Completed Jim Pollock USTORM Benefit Poster & On Sale Merchandise Booth Photos

(Please click on photos for enlargements)

Limited Edition x300
3 Color
Hand-Pressed / Washington Press
Signed & Numbered
By: Jim Pollock

This was Jim Pollock's first experiment using oil based ink. This was the second piece produced and hand-pressed on the Washington Press (the first being Pollock's Bernie for Senate).

There was a grammatical error in the copy that the promoters provided Jim to have the polymer plates made. Assuming everything was spelled correctly & proofed prior to production, Jim began laying the final application of the blue polymer plate last week. After amassing approximately 150 prints the week of the event, Jim's wife Esme (author, librarian and noted grammatical scholar) noticed the misspelling of the word "there" (as it should have been "their") on one of her husband's proofs.

See proofs photo above:
Left - Correctly spelled
Right - Incorrectly spelled

Though the polymer plate had been before a dozen sets of eyes prior to production including the promoters, printers, production department, staff and artist, nobody had caught the error until just a few days prior to the performance. So Jim, fighting exhaustion and a really bad cold, completed as many corrected pieces as he possibly could prior to the show (taking into account production time on a new polymer plate via Rohner Letterpress + leaving adequate time for drying, signing & numbering).

Both the correctly spelled edition and portions of the incorrectly spelled editions were released at the show last night totaling a complete edition of 300 prints. The edition was raised from the initial 250 to 300 to offset the cost of production for the supplementary polymer plate and Pollock's additional efforts. The first 50 from the edition will go to Pollock's Subscription Edition subscribers.

Last night's allotment of posters sold out by the end of the second set of the show.

100% of the profits raised from the sale of these prints - both correctly and incorrectly spelled - went to charity. All the artists performing last night, along with Mr. Pollock's efforts, were donated in kind to the USTORM Foundation.

More Production Photos from Jim Pollock's USTORM Benefit Poster Production

(Please click on photos for enlargements)

Lucky 30 in Las Vegas! March 21st-27th, 2007

I just returned from an astounding seven day escapade in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada celebrating my 30th birthday!

You might remember from reading my blog back in November that I recently took a pilgrimage to Sin City for a week long exploit in honor of my second annual expedition to the Vegoose Music Festival.

This trip was a bit different than our adventures months ago as this vacation wasn't spent so much living it up on The Strip as it was driving around Nevada, Arizona & Utah exploring National Parks, capturing photographs, spending quality time with friends and being inspired by other photographers in my field.

Since there's so much to show and tell, I’ll be posting a daily entry below in an attempt to showcase the main highlights.

Don't forget to click on the photos below for enlargements.

I hope you enjoy reading about the past week as much as I enjoyed experiencing it!


Jason Kaczorowski
www.jasonkaczorowski.com
moreinfo@jasonkaczorowski.com

Las Vegas Strip Shoot-Out 03.26.07

Monday, March 26th, 2007

(Please click on photos for enlargements)

Our remaining friends have now left and it is only my wife and I and the neon to keep us company. Wondering if I’ve pressed my luck too far, we decide to simply take the remainder of the afternoon and visit the WPPI tradeshow stretching through Paris & Bally’s. There was so much to see and not enough time to visit every booth. We arrived at 2pm and thought the show closed at 5:30. Unfortunately it closed at 4:30pm and due to a long line forming at the check-in/registration stations, we were only able to walk through the convention for less than an hour and a half. There were so many insightful products, knowledgeable vendors and awe-inspiring displays that I simply couldn’t see everything I’d hoped to squeeze in during one afternoon.

We returned to the hotel in time for dinner – a reenergizing Asian cuisine that filled us up with needed nutrients. One more time past the craps, blackjack and roulette tables before attempting one last gamble: Extending our stay a few more days in hopes of catching more of the tradeshow and subsequent lecturing photographers in town. Unfortunately it would’ve cost nearly twice the amount of our original vacation package price to extend our adventures a mere two more days so we decided to pack our bags and head to bed before returning the car early in the morning and catching an early afternoon flight back to the Windy City.

Ironically, Tuesday’s weather in Las Vegas was the coldest of our 7 day stay with highs in the low 60’s. Chicago - which had been experiencing record setting high 70’s while we were away - was now dipping back down into the mid 50’s again. It was certainly a sign this vacation had come to an end.

Counting our chips and looking at all the photos I captured over the past week, I am thankful for every minute of our stay. What an astounding way to pass from the playful, naïve days of my 20’s to the knowingly evolving, self-aware and hopefully more mature years ahead in my 30’s.

In his later years Pablo Picasso was not allowed to roam an art gallery unattended because he had previously been discovered in the act of trying to improve on one of his old masterpieces. This reminds me that no matter how old you get, you always keep trying to improve. "Experience" is simply the name we often give our mistakes. And age is something that doesn't matter - unless you are a cheese.

Valley of Fire 03.25.07

Sunday, March 25th, 2007

My 30th Birthday!

Somehow I wake up relatively early again and am the only one in our party without a hangover – a birthday miracle! We gather for brunch as some check out of their rooms in preparation for their 4 hours drive back to southern California. As others return to their room following food, my wife and I decide to journey 40 minutes north of Las Vegas to enjoy the beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery at the Valley of Fire.

We arrive at the gates around 3:30pm, not noticing our gas tank is lighting up on empty. We decided to attempt to roll back 14 miles of unincorporated road to the nearest gas station to fill up before returning to the park just in time to find other photographers setting up for a model shoot among the colorful, burning rocks. I walk over and introduce myself and am welcomed by the cheerful group which included Jason Groupp, TJ Cameron & Emmy Award Winning, best selling Canadian Authors & photographers Chris + Lynn. I snap a few photos capturing a beautiful brunette model as she sprawls out in a white wedding gown over the jagged rock formations. The shoot lasts a mere 15 minutes before park rangers approach to scold the group for not obtaining permits for their session. Since the shoot wasn’t my original intention, I decide to just drive around the remainder of the park, capturing the sun as it sets over the ancient petroglyphs and colorful desert landscape.

We return to our hotel around 8pm and decide to enjoy a delicious Italian dinner, capped off by more "lucky birthday" casino action.

Grand Canyon 03.23.07

Papillon is the world's largest helicopter sightseeing company offering
the ultimate tour experiences of the Grand Canyon National Park

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

(please click on photos for enlargements)

Woke up very early (5:30am) to catch a shuttle bus picking us up at our hotel en route to Nevada’s Boulder City Airport to catch a tiny, 8 seat plane to the Arizona’s Grand Canyon. The weather was 70 degrees leaving Las Vegas that morning with highs expected in the 80’s that day. Therefore it didn’t seem abnormal to decide to wear shorts, sandals and bring a pullover sweatshirt for early morning/late night chills… little did we realize that the Grand Canyon is 8,000 feet above Las Vegas in elevation and the weather would be 39 degrees with rain, sleet and snow when we landed!

There were patchy clouds on the way over the western rim of the Grand Canyon but nothing would prepare us for the cold, dense fog that blanketed the Southern Rim. Due to the thick veil of white fog that engulfed the cavernous hole in the earth, our scheduled helicopter ride that promised to descend into the canyon was cancelled. Instead, we were taken to an IMAX movie that captured the experience of swooping amid the canyon walls, minus the photos I truly hoped to capture of the once-in-a-lifetime experience. The entire tour lasted 12 hours hotel-to-hotel.

We arrived back in time to greet our friends Matt & Alexis who had driven in from L.A. for the weekend to celebrate my birthday the following night. Later that evening, following dinner, we hit the bars and craps tables, fortunately continuing our winning streak!

Views of Las Vegas in the morning sky

Hoover Dam from above

The Grand Canyon's new Skywalk (West Rim) from the air (lower right)

Grand Canyon (South Rim) from the air

Grand Canyon (South Rim) from the ground

Zion National Park 03.22.07

Thursday, March 22nd, 2007

(please click on photos for enlargements)

We woke up early, grabbed a healthy breakfast, packed both the camera bag and a backpack filled with water and essentials and headed out for a 7 hour roundtrip drive to Utah’s Zion National Park.

Jim Pollock USTORM Benefit Poster Sneak-Peek

I captured artist Jim Pollock preparing linoleum blocks this week for his hand-pressed, limited edition concert poster celebrating the USTORM foundations 1st Anniversary.

If you're in the Midwest March 31st and looking for an exciting evening that goes to benefit a great non-profit organization aimed at raising funds to help needy children and young adults improve their lives by providing access to various music and art educational programs, I highly encourage you attend!

UStorm's 1st Birthday Party

March 31st, 2007

The Park West

Chicago, Illinois

Line-Up: Brendan, Jake, Andy, Ryan and Kris (Umphrey's McGee), Al Schnier (moe.), Jeff Austin (Yonder Mountain String Band), Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits), Jennifer Hartswick (The Trey Anastasio Band), Ron Johnson (KDTU, New Monsoon), Josh Quinlan (Ray's Music Exchange) plus other special guests.