LexJet’s Kansas City and Portland Distribution Centers Now Open

Delivery of large format inkjet productsYou can now receive same-day delivery of LexJet products in a 50-mile radius of Kansas City and Portland, Ore., with expanded one-day distribution in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest and beyond. LexJet’s Kansas City and Portland distribution centers are the third and fourth of five new distribution centers to open this month, with the Phoenix distribution center slated to open this week.

LexJet now provides same-day delivery to most Zip codes within 50 miles of the Kansas City and Portland distribution centers, as well as product pickup, which are located at:

6920 Executive Drive
Kansas City, MO 64120

10603 North Lombard Street
Portland, OR 97203

You can pick up your products at the Kansas City and Portland distribution centers until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and receive same-day delivery if you order before noon local time. Check with a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538 about specific product availability and to find out if you fall within the same-day and one-day coverage areas.

With the addition of all five new distribution centers, LexJet will be able to deliver products one-day to 90 percent of the contiguous U.S. LexJet’s other distribution centers are located in Albany, N.Y.; Birmingham; Charlotte; Cincinnati; Dallas; Denver; Jacksonville, Fla.; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Reno; and Wilmington, Del. LexJet also ships OEM products from 30 warehouses across the U.S.

For more information about the new distribution centers, LexJet’s state-of-the-art logistics network and Nationwide Delivery System, call 800-453-9538. Every time you call during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET), someone will answer your call within ten seconds and you’ll talk to a real person who can help.

Asymmetrical Symmetry in Fine Art Photography and Printing

Printing a fine art photography exhibitionIt’s been a busy month for Hutchinson, Minn.-based photographer, Jon Otteson, as he finds himself in the midst of his latest project, “The Image Within” art exhibit at the Hutchinson Center for the Arts.

This is Otteson’s first time exhibiting his abstract work, yet it seems to be going quite well for him. “Everybody who’s stopped in has been impressed with it,” he says.

The display consists of a mixture of 56 framed abstract prints on canvas, art and photo papers, all of which he produces himself on his Epson Stylus Photo 2200 and Stylus Pro 7800 printers.

Even if this is new territory for Otteson, he’s no stranger to the world of photography. He’s had a passion for photography for more than five decades.

“I was raised in a conservative Midwestern farming environment. At an early age I took an interest in photography and was fascinated by the process of capturing a moment of time on film.” It wasn’t until his college years, when he first “gained access to a 35mm camera and a darkroom,” that Otteson was able to really hone in his skill and passion.

Printing fine art photography for an exhibition
Race of the Water Beetles, by Jon Otteson, printed on Sunset Select Matte Canvas.

After that, Otteson was actively involved in portrait and wedding photography as well as working at other jobs, including 30 years at 3M in quality control related areas.

“In 2002 I retired from my career at 3M and began the transition from film to digital,” Otteson explains. “The entry into the digital world has given me a portal to focus my skills on creating fine art photography with the primary emphasis being on traditional landscapes and the natural elements while at the same time branching out into experimental abstract photographic images.” This was the time that Otteson really mastered the digital techniques that make his photographs so unique.

Inkjet printing on canvas for an exhibition
Black Hills Gothic, by Jon Otteson, printed on LexJet Premium Archival Matte Paper.

“The Image Within” is a showcase just a few of his experimental abstract images printed on LexJet media, including Sunset Select Matte Canvas, Sunset Velvet Rag, and Premium Archival Matte, seen here in one of Otteson’s favorite pieces, Black Hills Gothic. “The training, customer service and advice that LexJet has provided me over the last nine years have been important resources for my business.”

“Most of my abstract images involve exploring the mathematical randomness of nature,” Otteson says of what inspires and creates his work. “When studying images of rock walls or bark, I sometimes find colors and patterns that I wasn’t aware of at the time of the image capture.  I will then use post production techniques to enhance these colors and patterns.”

Of course Otteson takes some pieces a step beyond with some fine tuning. “Some of the images are merely nature providing me with the main image, which I then crop down to highlight patterns or colors,” he says.

Other times Otteson will take an image and manipulate it, creating a whole new outcome. One of Otteson’s techniques is what he refers to as “asymmetrical symmetry,” which involves mirroring various areas of an image and then placing the mirrored sections back into the photo. Otteson especially likes this technique when applied to tree bark, as with Race of the Water Beetles. “It can create unusual mystical images and landscapes that tend to play with one’s imagination,” Otteson says.

“The Image Within” can be seen now through July 31 at the Hutchinson Center for the Arts in Hutchinson, Minn. 

Printing a Legacy on Canvas

Printing wall murals on inkjet canvasPhotographer and entrepreneur Brian Hampton approaches everything he does conceptually. A photograph is not just a photograph and a print is not just a print. When Hampton’s friend and Chicago-area fine artist Tom Heflin was commissioned to paint a collage celebrating the 100th anniversary of a local hospital, Hampton saw an opportunity to help create a lasting legacy.

“Tom does a lot of work with a Midwest flavor and I’d like to print the original artwork he’s created over the past 40 years or so in tribute to him as an icon of the Midwest. It would be neat to see other people from around the country who reproduce fine art do this for the artists who have made an impact in their communities,” says Hampton.

The mural Hampton reproduced from Heflin’s original artwork is a great first step in that direction. The 4-ft. x 6 ft. original was taken to a high-end lab that specializes in digitizing fine art. Hampton made sure the artwork was digitized in the Adobe RGB 98 color space since that’s the space he works in throughout his workflow, from Photoshop and the ImagePrint RIP to his Epson Stylus Pro 9900 printer.

The mural would take up a 10-ft. x 15-ft. space of prominence in the hospital, so Hampton decided to print in six strips 31 inches wide with an inch of overlap on either side to make it as simple as possible for the professional wallpaper hanger who would install it. Each strip was centered in the ImagePrint RIP instead of printing full bleed, again to ensure ease of installation.

Hampton used LexJet Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas with the extra protection of Sunset Satin Coating. After the mural was installed, Heflin embellished it with acrylics so the coating provided a surface to work on and extra durability.

“I called my customer specialist at LexJet, Michael Clementi, and let him know that I was looking for the best possible canvas for this project. Michael suggested the Sunset Reserve Bright Matte Canvas with the Sunset Coating and sent me the profile for the canvas,” explains Hampton. “The combination was perfect. The colors were right on, and if they weren’t I can guarantee you that Tom would have said something to me. Every artist is extremely particular about each color in their artwork and this turned out exactly as he painted it.”

Hampton adds that the installation went seamlessly (pun intended). The professional wallpaper hanger chose to apply the paste to the wall instead of directly to the back of the canvas to make sure none of the paste would bleed through.

“The wallpaper guy did an excellent job of making sure the registration was right on, but that’s what they do; they’re matching patterns all the time when they put up wallpaper,” says Hampton. “The overall result was spectacular. I went over to the hospital last weekend to take pictures of it and almost everyone who came through stopped, looked and talked about it.”