I currently have 29 different 8″ x 10″ prints to choose from. Click the above photo or visit:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeffclaassen?section_id=6905719.
All orders will ship out within 48 hours.
Thanks for looking!
- Jeff
Hello All!
Here’s a peek at what is currently available in the gallery. I’ll be open tonight from 6-9pm during Downtown SLO’s Farmer’s Market.
SPRAY PAINT AND MARKERS:
We are down to 15 colors of paint. Here’s a breakdown for you.
MTN 94 – $6.50
- orchid pink
- tokyo pink
- magenta
- erika
- phoenix orange
- coffee brown
- fluorescent orange
- vespa green
- barcelona blue
- single pink (which is actually a shade of purple)
MTN Hardcore – $6.50
- intense red
- gold
- bronze
MTN Maximo, The Tall Cans – $9.00
- chrome
MTN Pocket Cans – $4.50
- chrome
Along with spray paint we also have various caps as well as markers and ink available.
Krink Squeeze Markers: Regular $10. On sale now for $7 each, available in:
- blue
- red
- green
- orange
We are down to one green Sakura Solid Marker, also known as a “streaker”, $4.50.
One Krink K-71 in red – $8.00.
One MTN 94 marker in yellow – $8.00.
One Jumbo Pilot in blue – $3.80.
DVD’s:
All of these are on sale! There are a couple of used ones, which are on sale for $6 each. The few that have never been opened are $12 each. This included “Bomb It”, which retails at $27.
PAINTING PANELS:
If you haven’t started painting on wood, now is your chance! We have a lot of these super awesome high quality wood panels available right now.
4″ x 4″ – $4.00
6″ x 6″ – $5.00
5″ x 7″ – $5.00
8″ x 8″ – $8.00
8″ x 10″ – $9.00
12″ x 12″ – $15.00
11″ x 14″ – $18.00
14″ x 18″ – $25.00
16″ x 20″ – $28.00
SKETCHBOOKS:
Of all the sketchbooks I’ve tested and used over the years these have the best quality paper I’ve ever come across. For reals.
- 3.5″ x 5.5″ (pocket size) landscape – $10.00, on sale now for $7.00
- 5.5″ x 5.5″ – $13.00, on sale now for $10.00
- 5.5″ x 8.25″ landscape and portrait available – $15.00, on sale now for $12.00
WALLETS:
These are all handmade and super cool.
$16.00 each.
SHIRTS:
All shirts are on sale for $10 each!
FANCY SCHMANCY ARTWORK:
This wall is all original work. The “blockhead” pieces to the left of the big round painting normally sell for $40-$65. Tonight, they are all on sale for $20 each.
This corner is a mix of original paintings and limited edition prints on wood.
Well, that turned out to be a pretty informative “sneak peek”. I hope you can swing by tonight to say hi and pick up some goodies.
See you soon!
- Jeff
James does some things around the house that make all of us shake our heads and wonder, “What was he thinking? Why would he do that?” Even after hearing his explanation we still ask ourselves these questions. To put if frankly, the kid just doesn’t make sense sometimes. It’s these odd behaviors that make him who he is, so although we don’t understand him all the time, we still love the goofy little guy.
Recently, James has discovered that he likes ice. Either that or he just realized that I keep ice trays in the freezer. Personally, I love ice. Now that I have to share my ice I’ve set some simple ground rules, which are this: the orange ice cube trays are not to be touched, they are MINE!
The other night I followed James into the kitchen to show him how to get the cubes out of the low grade white plastic ice tray that he’s been given access to. My orange trays are rubber and the cubes just pop right out with minimal effort. I want the boy to work for his cubes so he gets the bad tray that forces you to twist and contort so that when the cubes do break free some of them pop out with such force they hit you in the face or fall on the floor. Once I felt he understood what to do I left him in the kitchen. A minute later I heard the microwave going. What could he be microwaving? I decided to investigate. After all, he had already eaten dinner and I knew he couldn’t be making hot cocoa since he just filled a cup with ice.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I entered the kitchen.
All I got for a response was a blank stare.
“What’s in the microwave?”
“Uhhh…..”
Then it beeped and he opened the microwave door and pulled his cup out of it. The cup he had filled with ice a minute earlier.
“Did you just microwave ice?” I asked, laughing.
“Yeah.”
“What for?”
“Because I wanted some water.”
Makes sense…I guess.
As it turns out our bottled Crystal Springs water was empty and James didn’t want to drink water from the faucet.
“James, you do know that we use the faucet to fill the ice trays, right?”
“Ohh…” Then he added, “so that’s why my water tastes funny.”
This kid, I tell ya.
A few years ago I realized I had a foot problem. Nothing too major, but I found myself to be super jealous that Coral could pick things up by her toes without even trying. It’s just second nature to her. Also, my cousin can pinch incredibly hard with his toes. Seriously, he could probably bruise you with his ninja like toe pinch. When I try to spread my toes nothing happens at all. If I attempt to lift my big toe the other four follow as if wearing mitts on my feet.
For years on end I never went barefoot. I would literally put my shoes on as part of my getting out of bed routine. I do not roll out of bed and lounge around in my jammies for an hour. When I get out of bed I put on my clothes and slipping on my shoes become part of that routine. Not exactly sure why. Perhaps I just wanted to be prepared in case somebody busted into my house and I had to chase them down. When I first grew concerned with my inability to have full control of my toes I theorized that toe socks would help me out. I even bought a couple of pairs in an attempt to separate my toes. Check it out, this post from 2009 holds the proof. The plan was to create some exercises to gain control over my toes and to wear the silly socks all the time. Sadly, I didn’t follow through.
I’ve been reading up on feet and finally learned what all the hype is about with the “barefoot shoes”. Turns out I was right about wanting to free my toes from being so confined next to each other.
My question is, do any of you have any personal experience using these shoes? If so, I’d love to hear all about it.
Oh yeah, as for Coral’s amazing toe dexterity, she grew up in Hawaii and has spent a huge amount of time barefoot or in sandals that don’t crowd all your toes together. And my cousin…well, he’s just a freak.
- Jeff
Normally, I don’t want to hear about other people’s dreams. You know, unless I’m in them. That’s normal, right? And it’s not that I don’t love dreams. I think dreams are amazing. They’re strange and bizarre and often make no sense whatsoever, but they are basically an inside joke that only one person is in on. That’s why hearing other people’s dreams is so boring. However, there are some exceptions. One such exception was a dream Evelyn (10 yr old) told me the other day.
“You know that band with the guys that wear all the black and white make up?”
“Kiss?”
“Yes, that’s it!”
To be certain we did a google image search and she pointed out that Gene Simmons was the one from her dream.
Evelyn’s dream went something like this.
She was at Trader Joe’s and saw Gene Simmons and Miley Cyrus. The two stars were sharing a cart and pushing it around the store together. Evelyn was so excited to see Miley that she called her best friend Maya and told her what was happening. Maya high tailed it down to TJ’s where the four of them all bought yogurt together.
Evelyn says it is the best dream she has ever had.
I just realized this idea (“Put Your Facebook About Page To Work”) is also for bands/musicians. I just looked at five “about” pages of people I know that are in a band and none of them have their band listed in the “work and education” section of their about page.
Being in a band takes a lot of dedication, so I would assume that a lot of people in a band would love for their band to be their full time job. I am pretty sure that most people that have put in the time to write songs, meet for practice, record albums and load heavy equipment in a van to go play a 20-30 minute show are pretty serious. In other words, it’s not just a weekend hobby for them. If this is you I suggest deleting all the non-musical work from your about page and list your band as your main job. Also, get all your bandmates to do the same.
100 buttons with your logo/desgin, 1″diameter
$30, plus shipping
To order please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/107569585/custom-100-expert-quality-buttons-with
50 buttons with your logo/desgin, 1″diameter
$15, plus shipping
To order please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/107600865/custom-50-expert-quality-buttons-with
Hello All!
The Claassen Gallery is now offering custom buttons! We’ve been using them for years and love them. Now we want to share all the button goodness with you. Buttons are a terrific way to promote your business. Here are just a few ideas of things you can promote using buttons.
- bands
- artwork
- photography
- retail boutique
- your etsy shop
- restaurant
- clothing line
- tattoo shop
- skateboard company
- yoga studio
- funny phrases and inside jokes
- politics
- religion
- you name it, the list goes on and on.
I’ve used buttons as price tags on clothing in my retail shop and I’ve seen friends of mine use buttons to indicate sizes on their screen printed tees. People use them as party favors, teachers use them as prizes in the classroom and a plethora of other things.
Ready to get your custom buttons?
Here’s how it works, in three easy steps.
1. Once payment is received for your order I will email you a design template. Sending a simple round image isn’t good enough because some of the image wraps under in the pressing process. The template will show you the “LIVE AREA” where your design needs to be. You will receive further instructions in the email with the template.
2. You design your button using the template and email it back to me at 300dpi in jpeg or pdf format.
3. Once your design is received your buttons will be put into production. Most orders ship within 3 days of receiving your final design.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.
Here are a couple examples of buttons done for past clients:
Sink Or Swim Tattoo Shop
If you are ready to get some buttons made please order through our etsy shop.
- place an order for 100 custom buttons.
- place an order for 50 custom buttons.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Button makers are standing by!
As always, thanks for looking!
Lots of “first day of school” photos popping up on the ole’ internets. So, I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon with that. Here are James and Evy getting a sugar high before being dropped off at school where the only thing they will learn today is what all their friends did during summer.
It’s true. Kids get mouthy. They also like to see what they can get away with. A few days ago James tested out what would happen if he told me to shut up. My first instinct was to get all Ultimate Warrior on his ass and pile drive him into the sidewalk.
Instead, I kept my cool and decided to post this screenshot of his Instagram profile. It’s less violent than my original idea and even though my actions would be justified it will keep the Child Protective Services out of my hair.
I absolutely love the inconsistencies in the second line. “Follows” and “fallow”. And, of course, “u” and “ya”.
Also, he’s 12 and he knows it. Is he trying to impress young co-ed’s he’ll never meet that he’s a teenager? Probably. After Coral and I saw this, and our cringing subsided, we made him edit it to be less creepy and more genuine. We gave him some ideas and explained that it’s a bio and that saying something about himself would be a good idea. One of his friends on Instagram says this for his bio, “I’m an amateur photographer and am grateful for any likes and follows. Thanks so much, everybody!” Our suggestion was to use that as a model. Here’s what he came up with.
He fixed the “follow” thing, but liked the “u/ya” thing enough to keep it. For some odd reason. Our suggestions were completely ignored. And to top that off he’s a total liar. He has 50 followers and is only following 33. He’s not quite holding up to his “Follows u if ya follow me” promise. It’s unclear what those 17 people have done to not warrant getting a follow from “JAMEZNOTJAMES”, but he refuses to follow them back.
I should also mention his use of the self made nickname “Jamez”, which is pronounced jah-mez. Is there anything more embarrassing than giving yourself a nickname? It’s got to be towards the top of the list of most embarrassing things you can do. Not to mention, we’ve been telling him for months to stop this whole “Jamez” business, but the kid just won’t budge.
If he ever tells me to shut up again he best put on fluorescent speedo’s, some face paint and be prepared for the biggest Royal Rumble of his young life.
You can pre-order your tickets at Ticket Master.
Oh, Freshman.
Some of my most favorite paintings and drawings by other artists are black and white. Before I got really into painting almost all of the artwork I made was in black and white. It is, without a doubt, the quintessential color combination. And if you think about it, black and white is probably the starting point of most works of art. From preliminary sketches on paper to pencil sketching on canvas before the layers of paint are applied.
Whether you are drawing mock ups in a sketchbook for a redesign of your website, drawing plans for a future house or designing a new car, you are most likely making something in black and white.
Even big budget summer blockbusters start with a black and white storyboard.
Before opening my gallery in November of 2004 I was one of those quiet people in the corner at social gatherings drawing in my sketchbook and avoiding eye contact. I was never without my trusty Rapidograph pen and my hardbound sketchbook.
That all changed once becoming a gallery owner because I needed to make artwork that I could sell. And selling torn pages out of my sketchbook didn’t seem like the most profitable option. I had been painting for awhile before starting the gallery, but I was still pretty attached to my sketchbook and was probably drawing a lot more than painting. So, I put my pens and sketchbooks away and dove into painting full time. Before ditching my pens for the paintbrush I would fill a sketchbook from cover to cover in about six months. It’s now been over eight years since filling a sketchbook. In fact, I don’t even remember the last time I carried one with me. Of course, I’ve made tons of paintings since leaving the sketchbook and even managed to sell quite a few of them, so it’s been a good tradeoff.
For some reason it never really crossed my mind to make black and white paintings until a few years ago. And honestly, I’ve probably only made about five of them. Although I adore black and white, colors are fun and I just can’t fight the urge to throw a little color on there.
The first black and white painting I made was “Gone But Not Forgotten”. I think I named it that as a reference to the fact that I traded in my love of black and white for painting with color.
Soon after, I painted “Reunion”.
The third one is called “Vacation” and is a lot smaller than the first two. It’s about 6″ x 6″ and the other ones are 18″ x 24″.
Then there is “Faces In The Sky”.
My most recent black and white painting was done in March of this year and is called “Village Folks”.
That’s about it for black and white paintings I’ve made. I feel like there might be one or two more, but I can’t seem to find any in my files. All but one of the originals of these has sold. If you would like to purchase any of these they are all available as limited edition prints on wood. Here are some smaller versions of the images with links so you don’t have to scroll up and down this post looking for the titles.
“Gone But Not Forgotten”
5″ x 7″ – limited edition of 50
Purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/98746187/print-gone-but-not-forgotten-limited
“Reunion”
5″ x 7″ – limited edition of 50
Purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/98745702/print-reunion-limited-edition-of-50
“Vacation”
6″ x 6″ – limited edition of 50
Purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/43228236/print-vacation-limited-edition-of-50
“Faces In The Sky”
5″ x 7″ – limited edition of 30
Purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/98745983/print-faces-in-the-sky-limited-edition
“Village Folks”
8″ x 8″ – limited edition of 50
Purchase at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/94349168/print-village-folks-limited-edition-of
The orignal of this one is also 8″ x 8″ and is available at Lumen Gallery in Capitola CA, (831) 607-9255.
Thanks for taking this little black and white journey. I hope you enjoyed it.
See ya!
- Jeff
“Concerts In The Plaza”
16″ x 20″ – mixed media on wood
$325, plus shipping
If you would like to purchase this painting please order online at:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/107083286/original-concerts-in-the-plaza
This painting was commissioned by The Downtown Association of San Luis Obispo in 2011. The image was used to promote their “Concerts In The Plaza” event that they put on every summer. The criteria for the illustration was that the following three things need to be in the painting:
1. Mission San Luis Obispo De Toloso
2. Music
3. Movement
The first two I think I made pretty obvious. For “movement” I had a pretty loose interpretation. Previous artists painted people dancing for movement. The whimsical lines coming off the character’s elbow and the violin were my “movement”, along with the purple “burst” behind the cross.
During the summer of 2011 this poster could be seen in the window of practically every downtown business. In the below photo I’m sitting in front of an enlarged version of the poster that was directly across the street from Mission Plaza, where the concerts take place every Friday during summer.
So yeah…I should have posted this a year ago during the summer of 2011 when this poster was all over town. Unfortunately, my procrastinating artist nature sometimes beats up my hustler nature. Better late than never, right?
Thanks for looking!
- Jeff
