Zazzle and Maker Faire

Last weekend the Bay Area saw the 2013 Maker Faire. I'm still a little grumpy over not being able to make it (no pun intended) out to see the event. Regardless of that, I was honored to by asked by Zazzle, a major sponsor of this year's Maker Faire to contribute artwork. The Zazzle booth had an art-making station where kids and the "young at heart" could color large posters. It's collaborative art with seasoned illustrators! Josh Ellingson contributed some sweet posters too. 

I definitely want to thank Zazzle for helping spread the word about volcanos and the fact that I invented them. They also did a great job of letting people know about my expertise on wildlife, both the kind found in nature and that found wandering The City. For more about the the creatures I encounter on MUNI, at used record stores, and in my own circle of friends, explore SF WildLife.

Zazzle has been rolling out a lot of cool new products for customization, like hand-bags, smart phone cases and skateboards. Check them out at www.zazzle.com.

-Ben

Family Crest show poster

A few weeks ago I got a chance to see Family Crest perform and was blown away by these guys. They are a classically trained, orchestral indie rock band inspired by jazz, folk and classical music. Regardless of all the Wikipedia stuff, they are just a kick to see perform. Aside from sounding impeccable live, they are all super-nice and enthusiastic. That's the kind of people I want to make cool posters for.

This poster is for an upcoming show at Bottom of the Hill (no duh). I'm going to rework it for another Family Crest performance coming up at The Starry Plough in Berkeley. 

That's all for now! Go check these cats out.

A Re-imagined Tarot Card with a Romantic Past

Six of Cups, Sweetheart Come

This Saturday, March 16th, Modern Eden Gallery presents Tarot: Art of Fortune. 78 artists re-imagine the entire deck of tarot cards. I chose the Six of Cups. 

The Muy Romantico Back Story

I want to take you back to December of 2010. I was in Lafayette, California (East, east Bay area), living alone for the first time in...well, ever. I was in the middle of a divorce. It was a time in my life that was both dark and exciting, and I was relating to the music of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds more than ever. His lyrics just get the imagery flowing in my head! So I wanted to paint something inspired by a line from his song, Sweetheart Come:

Come over here, babe. It ain't that bad I don't claim to understand The troubles that you've had. But the dogs you say they fed you to Lay their muzzles in your lap And the lions that they led you to Lie down and take a nap.

For me, this line speaks of a "tragic" person, someone who complain about the world being against them. But maybe this person has a revelation and learns that they will be OK. The world may look pretty dangerous but so far you're doing fine, you know? Anyway, I wanted to paint something about this girl. Something beautiful and kind of funny. 

So many of Cave's songs are about dark haired women. I'm all about that! So I went to finding a raven-haired model to work with. My first thought was of a young woman who had contacted me a couple years earlier. At the time I ran a costumed life drawing studio and she was interested in coming out from the Bay Area to model. There were transportation problems or something so that never worked out.

What can I say about this girl? The word statuesque may have been invented for her. She's fucking gorgeous. So now that I was in the area I went ahead and contacted her about modeling. She was into the idea and we eventually came up with a time to meet up and talk about it. Why not during my company Christmas party? 

I won't go into all the details except to say that we hit it off right away and we haven't been apart much since. Now I'm engaged to marry this model. What can I say? when it's right, its right. 

But what about the Sweetheart Come painting? Honestly it fell by the wayside. Amanda has been the muse for a lot of my art over the last couple years but this idea got put on a back burner in favor of other projects. I guess I've felt a bit like a flake for that, it being the "Reason We Met" and all. With the invitation from Warholian's Michael Cuffe to be in a tarot card show, I had a reason to resurrect this piece.

Reference photo, Ben Walker, 2013 

So What About the Tarot Connection?

Don't worry, I know there is no real mysticism or power in tarot cards. It's the ambiguity of tarot cards and astrology that keeps people interested. But that's what makes them harmless too. When I read the description of the Six of Cups tarot card it all clicked. 

The Six of Cups represents innocence

Being blissfully unaware

Feeling nostalgic

It is a truism that there is violence, anger and mean-spiritedness in the world. Certainly there is enough of this, but there is also much good will and caring.

I don't know, this just sounds like my concept for the Sweetheart Come piece. Even if it doesn't totally work, who cares? Rather than force another "illustration", I wanted to make something meaningful to me.

Enjoy.

And buy Nick Cave & Bad Seeds  new album - Push The Sky Away.

And buy No More Shall We Part

Push the Sky Away

By Nick Cave & Bad Seeds

No More Shall We Part

By Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds