Thank You Elizabeth Mott, at Demand Media!! How to print from channels in Photoshop

Ok, loves, 

So I'm writing this time as a way to thank Elizabeth Mott, a writer, teacher, and unbeknownst to her, a great helping hand in today's events. The internet, as we know is the new school. You can find just about everything you want to learn, from how to bake gingerbread cookies, to how to build a time machine. From Youtube, to tumblr, to wordpress, to Google and Pinterest, to Instructables, I have walked across the halls of these pages and learned more in minutes than I could have learned in a classroom. So thank you Elizabeth Mott, for being on of these internet teachers. 

That being said, I would like to share with you all who are printing on your own, or learning about printing, this article that she wrote Houston Chronicle called-(click on title for article.

How to Convert a Channel Into a Layer in Photoshop

 I have been preparing for an upcoming festival all week, and just today, while looking over one of the designs, I, as a curious person, clicked on the channel palette. This is where you can separate the 4 colors for 4 color processing, silkscreening, etc. I was amazed at the way each image looked with just the cyan and black on, or the yellow and black on and so forth. But, how do I print a channel? 

Here's where Google came in. I quickly started looking up channels and printing with photoshop, and went across the gamut of all the pages mentioned earlier, but kept coming across the same answers. Answers that were complicated, and time consuming. Answers that almost made me give up.  I wasn't looking for silkcreening processes or sending color samples to the lab. I just wanted to print what I saw on my screen. 

I took a breath, and started my hunt over.  I asked Google Exactly what I wanted, and there was the answer, by chance that my finger  pressed on it, because it wasn't at the top of the list. Something pushed my fingers to press that page. The page. That link up there. Now, like Tank in the Matrix and a few screens open, plus photoshop and this page, I went back and forth, and read then did, and read some more, then did, and viola! It happened. What was once a channel, now blossomed into a layer.  So,thank you Elizabeth Mott, again. 

And now, for the festival, I am gonna have an additional set of secret prints,  which will include this new knowledge and these Channel Prints!!!

Back from 3rd annual Oddstock music festival!!!!!!!!

So, here we are back from another weekend. What did all of you guys do this wonderful sun filled three days? Well, if you had the chance to be in New MIlford, Connecticut, you would have had the best weekend of your lives. I usually write about art, but after all that I experienced, I have come back to write about both art, music, and family. 

For the past three years, (this being the third one), The boys at Oddstock, Jeffrey Goreson and Steve Miller, Get together the finest bands around, artists, and fans, put them in a large camping ground, near a picturesque river, and watch for three days and nights the creativity, love and music flow. Besides a large stage, and a smaller inside stage( for late night bands), there is a large bonfire. Not just a campfire, but depending on who is tending to it, ranging from a little 4ft campfire, to one year, 20 feet of warm, stand next to the sun kinda fire.

Check out these bands!!

Now for the bands. Let's just begin by saying, all the bands are amazing!! I couldn't have picked a better line up. The range is from Rock, to old timey, to country grass blues, to punk, to hip hop, to ecclectic....and somehow they make it all flow. My band, Strangebird, had the fascinating luck to get in the last minute and play the late slot this year, and it was worth every minute!! BUT!!!! As a fan of music, I have to say there were many moments where I felt like I was at my first concert. You all know that feeling in your body when you are in the crowd and they are one and dancing and moving to the music, and you just know you are in the right place and time in the universe. I just have to give a special now to some of the bands that did this for me this year, and I recommend you out there to check these guys out.

 The Red Hots ( for sultry singing and a sizzling band),

Quiet Giant,

Queen Anne's Revenge,

Zen Dudes and the Universe,

The Atom Family (Spoken word, Hip hop and Jazz fusion at it's best) New Album out!!!

 Spectral Fangs( another fantastic Duo)

My band with Joey Curry, Strangebird

and so many others!!!!

One of those moments was when Zen Dudes and the Universe were doing there usual seamless performance, and they kicked into a cover of The PIxies, "Where is my mind?', the crowd just lost it, and I truly felt again what it was like to be a fan, a kid again. The reasons for playing music.  I just looked around and saw the same expression on everyone's faces, as they swayed and danced. It didn't stop there. My mind was literally blown over and over again. The Atom Family ( Lead by spoken word artist Atom Rush, who took on the inside stage this year; came in quiet with a mixture of actual jazz musicians, not samples, and spoken word, and hiphop, and then ingnited the crowd!!!!!!). I hadn't seen that kind of energy in a long time. 

One a last note about the performances. I did not see one Cell phone up during the performances I was able to see. People were actually present and enjoying themselves. 

Lastly, I wanna give some love to everyone who made it feel like the largest family gathering in the world. To Jeffery Goreson and Steve Miller, who always are making sure everyone is doing well and having a good time. Kaitlin Anne, Who was running around doing the same!!! The very talented artists and crafters, especially The always warm and ecclectic painter Liz Mullins, who I had to chance to exchange one of her lovely pieces to hang in my studio!!!(I'll post a pic of that later. Thanks you for John Chapman( from a few of the bands out there including Zen Dudes) for helping us get our band up and running.  Well that is all for now, and I can't wait for next years Oddstock!!!