Øl

A little beer-inspired art waiting for me in the PO Box today. “Øl” is Danish for beer and this piece came from the artist Marina Salmaso in Denmark. 

The Art of Beer at City Beer

For the last 7 months I have been making beer-themed, mixed media art with assorted beer packaging, labels and other beeraphernalia.  The result is a new show I hung today called the Art of Beer.  The show runs through November 3^rd at City Beer in San Francisco.  The work can be previewed at tofuart.com

Let no scraps go to waste

The work is ready for the Art of Beer opening next week.  Cleaning up and getting ready to make more work, I couldn’t let these scraps go to waste.  This beer art postcard is on its way to Montréal for a recycle themed mail art show.

The Prototypes

The pieces are ready for my upcoming show The Art of Beer.  During the course of the year the process included a number of prototypes trying out different patterns, beer materials and color palettes.  The prototypes (including those shown above) will not be included in the exhibit, but you can check some of them out online and they are also available for purchase.   

Keep an eye out in your mailbox

Today’s trip to the post office was about mailing postcards for my upcoming show the Art of Beer opening on October 10 at City Beer in San Francisco.  If you’re not on my list, go to tofuart.com and send me an email so you can get a postcard in your mailbox.  

Say Hello to the Beerbots

Beerbots, mixed media on board, 2”x4” each

The work is ready for my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October.  It’s time to clean up the studio and recycle the unused beeraphernalia.  But as I started to clean up, I realized something needed to be done with some of these scraps. 

Beer + Robots = Beerbots

Red Hot

Red, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

It’s September and summer finally is ready to start in San Francisco.  And it’s time for one more piece in my series of beer-themed art. Red will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer opening October 10, 2013

Multilingual Beer

Beer by any Name, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

How many ways can you say beer?  How many languages?  English? German? Polish? Czech? Swedish? Italian? Creole? French? Latvian? Dutch? Greek? Hungarian?

I think the word “beer” is fairly universal, but just in case you have trouble communicating, this latest piece of art might be handy for world travelers.  And you can take it with you – prints, phone and laptop cases, plus other goodies are available with this image from Society 6.

The original piece Beer by Any Name will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer opening October 10, 2013

Summer Beer

Summer, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

Even if, like me, you drink beer year round, there is something about beer that always says summer.  Nothing is better on a hot day.  The current series of beer-themed art I am working on needed a bright and summery piece.  Although, in San Francisco the bright white of summer is more likely to be fog. Prints, phone and laptop cases, plus other goodies are available with this image from Society 6.

Summer will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer opening October 10, 2013

Bottle Caps

Caps, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

This year I have been collecting all sorts of beer-related items to make art, or as I prefer to call it “Beeraphernalia.”  I knew something had to be done with all these different bottle caps (sadly I have not been able to try all these beers myself – yet.).  Here it is, over 100 bottle caps from the familiar to the exotic.

Caps will be included in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October. 

Green Art

Green, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

I can’t do a series of beer-themed art without a green piece, even if I did not reuse green beer bottles.  I did repurpose a lot of the green packaging including cases and six-pack containers.  This piece is both green for recycling and green as in the many, many bottles.

Green will be included in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October. 

Alus

Alus, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

Alus, it’s the Lithuanian word for beer.  European friends have been sending me beer labels from places like Luxemburg, Switzerland and of course Lithuania.  This is a latest in a series of beer-themed art and it’s dedicated to all of us with the habit of drinking beer and then peeling labels off of the empty beer bottles.  Well, if you cut those labels up and use the shiny pits in particular, you end up with something like this.

Alus will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October. 

Birra

Birra, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

Here is the next work in a series of beer-themed art as I continue to work with beer packaging and beer coasters from California, Oregon, Belgium and Switzerland (to name just a few places). Beeraphernalia was used from small brewery towns around all the way from Petaluma to Appenzell.

Birra will be shown in my upcoming exhibit at San Francisco’s City Beer in October. 

Brew 188

Brew 188, mixed media on board, 12”x16”

Here is my latest work in a series of beer-themed art as I continue to repurpose and recycle beeraphernalia. This one is made of 188 pieces assembled into a quilt-inspired pattern that I have been using for years.  This is one of the first times I have used this pattern with such brightly colored source material. The vivid colors contrast against each other and cause a bit of a 3D effect. Because I included cardboard cases and beer coasters, some of the pieces have different thicknesses.  This only adds to the 3D appearance.  Finally, I cut many of the original material at slight angles, and when I assembled the work, I was even surprised by the illusion of movement (which might not be as apparent in a digital image). 

Brew 188 will be included in my upcoming show at San Francisco’s City Beer in October. The idea that it appears to be moving might be perfect for a venue where alcohol is served.  

Mit Hopfen

Mit Hofpen (With Hops), mixed media on board, 12”x16”

More repurposing and recycling of beeraphernalia (coasters, six pack cartons, etc.) it’s the latest piece in my series of beer-themed art for the upcoming show at San Francisco’s City Beer in October.  This one uses materials from Northern California and Switzerland.  Prints, phone and laptop cases, plus other goodies are available with this image from Society 6.

From six-packs to art...

BeerWeave #1, mixed media on board, 12"x16"

Mixed media work made from repurposed six-pack containers.  Part of a new series for a beer-themed show coming up in October.

Beer Prototype #1

Busy cutting up the cardboard six-packs from different beers.  Getting out the glue and here it is, the first prototype for the Beer Show later this year.