Greetings from Fargo

Greetings from Fargo was made in conjunction with the Jubileum! exhibition at the Plains Art Museum.


The images are (from L to R):
F - Hotel Donaldson. While I was in college the Hotel Donaldson was known as a  hotel for hobos. Now referred to as the HoDo,  the building has been renovated into an upscale restarant, bar, and art hotel where my cousin got married last fall. Their iconic sign has remained the same for all uses.
A - The Plains Art Museum is now a renowned art museum, but was originally an International Harvester warehouse.
A - I have always loved Fargo's own Statue of Liberty. A 1/19th scale replica of the Statue of Liberty was purchased by the Lions Club in 1952.
R - Train Depot. Dale & I are kinda obsessed with Amtrak. More people should travel by train. 
G - Fargo Civic Center - So many memories! Joan Jett, Pink Floyd Laser Light Show, and many High School basketball tournaments. Note the Bison statue, which I made sure to get in there on behalf of the NDSU Bison, a huge source of pride in North Dakota.
O - The Fargo Theatre, an art deco movie theatre in downtown Fargo that was built in 1926. A true landmark that still burgeons with great entertainment. 

Most of the illustrations were made from photos I took in college and some photos Dale took on our many visits to Fargo.
--Amy Jo

Here are some shots from our studio during the making of the Greetings from Fargo screenprinted art prints:

 

manual printing table

Dale made this table in Adam Turman's garage!

 

films on the light exposure table

  

exposing the screen

 

washing out the stencil with a powerwasher

 

detail of the stencil

 

the darkroom

Dale made this screen rack from an old loft he found in the alley!

 

moving on up 

the first screen I ever owned alongside our current screen size

 

mixing the first color

 

blue ink on the screen

 

the first color on the drying rack

 

mixing the 2nd color - making it a bit transparent to create a 3rd color

 

the second color on the screen

 

the second color on the drying rack

 

black ink on the screen

 

the final printed pieces on the drying rack

Jubileum!

16 FEBRUARY -  3 JUNE                        ART
Jubileum!   
The Screenprinted Art of Miss Amy Jo
A retrospective museum exhibition celebrating
my first ten years of graphic design and screen-
printing. FREE & open to the public.
PLAINS ART MUSEUM . . . . . . . . . . FARGO

Jubileum! is coming to a close this weekend. It
was such a pleasure to have my work hanging
in a Museum in Fargo, which I still call 'home.'
Jubileum! means anniversary or celebration in
Norwegian, a nod to my Scandinavian heritage.
I grew up on a farm 30 miles south of Fargo so
we went to Fargo at least once a week to shop,
eat, and be entertained. I lived in Fargo for one
year after High School before living in Portland
for one brief year. As much as I loved Portland,
I was terribly homesick and Fargo seemed much
better after being away from it for a while.

I lived in Fargo for another 8 years while attending
college at Moorhead State University (now known
as Minnesota State University Moorhead). Yes, it
took me forever to finish college. I moonlighted
promoting indie rock shows with Bjorn. We called
our little outfit "Team Fargo" and those days were
some of the most memorable musical experiences
I've ever had. Fitz of Depression, The Make-Up,
KARP, Bikini Kill, Excuse 17. The list goes on.
For each show we booked, we made a little zine
and of course photocopied flyers. And with that,
a career was born. I changed my status at college
from Undeclared to Art.

At one point in my duration in Fargo, I lived across
the street from the Plains Art Museum. As an under-
grad majoring in Graphic Design, I never dreamed
that one day I would be able to show my art in that
very building. I only wish my Dad was still around
to help me celebrate.

As I wound down my days in Fargo, I was hired on
as a graphic designer at the High Plains Reader, the
Red River Valley's only alternative source of news
and entertainment. My boss was Raul Gomez, who
became a friend I will always hold dear to my heart.
Raul and the High Plains Reader were kind enough
to sponsor an opening reception at the Plains Art
Museum on February 16, 2012. I gave a slideshow
presentation. My family asked all sorts of awesome
questions and I think a good time was had by all!

I sincerely want to thank Cody Jacobson at the Plains,
Raul Gomez at the High Plains Reader, and last but
not least my husband, Dale "TOOTH" Flattum.
--Amy Jo

Some process photos from the making of the Jubileum! 
screenprinted show poster:

SXSW 2012

Although we are a little sad to be missing all the fun in Austin right now, the weather in Minneapolis is so nice it almost makes up for it.

Where to check out our pals at SXSW:

Flatstock 33!
More than 100 artists from across North America and the globe.
It's free! No badge or wristband required.
Thursday - Saturday 11AM - 6PM
Austin Convention Center
Level 1 - Ballrooms A, B, C

Learning Curve Records Showcase: (check out the poster process below)
Free show! Friday 12-6PM
Gay Witch Abortion, Power Take Off, Hex Machine, Blind Shake and Hawks.
Club 1808, 1808 E 12th St , Austin TX

Blackout Booking Showcase:
Thursday 6:30PM - 2AM
Birthday Suits, The Blind Shake, Outer Minds, River City Tanlines, and more!
Headhunters
720 Red River, Austin TX

Minneapolis Mock Duck SXSW Party
Friday 6:30PM - 2AM
Pink Mink, Astronautalis, Me and My Arrow, Grant Cutler, Fort Wilson Riot, The Japhies, Buffalo Moon, Luke Redfield
Club 1808 1808 E 12th Street Austin, TX

The Making of the Learning Curve Records SXSW 2012 Poster

It's Austin, it has to have a bat.

Expose.

Mix.
One color.
Two colors.

Three colors.
Done? Nope, needs Black.
Design black layer using first idea for poster.
Black ink.
Done.

Foiled Again

Foiled Again recently celebrated their landmark ten year anniversary! My hair is one of the only things I can always count on looking good. Thanks largely in part to Foiled Again owner, Michele Vevang.

Here are some process pics of the limited edition screenprints I created for the event (available in person at the salon). This was a 4 color print with transparent inks to create extra overlapping colors. It worked out exactly as I hoped, which is always a sweet surprise when it comes to screenprinting!

mixing inks

4 films

blue layer

magenta screen

blue and trans magenta

blue, trans magenta, trans yellow

Pink Mink Record Release

Amy Jo had the pleasure of working with Pink Mink designing and concepting the artwork for their first full length release. We love Pink Mink! This record is pretty amazing. If you're seen them live, you know how good it will be even if you haven't heard it yet. If you haven't seen them live yet, what is your problem? RUN down to Harriet Island and get on that boat! This is going to be the coolest release party ever. Pretty much anything on a boat, with music and booze is the best thing ever in my book. But Pink Mink on a boat? THE BEST.

Cover Art
CD clear jewel case with lots of pink in the tray

So here's a quick little peak into the screenprinting process. I printed 50 Posters of the cover artwork for Pink Mink and a few APs for myself. As well as some mini 6" prints I gave the band to do what they will with.

Let me just preface this by saying that I've been screenprinting for about ten years. That's a long time, right? Not so much in the world of screenprinting. Rookie mistakes abound. Plus the heat and humidity were working against me.

Day 1 (Saturday): Get films. Oopsie, Burlesque is out of film. Wait til Monday when NW Graphic Supply opens.

Day 2 (Monday): Wes Brlsq confirms film has been acquired. Ben Brlsq helps me load the film. Jodi Brlsq keeps me company while the films print and print. So far so good.

Head on over to Who Made Who and burn screens. 1st screen washes out completely. Everything. All the emulsion. Why? Who knows. Let's try another screen. 2nd screen burns beautifully. We are seriously short on screens at the moment. Will have to clean and recoat screens to be able to burn more screens.Call it quits for the day due to the heat.

Day 3 (Tuesday)
Print the Yellow Ink layer. Everything is a breeze. This poster will be done today.


Start printing the Pink Ink Layer. Say Pink Ink for Pink Mink twelve times fast.


Looking Pretty Good!
POP! The screen popped about 20 prints in to the run! Yikes! If you've ever had a screen pop while printing, it's kinda scary.

Now we are seriously low on screens since I just destroyed 2 of them. Need to wait a few days and get some screens in order.

Day 4 (Friday)
POP! The Black screen popped only 2 prints in to the run! WTF? FTW! Time for a break and try this thing in the morning.

Day 5 (Saturday)
Printing the black was challenging as one little spot didn't quite burn, so I dabbed it with a little paintbrush dipped in black ink. Just another bit of the hand showing in the making of a handmade poster!

Final Poster 18 x 18

6 inch mini art prints