 |
 |
|
 |
|
       |
|
|
|
Painted leaves… not paintings of painted leaves… painted leaves! Sigh. So pretty. These are part of a personal series by Brazilian artist/pattern designer Gabee Meyer. Now, it’s not enough that she hand painted them with repeating stripes and triangles, but she also put them all together into one big leafy, pattern… I’d expect nothing less from a pattern designer actually! {here it is, plus a few more of my faves because I can’t not share. Also, wiener dog.}:
Love.
Bark. Well, acrylic bark… on canvas! These gorgeous, barky paintings {paintings!?} are the work of Melbourne based artist Jodi Wiley. I posted a photo of some very pretty tree bark on Instagram two weeks ago, and thankfully one of you wrote, “reminds me of @jodiwileyart”… click click click… gasp! Aaaand then I wrote this post. ♥
Remember when your parents said, “Don’t play with matches” ? Yeah, well these artists did NOT listen… thank goodness! Over the last few weeks, I kept seeing fabulous little matchbox interventions pop up on Instagram, and so naturally the hunt was on! When I traced them back to the source, I found “Strike Away” … a show that has nearly 450 altered matchbooks by 225 artists from around the world, curated by Courtney Cerruti and Alicia Dornadic. So fun, and oh so creative! From “burned books”, to bowling lanes, to little packs of cigarettes, this show truly covers the spectrum! Sigh. Sorry Mom, I might have to go find some matches of my own! {The show is up until June 20th at Paxton Gate Kids located at 766 Valencia St., San Francisco. If you can’t make it to the show, check out their Instagram feed – lots of the work is posted there}
*Just a fraction of the talented artists involved, shown above: 1. Jane Mount 2. Crystal Morey 3. Mandy Behrens 4. Vanessa Wimmer 5. Sara Diamond 6. Molly Hatch 7. Diana Rodgers 8. Nik Sonfield 9. Nik Sonfield
I wrote about UK based painter Sarah Ball, and her series of mugshot portraits, two years ago. Well, she’s currently working on a huge new body of work, titled “Immigrants”, that is equally lovely, very emotional, and beautifully painted. These are just a few of my favorites… all of these ladies happen to be Romanian, but each portrait in this series tells it’s own story. Are they excited? Terrified? Both, perhaps. Sarah is still working on pieces in this series for an extensive exhibition that will open this August in Cornwall at Millennium Gallery. If you’re there this summer… GO.
Wow. We’re already at episode no.3 of ART FOR YOUR EAR! Today I’m talking to LA based photographer, the very sweet and lovely, Stephanie Vovas… I’m pushing her out of her comfort zone with this whole podcast thing, but it’s payback… you’ll see/hear why! Everything we talk about in this episode is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re chatting. Most of it won’t make sense unless you listen, so just click ‘play’ right up there {see, just under the gorgeous pregnant lady in a fur coat}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Ready? Go!
………
………
………
The brilliant, visionary, art loving Managing Director of Land of Nod, Michelle Kohanzo pushed Stephanie right out of her comfort zone for this amazing project:
……….
… and, we both have a thing for Johnny Depp in Blow. This could be a Stephanie Vovas shot, no?!
And that’s it! Thanks so much to Xanadu Stephanie for putting her nerves aside to do this with me! Doesn’t she have the cutest voice and the best laugh? Episode no.4 will be up next Saturday… see you then.
ps. Here is some proof that I got “Vovas’d”. I pushed myself waaaay out of my comfort zone to do this shoot with Stephanie – I can’t even believe this is me to be totally honest. I’m also out of my comfort zone posting these, but it seems only fair given how nervous she was to do the podcast! Now we’re tied.
Oh boy.
You’ve got a street full of potholes… what should you do? Call Chicago based artist Jim Bachor and ask him to fill ’em up with ice cream! “Treats in the Streets” is Jim’s latest series, in which he uses the ancient art of marble/glass mosaics to transform damaged roads into works of art… and if filling potholes with ice cream doesn’t scream happy weekend, well I just don’t know what does.
{via Colossal}
You might think that painter Horace Panter is American given this fabulous ode to Americana… but no, he’s British. If his name sounds familiar to you, then I’m guessing you’re a fan of The Specials. Yep, in the decades following his fine arts education, he traveled the world with his band {remember, A Message to You Rudy… yep, that’s them!}. From 1998 – 2008 he was the “Head of Art” in a high school, and in 2009 he decided it was time to focus on his own work again – thank goodness because that drunk clown is calling my name!
{Thanks to Rania for pointing me to Horace’s work… here is a great interview she did with him.}
I wrote about Peruvian artist Ana Teresa Barboza in 2013, and today I came across her series titled “Weaving the Moment”… obviously I had to write again. I have a major weakness for work that blurs the line between fine art and craft, and this my friends is a perfect example of that blurry line! I can’t get enough of the tangled embroidered roots dangling from the bottom of her canvases, and that crocheted water spilling from it’s wooden tap… oh my… so, so good!
These are mini portraits … and I mean mini : 4cm x 5.5cm … by Dutch artist Elvira Johanna Duives. Are they paintings? Nope. She told me that, “for the drawing of the face, clothes and hairdo I use fat juicy Copic markers, and for the details in the face I use color pencil.” Love. Their style and size are inspired by vintage passport photos, but those crazy amazing colors… they must be inspired by CANDY! ♥
ps. She puts up a “portrait of the week” every Monday on Facebook and Instagram… oh, and she also does commissions. Just sayin’.
How is it already half way through this year of #creativeUNblock challenges? Crazy. Anyway, I’m so excited to do this project given to us by Boston based artist Leah Giberson {If you missed the first five projects, or have no idea what I’m talking about, you can catch up right here.} Ok, June’s project is all about rules, instructions, and “how-to’s”… kinda. Get your supplies, because this is going to be fun:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
#creativeunblock // june // by leah giberson p.131
“Years ago I kept a visual journal filled with little collages, found paragraphs, and how-to diagrams. I’ve always had trouble following written directions and found it was more fun to turn these step-by-step guides into visual poetry.
1. Find a how-to diagram from a magazine or print one out from the web and then glue it down to a larger piece of paper. Acrylic gel medium or bookbinding glue are both good choices because they are less likely to wrinkle the paper.
2. Decide which elements you find most interesting and want to keep, then using gesso or acrylic paint, paint over anything you want to cover in order to obscure and alter the original activity being described.
3. With pen, or collage, or thread, etc etc you can then embellish what remains, extending or adding lines that might already exist so they become something else entirely.” ~ Leah Giberson
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Yes! I have a stack, and I mean a GIANT PILE, of Ikea instruction booklets that I’ve been saving… mind you, I had no idea what I was saving them for until this very moment! If you’d like to share what you make, just put it up on Instagram or Twitter and hashtag it #creativeUNblock. Relax, don’t worry about perfection, and have fun… see you out there!
|
 |
|
|
    |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|