No Sleep Till Blackbird

Cleveland People: This evening, Thursday, July 28th, 2011, there is an Opening Reception for the first exhibit at Blackbird Baking Company (1391 Sloane, at the corner of Sloane and Detroit in Lakewood). "No Sleep Till Blackbird" is an exhibition of the process and craft of award winning bicycle framebuilder Dan Polito, of Cicli Polito fame and notoriety.

Here's the Press Release:

“NO SLEEP TILL BLACKBIRD”

An exhibition of the process and craft of award winning bicycle framebuilder, Dan Polito.

An opening reception will be held Thursday, July 28 from 7-9:30 at Blackbird Baking Company. The exhibition will run through August 19th during regular business hours. Complete custom built cycles will be on view the weekend of the Criterium bike race (July 28th-31st).

Winner of the Best in Show at the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, Dan Polito is the man behind Cicli Polito. Working out of his shop in Cleveland, Polito creates custom built bikes that have earned him international recognition and place him among the top steel frame makers in the world. Working at such a level means a lot of all nighters for Polito. In the middle of a seemingly endless night of work, his motto is often, “No sleep till Blackbird”, working until the early morning when the bakery opens its doors and he is one of the first customers.

This exhibition will highlight the process that goes into each custom frame he builds. It will include photos of the process, original drawings, and bike frames. Polito’s most recently completed projects will be on loan for the weekend of the Criterium as it passes by Blackbird’s doorstep Saturday, July 30th.

Blackbird Baking Company is flattered to provide the food for this process and is pleased to present this intimate look at Polito’s craft. After several years in the bakery business in Portland, Oregon, Tom Clark returned to his hometown to open Blackbird with his wife, Adria, a Portland native. Open in July 2009, it is an artisan bakery specializing in European bread and rustic pastries. More information can be found at blackbirdbaking.com

Blackbird is one of the sponsor’s of Lakewood’s Criterium bike race. A Criterium is a form of high speed bike racing covering less than a mile and reaching speeds up to 30 miles per hour. The Lakewood Criterium will take place on Saturday, July 30th in the west end of Lakewood. There are several racing categories with the first race beginning at 1:00. More information can be found at lakewoodcriterium.com.

I've known Dan a long time, worked with him in the past, and been able to observe from arm's length as he worked, built, and developed, while at the same time I've been working and building on my own path, which has often seemed somewhat parallel. It's pretty inspiring to see him, and Blackbird's Danielle Schroeder (also: my Ladybird), put together this exhibit, which I think comes at the perfect time in both his development and the life of the Bakery.

It's going to be a great show, and this opening party is going to be a really great time. If you aren't familiar with Dan's bicycles or Blackbird's amazing bakery, this is the perfect opportunity to get familiar and see what they're doing.

HELL YEAH

It's Vol. #5 of Freestyle Hip Hop Nite at Now That's Class, now being hosted by Muamin Collective! Sponsored by Rap Snacks! Live DJ! Battles! $2 24oz Olde E cans! $3.50 MD 20/20! Cash Prizes!

My dude, Beckett of Hoodbillies and Gangster Wraps notoriety has been putting on these Freestyle Rap Nites. He requested I draw him, Paul from Now That's Class, and the members of Muamin Collective shooting dice. I think it came out pretty good.

I haven't been to one of these yet, but I think I should probably go. I doubt I'll have time, but I bet these are fun. You should go. You'll have fun.

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.

HELL NAW

Freestyle Hip Hop + Battle Nite Vol. 2 at Now That's Class, THIS WEDNESDAY. Had to bang this out right quick. Wanted to get colorific but... no time. I will probably go to this, if for any other reason than to eat some vegan gangsta food.

Sponsored by RAP SNACKS:


RAP SNACKS.

Asb Jam for Boo Box 10/10

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure there's not really any way to post about the process of these things. Asbestos Breath, on a rampage!

Sarah Johnson from Minneapolis
Cave Bear
Nate Scheible + Jack Smiley (if you missed their set at Champagne of Fests this year, now's your chance to see a really killer performance!)

@ The Boob Box (formerly the Menstrual Mansion)

Asb Jam for Front Room 10/11

Monday October Eleventh, Nine Pee Emm

Hurray For The Riff Raff
Samuel Doores and The Tumbleweeds
Crooked River Blues Band

Front Room Gallery
3615 Superior, Bldg 42, 3rd Floor

Here's the Facebook event listing: HERE!

Flier by Asbestos Breath

Swamp Metal

This Grog Shop show is going to be loud, heavy, and ridiculous. I've never actually seen Fu Manchu, but I feel like I've been at at least three or four events where they were playing. Someday I will see them. Black Tusk from Savannah, Georgia, apparently rocks the genre of "Swamp Metal", which makes me extremely happy. I've never seen them either, but goddamn I think I'd like to. It's Casual has got to be one of the worst band names of all time. Were they a Lottery League band? Venomin James are the local; I feel like I've been at shows they've played but missed them too.



This is the first of what I hope will be many posters from Ithaca Underground, some rad DIY lunatics in Ithaca, NY. Again, with the mighty Black Tusk on the bill, so I opted to carry the characters along. The move was slightly backwards though. I drew the posters in order of sequence based on how they came across my desk, rather than by date chronology. Probably would have been smarter to do it the other way around. Well, I never said I was smart.

I like these characters, I like the post apocalypse, I like kittens, and apparently babies. I guess the big tough grayed out gladiatorial type lends itself to being the guardian of the blinded baby-mama. There's obviously a story before that first poster. What the hell is going on? Who are these people? Why is he GRAY? Why is she blind? Who's baby is that?

There's clearly a story that happens BETWEEN the posters. After taking a beating, our gray hero folds into the role of needing protection- the baby-mama rises up, dons the Antlered Helm, and holds her own with sword in hand. What happened? How the hell did that one antler break? Who's cat is that?

Will these questions ever be answered???

Most likely only in your minds, my friends.

Champange of Fests IV

I didn't spend nearly enough time at this year's Champagne of Fests. I showed my face long enough to see SLOTH and the Scheible/Smiley duo on Saturday, then Nautical Almanac, the J Guy/Forbes Duo, and Emeralds on Sunday. I feel like I saw something else, but I don't remember what. It was all kind of a blur. Especially Saturday.

Both Nautical Almanac and Emeralds were completely amazing, in just incredibly divergent ways. Emeralds really really killed it. If you get the chance to see Emeralds play, DO IT.

Speaking of SLOTH, they'll be playing WRUW's Studio-A-Rama this year on September 11th! There's a bunch of other great acts this year: Afternoon Naps, Self Destruct Button, The Prisoners, and Sun God. Then the bands I've never heard of: Nick Riff's Freak Element, Fawn, The Ethiopians, and Teenage Grandpa.

Looking these other bands up, I was kind of hoping The Ethiopians were maybe, y'know, actual Ethiopians. That would have been great. I will be posting again about Studio-A, stay tuned!

Brace for Impact

Simple doesn't always mean easy. I didn't save them all separately, and I don't have the time anyway, so I'm not going to post a "process" thing for this one, but ...there's quite a few layers to this piece. I like it though. Sun God, and The Dimeras, maybe there will be another band.

Oh, BTW: I designed that Sun God logo.

Shipsunk

HotChaCha, Slide Machine, Freedom, Mystery of Two. Should be a pretty rad show. I saw Mandy from HotChaCha and asked if she had any particular request for this one, she said "Big Boobs". Sometimes I worry that I go a little overboard with the mammary glands, but apparently not everybody takes offense... The one thing I wish I had done was draw more life aquatic... underwater happenings. After the last few pieces, I really really want to do a mermaid comic... which, no idea if that's even a thing. Maybe a horror comic set underwater or... a crime thing? I dunno. All's I know is it's fun to draw underwater stuff.

Blood for Blood

Radio Dystopia presents: Juana Molina at the Grog Shop! Looking forward to seeing both Ken Rei and Shitslicer.

MARCH 2009: FLYER MONTH

Dear Friends:

MARCH. FLYER MONTH.

My plan is to do a flyer/poster for something every night in March of 2009. Every night, all month. 31 flyers in a row.

The project is going to have a very loose narrative that pulls them all together. I'd like that narrative to at least partially be driven by the events. So, I'm not just making drawings that I can throw any old band names on. It'll be one big cohesive thing, with each part standing on it's own.

I'm also interested in doing some for events other than music performance events (ie: rock shows) as part of this. So if anyone knows anyone that might want to have posters made for anything, let me know. In fact, please feel free to forward this info to anybody who might want to be involved.

I'll work out the printing for all the posters and flyers, but I'd like to get paid something for the majority of them. I plan to publish a book of the collection after it's finished.

You can either email me at jgritty@gmail.com ...

Ball-Handling

Yukon from Baltimore, Maryland. Really tempted to scrap this idea and go for some WIRE connection, but I've been planning this ball handling jam for a while. This dude is a real guy. I'm not gonna post details about him or whatever because I'd rather not have him know about my work, but... there ya go. Ball. Handling.

Universal Horrorist

These posters were all for the same event. Halloween at Lava Lounge. I've always really loved the Universal Horror movies. I actually caught The Mummy staring Karloff The Uncanny at The Cinematheque in early October.



I don't think it's widely known, but Universal made a Spanish version of Dracula with Spanish speaking actors at the same time as they filmed the Bela Lugosi classic. It's the exact same script and the exact same sets, but the costumes are slightly different, especially the female lead's dress. It's got a deep neckline, really risque for 1930. They apparently hadn't figured out dubbing and everybody wanted to see "talkies", even the huge Spanish audience. So, anyway, I like it almost more than the Lugosi jam, it's awesome. And for a dude trying to learn Español, it's almost watchable without subtitles. Most of the dialogue is simple and slow enough to decode.



I think Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are the best of those old movies, in large part due to Director James Whale being a motherfucking genius. But, Creature From The Black Lagoon is pretty goddamn dope. The first Wolf man is really strong too, definitely Lon Cheney Jr.'s finest hour. I can not BELIEVE I forgot to do an Invisible Man. I feel like a total ass right now.



Halloween night I hung out at my buddy Tim's house in bay Village to pass out Candy. Not ONE SINGLE CHILD came by to Trick or Treat. We sat there with his lady friend and her friend for a piece, but then they left and we ended up watching IRON MAN. Personally, I loved it! I liked it even more than The Dark Knight. I mean, well, it's a close race, I gotta see Dark Knight again, but yeah... Iron Man... Then I went home, drank some NyQuil and passed the fuck out. Been fighting a fierce cold, so... there's that, Happy Halloween!



I rolled passed Lava the night of this party and two of the hottest chicks I've ever seen in my life in were crossing Auburn to hit that spot while I was driving up. Just these gorgeous statuesque black girls in mini-skirts and heals and fishnets. Place looked packed too. I decided I had no business going in and ruining the good times with my presence and ended up wrecking shit with Tim at The Matinée instead.



Halloween. It's like the ultimate excuse for girls to dress as slutty as they can possibly manage. I like The Matinée but I seriously just felt like I was an obstruction. Just a big scary guy totally in the way. I realized I really have no business leaving The Cave. My life should revolve around watching old movies and drawing things for the pretty people to look at so they know where to go to look pretty together, then I'll be taking their money.



Now that I'm looking at all these there definitely NEEDS to be an Invisible Man one too. Fuck it, I'm on that shit. Invisible Man was also directed by James Whale. Starred Claude Rains! I think of all the Universal Horrors the Invisible Man series held up the best. The Invisible Woman? The Invisible AGENT??? That shit slays The Mummy's Hand or The House of Dracula or any of that other campy stuff.

Skullface Returns.

Parts + Labor, National Suicide Day, Tanked, and Lozer. Bring Your Own Ghosts.

Warpath Power Post

Thanks to all the friends who came out to the Shiner Number Two release party. It was a blast, and we sold some comics! Check out the photos over at artchitecturegallery.com. ALSO, If you're reading this and you're in Cleveland on October 3rd, please please please do yourself a favor and hit Artchitecture to check The Approachable Darkness, a solo show by Matthew Ryan Sharp. This is going to be a great show, and it pains me to no end that I will probably be out of town.

Which, hey, if you're reading this and you're going to be at SPX in Bethesda, Maryland next weekend, please please please do yourself a favor and not hesitate to search me out and grill me about SHINER. I won't have a table, but I'll throw down for anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Hey, I've been fuckin' busy:



Seriously, Golden Error kills it. I love this band. Also, National Suicide Day? More like Global Homicide Decade.



This one I'm going to do up a proper full color version, but right now you get the BLOODY version. I know there's prints of this out there in Cleveland right now, so... yeah. Last time White Mice played Now That's Class, I had an out of body experience. Fucking terrifying. Also, pretty stoked to see old friends from Jerk in Johnny Utah and Own Weather for the first time. Hey look: Self Destruct Button!



I'm really happy about this poster. I never ever believed I was ever going to to a point to where I was happy as shit about my coloring, but this might be that point. Oh, and KEELHAUL is one of my favorite bands to see play.



It's a LOST-centric Halloween poster! Halloween! LOST!



Jim Mahfood's Kick Drum Comics rocked my motherfucking world. I'm currently coloring the shit outta this, so... stay tuned.

I'm super fucking busy, and showing no signs of that changing any time soon. More art and news to come! Sorry about the delay between posts, if anyone's ready this habitually. I'll try to stay on top of things more in the future.

SHINER No. 2 RELEASE PARTY

Here's the poster art for this thing on the 19th! It's the release party for the second issue of SHINER. Artchitecture Gallery is easily my favorite gallery in Cleveland. This issue is a huge step up from issue one, and I'm so stoked at how things are happening.

Breakneck Worship

Here's the latest bangers out The Cave:




Human Eye, Self Destruct Button... really stoked about finally doing a Mohammed Cartoon flyer. They were one of the Lottery League bands that didn't hang it up after The Big Show, and have been playing pretty regular since.

Here's another flyer for the same show, I actually kinda like this... so, not to step on anyone's toes, but that goddamn Lizard thing needed it's head lopped off.



Here's the colors for that Scarcity show flyer:



I colored this super fast. Just busted through it with the Wacom tablet. I think it came out pretty wicked. Where's the brain?

Tiny Battlecat

I couldn't find a link for GRACKLES, but Scarcity of Tanks has a new blog. Still, wanted to get this bee and dubblya of this piece up tonight before I go offline. It's gonna be a fun show. Nine Eleven, y'all.

Also, I met a tiny little man last night. They call him BISOUS, pronounced BEE ZOO, but I named him BLOOD SWAMP.

Also: I have a giant face:

Born on Monday

Been fierce on the warpath lately, really happy with what I've been doing. This one is for my dude Dan Friel at The Grog Shop on August 8th. I'm really stoked to see Dan live, as all the times I've seen Parts & Labor have been really great. Also, his CD/LP Ghost Town is fucking incredible. It's very cinematic, but bursting with true hope and love. Just a great great listen.



aaaaand the black and white:



Here's the cover art for this Mix CD by Radio Dystopia:



It's full bleed and folds so the dude should be the front and that sphere thing should be centered on the fold.

Hopefully I'll get a chance, maybe tomorrow, to post about this new thing and some news and shit. Stay Tuned.