Photograph of Jay Ryan in his studio by Eric Nakamura
The fifth CreativeMornings event in Chicago was a celebration of print. At the Chicago Portfolio School, who sponsored the event, The Bird Machine’s Jay Ryan showed his screen-printed work. Results were not only viewed—Ryan also shared his poster-making process, from drawing to final composition. It’s a messy sequence involving rubylith, X-Acto blades, lamps, inks, tape—an array of timeless tools. Each step takes time and is worth the wait, because the results are hard-earned demonstrations of artistic intent. The effect is relationship-building. Each poster that Ryan showed is a piece of a universe, where one can relate to a walrus peering from the sky, a school of wombats or a herd depicted as a cave painting. Ryan’s portfolio and narrative served up a hearty dish of magical realism, with tactical-magical advice:
I left the fifth CreativeMornings presentation motivated in a tangible way, wanting to make something tactile. And as I walked back to the office, squirrels were climbing skyscrapers and windows were blinking.
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Big thanks to organizer Mig Reyes, videographers Craig Shimala and Charlie Curran, photographers Chris Gallevo and Rosario Edwards, for their great work on making CreativeMornings happen in Chicago.
Especially big thanks: to Tina Roth Eisenberg—Swissmiss—for inventing CreativeMornings in 2008. The fifth chapter was launched in Chicago, June 2011—my write-up and photos.
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Typeface of quotes is Massive designed by Shawn Hazen, who also makes awesome typographic illustrations for series
