Well this site has been dark for a while now!

Mea Culpa.

I got started doing all of this back when I thought that my work load of taking care of and teaching my children (and my household responsibilities) were 'manageable'. Well I'll tell you who got managed.

Why did nobody ever tell me just how much work being parent would be? It's not like I would  have listened to them if they did, but… come to think of it, I think my junior high math and science teacher did try to tell me and I didn't listen. See I was right, I didn't listen.

Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

Ahem…

I have recently been working on combining my digital art and my traditional art. I mean I get print media and there are many ways that I can use printing make some fun things, that's why I went into graphic design to begin with, but there is more. Lately I have been taking Illustrator files and etching them in coper, brass or nickel silver, making jewelry or just fun objects that may some day become jewelry. I don't know, but this is one of the many directions that I am running.

In the mean time, I am attempting to generate an actual 'web presence'. (What ever in the hell that means anyway.) In the world of Blogs, Sites, V-Blogs, Social Networks etc… it can be very confusing. I don't really know where to start. This has lead me to trying to start allover the place, and that lead me to want to sit in the corner rocking my self back and forth going, "Nungh. Nungh. Nungh..."  Not a good thing. So I ended up not doing anything at all. That's not very productive.

And then one day while sorting my web content it occurred to me, (okay it occurred to me right now) that I've been doing this all wrong, I've been thinking that I need to generate a lot of material for this blog, but in truth what I need to do is just post stuff a little at a time, till I get my feet under me. That was a 'well duh!' moment and I have to admit that I can't understand why I didn't see that before.

So all of THAT being said, goal is to start posting stuff here at least weekly. Photos of works in progress, sketches of new or completed work, links to my online stores, stuff like that.

But with all of this I have to remember that my job is taking care of my family, cooking, cleaning, fixing what is broken,what have you, this is just a sideline. So if I fail to keep this up regularly, forgive me. The kids are probably chasing me around and beating me with paper towel tubes.

Have Fun.

Clayton C. DeYapp

Boy it's dark in here...

Sorry this place needs dusting, there are more cobwebs in this blog than there in my head.

I’m staring renovations now.

I have lots of stuff to show you, Jewelry, Drawings, T-shirt Ideas, Art shows lots of stuff going on here. And if I can figure out how to do this, and not loose my mind during the attempt, I think you’ll be impressed. Or at least mildly entertained.

More coming soon.

Please stay tuned.

New T-Shirts!!!!

So after long days, longer nights and even greater frustration, I have finally posted some new T-shirt graphics! Yeah!

Some of them, 'My  Twisted Hearts' for example, are variations on a theme. When working on a design, I frequently end up with many many many variations, as you can see. It can be a little daunting to have so many graphics that are so similar...

      

     

http://www.cafepress.com/ufh/2768344

... but when I come up with a design, or a motif, that I like, well I run with it. 'If I like it someone else will too.'

Now along with all of Hearts, I have also uploaded some other fun designs. Take a look.

  

http://www.cafepress.com/ufh/7070230

There are lots more coming and already up @ http://www.cafepress.com/ufh/

More to come latter, I have lots more work to share with you.

Thanks,

-Clayton C. DeYapp

User Friendly Hardware

AH HELL!!!

I just can't take it, I have spent the entire day chasing my blasted Tail. I have been working on graphics for T-Shirts, and some other fun stuff, but it's all been put on the back burner, to "run errands" for "lunch time" and "nap time" and to pick up Fi from school, and homework. I'm up. I'm down. Up. Down. Up. Down...

I'm having a hell of a time getting anything done, I've lost steam. I've lost my momentum. I don't even want to mess with it any more today.

On the other end of it, I joined Zazzle yesterday and I have to admit they have a pretty bloody cool set up there. Not only can you print all kinds of stuff, from T-shirts,  shoes, caps and other apparel to postage stamps, and coolest of all skate boards; but they have this wicked set up. I can set up graphics for a T-shirt, and the customer can then have their name printed on the back. I can setup graphics for  business cards as a template that the customer can customize for them selves, directly on line. And they have shoes, that could be cool, and best of all... Skateboards.

Skateboards, That's what I'm wanting to design for, but I have all of this other stuff on the "drawing board" at the moment. Stuff that may never see the light of day if I don't finnish it. (What a drag!) That's not to say I don't want to finnish it, I do, I'm just kinda tired of looking at it.

Oh well, I should stop whining, and just get back to work.

-Clayton C. DeYapp

I've been working on the fail road... Oops that's not right

Working on some new designs for T-shirts, and print on demand stuff. (And fixing some stuff that had already been done.) Also working on my website. About time. I need to sell some stuff, I need to make some $. Doesn't everybody.

I have lots of stuff to post, including a full work flow of an illustration I have been working on, just no time.

It's just the time constraint thing, Zack requires so much attention, and it can be hard to really work and stop, and work and stop and work and stop and stop and stop....  And Fi-Fi needs just as much attention, just in a different way. Ugh, it seems like I never get to work on what I want. (Whining again.)

I guess that's what being an adult is all about, but who ever said that I wanted to be an adult?

Oh well, I'm off to fix the dryer. Again.

Have fun.

I'm Back!!!

Well here I am. I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with this. I plan on changing that.

So where to begin...

... life seems to be much the same, in spite of all the CRAP which has come our way in the last year. (What a nightmare.)

But that being said, we have been busy around here, new tee-shirt designs. Fresh jewelry designs, stories and illustrations. (A lot of work. Never mind Girl Scouts, Home Work, Mentoring, Cooking [yum!], Cleaning [yuck!], and all around just living. [YAY!])

I plan to get these and more posted soon, if the kids will let me work in peace, at our online Etsy shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/UserFriendlyHardware , also at our Cafepress Shop: http://www.cafepress.com/ufh .

Please also look for us soon on Zazzle.

Thank you all for your patience, and well wishes.

-Clayton C. DeYapp

Working together T-shirts

To quote the great Bob Dylan, "You're probably wondering by now, just what this song is all about, but what's got you baffled more is what this thing here is for." Or, in short, I thought some one mentioned T-shirts.

That is, after all, how User Friendly Hardware began. Sitting in the break room with a notepad, sarcastic thoughts running through my head. 'Princess on the inside..." was just the beginning. Money, shoes, makeup, credit, the environment,  jostling  around eager to be shared. But what to do with them?

Clayton knew the way. T-shirts through Cafe Press. Of course, he had his own designs to add as well. Of course, we do our best work as a team. So we started out, his designs, my words.   

                                                

"Gothic heart apparel" were the first time we put words and graphics together. We each share a little piece of our souls in these. What Clayton sees in twists and turns, I hear in words and phrases. 

While not precisely the shirt off our backs, take a piece of our hearts.

Peace,

Theresa

The Papa of all Artists: Deviant Art

So you still aren't convinced that Clayton is User Friendly? I suppose you could say he was trained to be. I wish I could take the credit, but most of his training came in the form of a tiny baby girl. Staying at home and watching her mind unfold, seeing her wonder at the world, everything an adventure, life took a friendlier turn. 

Deviant Art shows the beauty that can only be discovered by slowing the world to the pace of a small child. When you take the time to reflect on every stone, twig, flower and lady bug that is placed in your hand, the creative process takes a twist. That twist is loveliness.  

That is the sum of Clayton, twisted, lovely, friendly. See for your self.

 http://cc-deyapp.deviantart.com/gallery/

From my heart,

Theresa

The Papa of all Artists: Million Masterpiece

Don't let the long hair and bad (ok, grumpy) attitude fool you, Clayton is User Friendly. It's just that chances are your call or visit or existence interrupted his planning. What is he planning, you might ask? The short answer would be things of beauty. The long answer is almost impossible to determine as his inspiration can take many forms.

When we first met, as awkward, shy girl and bored-to-tears-&-destruction boy, the planning took the form of elaborate pen and ink or pencil drawings, that is when he wasn't just planning junior high mischief. By high school, he discovered that mischief just took time away from art, as well as his other love, me. It was in high school that Clayton began to paint. Encouraged by Ms. Judy, who was more art than teacher, he began to seriously push the levels of his ability, allowing his art to take the time it needed.  

At the end of high  school he found his way to a now lost trade school to learn graphic design. It was there, while learning the many tricks of the advertising trade, except how to deal with people, that he started down the path that leads us to the computer painted photos and computer generated graphics. 

Which brings us to today. Clayton found out recently that his submission to the Million Masterpiece was selected to be in this year's calendar. While this is a great honor, seeing the finished piece printed is to lose the most amazing part of his submission. The Million Masterpiece gave artists and anyone else who wanted to submit a chance not just to create and be displayed, but to show the process as well. 

When a piece is created in the Million Masterpiece all of the steps to creating the piece are recorded. In Clayton's work "Well Dug Well", he explores the the myths and legends in New Mexican history that underlie it's quiet, ranch life style. Buried in the memories of the local people, buried in the local ground lies the troubled history most try to forget.

You never know what you might find, if you go digging in New Mexico. I suppose all places have their secrets, some just more than others. The basement of the hotel Clayton grew up in was a burial ground. He knows this because it was his great grandfather who dug the basement and moved the bodies of the faithful. 

Who knows what else lies beneath the surface. The garden we turned was filled with rocks and arrow heads. When the pioneers went out and tamed the land, they missed a spot. 

Peace,

Theresa

User Friendly Hardware

Welcome to User Friendly Hardware. You know, in the beginning it was going to be User Friendly Software, because of the T-shirts, but technically speaking those are Hardware, as Clayton so thoughtfully pointed out. 

So what is User Friendly Hardware? Well, in a household full of artists, this is my attempt to make some sense of the madness. There isn't a room in the house that doesn't show evidence of this. You will even find doodles on the bathroom wall. There are beading supplies in the dining room. By the bed are sketch books, just in case some inspiration comes in the night, or more frequently , these are the last object my husband or myself set down at night. The laundry room has sewing machines, yes machines in the plural. The kitchen displays art work that we find inspiring. A legacy that is being followed. There even is one room, the studio if you will, that is devoted entirely to art in it's many forms.

You see at our house, people paint, draw, sew, crochet, embroider, make pottery, silversmithing, graphic design, photography, digital painting, origami. The only reason that the list ends here is a lack of space and money. In the perfect world, I would add stained glass work and have a large area devoted to creating patterns. 

Instead our little house is a bustle of creation, no piece of paper is safe. It might be drawn on, added to a collage, folded into an animal, decoupaged to a box. Even our youngest member, at 1 1/2 years old, feels compelled to draw on every piece of paper. 

Lacking a paper big enough to express Christmas, we spent this Advent season covering our picture window in a faux stained glass Nativity Scene done in marker straight on the glass.

                                                  

Now with Valentine's Day approaching the debate is on as to whether to do one large heart with swirled interior or cover the window in smaller hearts with many different patterns filling them. I will let you know what we decide.

With best wishes,

Theresa