recent gifts...

watercolor on bristol plate in antique locket


acrylic and enamel on wood and metal, string
4.5in tall

tis the season...

acrylic and enamel on wood and metal
about 8in tall, i think

merry holidays everyone.

paper pushers show

the portamento, or the bending of the note
graphite on vellum bristol
6'' x 10'' unframed, 12.5'' x 17'' framed

gallery 1988sf's annual work on paper show opens dec. 11th, from 7-10pm in san francisco. unfortunately because of my show schedule i only had time to make one piece, but there are a lot of great artists in this show. so if you can, check it out.

web store.....

is up. look for the inventory to change frequently. http://danielelson.bigcartel.com

just some news...

two quick things before i forget:

1. artist friend ana bagayan is having an auction right now to raise money for her lunchbunch. some very great pieces by some very great artists (including three by me, 2 come as a set). place your bids here.

2. theres a recent interview with me at just another art blog. click here. its not very interesting, but dont feel bad if you think it is - lots of people have bad taste.

vivisect playset vi: the final playset

meese #23, vivisect meese w/ mask accessory

acrylic and enamel on wood and metal

3'' x 1.5'' x 1''

(all meese have their chronological number engraved on the back)

the death of luke chueh's annual curated show, vivisect playset, opens on black friday, nov. 27th, at gallery 1988 in los angeles. opening runs from 7 - 10pm, and i will be in attendance.

"pushing the spaces" preview

this is the preview for my solo at black maria gallery's project wall this saturday the 21st. i have spent the last few months developing this series, that i began over a year ago, mostly focusing on some very old forms of print making.

please contact black maria for sales.

please note that these are one-of-a-kind prints; all have been reworked after printing. there are no editions available at this time. should black maria and i choose to make editions available, they will more than likely be limited to less than five, as i do not relish the idea of cheapening my work by making it hackneyed.

below i've included definitions of print terminology to help explain the processes used.

















after the playing stopped
acylic on canvas
28'' x 20'' unframed, 32'' x 24'' framed























the resting place
acrylic on board
4.25'' x 6.25'' unframed, 8'' x 10'' framed


















the persistence, artist's proof
solarplate photogravure on copperplate paper
9.5'' x 7.5'' unframed, 20'' x 20'' framed























the acquaintances, artist's proof
solarplate photogravure on copperplate paper
5.25'' x 8'' unframed, 16'' x 20'' framed


















the collection, 1/1
drypoint on copperplate paper
7'' x 5.5'' unframed, 17.5'' x 18'' framed























the rehearsal, artist's proof
lithograph on rives bfk heavyweight
7'' x 12'' unframed, 17.5'' x 24'' framed























the path, artist's proof
lithograph on rives bfk heavyweight
6'' x 9'' unframed, 17'' x 22'' framed

















the commencement, artist's proof
cliche verre on ilford matte paper
6.5'' x 5'' unframed, 13.5'' x 12.5'' frame

all frames (with the exception of the resting place) were designed and built by me out of poplar. the prints are float mounted on acid free black matboard and recessed 5/8'' behind plexiglass.



















































list of terms:


- intaglio - printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate. to print an intaglio plate, ink is applied to the surface and then rubbed with tarlatan cloth to remove most of the excess. the final smooth wipe is often done with newspaper or old public phone book pages, leaving ink only in the incisions. a damp piece of paper is placed on top and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the recesses of the plate to the paper. wikipedia


- solarplate photogravure - an intaglio printmaking process in which photographic images are printed using forms of mechanised etching of light sensative platic plates then developed in water.


- drypoint - a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a copper plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. wikipedia


- lithography - a method for printing using a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface. in modern times, the image is made of polymer applied to anodized aluminium plates. The smooth surface is divided into hydrophilic regions which accept a film or water and while damp, these areas reject ink and hydrophobic (water repelling) regions which accept ink because the surface tension is higher on the greasier image area which remains dry because the water will part and run off the greasy image. This process is quite different to gravure or intaglio printing where a plate is engraved, etched or stippled to make cavities to contain the printing ink. wikipedia


- cliche verre - a method of etching on a ground-coated transparent material, or painting and drawing on a transparent surface, such as glass in this case, and printing the resulting image on a light sensitive paper. wikipedia


- i would like at this point to express my thanks to columbus college of art and design and their print department for their assistance, especially students mathew clark and jennifer sands.

who framed yetti spaghetti?

a monster mystery gallery show opening sat., nov. 14th at genuine artikle gallery in new york. the show was curated by trevor zammit, so if you're confused by the show (we all were) blame him.

this is teddy spaghetti the bear. he's not really a monster, just a really ugly bear.

SMart: artwork inspired by kevin smith and scott mosier's SModcast

this is a one night event at gallery 1988, friday oct. 23rd from 7-11pm to celebrate kevin and scott's book release of their podcasts in script form. several artists, including myself, were assigned a podcast to create a piece from. my painting will make more sense if you click here and download SModcast 10: do ckickens have souls? or you can listen to any of the countless other podcasts. its free. oh, and they are very dirty. both kevin and scott will be present.

kevin smith re-evaluates everything while a chicken ponders his life.
acrylic on board
10 x 20in

the path

acrylic on masonite
6'' x 9''

this is a commissioned painting for someone whos been very supportive of my career, so thanks (and thanks for being so patient). i've uploaded a rather large version in case you've never had the chance to see one of my paintings in person.

heavy hearts

limited edition of ten solid pewter cast hearts for Dragon Con are available only through Rivet Gallery. each heart was hand forged by myself in a pewter alloy consisting of 92% tin, 7.75% antimony, and .25% copper. they weigh just under 1 lbs. each and are 2.75''h x 2.5''w x .75''d. each one has an edition number lightly etched on his back.

read on for more information about them and how they were made:



this is the original sculpt. it was made like most of my sculptures out of poplar wood and williams rod.

and heres the little guy ready for the first half of the mold.














you can see pour spouts have been added as well as "spruing," or air vents made with thin copper wire. this will lessen the chance that air will be trapped in the arms and legs. he's boxed up in a wax based clay called plastilina. the bolt heads and negative slots make a locking system for the two halfs of the mold to fit nicely together.


the mold is an rtv silicone designed to withstand the 500+ temperature of molten pewter. before each side was poured, it had to be vaccum pumped, for even small air bubbles in the mold when heated to the working temperature will cause distortions. a few additives are then applyed to the surface of the mold to help with surface tension and mold preservation; without them, you will get horrible deformations and pock marks.


the pewter is poured from a crucible into the mold and takes about an hour before it can be demolded. heres a couple hearts cooling on the window sill next to my blow torch.

heres one playing on my shelf.
at this point, the pour spouts are removed with a bandsaw and then filed. after the spruing and chasing is filed too, they are buffed out on a wheel.










molten metal tends to do whatever molten metal wants to do resulting in each heart having its own unique surface characteristics. to bring those out, they were given a patina consisting of hydrochloric acid, silver nitrate, copper sulfate, and other things that caused burns on my arms. they were then ever so gently buffed and rubbed finish.

i probably acquired several new forms of cancer from making these, so i hope you enjoy them.

dapper apple and williamson

"yummy!" gallery show opening friday, aug. 14th from 6pm - midnight at junctionviw studios in their matchbox gallery space. the show will be up until sept. 13th. a portion of the proceeds go to the mid-ohio foodbank. for more information, go to yummyartshow.blogspot.com.

the birthday bat

the extremely rare, and highly flamable, birthday bat makes an appearance for laura kuenzli, the owner of rivet gallery. thanks for all the support laura, and happy birthday. i probably wont be making too many of these little f-ers.

mighty meese and danger meese

new meeses for a cartoon themed show i co-curated with rivet gallery. "we'll be right back... after these messages" opens saturday, august 1st. i will be present for the opening. click on the links for more info.

meese and silent meese

jay and silent bob meese (with exclusive boombox accessory) available at Crazy 4 Cult 3d. show opens at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, Thursday, July 16th, 7 - 11pm with special guests: Kevin Smith & Scott Mosier, Pete Wentz & Ashlee Simpson, Jonah Hill, Michael Rappaport and Jason Biggs. see you there if you can make it. more information here - http://nineteeneightyeight.com/

stolen paintings

these paintings were very dear to me and one other person. they have been stolen. if anyone ever sees them, please notify me. i pray someone will put them back exactly where they found them along with everything else.

biggy smalls exhibition 7/11 7pm-12am

this painting will be available and on view at http://junctionviewstudios.com/. the piece is about 7.75'' x 7.75''. it you are interested, please contact biggiesmallsart@gmail.com or myself, or just come to the opening. for more information try here - www.myspace.com/biggiesmallsart

t-shirts coming soon...

exclusive Rivet Gallery t-shirts will be available soon. If you are interested, please contact http://rivetgallery.com/.