Art Blog

Today I wanted to post some images of art that I love. I'm constantly looking at art and keeping an eye on what's going on in the art world. these are some artists I've really loved over the years, old and new. check it out! and check out their sites, too!

First is painter Squeak Carnwath. She's a West Coast artist who makes beautiful paintings full of color and prints through Tandem Press. Her work helps me think of new ways of setting up compositions. This image is from her website.

My close friends and I all have a love affair with Nan Goldin's photography. It started when one of our friends checked out a book of her work and we couldn't quit passing the book around. Her photos depict people around her; friends, lovers, herself. Nothing feels staged, they all seem very genuine and the viewer gets to feel like a true voyeur. I don't think she has a website but you can learn more about her here.

I discovered Kime Buzzelli's work randomly on myspace.com. She owns Show Pony Boutique in Echo Park, a store as lovely as her work. I've noticed lately that she's been receiving a lot of press for her work lately which is well deserved. This image is from her myspace.

I don't remember how I discovered Amy Morken but I'm so glad I did. Actually, I think it was because of an assignment my undergrad printmaking teacher gave us. We had to look through an Art in America magazine and find an artist to do a paper about. It was her way to get us to look at contemporary artists and I'm glad for that. I love Amy Morken's work. From her color to compositions to characters, there's so much happening. She's represented by the Claire Oliver Gallery and you can see more of her work here where I got this image.

And finally a printmaker. Lisa Bulawsky has been an artist whose work I've been looking at for a long time. She works and teaches in St. Louis. She's an artist who is constantly making work, whether it's two dimensional, video or performance. I've met her a handful of times and I'm always reminded of what a neat person she is. Check out her website and discover for yourself. This image is from her website.

I just realized after collecting all these artists that they are all female artists. That was not intentional and this is only a tiny dent in the list of artists I love. I will make another list soon that will be more male friendly. Happy looking and I hope you're all ready for the holidays!

Favorite Things

Since I've been at my parents' place I've been a little on the lazy side. I brought some good paper and drawing supplies with me but I've mostly been doodling. I have, however, been catching up on my new favorite show Mad Men. It started innocently. I finished the last disc of season one before I came home. Since I can't get my netflix here I thought I would download only one episode just to see what was going to happen in the next episode. After watching that episode I thought I may as well buy the next three from Itunes so I wouldn't have to get the first disc of season 2 from Netflix. Now I'm on to episode 8 and I can choose to stop there... but with seven more days to go here I feel like I will end up watching the whole season. I did get a gift certificate to Itunes.

Have you seen Mad Men? I feel like most people know what it is by now. It's so beautiful and glamorous but I sort of hate the main character. Maybe I'm suppose to hate him. I read a good article in the latest Bust magazine about the Mad Women of the time. I think advertising could be an interesting job. Does anyone remember Amanda (Heather Locklear) on Melrose Place? She was in advertising and was probably a female version of Don Draper. Is that a horrible connection I just made? Sorry, pop culture.

Another thing I'm loving is my new mustache necklace made by one of my best friends, Cameron Cox. She whipped up a different mustache for each of my friends and we wore them when we were in Clemson for my other best friend Claudia's show. Third best friend Janey was there also. Claudia's art show was beautiful. Her work has grown so much since we were in undergrad together. For some dumb reason I didn't get any picture of her work installed. We barely got to the show before it was over. Waking up at five in the morning and driving straight to South Caroline from the Chicagoland area was rough and pictures were a little far from our mind. I bought a piece from Claudia that was sort of a collaborative piece. I drew images and she shot them into a screen and printed them. I think it's called Nerds with Nerves and it's about how she and I both love parties but we also have a touch of social anxiety. We have to find ways to make those two things work together. It's a neat piece and when I have it in my possession I will photograph it and post it here. I realize this was suppose to be about the mustache necklace and it went this way.... sorry, Cameron. I love the necklace!

I was also going to make a list of artists I like but I feel like I've already written a book that would rival War and Peace in length. Guess I'm making up for lost time. Today I will compile a list of artists and images and will be ready bright and early tomorrow with a new post. I also go to the dentist tomorrow. The post will be the best part of my day.

Happy Holidays!

A Little Time Away

I haven't disappeared. I'm just taking a little break from the computer and getting stuff finished up for Christmas break. I go home tomorrow for ten days. There's little to do there so I can finally catch up on all my blogs and other favorite internet sites. I'll be back soon with Etsy features and the story behind the above photo. Take care and the following days and bundle up if you're in the snowy side of the world.

Etsy Feature Wednesday

I'm back from a very long trip. It was a whirlwind. We left Friday and came back Sunday. From Northern Illinois to Clemson, South Carolina and back, with a stop in Kentucky in between. I want to post some pictures on here soon but today is the Etsy feature day and I'm excited to share this artist.

I recently recieved this photograph for my birthday. I love this image so much, it reminds me of Twin Peaks. Last night I was looking closely and realized the name on the back is someone I went to college with. She was a few years ahead of me but was someone whose work I've always admired. And now I have a piece of her work!

Jessica Wolf is an artist based in Cincinnati and her online shop's name is Libellus. She has different kinds of work in her shop including hand-bound books and mixed media prints.

The top picture of the above three is titled The Letter to No One. It's one of my favorite pieces. And the next two are handmade sketchbooks. I love the way she photographs her work.

Check out the shop now and then spend the rest of the day finding your old college classmates on Etsy!

Stacey Gets Fierce

Just put this in my shop.  She's tough and will make you want to do things for yourself!

Things to look at People to See

I admit it's been a while since I checked my Flickr account so when I did I was greated with a new contact named Decor8. After looking through the many beautiful photos I discovered my own work! I was featured on Decor8's blog as part of her Etsy Take Five Tuesday! This blog is really great. I was checking it over today and I think there might be a bit of technical difficulties that today's blog explains, but they are working on it. Check out the blog, it's really beautiful.

Something else to report. Tomorrow I'm waking up at four in the morning and am driving 13 hours to Clemson, South Carolina to see my best friend's MFA show. I'm so excited to see her work. She sent the above pic in an email so I could get a sneak preview. Now I'm giving the world a sneak preview....I hope she doesn't mind. I don't think she reads my blog anyway...Pfft. I'm going to be gone all weekend. My travel partner and I will drive straight to Clemson tomorrow night. Saturday we'll drive to Kentucky where my family lives and then Sunday it's back to DeKalb and back to finals week. It's probably a bad time to leave town considering I have critiques next week but it's my BFF. Plus I have a fabulous trashy party dress to wear!

And finally, I promise I will quit begging soon but if you haven't yet, please please please check out papernstitch and maybe vote for me? You just click on my shop and click on the heart next to the above picture. The person with the most votes at the end of the exhibition gets a free month. Also, if you're interested in exhibiting on papernstitch there's a new call for entries right now. Thanks so much in advance!

Etsy Feature Wednesday. On Wednesday!

Aye yi yi! Today's Feature is a fairly new discovery of mine. I first read about Julia Pott in Nylon magazine when they featured her handmade temporary tattoos. Thanks to that I found her amazing blog, etsy shop and animations. Julia's work is so fresh and funny. Her videos are incredibly charming. My First Crush is so sweet and sincere. Yesterday I should have been working, I should have been buying gifts for others, I should have not been shopping for me... But I bought these stickers! (for me)!

Read her blog here and buy her work here!