About Us
Arsenal Handicraft is husband and wife artist duo Dennis and Christina Jacobs.
They create pieces of art that not only tell a story, but take you on a journey through space and nature. Every piece displays their finely tuned ability to tap into each of our own desires to set off into the wild.
Taking inspiration from their travels and home base near Detroit, Michigan, every original illustration is one-of-a-kind right down to the uniquely blended inks. The narrative quality of their work has been sought out by like minded storytellers, including musicians, filmmakers, comedians, and game designers.
The Process
Screen printing is a printmaking method where layers of ink build up on top of each other, one color at a time, to create a final piece of art. Using this process allows Dennis and Christina to create small numbered editions of each of their illustrations, handmade one by one.
They begin by creating a digital illustration, and then ushering that illustration through the entire printing process. The drawing is separated into single colors using tiny halftone dots. A mesh screen containing one color of the final image is laid down on top of the paper. Then, a thin layer of ink is pushed through this screen and onto the paper using a squeegee. The process is repeated until all the colors needed to make up the final image are printed onto the paper.
Dennis and Christina's art prints are typically 2-6 colors and editions of 100 or less, so creating each new art print requires mixing 2-6 colors of ink, preparing 2-6 screens and pulling the squeegee 200-600 times.
Gallery Exhibitions
2018
Monty Python, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
Idiot Box, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
2017
Focus Features 15th Anniversary, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
Location Location Location, Galerie F, Chicago, IL
2016
Zelda, Hero Complex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Winter Cycling Celebration, REI, Bloomington, MN
2015
When The Lights Go Out, Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
2014
Artcrank Detroit, Shinola, Detroit, MI
When The Lights Go Out, Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
2013
Where Is My Mind, Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
Product Placement, Gallery 1988, Los Angeles, CA
HCG Celebrates AMC’s The Walking Dead, Hero Complex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
When the Lights Go Out, Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
I Love You Man - Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
2012
More Than You Imagined, Bottleneck Gallery, New York, NY
NIGHTVISION, Con Artist Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Anecdoted City, Salt & Cedar, Detroit, MI
The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Starkweather Arts Center, Romeo, MI
After, Con Artist Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2011
Reclaimed (curators), River’s Edge Gallery, Wyandotte, MI
Day of the Dead, Starkweather Arts Center, Romeo, MI
Meth & Hot Dogs 2, LIFT, Royal Oak, MI
Selected Clients
Adidas
AMC Network
Focus Features
Mike Birbiglia
Ray LaMontagne
Penguin Books
Stand Up! Records
Virtue Cider
Publications
Driftless Magazine
Uppercase Magazine
Selected Markets
Detroit Urban Craft Fair in Detroit, MI
Crafty Bastards in Washington, D.C.
Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, GA
Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago, Detroit, Brooklyn, and San Francisco
Photo credits: Alyssa Lopatin (photo 1), Zac Carr (photo 2)