EYE.LYFT

troum • saiws

2011-07-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most anticipated projects I have worked on in past few years is soon to be released! This release immerses us into the realm of the oceans as “saiws” is an old Germanic Gothic word for the “sea.” Gathering the vastness and depth of the ocean, Troum unveils another treasure for our ears and minds to open. This extremely limited 7inch picture disc vinyl is luxuriously encased in a transparent sea & sand gel gel pack now available from Equation Records. As always a pleasure working with Equation Records and masters of dark.drone ambience–Troum. See link below for more information! Pre-orders now being taken at Equation Records.

troum • saiws

yen pox • universal emptiness

2011-07-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

After several years of delay, this 10inch vinyl now sees the light of day! Dark ambient pioneers–Yen Pox evoke two arcane and massive compositions in this very limited release on Drone Records excellent sublabel–Substantia Innominata. Even though most the artwork was executed almost three years ago, it was a pleasure working with musician Steven Hall and Stefan of Drone Records and well worth the wait.

yen pox • universal emptiness

scintillating skies

2011-06-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last year, I was fortunate enough to make it a few fireworks events here in Ohio–Toledo and Groveport. This was my first year actually shooting these magnificent displays of color and light successfully, even though I have been to many fireworks events throughout my life. Owning a decent digital camera and tripod helped tremendously while understanding the proper exposure time and aperture settings.

This is my first installment of these grandios events that take place every summer around the 4th of July. Groveport's fireworks always prove to be great just about every year I have gone, displaying a good variety of color and intensity. But I have to say Toledo's downtown pyrotechnic display over the Maumee waterfront was undeniably one of the best I have ever been to within the past decade! Toledo's Red White Kaboom event proved not only to be one of the best in varieties of effects and color, but the duration of the display alone was amazing and well worth the travel from Columbus. Below is a glimpse of some of those magical moments from those spectacular evenings last summer.

scintillating skies

geckos . tails to toepads

2011-03-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

This past month I was fortunate enough to get out to a very excellent Gecko exhibition that is currently on until May 8th at COSI. This very educational installation hosts up to 17 unique and stunning species from around the globe in beautiful glass aquariums very natural to their native environment.

Providing detailed facts of the species on display, secrets behind their toepads, a video on leopard gecko morphs, and several other interactive kiosks for all to enjoy. This has been my second favorite exhibition COSI has brought to Columbus since the Frogs : a chorus of colors in spring 2009.

Geckos

wonderland of lights III

2010-12-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

This is the third installment of luminary displays taken during the 2010 Holiday season. These photos where taken at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park, Columbus Zoo, Dawes Arboretum and various other places throughout Columbus and Cincinnati.

Enjoy the charms of the Winter Solstice!

WONDERLAND OF LIGHTS III

accents of autumn II

2010-09-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

The warm colors of decay and cool evenings are upon us once again. Last year, I took these photos in the lush season of wonder and bliss at various metroparks and arboretums in Ohio every weekend I could manage. Here are some those best moments captured from Dawes Arboretum, Slate Run Metropark, and Woodland Cemetary & Arboretum in 2009.

Enjoy the charming colors of the Autumnal Equinox!

accents of autumn II

chariots of the summer skies

2010-09-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

This past summer, I have been fortunate enough to witness some of best Balloon Launches and Glows, Ohio has to offer. Every year, several different counties throughout the state put together their annual weekend Balloon festivals for native Ohioans to enjoy. Even people and Balloonists from nearby states participate in these activities to see these beautiful chariots ascend to the skies and illuminate their brilliant colors at dusk.

So this year, I made it a goal to finally capture these massive sky ornaments of color throughout this beautiful state. I started and ended with smaller festivals such as Ashland’s Balloon Fest in July and ended with Grove City’s final sunday morning launch in late August. In between, I witnessed Urbana’s Balloon glow, Middletown’s MidFirst Ohio Challenge & Glow, and Canton’s spectacular Balloon Classic invitational.

I may have missed a few other ones in between, but there is always next year! In the meantime, here are some moments captured of these stellar launches and glows!

chariots of the summer skies

of a star • finding gaia

2010-06-09T05:17:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite netlabels, Archaic Horizon has released a premier album by a very promising new musician known as Of a Star. John Glaunert opens his heart for us to take a glimpse of his enchanting summertime atmospheres that reminisence of blissful moments of the past, what is to come, and what cannot be explained. Finding Gaia is a refreshing mixture of idm, ambient and experimental using both acoustic and analog electronic elements that are truly inspired by Mother Nature. You can download this beloved release directly at Archaic Horizon or a very limited free copy from the musician himself! Special thanks to Harry Warren at Breauhare for creating a beautifully nostalgic font.

archaic horizon

of a star

botanical harmonies • white

2010-04-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

This is the closing series of my botanical harmonies collection. The perfect summer color of white can represent a variety of meanings depending upon its shade and tonality. It can represent such meanings as: light, purity, clarity, neutrality, virginity, sterility, innocence, truth, honor, helpfulness, remembrance, reverence, spirituality, and transcendence.

Because of its pure and neutral properties, white is one of the most commonly used colors in the design and decoration. It can accent other colors while making other colors more lively and prominent in just about any case. Knowing that white flowers can produce a vast spectrum of color combinations, we can assume that they can take on even more additional meanings combined. White is a key basis of all color and considered the color of perfection by many cultures throughout the world.

botanical harmonies • white

botanical harmonies • purple

2010-04-07T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is the fifth series of the botanical harmonies collection taken in various beautiful aboretums and gardens throughout Ohio in the past few years. The cool and magical color of purple can represent a variety of meanings depending upon its shade or tonality. It can represent: enchantment, mystery, creativity, independence, ambition, intuition, royality, nobility, wisdom, nostalgia, clairvoyance, euphoria, gloom, and sadness.

botanical harmonies • purple

botanical harmonies • red

2010-04-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth series of the botanical harmonies collection taken in various beautiful aboretums and gardens throughout Ohio in the past few years. The warm & stimulating color of red can represent a variety of meanings depending upon its shade or tonality. It can represent: desire, passion, love, joy, courage, friendship, compassion, confidence, purity, leadership, energy, strength, power, rage, vigor, danger, malice and wrath.

botanical harmonies • red

botanical harmonies • orange

2010-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is the third series of the botanical harmonies series taken in various beautiful arboretums and gardens throughout Ohio in the past few years. The warm and vibrant color of orange holds a variety of meanings depending upon its shade or tonality. Orange can represent: enthusiam, encouragement, stimulation, creativity, determination, success, attraction, vigor, strength, endurance, illumination, desire, pleasure, aggression, vitality, wisdom, wealth, desire, deceit, and even distrust.

botanical harmonies • orange

botanical harmonies • yellow

2010-03-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

This is the second series of botanical harmonies I have taken at various arboretums and gardens throughout Ohio in the past few years. The warm and stimulating color of yellow can represent various meanings depending it’s shade or tonality. Yellow can represent such things as: optimism, happiness, joy, peace, hope, courage, energy, intellect, support, loyalty, relaxation, prestige and even cowardice.

botanical harmonies • yellow

botanical harmonies

2010-03-20T16:49:00.001-07:00

For the past few years, I have been focusing my personal macro photography directions in a slightly new direction–the colorful and bold world of Botanicals. I have to admit this is almost an entirely new subject matter for me as I had limited knowledge of so many species of plants and how similair they are to each other and the environment in which they thrive. But after two years of visiting just about every public Botanical Garden and Arboretum in Ohio, I have gained a much better understanding and appreciation vast variety of species that surround us and make this planet just bit more beautiful throughout the seasons and keep ecosystem in balance.

In the next few weeks, I will be presenting six colors groups that represent some of best varieties of what I have experienced throughout the seasons in Ohio. Plus a little insight to some of the universal meanings and symbolism each color. The first series begins with variations green and ends with variations white.

So let’s begin the with the color most associated with the Spring Equinox. The cool color of green can very well represent vast array of meanings depending on the shade or tonality. Some of the most common denoted are: nature, harmony, stability, balance, growth, health, healing, calmness, renewel, vigor, fertility, generosity, posterity, eternity, inexperience, misfortune, jealousy, greed, and envy.

botanical harmonies • green

This entire series is dedicated to my mother–Donna McClelland for her unconditional support of my work over the years.

inspiration & the appreciation of animals

2010-03-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a child, I have had a profound fasincination with nature and the beautiful creatures that live within it. My late grandfather and older brother were my biggest inspirations towards appreciating these creatures. They spent much time teaching me about various species of animals from amphibians to mammals by raising them around me, lending me animal books to study, taking me on nature walks, and simply drawing pictures of them. Which inspired me to constantly draw these creatures ever since I could pick up a pencil. Throughout the years this eventually started to evolve into much of my illustration work later in college and got me my first job as a full-time illustrator for an international t-shirt company. Which later evolved my transition into freelance Graphic Design & Photography for years to come.

My grandfather–Paul Markel who was a Lithographer most of his life in Ashland, Ohio who had a small farm and breed a variety of animals from ponies to various breeds of rabbits. For the last thirty years of his life, his dedication to raising award winning breeds like New Zealand Reds and Black & White Dutch breeds payed-off with an endless stream of trophies for decades. This made an impression on me even as a small child, as it made me gain a tremendous amount of respect for these creatures and many other animals alike.

Numerous summers I spent time at my grandparents in the mid-late 70’s, exploring the creek that ran along the outside of their property looking for crayfish, small creek fish and salamanders. Much of which I always seemed to catch, but usually returned to the creek as I knew they would not survive well in captivity. These were definitely exciting times for me as a child and keep me close to nature despite the age of video games, home computers, and sci-fi movies & tv that were slowly evolving into place that occupied the other half of my life growing up.

My brother Paul continued on this journey of appreciation with introducing me to the world of amphibians, reptiles and various freshwater aquatic species of fish. Ever since he was a young teenager, he had always had a deep understanding of animals and raised a variety of these creatures with me up to my first years in college. In the mid-late 70’s pet stores were exploding everywhere and several species of amphibians, reptiles and fish were completely accessible in purchasing, raising and breeding without endangerment. In addition, we lived nearby to a wildlife area that during those times flourished with various species of snakes, turtles, frogs, fish and other creatures in the nearby ponds and lakes within it. So finding and noticing these splendid little creatures was always a charm whether it was at the newest pet store or in our backyard.

Both my grandfather & brother had several books always laying around of which I always engaged myself into immensely. From various books on how to draw animals from my grandfather to guides on reptiles and amphibians and how to raise/care for them from my brother. This fascination with various species led me into drawing them alongside their drawings as well with me as early as I could pick up a pencil. Some examples of my brother’s very inspirational sketch work can be found below.

I have grown and explored new directions with my personal work throughout the years, but I have always kept animals and nature itself close to me, never forgeting all those times my grandfather sat down with me while drew pictures of animals such as wolves and rabbits after dinner or when my brother helped me raise my first newts, toads and freshwater fish in our aquariums. Their inspiration will always be with me and close to my heart.

In memory of Paul Markel(1908-1980) & Paul McClelland(1962-2007)

Paul McClelland’s mid-late 70s sketches

selected early work 1988-98(animal related)

selected personal animal photography series

ocean life

2010-02-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

This is a collection of colorful and calm creatures of the sea that I captured at the Newport Aquarium, Columbus & Cincinatti Zoo Aquariums in 2009. Enjoy!

ocean life

Simple Circuits from Mall Security

2009-12-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

Steve Lutes of Mall Security unwraps us this holiday season with his third

and very best release to date titled Simple Circuits. On this release, Lutes

works with more analog gear, giving us a fresh outlook to his whimsical

harmonies, melancholic strings, and elliptical rhythms. Twelve new beloved

compositions and three new remixes by Dorosoto, D.D. NewMole, and Mint.

I,Absentee has been releasing a wealth of stellar work this past year and they

close out with this lush seasonal charm. Special thanks to Svetoslav Simov at

Fontfabric for creating stellar fonts like Prisma!

purchase here

mall security

i,absentee

wonderland of lights II

2009-12-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings!

This is the second year of capturing the stunning colors of brilliant displays put on

throughout some of Ohio’s best places to visit during the Holiday Season. These photos

where taken at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens,Cincinnati & Toledo Zoos. Enjoy the charms of

the Winter Solstice!

wonderland of lights II

wonderland of lights

LAN FORMATIQUE • the sadness of distances

2009-11-25T04:31:00.000-08:00

This past summer, Gavin Lees unveiled his brilliant second full length release, the sadness of distances on Force of Nature records. This release is by far some of his most reflective work to date that weaves a perfect state of nomadic rhythms balanced with sentimental string harmonies fused by heavy guitar progressions. Gavin's exploration of blissful ambient, idm genres to resurrected metal is very evident throughout this release. In addition, Gavin has collaborated with beloved vocalist Céline and some introspective thoughts by award-wining author Alasdair Gray on this journey. As a bonus, musicians–Subheim and Detritus, have put their remixes touches on a few tracks as well. While, I put the finishing touches on the artwork(click on panel above for more panels from original gatefold wallet design.)

This digital release is available currently for a very reasonable price! Rumor has it if you purchase soon enough, some bonus gifts will emerge later from the label and musician. Highly overlooked and highly recommended!

. LAN FORMATIQUE .

. FORCE OF NATURE RECORDS .

. PURCHASE HERE .

HALLOWEEN bliss for your ears & eyes

2009-10-31T15:33:00.001-07:00

Secret Station records reveals two euphoric & elusive releases on this beautifully dark holiday.The first of these comes from the brilliant musician Bryce Isbell also known as FUR with his premier release Colorful People. Ten engaging compositions saturated in lush melancholic spirits perfect for this rich and warm season. Check out the free downloads area on the label’s site for an extra special treat!

The second is a very limited Viewers like You - DVD collection+bonus ep(download) from the highly prolific musician, Gabriel Kreps who successfully ran the whisper foundation label and has appeared on great net labels such as Archaic Horizon and Rope Swing Cities. This is said to be his very last release as he is now focusing on Our Valley with Karl Endreson of Orange Crush. The videos are a compiled collection of old and new unreleased works created by Broken Machine Film's Joshua Rogers. Known for his stellar videos on Lunar Testing Lab's Space Transmission dvd, Josh has also worked with several other talents such as Boreal Network, Dorosoto, Jack Marchment and Paneye to mention a few.

FUR

GABRIEL

Joshua Rogers

Both very limited and highly recommended at:

SECRET STATION

Dorosoto • Embryonic Audio Restoration

2009-09-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Warren Kroll presents us with his first remix release based upon his first three enthralling Dorosoto releases. This collection features a diverse line-up of remixes from: Ontayso, Coppice Halifax, Lunar Testing Lab, Joseph Auer, Anders ilar, Jack Marchment, Acid Elf, Weev, Tobacco, Cru Jonez & D'Antini. Out now on Ohio based label–I,Absentee in a very limited edition run! Special thanks to prolific font designer Ray Larabie for creating the bold Meloriac font!

TROUM • SIGQAN

2009-09-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

Troum re-releases their mysteriously alluring Sigqan on Transgredient Records. These three part live sessions were originally recorded in 2002 and released on Desolation House records a year later. Sigqan which means “sinking” or “to sink” in old Germanic Goth unravels time with abyssmal washes of hypnotic layered strings and atmospheres that encapsulate your senses for sixty-three minutes. These compositions reveal some of their best live studio work in the past decade making this well worth a re-release! It is always a pleasure working with these legendary musicians that have practically defined the drone/dark ambient music of the past decade. Special thanks for the beautiful Narziss font by Hubert Jocham!

Collapsar • Beyond the Event Horizon

2009-08-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Thibaud Thaunay releases his very first dark ambient project known as Collapsar under Malignant Records out of Maryland. Beyond the Event Horizon is a stunning debut release for this French musician and proves itself worthy amongst dark ambient masters such as Bad Sector, Ah Cama-Sotz, Troum, Lustmord, Inade, Land:Fire, and Predominance. Colossal atmospheres layered with cosmic ascending drones that immerse you into an auditory journey of a collapsing star and the forces within this dark energy mass.

New series on Flickr

2009-07-26T17:51:00.001-07:00

Three new photo series have been added to Flickr.

Enjoy the charms of the Summer Solstice!

Radiance VI

Delicate Balance VI

Horizons

2009-06-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Portfolio Creative Staffing’s Summer 2009, Columbus Creative Events Calendars are out! The initial ideals of inspiration came from the late 60's, early 70's optical & psychedelic art movement, reflections to the radiance of summer, the use of hexagons & abstract sun flare elements, warm & intense color palettes, assimilating some of my personal photographic directions taken over the past years around the same seasons in Ohio, and incorporating a high gloss varnish spot with overall matte finish. This has been one of the most unique and challenging projects I have worked on to date! It has been a tremendous pleasure working on this quarterly calendar and once again many thanks to the Portfolio Creative Staffing for asking me to be a part of this project! And a very special thanks to Patrick Griffin at Canada Type for creating such a beautifully luxurious font!

Maeror Tri • Yearning for the Secret(s) of Nature

2009-06-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

EE tapes out of Belgium re-releases the visceral and meditative sounds of drone legends Maeror Tri, which are now the beloved Troum and 1000schoen. This being the second limited release of the album, it was a pleasure to create the visuals for this legendary act I have admired for quite some time!

Gathering Blue with Aidan Baker

2009-06-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have been fortunate enough this past year to work on a collaborative release with the very prolific Canadian musician and writer known as Aidan Baker. Aidan supplies us with a very heartfelt and enchanting release on Equation Records titled Gathering Blue. This album was pressed in three extremely limited editions of which most are already sold out. But if you look around hard enough on the web, there are still some copies floating around. Seems this might already even be a collectors item for some!

New series on Flickr!

2009-03-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

Three new photo series are now up on my Flickr page.

: Journey into Winter Solstice

:: Accents of Autumn

::: a chorus of colors

Enjoy the charms of the vernal equinox!

CSCA's Creative Best 2008

2008-11-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

CSCA's Creative Best event this year was stellar–between the solid entries this year to the live text messaging craziness!

I took an Award of Excellence for my work on the Troum • Sen limited picture disc release and an Award of Merit for my work on the Flint Glass • Circumsounds release. The awards of excellence, best of category and show look amazing–the books were packaged in beautifully hand-made sleek wooden boxes!

Special thanks to Gwenn Tremorin @ Brume Records, Stefan @ Drone records, Bill Bailey @ Equation Records, Paul @ Tympanik Audio, and the CSCA board members for putting together another great year of Creative Best!

CSCA

CSCA on flickr

Information Gigabyte in Print's Regional Design Annual 08

2008-11-15T15:54:00.000-08:00

My design work on the Information Gigabyte release from musicians Flint Glass & Telepherique appears in this year's Regional Design Annual from Print magazine. It is out internationally at most bookstores and newstands currently. Immense thanks to Gwenn Tremorin at Brume Records, Klaus & the Telepherique crew, Martin at Angle Recs, and Aldo at Imprimerie Production for letting me be a part of this project. See links below for more info!

::: print magazine :::

::: .angle.rec. :::

::: flint glass :::

::: telepherique :::

Radiance V

2008-10-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

The fifth installment of the Radiance series is now currently on my Flickr site. These photos where taken in various beautiful and desolate places throughout Ohio, Kentucky, New Mexico and Texas this year. Enjoy the charms of the Fall season!

Radiance V series

AGORA V • Oct 17 & 18

2008-10-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time of year and glad to be a part of this very excellent event for the fifth time here in Columbus.This event has grown quite rapidly over the years on turnout and participating artists exhibiting and performing. If you live in the area and do not have any plans already, I highly encourage you to come out Friday or Saturday(only $5 entry!) to see what the Agora event is all about.

A G O R A V

Delicate Balance V

2008-10-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last posted some of my personal photography directions on Flickr. So here is a link to the fifth installment of the Delicate Balance series all taken this year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eyelyft/sets/72157607948057097/show/

Some of these photos from this past year can also be found on display currently in the Columbus Metro Parks Nature Print Contest which runs as follows:

Oct. 18 & 19 - Innis House at Inniswood Metro Gardens : 11am - 4pm

Oct. 25 & 26 - the nature center at Highbanks Metro Park : 10am - 5pm

Nov 1 & 2 - the nature center at Blacklick Woods Metro Park : 10am - 4pm

Portfolio Collection [present-2001]

2008-10-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a while since my website has been updated, I thought about putting together a retrospective collection of my work from the present to the start of Eye.lyft in 2001. Here is a link to selected series of product shots of my work over the years. Comments welcome as always!

>
http://picasaweb.google.com/eyelyft/TheEyeLyftPortfolioCollection#slideshow

Unfoldment

2008-10-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to start a blogspot for quite some time as my website has not been updated for three years now. But hopefully that will change here within the next upcoming months. Although I have been using other networking web sources such as Creative Hotlist, Flickr, Myspace, YouTube and LinkedIn to keep in touch with everyone, I think it's about time to start a blogspot! So this will be the official place to see what is unfolding concerning my art and design.