‘The Grateful Gallery Tour’, a traveling art gallery making appearances at music festivals throughout the Northeast will feature the art of famed artists John Warner, Mike DuBois, AJ Masthay, William Giese, among more to be announced in coming weeks. At each festival stop, an extensive art gallery will be created whereby festival goers will be able to view and purchase gig posters from numerous bands, including The Grateful Dead, Furthur, Phil Lesh & Friends, The Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Railroad Earth, Cabinet and many more.

Framed and unframed prints will be on sale from the artists, who will also be making appearances in the gallery as their schedules permit. In addition, the gallery will feature original paintings from acclaimed artist William Giese, whose artwork has graced the covers of several Grateful Dead albums.

The Grateful Gallery tour will be installed at the following Northeast festivals this summer:

Old Farmer’s Ball, May 11^th in Scranton, PA. This event features additional artists including Mickey O, J Rizzi, Nick Clemente, Bill Orner, Matt Hiller, Jason Ried Miller and Jim Gavenus.

Mountain Jam, June 6-9, Hunter, NY.

Bear’s Picnic, August 1-4, Central PA location TBA

Peach Music Festival, August 15-18, Scranton, PA.

Catskill Chill, September 6-8, Hancock, NY.

Update 3/13: Final details from Phish.net, including images of limited edition variances. The prints will go on sale this Friday, March 15 at 12 noon EDT (9am PDT) on AJ’s website. This limited edition of 150 prints on navy blue paper is a six-color linoleum block print, and costs $40. There is a limit of one print per customer.

Update 3/11:  Check out this beauty of print!

Update 3/9: Read on Phish.net an update on further sales of AJ’s poster.

AJ Masthay was recently commissioned to make a limited edition print (150) to celebrate the quickly approaching release of The Phish Companion, 3rd Edition. This limited edition art print celebrates the book’s forthcoming release. The print will be on navy blue paper with six-colors from this linoleum block print. You can expect to see the Famous Mockingbird clutching the just-liberated book of knowledge, while evil King Wilson’s troops rally on the horizon. Some process pictures from AJ are seen below, the final image due Monday.

This is the original drawing and gives a fair approximation of how the final image will appear.

You can pick this poster up in the Phish.net store for $40 starting Friday 3/8 at 3pm EST/Noon PST.

AJ talked with Pete Mason today about the print and a little insight into his recent artistic endeavors.

Pete Mason: How did this poster for Mockingbird come about? What led to making the print?

AJ Masthay: The good people at The Mockingbird Foundation contacted me quite some time ago about the book cover for the next (Phish) Companion. I gave a couple quick concept sketches to them to present to the publisher, who went in a different direction. When the cover didn’t pan out, they asked if I’d do a special print to help commemorate the new book. Honestly, I couldn’t have been happier.

Pete: Have you wanted to do a poster tying together elements of Gamehendge? Was it a natural choice to make a print with a Mockingbird, given that The Mockingbird Foundation is connected with Phish net?

AJ: I can’t recall if the Mockingbird was requested or was just a “given” but we knew it was going to be a Gamehendge theme from the get go. The imagery of Gamehendge is ripe for artistic interpretation. I’ve pretty much avoided it in the past, but this project opened the floodgates and gave a green light to dive into all that Gamehendge goodness. Who knows, perhaps a series in the future? (ed. note – YES!)

Pete: With six colors, how labor intensive was the print, compared to other prints?

AJ: As of writing this I’m only 3 colors into it so I’ll tell ya when it’s done lol. Seriously though, I really feel like I pushed myself on this one, both conceptually and artistically. I’ve really hit a groove blending both traditional carving tools and super fine detail with the Dremel. It allows me to basically draw on the linoleum, creating a draftsman-like quality that you just can’t get with gouges alone.

Pete: You’ve been doing a great deal of official prints lately: Furthur, Umphrey’s McGee, Yonder Mountain, among others. How has the transition been, from making fan prints to official prints? Its been quite a rapid ascent for you.

AJ: I’m honored whenever a band asks me to create a piece for them, the fact that these are the same bands that I love is icing on the cake. The transition itself was pretty painless as my process is the same whether its a gig poster, pop culture piece or an art print.

Pete: What artists have had the greatest influence upon your art, both traditional and non-traditional?

AJ: It’s hard not to be influenced by fellow artists in the field like David Welker and Jeff Wood, but I’ve never been shy about my love of both their styles. I started out collecting posters before I was making them so you’ll see Pollocks, Emeks, and tons of other gig posters on my walls, all influencing my work. When it comes down to it though, I’ve come to realize that nature is my biggest influence. Whenever I find myself in that nasty “creative block” mindset where nothing is working, I’ll grab the dogs and head out to the woods. Nine times out of 10 it’ll get the creative juices flowing and things start to jive.

Well, 2012 was an incredible year for PhanArt, with more art than ever before, plus the addition of five staff members to the site – Taylor, Kelley, Chris, Jim and Chris. Fans have been submitting more and more art to PhanArt for sharing on the site, which led to a record number of posts as well as a record amount of money raised for The Mockingbird Foundation – over $3700!

What was popular this year? Well, shirts and posters as usual, but anything that had that Cheerio/Henrietta design took top honors for the most common piece of phanart. It seemed that every bit of clothing and all sorts of art were seeing this design, any why not? It’s iconic, only Phish fans know what it is, making it a silent calling card for other fans whether at a show or in real life. There was at least one wedding party with Fishman ties for the groomsmen!

Then of course, there are pins, which has basically become a flooded market. Everyone is making them, few are buying and many are trading for them. Some of them are truly amazing and we are likely only a few days away from the first ‘Golf Ball’ themed pin of 2013. There are a reported 1700-1800 pins total made already, according to Fred Hosman, who would know, because he collected pretty much every single one up to date. That number of pins is more than the number of individual pieces of art in PhanArt: The Art of the Fans of Phish! 

So, here we are with more art being made, Phish being at the top of their game and the 30th anniversary likely to shed a great deal of art, especially if there are more shows than the last two years. Without further rambling, I present the Best of PhanArt, 2012 edition. This list of 12 was compiled with input from fans on the website, Facebook, Twitter, as well as reported sales from artists and feedback on lot. Some of these pieces of art are still available for sale, while some sold out a long time ago. Click the links to see what you can still get and support the Phish Art Community! Remember, the Phanart made in 2012 was amazing and the following is just some of the best. If you think something was overlooked, share what was missed below in the comments section below.

Honorable Mentions

 Otto NYE print

AJ Masthay Kansas City

TRiPP NYE

Tim Ripley Colorado

Michael Ortiz San Francisco/Colorado/NYC series

Ceramic Pheesh from Matt Pace

And now for the Best PhanArt of 2012…

12. My Other Vehicle is a Second Set Tweezer

A simple Tweet led to an incredibly popular sticker, so much so that it was sold in bulk to a few fans during Summer Tour. Andy Cary’s wit led to a sticker that was begged for at shows, Jiggs’ design made it the perfect bumper sticker for a car, and led to some nice donations for The Mockingbird Foundation, as Andy deferred any profit to them. In keeping with that, all sales of this sticker through the month of January will go to The Mockingbird Foundation, after shipping and handling.

11. Split Open and Melt pin

You couldn’t make a more literal pin, but Jeff from My Phavorite Things did, and succeeded. It doesn’t look like there are any pins left for sale, but if you can get one, this is a well through out and produced pin.

10. Kerrigan summer print 

The return of the Happy Fish in one incredible print! Ryan Kerrigan continues to create incredible Phish posters for each show and tour, and this one stood out as one of the best of the Summer!

9. Life is Hood shirt

Life is Good < Life is Hood. Brian Kushner of PhanBadge made a great shirt with a familiar guitar sticking out, and the response was incredible. Many shirts were out of stock by the time SPAC rolled around. Brian graciously donated a few shirts to benefit The Mockingbird Foundation, all of which were snapped up quickly. The crossover aspect is huge with this shirt, since you can wear it to a show or just in daily life, getting more than a few heads to turn when they notice the slight difference in this now classic shirt.

8. Party Time/Playboy shirts 

Seen on the lots of Bader Field in June, this is a great shirt, hands down. The Playboy brand has an aura of epic parties in the grotto, and ‘Party Time’ is the perfect way to to tie the two together. This shirt was only seen briefly on tour, so we have no purchasing info, so if you know who made this shirt, contact PhanArt (at) gmail and we will do our best to have it up on the site. Again, great shirt to the creators!

7. Otto summer leg 2 

Branden Otto has been making posters since 2010 and in 2012, he found his groove, creating incredible work from start to finish. Fans sold out one edition, leading to a second variant being produced. Stacking the vehicles, adding in tour dates and some subtle Phish references, as well as great creativity and color schemes showed that Otto is moving on up among his fellow artists.

6. Jam Jars

5. Summer Tour Pac-Man shirts

These were seen through much of Summer Tour, although the creators never got in touch with us to get on the site. Based on the number of fans wearing them, it’s likely they sold well on tour, if not sold out. Using the one and two-stops on tour as general pellets to eat, and the four 3-day runs the Power pellets is just smart designing. This was well thought out and a great design. It would even be higher on the list, but black isn’t a great color shirt for the summer. But being in the top half of the Best of 2012 isn’t too shabby. Big ups to the four levels at the bottom, one for each tour to date in the 3.0 era.

4. TRiPP Atlantic City triptych 

Try saying THAT five times fast. This set has been sought after by fans and sold quickly, making for yet another classic TRiPP trio of prints that connect to form gorgeous imagery.

3. Jiggs Oklahoma City Zoo

Jiggs has branched out from his earlier designs and t-shirts and delved into some great posters in the past year, starting with NYE 2011 and going through 2012 with Bader Field, OKC Zoo and Dick’s prints. This one stands out among them all, capturing the song that would cap off the band’s first show in Oklahoma, in a most unique fashion.

2. Ties from stuPINdous Creations

Never in a million years did I think that Phish-themed ties would be a thing, let alone a well produced thing. Well, Adrian from stuPINdous Creations proved that one wrong, a few times over. First there was the Henrietta tie, then the Cactus and Big Red ties (seen below) and most recently, a Henrietta Bow Tie. Many of these ties sold out quickly, especially the Henrietta tie. These ties are stylish, they are great for work or play and speaking from experience, get compliments nearly every time. That’s a great tie – when they don’t realize there’s a Phish theme to it, but you do. Adrian, nice work on these. Can’t wait to see the Page tie! Here’s to hoping it involves sandwiches!

And the best of PhanArt 2012 is…….

1. Ben Whitesell’s NYE

The intricate detail of this limited edition print from Ben Whitesell and the overwhelming response from Phish fans made this a runaway #1 choice for 2012. Ben has made great prints in the past and this one is the culmination of his growing skills in making great posters. Examine the way in which Ben detailed Trey’s guitar, going deeper with a mechanical angle and creating one of the best posters of 2012. Ben, here’s to hoping you can keep making art of this caliber in 2013!

So, did we miss something? Was there some art that should have made the list? If so, tell us what you think we missed in the comments below. Art is all around us on Phish tour and this is just a small slice of the great art out there this past year. With greater input from fans taken into greater account this year, we feel this is a great representation of the Best PhanArt of 2012. If this past year is any hint, 2013 will be even better.

- PhanArt Pete and the PhanArt Crew

The Satellite Gallery, in conjunction with X-Mas Jam by Day, will hold an art showing on December 14th and 15th in Asheville, NC, prior to the kickoff of the star-studded Christmas Jam concert, hosted by Asheville native Warren Haynes

Starting at Noon on Friday, December 14th, an opening reception to the gallery will be followed by complimentary beer from 4pm to 7pm, with the gallery open during the day on Saturday December 15th until just before showtime at 6pm. Admission is free and will feature the photography and art of:

Stewart O’Shields, Dino Perrucci, Allison Murphy, David Oppenheimer, Gary Houston, Steve Johannsen, Jeff Wood, as well as new artists who will be showing work on site, including John Warner,  Mike Dubois, AJ Masthay and TRiPP

The Satellite Gallery is located at  55 Broadway Street, Asheville, NC

More event info here

For the StarLight Theatre show tonight in Kansas City, MO, AJ is on site with a few prints, but you can also pick up this great posters up at his store. This is a five color linoleum block print measuring 14.5″ x 23.5″ using metallic copper ink. This is a signed/numbered edition of 100 printed on Canson Edition Antique White paper stock. This poster ships following 2nd leg.

From AJ Masthay of Masthay Studios:

“Here we go folks! The 2nd Leg is here!!!

I am extremely excited to share the majority of prints that I’ve created for the 2nd leg of tour. These include Long Beach, San Francisco (triptych), Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Commerce City. I hope to have an additional 2 mini prints completed prior to tour, but we’ll see how this week goes.

San Francisco

All prints will be available this Friday, August 10th, at 12 noon EST. Prints will NOT be available in the lots, I am planning on enjoying a much needed vacation over the 2nd leg so please do not expect to grab any of these on the lots, web sales only. With small editions of only 100-125 prints, I dont expect to have many to bring regardless…

Commerce City (Dick's)

Images of many prints are now available on MasthayStudios.com including the multiple variants that will also be available on Friday. Ill be releasing more images as the days go on so be sure to follow Masthay Studios on Facebook or Twitter to get first notice of new info.

As always, thank you for supporting my work and thank you for supporting the arts. I may not be slinging prints, but if you do see me in the lots be sure to say hello!

AJ
aj@masthaystudios.com

From AJ Masthay:

“I am ecstatic to present what has been a true labor of love for both of us – The Lino King. This collaboration with the insanely talented David Welker is a 6 color hand pulled silkscreen and is available in three editions – Silver, Gold and Line Art. Printed by Welker Studios, all separations for this print were hand drawn by myself and David, who then painstakingly stitched them together in preparation of burning the screens.”

Here are all the details: 6 layer hand pulled screen print, 15″ x 25″ on 100lb French Sno Cone, Numbered and signed by both artists, Silver edition of 90 with 10 AP’s, Gold Edition of 30 with 10 AP’s, Line Art Edition of 20

The collaboration prints will be available exclusively through MasthayStudios.com on Wednesday, July 18th at 12 noon EST. There will be a strictly enforced 1 per person limit on all prints.

AJ Masthay has released his posters for the first leg of Phish shows this summer. You can pick up all these posters on his site for a limited time. Make sure to stop and see AJ at the First Tube Poster Show on June 16th at Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City. The show runs 10am-3pm and you can find more information about the event here

Pick up these prints and more from Masthaystudios.com

Worcester

portsmouth

deer creek

Jones Beach

SPAC1

SPAC2

SPAC3

A limited number of prints from this past weekend’s Bridge Session event featuring Bob Weir and members of the National are now available through my webstore at www.masthaystudios.com. Each of the six color linoleum block prints, featuring my take on the Grateful Dead’s iconic Steal Your Face, is signed and numbered from the edition of 400. Also available is the single Watercolor Variant. This print is numbered 1/1, and was created using traditional monotype techniques giving an overall “watercolor” effect to the image, truly one of a kind. Visit www.masthaystudios.com for more info on each of these prints.

www.masthaystudios.com