I’ve had this thing for about four years. Maybe five. For some reason it will only work with Windows 98. I can only guess that the manufacturer did not design this to ever be upgraded for other operating systems. Remember when people thought that our heads would all explode and computers would spontaneously combust at midnight on January 1, 2000? That ridiculous Y2K scare? I bet this vinyl cutter, or “plotter” as they are officially called, is the only relic that suffered from Y2K. The engineers that designed it didn’t believe the world would go on once the year 2000 came along. They thought we, as a people, would never need anything beyond Windows 98.

Anyway, when I first got this plotter I made one sticker with it. Within the next week my laptop, with Windows 98, refused to turn on. Literally, the thing just died. I had an older computer that I tried to hook the plotter up to, but the thing is from 1999. I mean, look at this set up.

Look at that tower! I’ve lived in apartments smaller than that thing. This computer is pre-ethernet and so pre-wifi you should be changing your pants because you peed them from laughing so hard. For you youngsters out there, that means to get this beast connected to the internet you need an actual phone cord. And a dial-up connection. That is your only option. Anyway, for some reason I have never been able to get the plotter to work on this old machine. It has caused me countless hours of greif and frustration. Every few months I pull this dusty thing out and give it go and nothing. There is some sort of magic in the night tonight that made it work…FINALLY.

Now, I can make my own fancy vinyl cut out stickers.

And I couldn’t be happier.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ME!

Maurice,

You will be missed. Thank you for all of the wild things you left for generations to cherish.

- Jeff

This interview cracks me up.

Part One:

Part Two:

I came across this site that will make canvas prints from Instagram photos. Seeing as how I am obsessed with Instagram I have decided to give it a whirl. With over 500 images on my Instagram feed I have handpicked some of my favorites as opposed to offering every single photo. You can take a look at my “gallery” right here: http://instacanv.as/jeffclaassen.

Thanks for taking a look!
- Jeff

Here are the details:

Title: Return To Me
Size: 24″ x 30″
Media: spray paint and acrylic ink on wood
Price: $625, plus shipping*

To purchase please contact Lumen Gallery at 831.607.9255.

* If you live in or around Capitola you are more than welcome to stop by Lumen Gallery to pick up the painting.

Here’s a photo to show scale.

This is a one of a kind original painting on wood. It is .75″ thick and the edges have been painted black. The surface has been coated with a thick layer of clear plastic resin. The resin coating provides a protective high gloss finish. It basically looks like a yummy piece of shiny candy.

Wire has been attached to the back so this is ready to hang right out of the package.

As always, thanks for looking!
- Jeff

Looking back over the past ten minutes of my life I’m having a difficult time remembering how I ended up on You Tube searching for Suzanne Vega doing a cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”. What would possess me to hunt down such a thing? I really don’t know, but that’s what I was doing when I came across this video of a gazillion different singers each singing a line from “Perfect Day”. And yes, Suzanne Vega is one of them. Oh, internet…

For a list of all the singers in this video click the “show more” option on the video page.

The big talk on the internet today is facebook buying instagram for $1 billion. The photo above is my opinion on the whole thing.

Within a few minutes of my post I got a text from my neice of a drawing she made of the fish in the painting. I thought it was super awesome. A few days after that I received this.

SO AWESOME!
What a little sweetheart.

A couple of weekends after I got this in the mail it was her birthday (she turned 6), so I made her a little fish of her own.

She was very excited.

I did not come up with this idea. A friend posted about this on the FB, so I googled it and found some more info about it. The illustration is probably good enough, but this post on wikihow.com is much more in depth: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Moss-Graffiti

And, of course, an accompanying video.

Enjoy!

“Attitude Owl
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96815474/original-aceo-attitude-owl

“Prince Octopi”
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96816163/original-aceo-prince-octopi

“I’m Healthy”
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96815658/original-aceo-im-healthy

“Small Squirrel”
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96816720/original-aceo-small-squirrel

“Ante Up”
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96816843/original-aceo-ante-up

“Another Bird”
$15, plus shipping – available online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/96816590/original-aceo-another-bird

By definition ACEO’s are small. They have to be 2.5″ x 3.5″ to qualify as a true ACEO. I think it’s super fun to make these small paintings. If you are looking for something larger you can see all of my available originals at http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeffclaassen?section_id=5058508.

Thanks for looking!
- Jeff