wait for pages to be posted! But until then…go check out the Sugary Serials archives because there is plenty to read until my story begins!

Cricket Press has recently been given space at the Downtown Library Art Gallery to hold a solo exhibition later this Fall. It will be a show full of our recent Gigposters and Art-Prints. Brian and I are bustling to create a cluster of new work. To follow in theme with art-prints I created through 2007, here is a glimpse of an upcoming piece I will be printing in the next month or so. It is currently untitled / 4-color / 19″x 25″ / edition undetermined.

See what we’re designing, printing or generally working on at Twitter!