The Sexiest Thing I've Had Between My Legs In A Long Time

I jumped aboard the fixie bandwagon. Say hello to my new Swobo Sanchez. Life is funny, you know. Take this bike, for instance. Like most people, before a big purchase, I did a lot of research. Most of which was totally useless. Research is a lot harder now than it used to be. Sometimes having access to information at your fingertips gives you way too much information and makes your ability to decide a lot harder than if you didn't learn the information in the first place. After exhausting myself on bike websites and forums, combing craigslist hourly and visiting all the local bike shops I finally found a bike that fit my exact specifications. In short, I wanted a bike right now that requires no assembly on my part, no modifications and that I can just hand my money over and ride away. And this was it. Anyway, here's why I said life is funny. I found this bike on craigslist and called the number. When I dialed a name showed up on my phone. As it turns out my friend Dillon, from Wollyhood Clothing was selling this bike! Sweet! So, I drove to the Wollyhood Headquarters tested out the bike and hung out for a bit. Fun times. Now I've got a sweet ass bike. Dillon's got some money to spend in Vegas next week. Everybody's happy. Oh yeah, and the bike came fully decorated, painted with Montana spray paint and covered in stickers. I don't have to do a single thing. The end.

Oh wait, now I have to learn how to ride a fixie...

The Grand Opening Party: Photographed And Blogged. Finally.

WOW! The Grand Opening Party last Friday was awesome! I could not believe how many people showed up in support of my shop. It was either that or the free beer and brownies. I'm sticking with support.






Sounds were provided by DJ Wigatoni of Wollyhood Clothing, who also hooked us up with some shirts to include in our raffle. Speaking of raffle...



Check out raffle winner, Ally Thompson. She was extremely stoked on her MNKR tank!!! Ally is a hairstylist at Studio 23. If you're a slo local you should have her do your hair. To schedule an appointment call 805.781.6910.




Here's Jack pimping Pyramid Beer, which is quite delicious. I'm not even a beer drinker and I had a few cups! Behind Jack is Brandon and Susan from Pizza Fusion SLO. They provided the delicious brownie bites and cookies. So good! Sadly, I don't think we got any photos of the breathtakingly delicious cupcakes from Éclair Bakery.



Against my better judgment I picked up a microphone. No, no, no, I didn't sing (remember, I only had a few cups of beer), but I did make a couple of announcements.



At some point Steve asked me to draw on his arm. And here's how that turned out.



It's upside down, but you get the idea. When you get a chance check out Steve's awesome photography at www.semillerimages.com. As a matter of fact, I've got one of his photos right here.




I decided to make a big live drawing during the party to be included in the raffle. Unfortunately, I never took a photo of the finished product, but I'm glad Steve got this shot of me working on it.

A BIG THANKS is in order to the following for helping out and making The Grand Opening such a fun and successful event!

Jack from Pyramid Breweries for providing tasty drinks. Next time your at a bar order Pyramid!
Pizza Fusion SLO for the brownies and cookies! They make pizza too. Visit them at 3971 S. Higuera SLO CA 93401
Tried And True Tattoo for the $150 gift certificate that they donated for the raffle!
MNKR Clothing for taking photos (almost all the photos in this post were taken by Matt), selling raffle tickets, and also donating shirts for the raffle!
Wollyhood Clothing for lending us their amazing DJ Wigatoni for the night, who kept the party bumping and also for donating shirts for the raffle!
Eclair Bakery for the deliciously decadent cupcakes!
Picking Daisies for the 300 lollipops!
Jon Haddeland from The Bladerunner Salon for donating a free haircut for the raffle!
Tyler and Kate for providing the Tecate when we ran out of Pyramid! Check out Kate's creations at www.scissorclothing.com.
Kristen for donating some beverages!
C for taking charge of the register (and all kinds of other work) all night so I could party and mingle with everybody!
And of course, my wonderful parents for being so awesome and raising such a cool kid.
And last, but not least, all the contributing artists who's work is currently making the walls of the gallery look extremely awesome! I will post a blog soon with all the new work that's on display.

If I missed anybody I apologize. It's taken me all day to write this blog and I just want to click "publish" already.

Thanks Everybody!!!

Grand Opening Freebie!

The first 98 people that show up to our Grand Opening Party will recieve a free button!





We had planned to give out 100, but we had some mishaps in the button making process. A big thank you to Richard for making the buttons for us! Check him out at http://www.facebook.com/richardthecollapsible


And we hope to see you tonight at our party!

RAFFLE TOMORROW NIGHT! Authorized Graffiti Boards and other goodies!

Perhaps you are familiar with The Claassen Gallery "Authorized Graffiti Zones". Basically we drill a piece of wood into one of our gallery walls and let people go nuts on it. Some do quick little tags, some stand for ten minutes creating little masterpieces. After four to five weeks the boards get covered to the point where it's close to impossible to find an available spot to draw on. Needless to say, we think they're awesome! The layers and textures that build up are very unique and can be looked at for hours with always finding new things. Over the past year and a half we've collected thirteen of these boards and have now decided to find them a home where they will be more appreciated. Sadly, our storage area is not giving them the attention they deserve. So, we are having a raffle for the first two boards that we put up.

Raffle tickets are going to be $5 each and $1 for each additional ticket you buy. This way you can better your chances of winning without depleting your pocket. Afterall, if you're going to hit the bars after our party you're going need a little extra cash.


"Authorized Graffiti Zone #1"




"Authorized Graffiti Zone #2"


And we just received some super duper awesome news! Our friends at WWW.WOLLYHOODCLOTHING heard about our raffle and wanted in on the action, so we now have some awesome shirts available to win!




The Raffle is at 9:30pm!
You MUST be present during the raffle to win. If we call your number and you're not there, sorry Charlie.

The party will be from 8-10pm!

The Claassen Gallery
785 Marsh St
San Luis Obispo CA 93401
site - www.jeffclaassen.com
facebook fan page - www.facebook.com/theclaassengallery

Looking For Flash Mob Participants! This Thursday in downtown SLO.

Taken from wikipedia.org.

A flash mob (or flashmob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The term is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms or as publicity stunts.

I was completely unaware of this amazing act of public art until recently. Thanks to youtube it's pretty easy to see some flash mobs in action. This one, entitled "Frozen Grand Central", is one of the more popular ones and I think it's quite poignant.




Why am I talking about this? Because my friend Ashley is organizing a flash mob to take place in downtown San Luis Obispo to see if our little town is ready for big city style displays of public performance art.

We need at least 100 people to make this work well. I'm not sure if a title has been chosen for this particular piece, but for now I will call it "The Red And Yellow Mixer".

Anybody can participate and the more the merrier! Parents are also encouraged to bring their little ones to expose them to weird art stuff. Because hey, every kid needs to experience weird art happenings. It's "culture", people.

Are you in? If so, you'll need two things. One orange shirt and also one yellow or one red shirt. That's two shirts total. Nothing fancy. Pick something up at Goodwill if you have to. Ideally, there will be the same amount of reds as there are yellows.

Next, meet at The New Times parking lot on the corner of Osos and Marsh in downtown San Luis Obispo at 6:30pm this Thursday, August 20, 2009.

For more info contact Ashley, aschwellenbach@newtimesslo.com

Banksy And Grafuck Books Just Arrived!

Sweet! A shipment of books arrived just in time for the Grand Opening on Friday! Banksy, of course, needs no introduction. Grafuck, however, you should be able to figure out based on the spelling. It's a naughty little art book that you're sure to love.

That's One Big Ass Sketchbook! Seriously.

Today was a busy day. In fact, tonight is busy as well. I like it that way. It makes me feel productive. Before I ban myself from the computer for the night (Seriously, I got to strap a chastity belt on this thing.) I thought I would share some of the new goodies we got for the gallery today. First up. THE BIGGEST SKETCHBOOK KNOWN TO MAN.








Would you take a look at that thing? I'm sure you could kill a man with this mammoth of a book by dropping it just right on his head. If you've seen a bigger and badder sketchbook I'd call you a liar. This is what I'm calling "The House Book". What that means is that it resides in the lounge area of the gallery next to a box of markers and anybody and everybody is encouraged to draw in it.

Next up, yellow Sakura Solid Markers are back in stock! We've probably been sold out of these for two to three months.




Lastly, we finally have Enviro-Tex to add our roster of awesome products. If you've seen my work in person you should be familiar with the thick layer of glossiness beauty that covers the surface of my prints and paintings. If you're one of the SEVERAL people that have asked me where to get this and how to use it I've just made it simpler for you. It's right here.



In the next couple of months I'd like to host a little workshop in the gallery to teach you how to use this stuff. It's not as scary as you think, but it's definitely easier to learn by watching. If you're interested in signing up for a workshop please leave a comment. I haven't figured out all the details yet, but when I do I'll let you know.

We actually received a lot more than this, but have yet to take photos. Plus, we should be receiving two more orders in the next couple of days, so be warned. There will be more "new product" posts in the near future.

200th Post!

It's hard to imagine I actually have that much to say. On to post 201!

The Action Happens At 785 Marsh St!

Operation: What The Hell...

I've got a project. I'm calling it "Operation: What The Hell Did I Get Myself Into". The project entails making A LOT of these little wooden display boxes. Today I made twenty of them. And here's what that looks like.



Before this batch I managed to make twenty four. It's for a good cause, which is to make my gallery look extra super dope awesome. And pretty too. I'm at the paint, I mean point, in the project where I'm looking back at how things used to be. You know, life before the colorful little cubes. A life where I simply painted one long piece of wood, attached some shelf brackets, and ta-da! That was my spray paint display. Ah, life was so simple then. And digressing is so easy. In fact, writing this blog is my way of digressing from the work that lays before me. Moving right along. That big stack of boxes above sits in preparation for this.




That's right, twenty (Go ahead and count them if you don't believe me. Jerk.) cans of the most delicious smelling brain cell destroying spray paint on the market. Ok, I have nothing to back up that "brain cell destroying" statement. However, I will totally vouch for Montana Paint being the most delicious smelling paint on the market. And you can take that to the bank. When you come back from the bank try wrapping your lips around these beauties.




That's thirteen (Feel free to count those too if you'd like. Nonbeliever.) completed boxes. I have seven more to go (Do the math if you think I'm wrong. Sucker.) before my job is done. Oh, and get this. I still have about fifteen MORE boxes to make after all of this. Oh where oh where have the days of easily installing shelves gone? Why oh why must I invent all this work to do? Oh yes, because I love my job. Speaking of which, I better get back to it.

Having A Love Affair With Ink

Every so often I get asked to contribute some art to somebody's sketchbook. Here's one that I did earlier today. I used india ink (my favorite) and a paintbrush. Normally, I use a sharpie or my trusty rapidograph (my other favorite) for sketchbook creations. This might be the second sketchbook piece I've done using a paintbrush. As you can see I still can't escape this desire to embrace messy brushstrokes.

A Book Worth Giving Up Your Left Testicle For

I'm having a really hard time figuring out what body part I would have given up twelve years ago to have had this book when I taught myself to screen print. It's typical to say "arm" or "leg" or "left testicle", but I think if I really had to pick one I would ultimately have to go with something more major because that's just how awesome this book is. So, maybe the left hemisphere of my brain?




This is by far the BEST book I have ever come across on the art of screen printing. Before this the only books I had seen were all printed in the late seventies and were poorly written and the instructional illustrations left many things to be desired. Mostly, resolution, because the images were all big black Rorschach Test looking blots of pixels. The term "piss poor" comes to mind.





Print Liberation: The Screen Printing Primer, however, is chock full of high resolution color photos. It also provides the budding screen printer with a brief history of the art as well as a detailed list of tools you'll need and descriptions for what each tool will do for you. It's easily the most comprehensive how to screen print book on the market today.


Book Specifications:
- 8" x 10"
- 144 pages
- 350 color illustrations
- paperback





Print Liberation is now available at The Claassen Gallery. It can be purchased online from our Ebay Store or in our retail location in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA.

Naturally, we HIGHLY recommend this book with The Speedball Screenprint Kit.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Patches! Oh Yes, We Do!

The other day I was asked if I could screen print this character onto a backpack and because of the shape of the backpack I didn't think I could get the surface flat enough to print on, but I came up with an idea. I suggested making a patch that could be sewn on. The idea was liked and so I set to work. If you've ever screen printed before you know that by the time you have everything set up you might as well print more than one thing. Luckily, I had enough raw canvas to print seven patches.

Wipe Them Dirty Paws!

The show last night was awesome! We had a great turnout and the one of a kind napkins were a big hit. Eighteen out of the twenty have already sold. The one pictured above was one of my favorites. I love the spiders on the fabric. You can click that photo to see all the other napkins that were made or just click here. I'm not sure what two designs still remain, so if you'd like to find out please contact Picking Daisies at 805.783.2434.

One Of Kind Napkins And An Art Show Tonight!

The opening reception for my art show tonight at Picking Daisies starts in about an hour and a half. I should probably be setting up more stuff, but instead I sit here to write you a blog. Yes, you heard me. YOU! I am writing you a blog.

Yesterday I screenprinted twenty napkins for the show tonight. In case you haven't figured it out yet Picking Daisies is an amazing shop that specializes in handmade napkins. Yes, napkins! No tablecloths. No placemats. NAPKINS! And they are awesome at it. In conjunction with their napkin shop they invite artists to decorate their walls. Since I was invited to display in their shop I thought it would be fun to combine forces and fuse our creative energies together. Quite naturally, that meant "let's put my artwork on your napkins!" And so we did.





In total, we made twenty napkins. Each one is a (get ready, this is a mouthful) "one of a kind handmade original". They are $10 each and are available exclusively at Picking Daisies, 570 Higuera, Suite 120 at The Creamery in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA. Because each napkin is a one of kind original don't hesitate to purchase. Once they are gone they are gone forever.

Tonight there will be an Opening Reception featuring new artwork and several limited edition prints including these napkins from 6-9pm at Picking Daisies.

Hope to see you there!

Full Frontal Action And Some Other Stuff

Ok, so it's not "full frontal action" like your perverted expectations might have hoped for and expected, but it is a photo of me hard at work. Or, "in action" as some might say.




With the action shot out of the way here are a couple of in progress photos of paintings I'm working on for the show on Friday.








Yesterday was the first day I've painted in the gallery, as evidenced by the first photo. What a concept...I actually "worked" at work. That will be a good habit to get into. In the old space it was just too small and cramped to paint comfortably. Anyway...

I've been pretty productive the last couple of weeks to prepare for this show on Friday. At the moment I have twelve new originals and a lot of prints. I might be able to squeeze in a couple more originals at the last minute. It all depends on how much sleep I decide to deprive myself of.

For those that don't know, Picking Daisies is a store that specializes in handmade napkins. They make A LOT of napkins. We decided to collaborate and make some napkins to go with the show. They let me pick out my favorite fabrics and I'm screen printing my designs on them. I'm hoping to finish twenty napkins in time for the opening on Friday.

Art Show This Friday At Picking Daisies in San Luis Obispo CA

Textures And Layers Get Me All Excited

I love textures and layers. This is a detail shot of a painting I'm working on. I've had the board laying around for years and I've started about three different paintings on it and I never really liked anything I did on it before. Now I'm finally excited about it. Here is another in progress photo of something new I'm working on.





You can probably make out what shapes will be faces. I still need to add the little details like eyes, noses and mouths. You know, those "little details" that actually make up a face.

That's it for now. More later!

Hit Me On The Face!

The Claassen Gallery on Facebook