Updates Galore

WOW, it has been forever since Birdbrain Press has put anything online. Laura went to the College Book Arts Association National Conference, and when passing out business cards was sorely disappointed by the state of our blog.

For now, you can view her slightly more updated blog at innerworkingsoflaura.blogspot.com

Or Max's at conceptbirdhouse.blogspot.com.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

*Updates for Birdbrain Press to come shortly so stay tuned!

NEW WORKS, NEW SHOW

Laura and I just hung our new show at Alchemy Coffee in Salt Lake City (1700 South and 4oo East). The show is called "Fun & Games and Good Company", and we hope people will come out to see it this month, especially this Friday night for Gallery Stroll.


Check out our respective blogs (mine is right here and Laura's is right about here), where you can find images of our new work.

Just one month until Alternative Press Festival 2011!

CALLING ALL BIRDBRAINS! BBC #4 & 5!!

Greetings Birdbrains!

We're currently calling for submissions for our next two volumes of Birdbrain Collective, and we'd love to have you on board. After the popularity of the first 3 issues, we're very excited to see what happens next.

For those of you new to the Birdbrain mailing list, here is the deal- each issue has a theme. So far, our themes have been 'childhood', 'dreams', and 'recycling'. You are encouraged to interpret these themes however you want. We adore the non-literal and the ridiculous, we just want to give you a starting point, an idea, and for you to create a response you're excited about.

What form your response takes is entirely up to you. Drawings, comics, poetry, prose, collage, photography, really anything that fits the format. This is a zine, so a few basic rules apply:

1) Must be photo-copy friendly. This means black & white or grayscale.
2) Generally, submissions should be 1-4 pages long. As we get a better sense for what everyone wants to do, there's usually some space for an extra page or two if someone wants it.
3) Each page is roughly 5.5" x 8.5", so your responses must be able to fit those dimensions. We do all the formatting, so don't worry if it's larger, just so long as the proportions work. If you'd like to do something across two pages (double page spread) we can usually make that work too, so let us know. You will receive copies of each volume you participate in.*

Birdbrain Collective has been a lot of fun for us to make, and we couldn't have done any of it without all the AMAZING submissions we receive, and I want to thank everyone that has submitted so far.

OK, here are the new themes:

BBC #4 - "If I Were A Superhero / If I Were A Supervillain"
This is your chance to strut your crime fighting/ diabolical / superpowered stuff.
What amazing abilities would you have? What would you do with that power?
Do you have an arch nemesis? A vendetta? How's your moral compass?
The goal is to make a separate volume of Superheroes and Supervillains, so either choose one, or go nuts and do both!

BBC#5 - "Three Wishes"
You all know the story. You're in the desert, or at a garage sale, and you find a very special lamp. A couple good rubs and POOF there's a genie, and the genie is offering you 3 wishes. What, if anything, do you do with them?
You're under no obligation to do anything 'genie' related. This isn't about magic or fairy tales necessarily, but about being given 3 chances to do absolutely anything you can imagine.
Remember, a wish granted is never as simple as you think.

So there you have it! We hope you'll participate in this next round of zines. If you're interested, send us an email.

We'll be posting this call for submissions on Facebook as well, so sorry if you get it twice. If you know someone that might want to participate, feel free to forward them this email.

Speaking of the internet, you may or may not know that BIRDBRAIN Press has a blog. It has not been updated in a very long time (we're not born bloggers), but we're getting our act together. so keep an eye out for updates as we get closer to releasing our next round of zines, prints, and other fun stuff.

Thanks! Hope to hear from you all soon.

- BIRDBRAIN Press

*Everyone that participated in issues 1-3 that are not local to SLC have had to wait a LONG time to get their copies. All I can say is there were technical difficulties. And then, as sometimes happens, stuff came up and Birdbrain Press had to take a backseat to the far less enjoyable matters of life. To those of you that got stiffed, I'm really sorry. But two very important points-
1) All your backlogged zines are on the way! We are flooding the post office with packages.
2) We have solved those technical difficulties, so the objectionable delay won't happen again.

Thanks again everyone!

APPAREL! APPAREL! APPAREL!

Here are images of the first BIRDBRAIN apparel, worn by the creators.

'Beulah's Beauties' worn by Max, printed on a reclaimed pink v-neck.

'This Cat is a Momma's Boy' worn by Laura, misregistered on an undershirt

EXCITING! Stay tuned for more from BIRDBRAIN.

BIRDBRAIN PRESS PRINTS FOR SALTGRASS PRINTMAKERS!

We here at BIRDBRAIN were invited to participate in SALTGRASS PRINTMAKERS annual fundraiser. This year, they're doing Tibetan prayer flags, screenprinted with designs from a ton of local artists.

BIRDBRAIN has used this event as an excuse to finally set up our screenprinting studio! Our office and studio space is less than 100 sq. feet (it's our living room) and has to serve a lot of purposes. We're always having to find new and creative ways to be economical with our space, and we're pretty proud of our screenprinting studio solutions.

Here are some photos of the set up, and our freshly printed prayer flags!

Our designs for the Tibetan prayer flags

Laura at the screenprinting table (her drafting table)

Max's turn, placing a prayer flag beneath the screen

We installed a zig-zagging print drying clothesline on the ceiling of our studio/living room. Here is a victory shot of our flags, hung out to dry.

Jubilation!

With the success of our screenprinting set up, we're finally ready to start printing clothing! Here's Laura's prayer flag design on a T-Shirt.

This cat is a Momma's Boy!

Check out Max and Laura's blogs for images of our individual designs, and stay tuned for more from BIRDBRAIN PRESS!

BIRDBRAIN press interviewed!

BIRDBRAIN press has been interviewed. Gavin Sheehan from Gavin's Underground and the Salt Lake City Weekly wrote a wonderful article on us. It has been very well received.

You can view it here: http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-4602-birdbrain-press.html

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!
Sincerely,
Birdbrains

BIRDBRAIN COLLECTIVE #2 & 3!

Since our last post, a lot has been happening at BIRDBRAIN press. We had a table at the 2nd Annual Craft Lake City, where we debuted issues #2 & 3 of BIRDBRAIN COLLECTIVE. The reception has been fantastic!

Before we get into that, one last note on the highly successful 2010 Alternative Press Festival, where BIRDBRAIN press made it's official debut. We were tapped by Ryan Perkins, founder of BIG FUN SLC, to provide 2 of the 6 poster designs used to promote the Alternative Press Festival this year.

Our poster designs for the Alternative Press Festival

Check out the Alternative Press Collection blog to see the other designs, provided by Ryan Perkins, Claire Taylor, Whitney Shaw, and Valerie Jar.

Craft Lake City was great this year! Tons of crafts and a really great turnout. BIRDBRAIN press debuted the new BIRDBRAIN Collective issues, and we've got photos right here.

Front and back covers of BBC#2: Dreams

The 2nd issue of BBC was on the theme of dreams. It features original art from the BIRDBRAIN duo, as well as featured artists Nick Potter, Alex Pratt, Hayley Heaton, Lindsay Decker, and Emily Moroz.

Alex Pratt's carnivorous dream, BBC#2

Emily Moroz for BBC#2

Hayley Heaton (left) and Nick Potter (right) for BBC#2

Next, we've got BIRDBRAIN Collective #3! This one we are especially excited about. The theme is recycling, and in keeping with that theme, we made the zine from entirely recycled materials. The covers are made of cereal boxes, and each page is printed on the blank side of reclaimed copy paper.
BBC#3 features work from our own Laura Decker, as well as Nick Potter, Emily Moroz, and a collaborative piece from John Dermot Woods and Guy Brookshire, titled Mr. Barefoot & The Right Rev. Broad.

Laura Decker's "Reused Toys" for BBC#3

John Dermot Woods & Guy Brookshire for BBC#3

"Charles' Pleasure Palace" for BBC#3

BIRDBRAIN Collective #4 is next up, and we'll be calling for submissions soon. Premiering alongside it will be a bunch of new prints and 8 folds we've been working on. Keep your eye out for previews, updates, images and news on the BIRDBRAIN blog!