Thank You, Cleveland.

SO, as previously mentioned, way back in the dark ages of ye olde December of 2010 AD, Jake Kelly and I have two split shows up in Cleveland Heights right now, and through to the end of February. Ten Imaginary Movies at the B-Side Liquor Lounge, and A Few Hundred Posters by John G and Jake Kelly at Heights Arts.

Here are some photos from the opening reception of A Few Hundred Posters, graciously snapped by the keen camera of Leia Von Hohenfeld.



In the center of the gallery is an installation piece papered with literally hundreds of posters and fliers. A mishmash of both mine and Jake's work all tacked and stapled up in an bonkers interactive exhibit.



Along one wall, I've got a chronology of select prints of posters hanging, including this diptych.



Along another wall Jake has a selection of a selection of 30 or so of his amazing originals.



Jake and I, schmoozing! On Tuesday we had a great time kicking off our promotional blitz on WCPN's Around Noon, talking with Dee Perry about the two shows. Then we were interviewed by Astound Comic's Scott Rudge for Comics Are GO! podcast, which can also be found on iTunes. Monday we'll be taping another interview with Dee Perry for Ideastream's Applause. There was also a nice write up in Cleveland's Scene Magazine about the two shows.



And ...Stew Cats.

For any further information about A Few Hundred Posters, check out http://heightsarts.org/, I think Jake and I be there next Saturday for open hours if you would like to come check out the show, meet us, and talk about posters or movies or whatever.

Faster Than a Speeding Gritmas

Scanned this a while ago, maybe as long as a couple years. I'm pretty sure I would never be able to find the actual physical photo to look at and check. I guess this was somewhere between 82 and 84. I have no idea. I was busy saving the world.

ODDS/ENDS

I've been working on a lot of various big time projects and random jams. Too busy to post up regular. Aside from the kitten picture. Been amassing this bunch of stuff I can put up in the meantime while I type/write about the others.

The above is a weirdo warrior dude I just kinda free-styled. I don't think this fits into any particularly accurate historical depiction of any kind of actual warrior. Some kind of weird Pagan/Celtic Gladiatorial Thug. I actually ended up using this on a poster I'll post about later.



This is a panel I'm not going to use from this project where I replaced it with something else that worked better for that specific joint. I like this though.

I really like porchin' it. I remember, as a kid, walking down Edwards in Lakewood, where I grew up. I saw one of my neighbors just sitting on this step that was part of the walkway that lead up to her house, which was one of the only houses set back way off the street. I asked her what she was doing and she answered "Watching the world roll by." I remember that kind of blowing my mind at the time, that a person could just sit down and watch the entire Earth turn. Since then, loitering, porchin' it, stoopin' it, it's all pretty much a valid use of time. I'm a busy dude, but if you don't take moments to watch the world roll by... you are wasting it.



This is my dude, my cat Rider, one of two. He's a big bozo- a Tuxedo Buddy, the most lovable and loving bag of fur that's ever purred and meowed. That's my dude.



This is a sketch, just a sketch... doesn't really mean anything other than it was an excuse to draw. Holy shit, do I like to draw. I sent this to my homie, Food, in a box cramjammed with other stuff. It looks like this:



THIS is CMD7. Or, the seventh volume of Caveman Diaries, a zine I put together every now and again. This box actually contains seven separate zines, CMD7A through CMD7G:



I kind of explained it here back in May when we put this out, but in the above blurry phone snap you can get an idea of the scope of that box.

CMD7A: Get Monastic (A collection of random illustrations and rants and shit)
CMD7B: Month of Flyers (A month's worth of fliers/posters)
CMD7C: See You At The Show (A whole lot of rock show fliers/posters)
CMD7D: The Five Ws (the other, non-show, fliers/posters of the last year)
CMD7E: Year One in The Meltification Machine (the first year of MELT posters)
CMD7F: Draw Hard (A collection of sketches, roughs, inks, unused pieces, stuff)
CMD7G: The Splatter Effect (Ink)
Guerrilla Gangsterism (by Asbestos Breath)

This volume was limited to 50 boxes, and I think I have about 25 or so left. If you would like one, they're $25 plus shipping ($5?). I'll throw in a sketch and maybe a bunch of other junk. Maybe I'll add it to the Shiner Comics store, but until then feel free to email me about it: jgritty@gmail.com

Speaking of my dude, Food One, he just put out a new zine: Scum of The Earth. It wa super limited and I guess you could only really get it if you caught him at a con this summer, like, in Paris or at San Diego. Unfortunately it's sold out, which... well, there's an interview I did with him in this issue, so, that pretty much ruled. I spilled coffee on my copy though, look!:



I'm certain there will be future Scum of The Earth issues, so keep your eyeballs peeled! In the meantime, for your earballs, there's always one of my favorite podcasts, The Beat Bee Sessions, hosted by Food One & Jane Dope! I'm currently a little behind, I'm listening to Vol. 14, right now, as I type this. It launched with Fishbone's Everyday Sunshine! (Oddly enough, also the name of a documentary about Fishbone I haven't seen yet but would love to (BOOYAH))



This is the cover art for the self titled CD that Hiroshima Vacation just released through Ithaca Underground. I'm not entirely 100% certain how to get it outside of Ithaca. I'd guess that if you get at the band through their myspace page, you can get it from them.



Here's the full on wrap around front and back. Those track names are great. "Bashing Emo Kids" and "I Hate Everyone" are probably the best songs that have ever been written or recorded in the history of Ithaca punk, ever.



Here's a poster I drew for Troy over at Star Pop, for his Christmas in July celebration. He's been over there for over a year now, selling all kinds of toys and clothes and other oddball sub-pop-cultural things. Star Pop is still going strong! This piece came from a really detailed request that Troy sent me, breaking down all the elements and references to the toys like Crocodile Mile, Skip-It, and the Pogo Ball. Looking at it now, it's kinda got me stoked for Christmas in December this year.

I just did some other work for the entirety of Waterloo that I'll be posting soon. I've got a bunch of other posters that I've done recently too. I hope to get them posted before they're irrelevant! Stay tuned!

The Music Underground

This is from the awesomely talented
Laura Webb:

Hey All!

Over the past year, I have been traveling to DIY (do-it-yourself) /non-profit music venues across the United States documenting the spaces and events within.

I am excited to announce that this January, a selection of this work will be on display at Bela Dubby, 13321 Madison Ave, Lakewood 44111.

The opening reception will be this Friday, January 9th, 2009 from 6-9 pm with an acoustic performance by The Ghostwrite. Please stop by if you are able!! (and bring your art loving friends, the reception is open to the public.)

Hope to see you there!

Laura

www.laurawebbphotography.com/music
www.myspace.com/beladubby
www.myspace.com/theghostwrite

The Music Underground is a photo documentary of non-profit, DIY music spaces, the people and community that call these places home, and the actual structures themselves. I believe these spaces play a key role in expression, alternative thinking and the birth of new ideas. Their existence is fleeting. The life span of each venue is directly affected by each cooperative’s ability to dedicate the time, money and energy necessary to keep them open.

My passion for music brought me in contact with these venues and gathering spaces at a young age. Within their store fronts, art galleries, basements and living rooms, expression is undefined by societal norms and remains untainted by consumerist ideals.
My images document these spaces and the intimate moments shared by the audience and performers.
There is life and beauty here. Freedom of expression. Gathering and sharing. Open minds. New thinking.

If you are anywhere near Cleveland, make an effort to get your ass there. After the opening is a wicked noise show with rad dudes.

Hood Weather

Things are getting thick, kinda. Busy busy busy. Gonna be posting a bunch stuff soon, so stay tuned. The weather is getting really awesome. I'm hoping it hangs on like this instead of just rocketing down into the depths of a shit winter forever. At least for a couple weeks.

At the coffee shop right now and some squirrely old weirdo is buggin' out about some computer software licensing bullshit and just yelling, while is ancient moms is hacking up a lung. I really need to get the internet back in The Cave.

Chalita:



She really loves that printer.

Typing

So, yeah, thing is, I've been awake for like, three days. This is the second time I've had to do this recently, the staying awake thing. I just semi- finished this big project and really really wish I had another day and a full night's sleep to get back in there and give those images a better chance to shine. I probably will, for my own satisfaction, but the deadline for the thing to print is here and I've sent the files. So, yeah, grab a Cleveland Scene Magazine next week.



I've decided not to try and go to SPX after all this madness. Bums me out to no end. BUT, there's good stuff going on here this weekend. Gonna hit Artchitecture later, after I rest my bones. Gonna go see The Mummy at the Cinematheque. Karloff The Uncanny. I've been in this Bagel shop for three hours, working. I think I'm finally gonna eat.

Speaking of Eating, have a DOOM SANDWICH:



This is a page from SHINER No. 2. If you're interested in an 11" x 14" print of that piece, I made an edition of 12. There's only 12. You can get one for $25 post paid. Hit me: jgritty@gmail.com

Nihilist Probability Grenade

The hard drive in my Power Book is shot, and I lost everything I'd done for pretty much the past two years. I was able to barrow a Mac Book from my homeboy Billy Delfs to get some really good work done this weekend. Actully, the work was a huge pain in the ass, and when I get my shit together again I think I'll post about the process I went through on this shit. You can get your hands on it Wednesday. It'll be in the Free Times. By any road, I'll be out of digital commission for a couple weeks. I'm going to use this time to carve out an empire.

Hey, here's a triple dose of images that are sitting on Billy's Desktop:







These photos are ©2007 Billy Delfs, bitches.

It Keeps On Coming And Rising

As the Frosty Hammer of the Winter Gods falls upon the Head and Chest of Mighty Ohio, Billy Delfs sent out an email with photos of Downtown Cleveland. Documentation of The Storm.

Pentire-Agram, Photos

It's been so goddamn cold out I've been staying in and trying not to leave my apartment for any reason. I've failed myserably every day. But still. I try. Today I hit the post office, so if I owe you some shit, it is indeed on it's way. I've only got maybe four or five copies of The Caveman Diaries Vol. 5 left, so if you want a copy, order it now.



I finally sat around and messed with a bunch of digital photos I took, some while my sister was in town a couple weekends ago. It was a good weekend, but it ate a lot of time that I should have spent working on things that need to get done. I can't blame that entirely on her though, she wasn't in town this past weekend and I didn't get anything done then either. Here's some photos:







I've got a shit ton of sketchbook shit to scan and post, so, stay tuned.

February One

So this week's The Joint column in the Free Times is full color. I busted my ass on this and I'm still not sure about how I feel about it. The piece is good and about running into obstacles but not letting it stop you from achieving your goals. Even if your goal is to get butt ass wasted and stuff your face during the Superbowl. Here's the art, but go read: The Column!



Speaking of goals and acheiving them and not letting things stop you, it's February First and I am WAY THE FUCK BEHIND SCHEDULE ON MY BIG PROJECT and it's really freaking me out. I don't know what it is, but I can not seem to focus on anything. I had a pretty solid plan coming into this year, but it's all been blown to shit in the first month. I really need to get my shit back together and make some real headway on my works or nothing will get done and I'll be just another motherfucker talking about doing projects that never materialize. I fucking hate people like that. People like that drive me insane.

On another, more positive, note: I adopted a fierce little kitten and named him Rider. He's like a tiny lion. He's my new sidekick, my new bff.