Friday, February 27, 2009

New Work




I'm in a bit of a slump in the studio right now. Just not sure what Im doing. But Im trying to keep making work and see what comes of it.  These are some newer pieces.  I'm also trying to figure out work I can be making on the side for Etsy. My shop is getting pretty stagnant and I want things to start picking up.  My brain is going a million miles a minute.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Mine will be spent in the studio.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Springtime Flowers




I was reading Cassie's blog and thinking about how ready I am for spring. I want to feel the sun warming my arms. I want flowers everywhere! I want flowers in my house. Normally I'm not as crazy about flowers, it's balloon bouquets I like so much but I think it was the spirit of Valentine's day that put the flower mood in me. I bought myself a bouquet of clearanced pink roses after Vday. They were kind of sad but pretty. Now they are all drooped over and there's something lovely about it. But these flowers are much more springy and beautiful. My grandparent's house always had some yellow flowers that would bloom in their yard. They looked like buttercups. I would always pick a few and bring them in the house and my grandmother would put them in a juice glass on the table. It felt perfect. It felt like spring. I'm ready for that feeling again. Arent you?

(The bottom image comes from the blog L.A. In Bloom. That blog will make you crave spring and summer.)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Back in the City


The last few weeks I've been very lucky. I've been able to get to the city every weekend and see plenty of good art. This Friday my printmaking professor Ashley Nason was in a show at the Packer Schopf Gallery. I love that gallery, it represents a lot of great artists.

The show was called Ce n'est pas un spectacle de caracteres: This is not a print show.
The image above is one of Ashley's pieces but was not in the show. She doesn't have a website but you can see her work at the NIU site. I love love love her work.
Here's a list of the rest of the artists in the show. If you have some free time I really encourage you to google them. I think the whole show represented a group of amazing artists worth looking into.
This is what is on the gallery website:

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Poppytalk Handmade

this month I'm featured on PoppyTalk Handmade in their affordable art market. PoppyTalk is a lot like paper and stitch. It's a online market that promotes stores on the web. This months theme is The Affordable Art Show and Marketplace. It's such a great website with tons of beautiful work by amazing artists. Go check it out!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Check It Out!



A couple of my favorite blogs have been moving things around a bit.  The image above is by  Maria-Therese of afiori.com.  I love following her blog and now she's moved to her own website and has finally opened up an etsy shop filled with all her beautiful photographs and collages. Go check it out!

I also enjoyed Sitting Pretty Studios Blog and it as moved to artnest.  There you will find a lovely blog as well as her shop filled with wonderful art.

Both of these girls have been so supported of my own blog and work.  I hope you take a look and see what great talents they are!

Monday, February 16, 2009

On Saturday

Kara Walker
Cindy Sherman

Sarah Sze

Saturday I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art and got to see lots of great pieces. I finally saw a Sarah Sze piece in person. I love her book of installations and seeing one face to face was not a let down at all. It was beautiful. The image above is not the exact installation I saw. I found it on the internet. There were no cameras allowed in the MCA. Booooo!
There was also a collection of some of Cindy Sherman's weirder photographs including the one you see above. They were large scale and so interesting. I was really tired of her Untitled Film Stills though I still have a place in my heart for them.
Also saw a Kara Walker room. Again, the image here is different than what I saw. I've seen Walker's work quite a bit. The one at the MCA seemed really tame for her so I wondered if it was because February 14th was family day at the museum and lots of children were running around. I hope that wasn't the case. I think children shouldn't be censored to good art. Whatever, i'm not a mom or curator so what do I know.
There were many other great works at the musuem. I had not been there in so long so it was nice to reconnect. The gift shop there is full of so many wonderful books and toys. I wanted to buy every toy I saw. Thought about buying myself a V. Day gift but couldn't pick just one thing so I bought nothing. Was that dumb?
After the MCA I ate yummy Morrocan food and enjoyed good conversation.
Hope you all had a good weekend and thanks to those who left compliments on my last post!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

New for Thursday

I just finished this piece today and I'm really pleased with it.  I put it in my shop so go have a look!

After Yesterday


After seeing that room yesterday that I posted on my blog I've been feeling a little glum. I want to have a place to live that is as sleek and beautiful as the places you see in Domino and on Design Sponge but I feel like my place is too small and strangely shaped. I know it's a temporary place for me but I can't quit dreaming of living somewhere nicer. And by nicer I just mean walls that aren't going at angles and tiny spaces that don't hold anything. I can't hang up art work because of the walls and there is no place for all my stuff so it usually ends up in cluttered piles. I think because of that it makes me not even want to try to clean the clutter but I'm tired of living that way. There are certainly moments in my place that appeal to my eyes. The above images are examples of those favorite moments. The shelf is in a different place now and I'm happier with the arrangement but I liked this at the time. I think I'm going to resolve to clean my place and approach it with more of a sense of design. I want to be designsponge worthy!
Any suggestions?
Sorry if this post sounds whiny. I'm just ready for an aesthetically pleasing change. ( :

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Another Wednesday Post

Just saw this image on SFGirlbybay's site and fell so hard in love over this room. I want want want to live here. Don't you?

Monsters!








Next Tuesday for my professional practices class I'm suppose to do a thirty minute artist talk. I'm looking forward to this because I really hate public speaking but the one thing I really know how to talk about it my own work. I've been collecting some images to show off the internet so I thought I would share some with you. These are some things that inspire some of my monsters. I hope you enjoy!
Images are:
Mcfries from Mcdonalds
Beetlejuice
two scenes from the Sega Master System game Fantasy Zone 2
My favorite monster from Pan's Labyrinth
and someone who's work i've featured before but can't get enough of: Travis Millard.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Some Yummy Shows

As I mentioned in my last post I went to Chicago Friday to check out some galleries. I saw so much stuff, so many amazing pieces. My two favorite galleries that I went to were the Peter Miller Gallery and Three Walls. The Peter Miller Gallery was having a show of all the artists they represent which was a great opportunity to find out what kind of gallery they are and what kind of art they show. These images are some of my favorites. Not all of the pieces of work were in the show but they represent the artists. I took all but Casey Jex Smith's work from the Peter Miller Gallery site, Smith's is from his website.

This first image is Caleb Weintraub. This wasn't in the show but he had a huge painting and several small pieces made of mixed media. They were very charming and bizarre. I love the animal plates in the above piece. I wish I could eat all my meals off those plates.

Melissa Dean is next and I was disappointed to hear that I had just missed her solo show. She had several pieces in the current show but the above piece was one of my favorites.

I loved loved loved Grant Miller. He had these really bizarre encaustic paintings that depicted this strange futuristic worl. There were three pieces in the show, I don't think the above piece was there but they all had simillar color schemes. Very lovely and strange. My favorite combination.

And finally Casey Jex Smith was another favorite of mine. He had several drawings that really caught my eye. They seemed familliar, I'm trying to figure out where I've seen him before.At Three Walls I was so excited to see Christa Donner's work. She's been mentioned on so many blogs that I read so to see her work in person was great! She had huge paintings on the walls as well as handcut and painted pieces. There was also an animation projected on the wall. Her work is as beautiful in person as it is in print. Check her out here and here.

Enjoy your Monday!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

More Studio Stuff






I've been the absolute worst at keeping up with my blog lately. Since school's started I feel like I've really hit the ground running. I'm working hard in the studio and it's definitely had it's ups and downs. Yesterday I went to Chicago to explore several of the galleries there and saw some really great stuff. Lots of stuff that really kept my spirits up. I'll post some of that work tomorrow. Today I have for you an image that I did for a print exchange called Angel F***. Sorry for the foul language, it was an exchange organized by a couple of my classmates and titled after a Misfits song. The hairpiece is what I did for that folio. You can click on it to see it larger.
I also have an image of a drawing I'm working on. I'm hoping to have it finished soon. There are a couple of small finished manila envelope pieces. I'm in the process of figuring out how they will be framed and displayed. I'm playing around with some IKEA shadowbox frames and fabric.
Also, there is a picture of my lovely friend Joanna who has been keeping me company in the studio while we both work on various art projects. She's a good friend and a great artist and we're hoping to collaborate soon. You'll be the first to see what we come up with.
I'm spending a quiet Saturday night with a few rowdy dogs and some art magazines. I hope your night is as good as mine.
See you soon!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

New Work in Shop!


I just posted new work in my shop! You can find it here and here.  Back soon with new pics from the studio and a surprise visitor!