the sycamore q + a {no. 47}: Gregory Beauchamp of Beauchamping

Like me, you've probably seen some of Gregory Beauchamp's xylene prints around the blogosphere. His designs have bloggers everywhere standing at attention. But his printing method is every bit as impressive as his design know-how. Did you know that each one of his prints is painstakingly transferred inch by inch? That's how he achieves that beautiful, mottled effect.

Did I mention that Beauchamping is yet another of my favorite Etsy shops?

1) How did you get into art and xylene printing?

ever since i saw the show thirty-something as a kid, the idea of creating something for a living seemed to be a wonderful way to grow up. in college i majored in advertising and minored in art. it's here that a friend of mine introduced me to the practice of transferring using solvents on large pieces of paper (back then we used lacquer thinner...today it's easier to use xylene). it makes you think in black and white, and as a result, you're forced to simplify and reduce and come up with solutions that may not be obvious at the beginning.

after school i took the ad route and ended up as the design director of a los angeles agency called Ground Zero (it was formed in 1994, pre 2001) and stayed there for 8 years. after i left, i formed a small partnership with a friend which allowed me the luxury of having time to create some of the things i had written down and kept in a book of silly ideas. i suppose those silly ideas are now being turned into art.

2) What's been inspiring you lately?

all the stuff around me. when you see the same headline 3 times over the course of a month ("world's oldest person dies") and it makes you think of all the other stories that will always be present in our lives - or - read a misspell on cnn.com ("witnesses say the assailant was man. beyond that details are sketchy") and you think how by not saying "A man" the story suddenly becomes a lot more profound. or a joke that a child tells that makes them laugh so hard they fall down and all you could understand was the word "pants". for me the inspiration lately is coming from seeing things connecting to each other not in the sameness of their presentation or message, but in the similarity of their reason for existing.

3) Tell us about a recent project.

Art&Copy. it's a documentary about creativity told through the eyes of advertising. at the time i was working under the name Granite Pass (with my friend Kirk Souder) and we were asked to create a small piece of video for an awards show, we proposed something much larger and after 4 years of work, it's finally being shown around the country in small arthouse theaters. it was directed by Doug Pray (scratch, hype, surfwise) and it's really an inspiring piece of film that was a joy to make and made me a better creative person as a result. the part that i took away the most from it is the idea of intimacy. how if you allow yourself to be vulnerable and not be afraid to fail and let yourself into your work, the more universal your message will become.

Note: the animals' shadows spell out a message. Click on the above image to enlarge and read it.

4) What else would we be interested to know about you?

i'm left-handed and hold the pencil like a 3 year old holds the pencil. the word GODOT is tattooed on my right forearm. one of my next pieces of work is going to be called Perception and have an elephant in it. i leave a four-toed footprint even though i have five toes...the pinky rides on top of the other one. my favorite place to camp is in the middle of the mojave desert, 87 miles from the nearest anything. and my favorite food is pizza.

Thanks Gregory!

His links:

SHOP: http://www.etsy.com/shop/beauchamping
FILM: http://artandcopyfilm.com/