New Buffalo Graphics®

May 31, 2008
June in Buffalo

Buffalo’s June Weather Report: Bright, glowing days and soft, balmy nights.

It’s t-shirt time again, at long last. Time to rummage through the top drawer for those old, favorite Buffalo tees. A good thing to know about the tee shirts we print at New Buffalo Graphics is that they are always 100% top quality cotton and printed by hand with eco-friendly water based dyes. Why print a good design on anything less? That’s why the color stays so vivid as the print softens each time the shirt is washed. Somebody walked in the store today, pointed at their chest and said, “ I think it’s time to replace this shirt. I got it as a gift 10 years ago. It’s my favorite. (Buffalo, City of No Illusions). It could probably last another few years but, as you can see, I’ve grown a bit. So, I’ll get another just like this one, one size up.”

“No trade-ins,” I joked.

So, as you go through your tee shirt collection, think about this: What makes something a Classic? And, is it time to pass on some of your faves to the kids and treat yourself to a couple of fresh classics? Of course , you could get the kids some new duds just for camp. Kids’ stuff here.

The new store at 1417 Hertel Ave. has been pretty active lately, especially with the door open most days and the sidewalk sale every Saturday. If you’re in the neighborhood stop by. I’m here Tuesday through Thursday, 12-6 and Friday and Saturday 12-7. The OnLine Summer T-Shirt Sale continues 24/7 at : What’s On Sale .

This month’s featured broadside poet, Josh “the R-Rated Rock Star” Smith, will be the anchor reader at Tru-Teas this Sunday, June 1st at 4:00 pm. As usual, all are welcome to read their own work and/or to hang out and enjoy the readings over a cup of tea (hot or iced) . This month I’ve illustrated and added a new broadside with one of Josh’s poems to the collection at:Local Color Editions ,

Enjoy the beginning of Summer

Michael

May 15, 2008
Art & Poetry

Today’s Breaking News: Good Day…Sunshine

The Broadside offering for the month of May is a lovely poem entitled ” if I Were ” by the lovely poet Celia White. More about Celia here: www.poetryfaq.com. This broadside and others may be previewed and even purchased in the Broadsides section of LocalColorEditions.com.

You may be asking: “What is a Broadside?”
A broadside is literally a sheet of paper with a printed message on the front side. In olden days a “broadside” meant a barrage of cannonfire launched by one ship against another. A broadside could also be a political statement or opinion on a sheet printed to be nailed up in the village square or distributed among the citizenry. Though its origins may be military and political, the broadsides we offer here are poems, usually signed by the poets. They are always accompanied by an illustration with the artist’s signature as well. Visually attractive documents, they are suitable for framing. The poems in this collection, created by poets who have read their work at Tru-Teas’ monthly poetry gatherings, have been the inspiration for the accompanying illustrations, which I have contributed as my part of this collaboration.

April News
April News

In this April 2008 Newsletter, I’d like to focus on the exciting collaboration of poetry and visual art that I am happy to be a part of this year. But first, a little personal background….

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote “April is the cruelest month…” as the starting line to his long poem, “The Wasteland” . Back in freshman English class, I was so taken by Eliot that I actually memorized a lot of the passages of this poem. It is not exactly the kind of poetry that makes for great pickup lines, except maybe to other English majors, but it definitely fit my self-image at the time. I wanted to be a poet like T.S. Eliot. So did everyone else I knew. At the time, Buffalo was flush with the best of the best poets, writers and artists in all fields of art. It was the ‘60s. The University was a hotbed of creativity, and a great place to be for a young and hungry mind. My love for poetry and all things literary began in that moment. It was not until much later and many other moments of inspiration and learning that I was able to apply my love for words with my inclination for creating visual art statements. Along the way, I have had the great fortune to be in the same room with individuals, friends and teachers, whose experiences and talents I have been able to learn from. Even when you think you are giving birth to something that’s never existed before, the experience of creating a work of art is always a collaboration with those who have been there before you.

More than a few years after college and many shifts in persona later, I met my talented partner (now wife of 30 years) known at the time as Trudy Dreamer. We lived on Cottage Street on Buffalo’s west side, next door to Debora Ott & John Daley. Being writers and poets, they had this idea to start a live reading series that could take place in the bohemian neighborhood where we lived. They called it “Just Buffalo”. It was a natural, with all the talent in town. Trudy and I would make “broadsides”, a traditional poster form with words and illustrations that would highlight the reader’s work and be for sale as collectable art to the audience. It was just the inspiration Trudy and I needed to set up a small silkscreen printshop in a friend’s basement. The rest, as they say, is history. After producing many, many broadsides and event posters, we were in business. And the Just Buffalo Literary Center is now one of the most well known literary centers in the country.

So here we are, light years ahead, on a rainy, melancholy day in early April, 2008, announcing the latest collaborative work in poetry broadside form. This year, Trudy started a monthly poetry reading series at her tea house and I have been back in action as an illustrator and broadside print maker. Life is a work in progress…isn’t it?

This month’s poem, by my dear friend, Jimmie Margaret Gilliam, is entitled Woman / Mountain. It is nothing like Eliot’s poem. It is more personal and intimate. Fits my mood today. I was happy to add a visual image as part of our collaboration. You can see for yourself by clicking here. You may also like to see some of the other broadsides we’ve made this year, and even purchase them, by browsing through the Broadside pages. At the end of the series, the work will be assembled as a portfolio collection. I will keep you posted.

The poetry series at Tru-Teas Tea House and Arts Café, features Jimmie Margaret Gilliam as the anchor reader this coming Sunday, April 6th at 4pm

When you are in town, be sure to visit New Buffalo Graphics’ new Studio & Gallery at 1417 Hertel Avenue, Bflo,NY 14216