I will be doing the regular Bias Design open studio shtick by hosting a trunk sale of wares on the cheap, bumping the website, and even some live printing! I love open studios, not just because it is a great way for people to check out my business, but also unselfishly for all of the reasons YOU will love open studios too!

WHY YOU WILL LOVE OPEN STUDIOS: I am not psychotic like some of my fellow artisans about the open studios experience, buuut those fanatics make the day all the more enjoyable for everyone else! ‘Expect the unexpected’ is my open studios motto. There will doubtlessly be:

* Work that blows your mind, beautiful pieces of all genres created by strange and off putting individuals who appear to be homeless, and will probably yell at you.

* What I call hippie art, complete with a white girl in dreads baked out of her mind trying to sell you pipes for your ‘loose leaf tobacco’ enjoyment.

* Potters who believe themselves to be very, very serious sculptures, who will try and sell you cereal bowls under the vestige that they are fine art pieces. Dishwasher safe fine art pieces…

*Funny sculptors who make hilarious metal prostitutes from old car parts.

*Painters who are really talented and don’t fit any of those artist cliche’s.

*Amazing random crafters who make things to give you a chuckle and help you cross names off your holiday shopping list.

*Painters who should be featured on Regretsy. (These are my favorite people of the day.) A word of advice, approach these maniacs like you would an escaped mental patient. Speak softly and only say kind and encouraging words about the forks they’ve stuck in canvases, DO NOT by any means ask them about their ‘vision’ when a respectful amount of time has passed slowly back away, and if they still have you in their grasp and you’re too nice to just walk away you should probably play dead…and when he/she leaves to get help, run like hell.

* And then there is me. I will be selling eco-friendly, hand printed bitchin’ t-shirts of high quality for low prices, I will answer all of your questions and treat you kindly. ALSO, the entire kids line will be available. I am in the midst of the holiday season rush so I have ample sizes in all styles, some new T’s that have yet to make it onto the site but were a big hit last weekend in NYC.  BONUS: My studio is in a great shared space with some really awesome artists.

OTHER NON ART RELATED REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD COME:

*We are located in the Sam Adams Brewery Complex, and yes the tours are free, and YES that includes free beer!

*Ula Cafe is downstairs in the old brewery building and they have delicious treats to experience! Do yourself a favor and try the Russian and Lemonade.

*Bella Luna. An all around awesome restaurant with a great list of beers on tap and lots of mid day liquor breaks for all of you who know how to do open studios right.

SO. Come on out this Weekend September 24th and 25th from 11-6 and support the arts! It will be a fabulous time, as it always is. Swing by the Bias Studios on Germania St in the Sam Adams Brewery Complex. Bias Design is in Building C. Feel free to send me a message for more detailed directions.  For more information, and free maps to download  check out http://www.jpopenstudios.com/ . I hope to see you this weekend!

I have always thought that the progression of the more layered shirts is really interesting. This particular screen was printed quite differently for the last two years, but, much to my initial chagrin Alternative Apparel has discontinued the foxy burnout T this image used to be printed on.  I love the design though, it took me forever to draw all of the tiny line work and I would be damned if I was going to just let this screen fade into obscurity in the studio. I have tried to find a solution for this image for the better part of the spring, to no avail. Initially, before I flipped it over and printed it on the bottom of the shirt way back when, I intended this shirt to look like a giant mane or beard, but pretty enough so ladies could rock it. But it never looked quite right, the color was off, the print location was wrong, or it looked too much like a beard. I tried printing it on different style T’s and it was always kind of meh. Finally, (enter chorus of angels, sun beams, and parting clouds) I worked it out! AND since my camera was handy I decided to document the progression of this lovely layered T. Check it out!

The first layer:

Layer number two:

Layer three:

Layer four, the final layer:

It is truly inspiring to see people reach together and help one another. It warmed my heart to watch so many people at events pick up an extra item or two because they knew a portion of the proceeds would be going to a good cause. Many of you sent emails, posted things on facebook and twitter, blogged about Bias Design and in doing so encouraged others to help as well. This was undoubtedly a community effort and I tip my hat to you fine folks. If you would still like to donate you can do so by visiting https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052 The lovely volunteers at the Red Cross assured me that they ”stretch every dollar like a rubber band”. Thank you all for the outpouring of help.  I know for many of us this is a difficult time to give, but you did so anyway. Now, more than ever I wholeheartedly believe that together we really can change the world.

I stand by the notion that charity begins at home. I have been raised by a family that believes this intrinsically. I can not count the number of times I have been lent a helping hand from my family and friends. Whenever I had to borrow money from my parents, I would assert that I would pay them back just as soon as I could. My Mom and Dad always told me to ‘pay it forward’ that one day someone would need my help, and then it would be my duty to help them. Well, Japan needs our help.

Besides the deplorable rhetoric spewed by some radio figures and on the Internet, there is an undercurrent of opinion that Japan really does not need our help — indigent Haiti, yes; wealthy Japan, not so much. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The following excerpt is from Constantine N. Vaporis, Arbutus. Professor of Asian Studies at The University of Maryland.

“It is true that Japan is the third-wealthiest nation in the world in terms of gross national product. Yet it is also true that the country has yet to find a way out of the morass that has resulted in two decades of recession or near-zero economic growth. But the greatest truism is that this combination of disasters that some are referring to as Japan’s “Black Swan” is without precedent in world history — and the end of the story has yet to be written. The human toll is vast — not just the number of dead, which will no doubt be in excess of 10,000, but the untold numbers of people who will be psychologically scarred by the events still unfolding.

In economic terms, we can only hazard a guess at the tremendous price tag for reconstruction, but the experts are talking about a figure in excess of $100 billion. The full extent of the danger from the radiation leaking from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is also unknown, but news of contaminated food and water supplies have stirred up great fears across Japan.

Fortunately, it appears that most of the world is not convinced that the Japanese can be left to their own devices in recovering from this triple disaster. Help has been offered by generous people, celebrities as well as the lesser known, in over seventy countries across the globe. Those writing big checks include people from Korea, Taiwan and China — countries that were scarred by occupation or war with prewar Imperial Japan.

We should do all we can to help this country because the Japanese people are trying so valiantly to help themselves. There is so much to be admired in the way they have pulled together, despite the unsteady leadership being offered by Tokyo politicians. The unselfish manner in which victims have shared scarce resources of food and water, the widespread cooperation with daily phased blackouts across the six prefectures surrounding Tokyo and the thousands of city blocks in the capital itself, the lack of a single reported case of looting — all provide lessons to us in how people can rise above adversity and selfish desires to find their common humanity.”

When I read this, I wanted to help that sense of ‘common humanity’. Like many of you I don’t have much extra to give, but for the next two months half of the proceeds from every purchase made on the Bias Design  etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/BiasDesignLLC (sorry the website is still under construction!)  the bias design workshop, and all events will go to The American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami disaster relief. Together we can help Japan, and bonus: You can look great doing it!

Then your next step is to pour the emulsion. It is important to pour the emulsion into the center of the scoop coater. I am using a Ulano QTL photo emulsion, but no matter what kind of emulsion you are using the coating process remains the same. As you can see in the photos below I am slowly pouring the emulsion directly into the center of the scoop coater. This is important, it helps the emulsion settle evenly into the scoop coater so that you can coat with an even amount of emulsion. Don’t pour too quickly, otherwise you will create large bubbles in the emulsion that will affect the even quality of the coating.

Next, walk away for a few minutes. Let the emulsion rest for about five minutes inside the scoop coater. Even if you have hands like a surgeon some little bubbles are common. To make the process as painless as possible just allow them to surface and pop. When the emulsion is smooth, like in the picture below you are ready to begin coating.

Begin by holding the scoop coater in the center with your dominant hand. Keep the scoop coater as level as possible so that the emulsion doesn’t shift too heavily to one side. With you other hand hold the screen at a forty five degree angle by the top metal or wooden frame. Apply a thin, even pressured swipe of emulsion to the flat, back side of the screen.

Then rotate the screen around and apply another thin even pressured coat of emulsion. Beginning this coat where you ended the last one.

Finally flip the screen around, and apply a final coat to the front side of the screen with even pressure. Place your scoop coater on a flat surface and check to make sure that you have coated the screen evenly, so there are no large deposits of emulsion or areas of exposed screen. (It can take a while to get this down as the viscous quality of the emulsion can be a bit tricky to work with, practice makes perfect!) A well coated screen should have a glassy, reflective,even texture, like you see in the image below.

Next, dry your screen in either a dark room or a drying cabinet. It is important not to leave the wet screen out where dander or dust can accumulate on the surface. Also, remember when the emulsion dries it is light sensitive, so it is very important that it dries in the dark. I have a vacuum sealed drying cabinet that I slide my screens into where they can remain free of dust, and light while they dry. The general rule is to let the screen dry over night if it is being dried naturally. But always double check your emulsion for proper drying times. 

Next time we will move onto step five, and six. Making the high density ink film, and exposing the freshly coated screen!

Hello All!

As you see in the picture above most of my time is spent alone in the studio, mainly dancing to Neil Diamond and designing up some sweet shit for you to wear. Art can be like that, solitary. It is an odd thing really, in most other creative circles people band together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. Music, movies, theater all of these genres have lots of people communicating and working together to make their talents shine even brighter than they would alone.

So why not art? Why is there this archetype of the genius alone in the studio working on a canvas, cutting off body parts and brooding maniacally? It isn’t true, lots of the painters you worship from days of old had legions of painters working for them. Someone who was good at painting just hands painted the hands and someone who was great at painting pious looking genitalia painted pious looking genitalia….everyone has their wheelhouse.

Have you always wanted to make a T-shirt, but you don’t know how? Do you have a great idea for an art poster? Are you a fellow printer, tattoo artist, sculptor, graphic designer, poet, musician, or enthusiastic crafter? Well then, I want to know you. I am starting something I like to call BIAS DESIGN BY. It will become a section of the website that I add to from time to time and it will be for collaborative pieces. All the wonders your limitless imagination can foster. Shirts, bags, hats, stationary, letterhead, hand made books. You and Bias Design will make it together, all the while fostering a sense of community, creativity, and collaboration. (profits to be split naturally)

I got this brilliant idea from an old teacher of mine, Jim Stroud. He is a master printer, and so he invites people who work in other genres of art to come to his studio and make a print. They don’t know so much, or maybe anything about printing BUT they know about painting, or music, or sculpting and they take the sum of their parts and make something all together fantastic.

So, if you are an inspired individual and want to be part of this project, email me at krista@bias-design.com and lets make it happen.

However. This does mean that I am the only one who has a say over what is made and when it’s made. So no more lollygagging around! You want clothes for those you love more than life? As my brother would say, ‘make it so number one’. Yeah I referenced Star Trek. Deal with it. I’m uncensored now, the little angel of reason on my shoulder is gone, and I’m going buck fucking wild and making some cute ass baby clothes. YES danger is my middle name.

The snippets of designs you see before you are mere drafts of a what is now a finished  drawing so adorable, so epic in all ways that I can’t even show you the whole thing. Your mind would explode into a pile of lava, and I can’t have that on my conscience. I CAN however tell you this. This shirt is the first thing you will see from ‘Ruby Baby’.  Named after, and in honor of the lovely little lady that started it all, Callahan Ruby Chichester.

Why turtles? Meg and Jordan, (Callah’s Momma and Papa) have a pond in their back yard…. filled with turtles! Can you even imagine being a kid and having a turtle pond? This one’s for you Callah, even if it is long over due! (coming soon, the Emmi shirt for the newest member of my family the gorgeous Emerson Rose!). When you ask, can you expect web purchase power for these goods? ABSOLUTELY by May, hand over my heart (but most likely sooner).

For the rest of you, who are most likely art dorks, curious parties, down right awesome and/or a combination therein. I bring to you steps two and three! Last time we caught up I had a rough sketch and an idea. That was step one, now STEP TWO: Time to flesh that sketch/idea out by way of a finished drawing. I decided to go with a little Birth of Venus meets Vargas girls situation here. The finished drawing you see above now needs to move into step 3.

STEP THREE: Color separation

So now that I have my image ready for color separation, it’s time to think like a printer. Silks screens are essentially vehicles for printing sophisticated stencils.  Each color needs to have its own screen. The more colors you use, the more screens you need. It is a great idea to let the color of the fabric (or paper) work as a design element. I have done just that in this sketch, the gray tone is going to be the color of the shirt. This cuts out a third screen, without sacrificing visual complexity, and it makes my job a lot easier.  Taking that into consideration we have only two colors left, meaning…you guessed it two screens need to be made.

Separate your colors into separate black drawings. Mine break down into one line work screen (fig.1), and one color block screen (fig.2). Easy enough.  These images will eventually turn into high density ink films. Exciting, I know. However step 4 is all about screen coating! …but that is another post. You probably have to go and lye back with a cool compress on your forehead, I understand screen printing IS pretty riveting.

*ALSO: these images were too big to fit on the scanner bed so excuse the poor photo quality as my camera is a jerk.

fig. 1

fig. 2

Bias Design is still my love and I will be shaking things up, my way. 2011 is going to bring with it many new and lovely things you most likely need to have. Like paper goods including a line of cards, custom screen printed wedding invitations, and posters. Baby/kids clothes. (I promise!). Some home wares might be popping up here and there, an apron or a pillow might find its way onto the site. Basically I am making whatever the hell I want. Bias Design is going to rock your world even harder because I will be honing my craft at an advanced printers work shop (yay!).

Some things however, remain the same. Bias Design is still the place to come for  your printing and design needs. Your band can still get shirts from me! Your kick ball team, your small business, your really great idea for a birthday present… I still want to print it. I will continue to use only water based inks, and eco friendly printing processes as my commitment to be a savvy, and responsible business owner has not changed.

What you ask, is that half finished sketch above?  I am going to document the building of a screen via the blog, because so many of you ask me, how does it get from your head onto the shirt? Well I am going to show you. This sketch is step one: the first rough drawing.

David Chum, the genius behind the line is a professionally trained artist and self taught clothing designer from Boston. Although his styles will likely grace the catwalks of New York and Paris before long. This breakout designer has just shown in the first, much rumored about and, very successful Style Week Providence. His show opened the week of design, runway shows, and  hob nobbing with the who’s who of Northeast fashion. Style lovers and critics throughout the country spent the night raving about this inguenue, and he was being pulled limb from limb by models, boutique owners and even abc news who did a feature on the rising star.

These clothes are clearly more than just your average throw it on and leave the house pieces, they are art works. Wearable, fine works of art that are contemporary without being trendy or over stated. The fall 2010 line that walked on Sunday was en pointe in terms of body consciousness, form, and functionality. These are the clothes, you know the ones I’m talking about, the pieces that make your wardrobe. The ones that seem to have you walking a little taller, feeling a little bit more formidable. These clothes have power, not only to transform your wardrobe but also to catapult your mood. The details, the soft feminine elegance and hard lines make a juxtopostion that has every woman and red blooded man swooning for more, more, more Selah D’or, and lucky for us Mr. Chum won’t be stopped anytime soon.

*For more info check out his website at  sleahdor.com and for more style info check out his blog at selahdor.com/blog1/ .