Harper Says Blog

Double Booked!

2012-01-18T22:45:05Z

I'll be dropping off work to two different group shows this week, and both will opening next Friday night, January 27th. Come out to both, they're on the same street! I'll be going between 2020 South Street and 6th and South for the show receptions, so you may see me at either one.... or at each one simultaneously?

First we have Paradigm Gallery featuring Uarts alumni interpretations of confidence in "Confidence Is Not a Four Letter Word". Lots of interesting solutions to be poured over with many mediums represented. Reception begins at 6 and continues on until 10 PM.

Then drop by Phantom Hand at 604 South Street for "Artificial Dissemination: Propaganda to Popoganda" featuring screen-printed designs from a rag-tag army of Philly's finest cartoonists, artists and all around creative types. Reception from 6 - 10 PM as well.

See you there!

Summer sailing 2011

2012-01-04T19:56:16Z

I just realized I didn't post any images of sailing from last summer (2011)! While we did less sailing overall than in 2010, it was mainly due to a very busy summer that didn't even afford more than a week off for either of us. Sigh! We did, however, manage to take my father and stepmother out for a day sail in July when they visited from Bangkok, Thailand. My father's photos of the outing (below) show his mastery of storytelling with photography, and his fantastic fish-eye lens managed to do the best justice to the scale of our boat I've seen thus far! To see more of his photos, visit Dr. Jeff Harper's photo blog.

Going under one of the many bridges we pass in order to get to the Chesapeake side. It always kinda feels like we won't clear it, but of course we do.

At the helm... It feels so great when the boat has picked up some good steady wind and is moving along at a comfortable tack. It's a sailor's life for me.

Heading southwest towards more open waters...

When these photos were taken we'd just gotten finished scrubbing the decks (or swabbing, if you prefer). Teak wood takes on a silvery hue with a few days of exposure to the elements, but if you take a scrub brush and some natural cleaner to it, you can reveal its lovely golden hue. The effect is short lived, however. Teak is used on sailboats since nothing eats it and it stands up well to the harsh ocean environments.

A full jib is what we like to see.

Our marine GPS is my favorite instrument on the boat. Full of info, and helps us avoid rocks.

The Wonder Years

2011-12-29T14:48:42Z

This is a t-shirt design I made for The Wonder Years, a Philadelphia punk band. I'm pretty happy with the results! It's a 4 color screen print... A few different color variations, depending on the color of the shirt were provided to the band for their printing.

Waiting for Worms

2011-11-09T17:48:06Z

My latest illustration solution for one of Grid magazine's upcoming articles. This one is published in their December 2011 edition, available to read here.

holistic dentistry

2011-11-03T17:51:05Z

This illustration is one I recently finished for Lilipoh Magazine's Fall 2011 issue. I wanted to show the nature of baby teeth and adult ones.

sooo pretty

2011-10-17T18:50:51Z

On my way to my studio this morning I saw a woman walking down the sidewalk with a sour look on her face. She was an office worker of some type and was proceeding very gingerly, as if on eggshells in the way only a person in pain can. I looked down and sure enough, she was wearing a very good looking pair of heels, but clearly they were going to ruin her day.

I've done it many times myself - worn a pair of cute-as-hell-heels only to realize part-way through my day that they were going to severely hinder my desire to move... AT ALL! My boyfriend calls them 'stupid shoes'. So my cute-as-hell-heels usually sit, beautiful as they are, at home collecting dust.

Dead and Dreaming upcoming reception

2011-09-23T20:13:17Z

If you're in the Philadelphia area next Friday, September 30th you should come out for the Dead and Dreaming group show reception! I've got my own interpretation of 'Celephais', H.P. Lovecraft's haunting tale of a man losing grips with reality.

Reception will be at Paradigm Gallery at 2020 South Street and the meet and greets will be taking place between 6 - 10 PM. The works will be up until October 21st.

You can also purchase your own copy of the Dead and Dreaming book, comprised of each artist's work plus sketches and bios! Click here to get one of these rare specimines!

*** October 21st UPDATE ***

Great news! My framed piece in the show sold! :)

Drop by tonight, October 21st, for the show closing if you missed the opening reception! And it'll be a last chance to check out these great H.P. Lovecraft renditions in person!

25th birthday

2011-09-09T17:43:05Z

Its Kimberton Whole Foods 25th anniversary and as such I designed a celebratory poster, banners, in-store signage and online pieces to make this campaign obvious to anyone who came in contact with Kimberton Whole Foods. The imagery was splashed across print ads and purchased banners online, and hopefully its distinctive enough to make people notice that it's not just another hollow clipart-populated marketing campaign!

I think originally produced campaigns go a long way with people, since clipart seems to have a distinct distancing effect. At least in my eyes, you look at an ad campaign and you can tell that the marketing department just half-heartedly chose photos from an image house, paid the $100 - 500 and moved on. And it shows. Upon first glance you can usually tell its a lazy effort, plus customers know this photo was probably taken somewhere faraway for a different purpose altogether. Too clean, too generic, too distant - and definitely not worth the savings that using stock imagery can offer. In other words HIRE AN ILLUSTRATOR! ;)

Summer projects

2011-08-19T21:02:08Z

I'm a little behind, but here's what I've been working on in the past few months:

In late june I started designing a poster, banners and a play program for a Shakespeare in the Park event in Kimberton, PA. The play, As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's more whimsical pieces so I used it as an excuse to do a 'pretty' scroll image with a more distressed feel. The image was also printed on t-shirts and on high quality archival paper for those who wanted a nicer version to hang up.

But most recently I've been occupied with the 25th anniversary of Kimberton Whole Foods, for which I'm creating another poster series for (the third so far this year!) The artwork and design created for it is also being printed up as in-store boards, outside banners and window posters for their birthday BBQ event on September 17th, but I'll have to wait to post that image until the printed pieces have hit the stores! It was a lot of fun - a great, free-form set of painted sunflowers, perfect for an end-of-the-summer event.

Also at the end of September and into early October I'll be sharing my contribution to a book project that will be published around that time. I'll post information about the accompanying show opening when the date gets closer! Stay tuned...

Artificial Dissemination: Dissent on Paper

2011-07-08T22:23:08Z

If you're in Philly tomorrow, Saturday July 9th, drop by Masthead Print Studio for a group show I'm part of! Artificial Dissemination: Dissent on Paper is a great Propoganda theme that a few college friends of mine and I hatched in 2009 - and it's finally come to fruition! I came up with the 'artificial dissemination' name, and they went with it. The show postcard was illustrated and designed by the very talented James Heimer.

Here's the digital version I created with separations to make the screenprint. Stay tuned for an image of the screenprinted version a little later! This image was also published with an article in the summer 2011 edition of Lilipoh Magazine.