Friday, October 2, 2009
Potter Press
Posted By Gavin Sheehan on October 2, 2009, 12:13 AM
For
the average citizen walking around the city, sometimes the greatest
exposure to local artwork comes down to a simple 15x 18 tapes to the
stoplight. Gig posters or ads for events, drawn up by some of the
finest sketchers and printers we have, and in some cases are finer
works than what's hanging in some galleries. 
--- Potter
Press have been turning out promotional and artistic posters for a
good portion of the concerts and gigs happening in Utah for a few
years now. Bringing a brand new design and form with their
sporadically original creatures to a avenue of artwork that's mostly
been taken over by random graphics. I got a chance to chat with the
married duo behind the company to chat over their history and
posters, as well as thoughts on local material and artists.
Nick
& Erin Potter
http://www.myspace.com/potterpress
Gavin:
Hey guys! First off, tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Erin:
We are a married collaborative art duo born and raised in the good
state of Utah. We specialize in screen printed posters promoting
shows for touring bands making a stop in SLC.
Nick:
And we have a dog named Bixler and a six-month old boy we call "Book
Of Road Maps." Just living the
cooped-up-in-a-tiny-condo-art-family life.
Gavin:
How did you both first take an interest into art, and what were some
of your early inspirations?
Erin:
We were both little kids who loved to draw in sketch books. Nick
was interested in comic books at an early age and drew bloody mafia
scenes with machine guns galore and I tried to paint the mountains I
could see out my window in watercolor a lot.
Nick:
That's pretty accurate. I spent most of my early years trying to
figure out how to draw cool muscles and realistic blood splatter.
After my hyper obsessive illustrations waned and I met Erin I started
to become interested in modernist art and contemporary illustration.
Earlier this year Erin and I created a blog in order to document the
art that inspires us and we often use that to catalog the fleeting
images we come across on the internet. You can view it at our
Blogspot site. teenagekittens.blogspot.com.
Gavin:
Erin, you have your BFA from Weber State. What was the program like
for you up there and how was it obtaining that degree?
Erin:
I really love the facility at Weber and that is partially why I
chose to go there. The building is big open and bright. I really
loved working up there and having access to all the great equipment.
The last year of my degree I was fairly burnt out and ready to stop
making art for the rest of my life. I think, just like any area of
study, it can wear you out and turn you off to the subject to an
extent. I was ready to be done, but I also really liked
school.
Gavin:
Nick, you're finishing up your degree at the U right now. How is
that going for you and when do you expect to finish?
Nick:
Yep, I'm finishing up my English degree right now and will graduate
in the Spring of 2010. School is great, but I will be happy to be
finished and to have the extra time involved with not working full
time and going to school full time.
Gavin:
When did the two of you first meet and eventually decide to get
married?
Erin:
We actually knew each other a little bit in high school and then ran
into each other a few years after we had both graduated and started
dating. We were married in 2006.
Gavin:
What got you both interested in doing screen printing?
Erin:
I did it a little in high school and really enjoyed the process. I
continued it in college and emphasized in printmaking.
Nick:
Yeah, I think we decided to start doing them together after we took
a road trip to San Francisco to see Animal Collective play live. We
purchased a screen printed poster while we were at that show and kind
of talked about making posters for shows in SLC on the drive back and
ended up actually doing it.
Gavin:
Not a lot of people who do poster work take on screen printing
anymore. What made you decide to go the tradition route for it
instead of going digital?
Erin:
We collect screen printed posters and have a huge respect for all
things handmade. We are also huge music junkies so it sort of made
sense for us to go the route of poster makers and combine two
passions.
Nick:
Yep, prints are just so much better. I'm pretty disinterested in
digital posters. I mostly use them to cover my textbooks, like in Jr
High.
Gavin:
Does it ever feel like it's a lost art or do you believe there's
still a strong audience for it?
Erin:
There is still a strong audience for it. GigPosters.com is keeping
it alive as well as the American Poster Institute and Flatstock, a
screenprint poster festival that runs in conjunction music festivals
like Sasquatch, Pitchfork and Reeperbahn.
Nick:
Yeah, I think there was a period between the hayday of show posters
in the 60s and 70s and now when the art was lost, but I think it is
thriving now.
Gavin:
What brought on the decision to start Potter Press?
Nick:
Again, I think this goes back to that Animal Collective roadtrip. I
think we've always had a drive to create art and this was just a way
in which to do that together.
Gavin:
What's the process that goes into creating a poster from the designs
you choose to final product?
Erin:
It's pretty hard to describe in words. We have a giant sketchbook
filled with design ideas. We pick one and redraw it by hand onto a
larger paper. From there we overlay pieces of acetate and draw onto
those with black markers the color separations, usually 2-4. We then
coat the screen with a light-sensitive photo emulsion which dries in
the dark, but doesn't harden. We lay our color separation
transparencies onto the individual screens and use light to harden
the areas around the design through the acetate. The soft spots are
then wash out with water and the screen is ready. From there it's
just a matter of getting your paper in the right spot, lowering the
screen and pulling paint through the openings with a squeegee. Sound
complicated?
Gavin:
How have things gone for you both since, and who are some of the
bands you've done posters for?
Erin:
It's definitely an awesome hobby. We like it. Some of my favorite
bands we've done posters for are: Animal Collective, Liars, Subtle,
Bill Callahan, Blood Brothers, Ted Leo, Sunset Rubdown, Lesie &
The Ly's, Beach House, Evangelicals, Why?, Vampire Weekend, Saul
Williams... basically every poster we do is for bands that we
absolutely love.
Nick:
Its gone pretty great. I think we pretty much just cover our costs
in terms of supplies and maybe time, but it is totally enjoyable and
has opened the doors to a lot of other opportunities that we wouldn't
have had otherwise.
Gavin:
You also do side projects from time to time like the 337 addition.
How did you get involved with that and what was the process behind
creating the room you did?
Erin:
At the time I was finishing up at Weber State and one of my
professors was somewhat involved and recommended me. I went to the
initial meeting and was able to claim a pretty good room. We decided
to go off of the vibe the the building was already emanating, which
was creepy, old, and weird. We wanted the space to feel lived in, or
haunted or whatever. We first started by pulling up the carpets and
realized there was hardwood floors, from there we just got more and
more ideas of how to make our desired feeling come to life by making
an installation centered around old picture and old furniture, and
old wallpaper. The walls we dripping and monsters were infesting the
room. Overall we wanted to do something fun and playful, while still
being a bit eerie. I grew up in a very old home and it was sort of
my homage to being really freaked out by Utah pioneer heritage and
knowing people had died in my house and how old and decrepit my
neighborhood was, while at the same time being very fascinated by
it.
Gavin:
What new projects do you currently have working on?
Erin:
We have a few shows here and there. We occasionally do print
exchanges and Screen Printing Parties, and we are always doing more
posters.
Nick:
I have this idea for a series of art prints that are in the
early-sketch stage that I am pretty excited about and we just
collected a bunch of cool instructive posters from a church that I
think we're going to work back into and collaborate on. There are
always a million different ideas in the background, it's just a
matter of what we have the time and energy for really.
Gavin:
A little local, what are your thoughts on our art scene, both good
and bad?
Erin:
SLC is small and has a small art scene, which is great cause it's a
really tight knit community and people help each other out.
Obviously since it's small it can get a little monotonous, and it
would probably be really exciting to be someone with a big bustling
art community, but we love it here and love being a part of it and
want to help it grow.
Gavin:
Anything you believe could be done to make it bigger or
better?
Erin:
We just need people to continue supporting things like Gallery
Stroll, Fashion Stroll etc. Buy local and buy handmade. I think
there is a great community of people doing this already, but it would
be great to keep getting more people interested and involved.
Gavin:
Speaking of, what do you think of Gallery Stroll and how its evolved
over the years?
Erin:
Ahhhhh. It's been crazy. I have been going to Stroll since high
school. Pierpont used to be my Disneyland. Especially when the
Unknown Gallery and The Woman's Art Center were at their peeks. Once
Art Access moved and somewhat switched audiences, Pierpont sorta
died. It felt like 3rd was going to be the new Pierpont
for a while, but James Anythony was shut down, Signed & Numbered
is leaving, and things have gotten less artsy there. I still visit
there every month, but now little meccas are popping up on second.
It feels sort of broken and too spread out right now. I really miss
Pierpont and the community that was once there.
Gavin:
What can we expect from you the rest of this year?
Erin:
This month's stroll we will be showing work at Copper Palatte Press,
which is a great new little art collective space on 2nd
South. We will also be hosting a Screen Printing party there on that
night. You bring an item of clothing, and we will have 5 or so
designs to choose from. You choose the design you want and we print
it right there on the spot. It's a fun way for people to see how
screen printing works and to be able to customize your
clothing.
Nick:
That and we have a print in Signed & Numbered for their
October/Halloween group print show which should be terrific. 
Gavin:
Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
Erin:
Just keep strolling. And if you aren't familiar with
GigPosters.com, get familiar with it!
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