Blue.$6500cad.

I'm sitting in a garden, a village, south of France, there's some chickens, there's a baby, oh there's another kid, the soft ocean breeze, oh here's two artists way better than me, women & way better looking too & they're going to apply their intelligence,skills, & experience to making the best book possible under the circumstances. How did that happen?

I first worked with Atelier Vis-a-Vis, Marseille, 2002, when they invited me to their first international book exhibition & extravaganza, (note to kids, open your mail, there might be a ticket to somewhere). At the time I was crazy about Shiko Munakata. I had a couple prototypes of the Lotos-Eaters, so I took those over there & see what these French people think of a Munakata inspired book.

"No, no. That's no good, here's what you gotta do," says Emes Manuel de Matos. He's punk, street, a crazy thinking French intellectual that's doing something that I'm still not clear what that is. His partner in crime is, Danielle Ubeda. "Yo dude, you're so wrong. You think you making books to express this unbearable weight of existence that you think you feel,exitential, no, no, you making books so people like me and my fast talking, circular thinking friends have something to think and talk about."

I'd go visit those guys and in 2017 I made three prints with Julie Fournier and Fumika Sata, "The Fog of War" one, two, & three (see under paintings.) the second generation at Vis-a-Vis. Julie and Fumika understand so much about colour. They are like musicians with perfect pitch, but with colour. 

I asked them in 2019 if they wanted to make a book with me and I'd finance the project. Our goal was to make a book that could go head-to-head with "Jazz." Same size, same # of pages, similar technique, the only difference, we're starving artist working on a shoe string and he's Matisse.

Doug Fir box with sliding plexi lid. (see print folios). 20 pages, 41x66cm. We printed 12 copies, signed by all of us, numbered, one copy each, nine for sale. $6500. Significant institutional and dealer discount.