Ben Rumback's Art Blog

I fully intended to send you all a Holiday card this past December, and if you didn't receive one, it's only because I didn't make any. Honesty is the best policy, and in this case, the truth is, I failed to find the time between other projects and commitments. I bought the supplies to make a linoleum stamp and prints some cool-looking cards, but I didn't have the time to learn the skill until mid January, and by then it was too late. What's a guy to do? Valentines, of course!

So I sat down about a week-and-a-half ago and got drawing. I came up with three or four clever designs, which I paired with sappy, silly messages, then dug out my carving kit and blocks. A few days later, I had carved out four stamps.

This heart is the result of my first and most obvious idea. I always enjoy it when artists and designers use an anatomical heart in place of a traditional cartoon heart. I started with a hard linolium block mounted on wood, but found that I could get superior detail (and results) with the pink speedy-carve blocks. They are softer rubber and, for me, much easier to cut. The first heart was a little rugged for my tastes, but I really like the second one (pictured), which is a nice meeting between anatomical and cartoony.

It took me about five minutes carving (the arrow) and two seconds of thought to finish this design up. This is by far the most distinctly 'Valentiney' of the designs - I feel like the others will be okay to use all year round.

This was my second idea and second stamp. On the inside it reads "YOU TICKLE ME." Har-dee-har.

The original caption for this one was going to be "you brighten my day," but the brilliant and beautiful Martha took one look and said, "Nope, it's got to be 'you turn me on.'" Needless to say, she was right.

These hearts were test prints on watercolor paper, but I captioned them as an experiment. I think they could work as 'postcard style' greeting cards.

After a bit of fooling with the words, I came up with this as my brand stamp. It's supposed to read "(hand) made by..." but I think it still works if people don't see the hand as the word hand. That sentence is a mess. originally I had it as "made by (hand) by Ben Rumback,' but without reading the (hand) it was easy to read 'made by by Ben Rumback,' which made me sound stuttery.

this last one was just something I made while practicing carving and stamping. It has no message counterpart, but I liked the look of it. These cards and maybe more will be on sale soon at Green Genes in Chicago, and in my ETSY shop!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Have a Dolly, Jolly Christmas

From the weeks before Hallowe'en to December 23rd, I didn't get much of a break. I'm not complaining, but between costumes, craft shows, and Christmas commissions, I've stayed busy. I completely forgot to post about my latest craft show experience, at Water's Elementary School Artisan Fair, here in Chicago.

Above: Cocoa Cuddle Buddies

It was a great turn out and a wonderful experience - a complete shift from my only other craft show experience with Renegade. I feel now like I have touched both ends - the largest and the smallest, and now can use what I've learned to work the 'somewhere in between' market. Here are some of the new pieces that I started in Wisconsin, where Martha's brother and his wife Erica hosted an amazing (and delicious) Thanksgiving for us, Martha's parents and our amazing neice, Erielle.

Below: Cozied Up

I applied three days after the deadline, and the Artisan show was chock full of talented locals. A few weeks passed, and while munching appetizers on Thanksgiving, I got an email informing me that a drop-out had free'd up a space for me. Needless to say, the day after T-day, I braved Eau Claire's black friday mania to get stocked up on supplies from Jo-Ann fabrics.

Above: Mousy Christmas

I was able to finish three new pieces in time for the show, outside of my time teaching the children. In fact, some of my three year old pals helped sew the grass on that fox's bed.

Below: The S'more the Merrier (not new, but un-blogged from September)

below: Autumn Owl (also from September) (please excuse the copyright marks, these are from my etsy file).

Then... THEN... then... came the Great Christmas Commission flood of 2011. I got three emails on the same day, all of which asked the same question: "Can you make a set of nesting dolls in time for the holiday?" I, of the belief that sleep is for the week and that deadlines prove your worth, accepted all three, and haven't slept.

The Daly's are a family I have known for a few years, and host the preschool in which I teach in their garden apartment. Dad, Dan asked me to make a set for his family.

Miles (the boy) and I agree that Robin is one of the best people ever, and duly, Miles dresses like Robin every chance he gets.

The family turned out great, right down to the baby sister and the puppies. Every set I make turns out better than the last, and this one holds the bar pretty high. It's always a pleasure to do my best work for the customers I know personally.

Next came the family of the owner of Kustom Kribs, where I had my last retail show. Chris (the dad, but not the grand-dad, pictured here) is a heck of a guy, and it happens that we both studied at the University of Kansas (rock, chalk, GO KU!), which just happens to be a bonding point. He messaged me late one night between turkey and dumplings, and we were on board for his family's doll set.

The odd thing is, the only aspect that challenged me in this set was the glasses. It is incredibly difficult to symmetrize a pair of glasses on a rounded form.

Looking good, family!

The smallest dolls are about one inch high and about 3/4". This can be challenging to make a likeness. More often than not the smallest dolls are reserved for family pets - this set called for all humans, so I did what I could. They turned out great, if I may say so.

Lastly, I got a commission from a nice fellow in Minnesota, who had, for me, a bunch of furry family members, as opposed to their fleshy counter-parts. This set was the challenge of the year, for me, as a craftsman.

Painting people? I've done that time-and-time-again. Painting animals with accurate markings and features? That's a whole new thing. I pulled it off, I think, (he did, too), and they turned out looking quite like the animals, whose photos he sent.

According to Eric (the client) they were spot-on. When you get right down to it, that's what matters. He was able to give a meaningful and merry Christmas gift. That's what I strive for, as a service person, in the end.

Detail of the beagle

Tails UP!

Happy Chanukah, merry Christmas, winter-well-wishes, have a flattering solstice... I'm going to go take a nap.

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Spooky Time of Year

Oh, man... I love Hallowe'en. I love autumn in general, and I feel like Hallowe'en is the apotheosis of the falling season. In the lower midwest it always seemed to come too early, and it was many-a-year too darn warm for my elaborate (read:HOT) costumes. The years that we have spent so far in Chicago have granted us with reliably brisk Hallowe'en weekends, and I for one am grateful for it. I just can't seem to come up with a costume idea that doesn't leave me cooking ten minutes after dress-up time!

This year, before I could get down to working on (or even thinking about) mine, I had a few orders to fill. A couple in Canada has commissioned Futurama costumes from me two years running, and I couldn't be more happy to bring to life these characters that I know and love. Here are the source images I used for Calculon, the soap-opera-acting-bot, and Coilette, Bender's trans-gender, Olympic-sweeping persona.

Last year, i was so tied up with other things, the fine couple up North didn't receive their precious costumes until the DAY OF the party to which they planned to wear them. I was determined to make amens for the stress from last year, and so, got a nice early start. I sent this sketch off after a few emails about dates and monies, and they came back with a resounding 'great! Get to work!' and so, I did!

I started off in my comfort zone, the heads. Making a costume like this is a lot like making a "muppet style" puppet, which I have been doing since high school. I knocked these robo-helmets out in one night, then started on the bodies the next.

Long-story-short, here are the (nearly) finished costumes! These aren't the Canadians modeling, by the by... I couldn't afford to fly them in. Thanks to my lovely friends Patti and Josh for being the same size and shape as the clients, and for being available for a fitting on a Saturday morning!

Now down to brass-tacks, as my father says (though I have no idea where such an expression started). Our Hallowe'en party was a smash, and our friends came through with amazing costumes, as usual. As mentioned above, I tend to stay warm in my costumes. I went as a monster this year. Everyone loves a good monster.

Martha and Mallory went as 'Cool Cats.' go ahead and say it, Martha looks exceedingly more cool than I, especially on the bus. Like that is anything new. C'mon.

Amber hit a home-run as Marceline the Vampire Queen from Adventure Time (more on that later). I don't have a good shot, but her guitar, made by her shiny new husband Cary, was spectacularly crafted. Also, awesome sweater. Go Amber! Josh represented nerd-style as Nathan Drake, which was awesome, even if he didn't think so. If you've played any of the Uncharted games, you know how cool N to the D is. Josh was busy all week making Patti this awesome Sheera: Princess of Power costume. I had a Sheera doll, back when I was about four. There are some scarring memories involving my doll, a pair of scissors, my two older brothers and a ransom note. Let's move on.

What a bad picture of Cary's awesome costume! I wish I had a better one, but this is what you get, people. He and Amber made a great pair, as, in case you didn't know, he is dressed as Finn, also from Adventure Time, which is great. Go, go to YouTube and then come back.

Aha! There's that other Cool Cat. So happy that Mal could make it all the way from Kansas, but we missed her fellow Geoff! Fist bump, Geoff! Medusa showed up, and I thank the gods that I only viewed her through a camera. I'm assuming Medusa has the same rules as a Basilisk... Anyone have the rule book handy?

As the night wore on and the drinks got tossed back, my very sweaty costume kind of got around. This picture is too damn cute not to post. I think I'll have to loan it to Amber next year.

Then Colin got all fresh. Watch it, buddy...

Smokie: NOT IMPRESSED. Also: PUT ME DOWN!

I was worried that if I wore it to preschool I would scare one of the kids. Clearly not a problem. In fact, all they wanted to do was beat the monster. Tiny fists... So many tiny fists...

Thanks for reading! I hope you had as fun a holiday as we did!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Micro-Show-Boating

Man-o-man, i've been having the hardest time keeping this blog up lately. It seems so obvious an concept: write about a show, even a micro-show, BEFORE the show! That way people can come if they want to. To be fair, though, this one was out in the suburbs, and even though I only had about two weeks notice, quite a few of my lovely friends came out to say hi. Thanks to Martha and Rachael, Amber, Cary, John and everyone who came. Special thanks to my pal Kati, who set it up.

'The Strawberry Thief' is, for now, my favorite piece. I have been really feeling the autumn weather and color palette lately, and it lent itself to this piece with ease. While sewing (these things take time), I built a story around this one. I imagined that some unlucky farmer (or rabbit, or rabbit farmer) has been holding this strawberry all summer, keeping it watered and plump, and then, BAM! Sneaky raccoon for the win. Poor rabbit farmer.

This little guy, which I impulsively titled 'Autumn Owl,' was finished about thirty minutes before the scheduled events started at Kustum Kribs in Park Ridge. They had their fall fashion show, in which one of my former students modeled with the gusto only a four year old can muster. When they asked me to produce some new work and add an art-show angle to the day, I jumped on the fall-themed band-wagon (or is it a hayrack at this point?).

I bought some little wooden plaques at the craft store recently, and whipped up a few paintings on them for the show. I had planned to title this 'Pity the Fool,' but I figured the reference might be lost on the 'new mom' audience I was catering to. He ended up being called 'Sleepy Tea,' which works just as well, if not better.

This little guy was simply called 'OW!' It's totally autobiographical, if you were wondering. Want to help my teeth?! Buy some art!

This is Martha's favorite thing I have ever made, I am pretty sure. That girl loves her some marshmallows. From the moment it crossed my mind, this title was permanent: 'The S'more the Merrier!'

I know I just posted this one in my last writing, but I had to include it, as I feel it's a great companion piece to the 'S'more.' I rearranged the show a dozen times, but knew from the start that the S'mores had to be hung above the fire, no matter what else moved.

Martha and Rachael, my biggest fans, took a sit-down after the crowd thinned out a little. Midday champagne and wine left us all feeling a little wimpy as the day tilted into evening. We took the Metra back into town, grabbed some food and took in an easy evening at home. The show was a lot of fun, and I really appreciate everyone who was able to make it and stopped to chat with me. Thanks for reading!

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Stamping My Heart Out