December 2011
0 posts
Art-O-Mat.
At the Visual Arts Center in Richmond,VA. Don’t know what an Art-O-Mat is? Check it out!
November 2011
4 posts
6 tags
The Making of an Archers of Loaf Poster.
I am so good at reading other people’s blog updates and terrible at updating my own. What can I say, everyone else is doing such cool stuff!
Back in June I was selected (kindly asked and was given the job) to design the Archers of Loaf poster for their Black Cat show in DC. This was sort of a big deal for me as they were and still are one of my favorite bands. The final version was a take...
The skateboard files: Jason Jessee Sun God mini
One of my favorite things about the internet is stumbling across images of items from my childhood. I was looking at Jim Phillips art online and came across a shot of this Jason Jessee board which I believe I received for my 10th birthday.
I loved this skateboard. It was the first deck I owned with concave. I am sure I learned a couple of tricks on it, but I KNOW I learned one-footed ollies on...
September 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Face lift.
I finally have given the website a little face lift. It still needs a little more TLC, but the visual component of it all is pretty much in tact. My hope is to get a few more key pieces of the portfolio up in the next few weeks.
July 2011
5 posts
New Shirt Idea. Yes, No?
Interiors show photos!
Not the most flattering images in the world, but I think they get the point across. 12 out of 23 sold with a week left!
Interiors is up!
I spent so much time and energy getting my show installed and up that I never really had time to promote it other than sending out an invite to the opening weekend.
The dust has settled and the work has been up for a few weeks now. I think I feel okay on commenting about my perception of how the opening went and my thoughts on attending them.
I am pretty overwhelmed at the interest in my work....
May 2011
1 post
I approve of this travel mug.
You can buy it at this link.
March 2011
3 posts
Back on track>>>
I have finally started working on the Interiors exhibit again after a pretty lengthy hiatus. Painting had not been in my vocabulary over the past few months and it was nice to see that I could still create work for the show (FYI, painting perfect curves is really freaking hard). My technique is a little rusty, but hopefully I will be back on track in the next week or two.
I had noticed some...
Process.
Recently, I stumbled across a Ryan McGinness book that contained examples of how he gets from point A to point B. It was a relief to see piles of quick sketches that will turn into beautiful and slick vector drawings. After the creation of quite a few vectors, screens, and ink color selections you end up with something like this:
(this is actually hanging up in the VMFA a mere mile away from my...
February 2011
2 posts
I must learn Monty Grinds this spring.
January 2011
3 posts
And the winner is of the re-blog contest is...
sincerelypenelope
!!!
Please select one of the shirts on www.fluxrad.com and reply to this blog with your size and selection.
Thanks for helping out! A few shirts were sold and it is because of all you re-bloggers.
RE-BLOG FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE FLUX RAD...
A big thanks to everyone who has re-blogged so far. A few sales have come in and I really appreciate it. Keep up the re-blogging for your chance to win one of these shirts!!!
Tumblrworld! Reblog this post for a chance to win a free FluX rAd shirt!
My supplier raised their rates a little bit and I need to sell 10 shirts pretty quickly. Simply re-blog this post for your chance to win one of...
RE-BLOG FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE FLUX RAD...
Tumblrworld! Reblog this post for a chance to win a free FluX rAd shirt!
My supplier raised their rates a little bit and I need to sell 10 shirts pretty quickly. Simply re-blog this post for your chance to win one of the shirts in the photo above. There are not a whole lot of sizes for each design, so if you see something you are in love with, you are encouraged to purchase.
You can visit the...
December 2010
1 post
FluX rAd online store updated!
Remember when I used to make t-shirts? Well, I made some again! The online store is up and running! I hosted quite a few Britpop DJ nights over the last year and the result is a new line that is very inspired by Factory Records artwork.
(Click on the image below to check them out!)
or you can go to http://fluxrad.bigcartel.com/
A big thanks to Karen for snapping off the product photos...
November 2010
4 posts
I’ve been chugging right along lately. Working in advertising can consume a lot of time, especially around the holidays. I have been quite fortunate in that area for the most part. Here is a virtual hi-five to all of those putting in extremely grueling hours as we gear up for the major holiday 2010 season. I know a lot of my co-workers had to put in long days over the weekend and I really...
New fluX rAd Tees as promised...
Check it! Here is the Winter 2010 run of fluX rAd t shirts!
CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER!
All pre-orders include free shipping (US only) and a special surprise gift from me. Great gifts for the holiday season. Do it!!!
Purge (not to be confused with the beverage...
I just had a date with the mass editor feature of tumblr.
I had read through quite few postings between 2008 - 2009 and I couldn’t even get through my own writings. Talk about a whiny dude! Why didn’t anyone tell me?
This is now remedied. No regrets. Goodbye former stupid self.
T-Shirt archive / NEW goods.
I have a real issue with the voice of this blog. Linking it to my personal website may have not been the best idea. Directing someone to a web page when then are on a tumblr dashboard doesn’t always work out so well. It seems I may have to make a decision…
Anywho, I placed a digital archive of all of the different t-shirts I made under the name fluX rAd on the site. I lost the digital...
September 2010
3 posts
Vegas.
It has finally arrived.
Matador records announced a 21st birthday gathering in late June with an unbelievable lineup of acts that have been on their roster at some point throughout the lifespan of the label.
Me and Tracy determined that this would probably be our only shot at a decent vacation this year, so we worked our little tails off to ensure we could fund this trip. That was the easy...
Slow living.
I read an interview yesterday that was right on par with how I have been feeling lately. Mac from Superchunk (I promise I listen to other bands) weighed in on his thoughts regarding music writers and Pitchfork, the behemoth of hip indie reviews:
“Like, there could be the greatest review of a band on Pitchfork,” he said. “And the next day: there’s five new reviews. And what...
>Creative>life>line
I am not going to dig through almost 3 years of archives, but I am pretty certain I have never posted a listing of my creative influences. Here is a quick glance at what has made me tick over the past few years…
1. VC Johnson
Most kids who began skating in the eighties ate this artwork up. I still see these graphics and get excited.
2. Todd McFarlane
I was a pretty large comic book...
August 2010
7 posts
Polaroid page!
If you dig back through enough entries (end of 2008 - beginning of 2009) of this blog, you will see a few about a polariod 365 project. I got through the first quarter of the year before I deemed the project out of my price range. It was going to cost around $700 total when I started and by the time we got to March, that price had almost doubled.
I did manage to snap off a few gems during that...
Interiors. updated!
This blog is currently in two places. It exists in the tumblr world and also has been imported into my new website.
I can imagine this will be confusing at first, however as time goes on I would like to think that it will become old news.
The Interiors. show page of kennethclose.com is now up to date. I decided to make the paintings look quasi-fancy and work a little magic in photoshop. I am...
New web presense!
I am super excited to present this news. After years of trying and failing to build a personal website, I finally have gotten one up and running online. I present to you…
http://www.kennethclose.com
Okay, I know it is a little bare bones right now, but after this weekend I should be around 85% updated. Be on the lookout for my online portfolio, digital mixes, and a storefront including...
dirt.
This magazine made the 12 year old version of me MUCH COOLER.
Pinball Number Count.
This song & video are still absolutely timeless and amazing.
one, two, three, FOUR, five, six, seven, EIGHT, nine, ten, ELEVEN, Tweleveeeeeee. I might be sneaking this one of my projects soon…
Low - Fidelity.
I love lo-fi. LOVE IT. A part of me thought that this new school of artists making tapes in their bedroom could be a disaster, but overall I have been pretty impressed with the sounds that have been coming from the NWOLFA (new wave of lo-fi artists).
I am sure there is an argument against this claim, but for me it all goes back to Sebadoh. They were the first band that I associated with the term...
Watermelons.
The story of how Tracy and I met is a cute and fitting tale (It was a Fucked Up show). After dating for awhile I realized that we had an encounter a few years prior to what we thought was our initial meeting.
I bring this up because I saw a flier for the Watermelon festival today. My mind immediately traveled back to that festival in the year of 2006.
I was in town after a week long vacation and...
July 2010
13 posts
Antics.
I received a text this morning telling me I was on the list for the Interpol show in Richmond tonight. I have never been a huge fan, but Tracy used to hang with one of the members in her NYC days, so I figured I would tag along.
Then I got to thinking…
The first two records, “Turn on the Bright Lights” and “Antics” were both released during some very pivotal moments...
Indie Cred?
I recently read an article on the “Death of Indie Cred”. It got me to thinking about my reactions to commercialized Indie Rock.
Growing up, commercials had jingles for audio. I am sure super brands may have licensed popular tracks here and there, but in my mind, all I heard was “Where’s the Beef?”. The first instance of a song I remember in a commercial was...
Bursting..
With excitement.
This weekend was a pretty big one for me. The world cup camp to a close (sigh, Netherlands) , an old friend was randomly in town, and I booked my first gallery show.
Yep. Interiors has been booked.
Richmond is not lacking gallery space by any stretch. A lot of bars/restaurants host local art in addition to coffee shops and even local small businesses. I had my sights set on my...
He's an Indie Rocker.
Guess who is Writer McWriterson today? This guy!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my guitar. Mostly the lack of attention she has received over the past TEN years.
The TEN years is what really got me. Has it really been that long? If we are not counting all of the ridiculous configurations of Sweet T, then the answer is YES.
And if you have never heard Sweet T then follow the link...
Say it. Do it.
Last night Tracy proposed an accountability idea. She wonders if people were forced to list out the things they did each day, it would change their behavior. Food was the first example referenced. If you are writing down that you eat McDonald’s three times a day, my guess is that when you see that written down 90 times in a month your behavior could change. This list digs down to a deeper...
SWVA.
My galpals over at teamTENN have been holding the fort down on the road trip circuit. While reading about their travels, I have been whisked away to my early twenties. I spent quite a bit of time on the road and in the air over the past decade enabling me to check out what the U - S - of - A has to offer. The teamTENN blog has reminded me what I have been missing while I have not being doing cool...
June 2010
11 posts
30. Interiors.
I ran into a friend while loading in for DJ gig this past Friday who I had not seen in quite some time. In my mind I was trying to calculate the last time I had run into this person as we were talking. She asked where I had been as she had not seen me out in awhile. I stumbled over my words as I couldn’t really produce any sort of real explanation as to what I had done over the past year.
...