Have you met Kristiana Parn? She's an illustrator from Estonia who currently makes her artwork in Brooklyn. She likes to paint on wooden panels, letting the grain of the wood be part of the design. Her images are populated by dreamy, sleepy animals that are adorable as heck. She's printed a line of stationery, and has a robust shop on etsy, where she sells both prints and original artwork. Lots to see! xo!
Have you met artist and illustrator Matt W. Moore? If you saw this post from last week, it'll soon become clear as to why I'm sharing his work with you now. During an artists' residency in Utah, Matt created complex mandalas and geometric patterns out of found natural materials. Take a look: Click on any of the images to go to his portfolio site, where you'll see many other examples, as well as close-up and detail shots. It all has me itching to get outside and spend a few hours engrossed in activity with a whittling knife and a camera.
xo Have you met Danielle Clough? She's an embroidery artist from South Africa who has taken the art form far from the bounds of the traditional stretched-fabric hoop. She has put yarn and needle to sneakers, city fences, and, as you'll see, old tennis and badminton rackets. I appreciate how the colors of the rackets inform her yarn color choices. Some neat pixelization going on in this one: Hooray for transforming trash into treasure! Visit Danielle's website to see all of her work, including plenty of "traditional" embroidery (of the poop emoji, Chewbacca, etc.) on fabric.
xo! Have you met Shamekh Bluwi? He's a fashion designer who shares his sketches and ideas on his Instagram and Facebook pages. One of the many creative things he does is use the world around him as the clothing for his virtual paper dolls. It's like those textured plastic fashion plates from the 1980s, but using real landscapes, trees, and architectural details instead. Take a look: It's especially cool to see the same outfit in different locations. Yet another artist looking at the everyday in a whole new way, which you know I adore! I can see this idea being a fun addition to a photo scavenger hunt activity. I've thought up some tween- and teen-friendly alternatives to this high-fashion-oriented idea, and I'll be exploring them (and sharing them!) later in the week.
xo! Have you met Baku Maeda? He's an artist who transforms the everyday into the unexpected. Recently (as you can see on his Tumblr and Instagram), he's been squaring up flora for a series called '1bit' (also 'bitleaf' and 'bitflower').
Have you met Carol Eckert? She's another example of an artist who has taken a simple craft technique and refined it to become something extraordinary. Her method is coiling (usually used to make vessels--here's a simple how-to version from CraftyPod), and she uses it to create tableaus of animals that are filled with symbolism, myths, and ancient stories. All of these are created with just thread and wire. Click on each image to go to its source page. Most are from Mobilia Gallery, but a couple are from Carol's own site. Go to the latter for a more complete look at her work. She also makes shrines, and staffs. Totally gorgeous and inspiring!
xo Have you met painter/illustrator Mati McDonough? She uses acrylic paint with collaged paper elements to create work that's dreamy, colorful, and lush. I love the sly look of this indigo bunting. Look down there, is that security envelope paper I see? I love the little "BEST" in this one. Mati is represented by agent extraordinaire Lilla Rogers, on whose site you can also see photos of Mati's studio. She has her own site, too. A few of the sections are 404'd but the "graphic paintings" portfolio is full of goodness like this tiger kitten, which I have seen before (somewhere...). Wait, maybe I've come across her etsy site, Mati Rose, before? You can buy a painting of Marcel, the tiny tiger kitten, for a mere $30! Go explore Mati's etsy site for many other prints and affordable, original artwork. And then grab some paint and paper scraps and glue, and experiment!
xo Remember my recent "i love vintage" with the Wire Art book excerpt? It was about making art with metal wire screening or mesh. Artist Lanny Bergner has taken that idea to a whole 'nother, entirely professional level. (Click on each image to go to its source site.) He uses mesh made of various metals (stainless steel, bronze), cut and sewn together using wire, linen thread, and more. The color effects you see above are from heating the mesh with a torch. Neat-o. Sometimes he uses silicone or glass frit (frit is just chunks or powdered glass, usually melted in a kiln) to add color and texture. http://www.snyderman-works.com/artists/lanny-bergnerNot all of the pieces are vessels; some are more like quilts, or jewelry. The piece below uses silicone, glass frit, and paper. The piece below is made of bronze screen, wire, and glass frit. Like many of his works, they appear inspired by microscopic life forms similar to those found in the How and Why book I posted about yesterday. You can find Lanny's work in a bunch of places, but these pieces were all from Mobilia Gallery and Snyderman-Works.
xo! Have you met Phyllis Rosser? She's a Vermont artist who makes sculpture using driftwood that's been worn smooth and bare by the Connecticut River. Her work is abstract, suggesting clouds, swirling water, bodies, and bones. This one is called "soft falling rain": This is "exuberant heart": and "sailing forth": Although it's very difficult to tell, most of her sculptures are impressively large. Take a look at "prana," installed above a bed: And here's a shot of an installation at the Ceres Gallery a few years ago. The take-away here is probably obvious: you can make art with almost anything, including natural materials left in their natural, unpainted and unaltered states. It's all in how you look at the world. Allow yourself to play and experiment. See what you're drawn to (collecting driftwood, say) and then see if you can make something with that. Even if you don't end up with a gallery full of work, you've exercised your brain by thinking creatively and inventively. Go, you!
xo Have you met Nate Duval? I learned of him through Tiny Showcase, which has sold several editions of his work. He's a graphic artist/illustrator, and does a lot of posters for rock bands and concerts you've might have heard of.
He has more pins on his site, and some of them are not totally kid-friendly, just FYI. I wanted to share some of his art prints, which would be wonderful additions (or gifts) to a hip kid's decor. Click on the image to go to that poster's shop page. This next one is pretty awesome: It's an alphabetical, illustrated guide to all of the spells in the Harry Potter books. Word. Go to Nate's site to check out the rest of his work! He's got shirts, more pins, and the aforementioned rock posters for sale, too.
xo |
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AuthorI'm Debbie Way, an artist and writer who enjoys making things. |
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