party animals

L.A. based artist, Kristen Carter, illustrates adorable, "affable animals"  giving them an air of dapperness via a monocle + top-hat.  Carter  prepares for her first gallery show on December 3 at The Hive's Apiary Gallery in Silver Lake. Must wear a top-hat for admittance.

collage::matthew cusick

Check out this collage work using maps by artist, Matthew Cusick. 

I'm trying to figure out how one even approaches this. Do you cut up pieces of ephemera and sort them by color?

And then use the paper as you would paint, by cutting it into 'brush strokes? 

Or do you start with a photograph or a painting and layer on top.....

It's mind boggling and simply, beautiful.

"Collage is a medium perfectly suited to the complexities of our time. It speaks to a society that is over-saturated with disparate visual information. It attempts to put order to the clutter and to make something permanent from the waste of the temporary. A collage is also a time capsule; it preserves the ephemera of the past. It reconstitutes things that have been discarded. A collage must rely on a kind of alchemy; it must combine ordinary elements into something extraordinary."- Michael Cusick

fish monger

 monger [ˈmʌŋgə]

A person promoting something undesirable or discreditable.

We've been eating a lot of fish around here, a huge feat for me because, I have this strong aversion (phobia)  to the creature. I don't want it near me, touching me, much less in my mouth. ( When I'm in the ocean, I  never look down ) If I were on 'Fear Factor' the losing dare, would be getting into a vat of slippery, flipping fish. I'd eat a hissing Madagascar roach before doing that.



 

But things have turned around due to friends who regularly go out on the sea and catch Sea Bass and Halibut, generously dropping by vacuumed sealed, overage for our freezer. We now do a weekly, Fish Taco Tuesday. And I'm feeling mighty.









That having nothing to do with anything, I stumbled on to artist, Jesse Harris' website with this fantastic,  packaging design and innovative branding of... fish. It's beautiful, simple and graphic. I like how he/she (?) uses a brown butcher paper  and graphics that look stamped (reminds me of that art project using inked fish as a stamp) Way to take something undesirable and brand the hell out of it.

artist::emily wenda

The cacophony of pattern and color in artist, emily wenda's original artwork is making me happy as a lark . Primitive in style, but certainly styled, her layered look of interiors are clever and whimsical.

 

How great are these applications to cigar boxes and coasters......

 

below lid belongs to the box above....

and check out these coasters (great go to 'hostess gifts' for upcoming summer soirees)

Emily sells her work on her eponymous site:: emilywenda.com

Leanne Shapton :: illustrator + writer

 

Shapton, is a former art director for the NY Times

 

an illustrator [ these from her book, 'Native Trees of Canada'  ]

 

and co-founder of J& L books 

neville trickett :: artist ⌘ inspiration

this is his story::



"I find images around the internet



and give myself 15 minutes for each
painting.



All this work is around 20 x 3o centimeters



or about 8 x 12
inches.



By the end of the year I hope to be a better artist."

 

 

neville trickett @ the saint verde project

get your ne on

just found over at etsy shop, Neos Lettering, these great neon letters and numbers from the early 90s. Pick a single letter, number or create a phrase.

great for a nightlight, or a glowing bit of modern art ( 12.99 for a single letter ) oh and they come in greek letters as well. In case you're one of those who's still hanging on to your Greek Affiliation.

painter :: abbey ryan

It's a well known fact around the blog world, that trying to claim exclusivity on a post subject....is just nothing short of boorish and makes one look a fool.



So, I was thrilled when I heard that fellow blogger, Oprah, featured painter, Abbey Ryan on her blog.  I, actually,  featured Abbey's work here...........almost 3 years ago to the day.












 





Abbey is one of those prolific, 'Painting A Day' artist who disciplines herself to crank out beautifully executed still life works, daily. {I tried this once and made it one day} Most of them food oriented. I'm so happy that Oprah picked up on my post because I think Abbey may get a few more hits now. You can re-post this, too if you'd like. I'm cool with it.

read, blogger,  oprah's post here

and view Abbey's work here

the falling garden::gerda steiner + jörg lenzlinger

 a beautiful concept to begin your week.....

 or make you ball your fists and purse your lips in jealousy. 

every aspect of this is absolute genius.

conceived and executed by Swiss artists gerda steiner and jörg lenzlinger, the falling garden was created for the 50th venice biennial in 2003. It was housed in the church of san stae on the grand canal.





visitors lie on a bed, above the doge's tomb, in the middle of the church and watch, as the garden thinks for them. the idea that modern day artists have collaborated with 17th century architects is staggeringly brilliant. The light, the angles...everything about the space is glorious even before the garden.











and with the installation,  the viewer becomes part of the art as it dances and dangles around them.

 

Components: Plastic berries (India), cow pads (Jura), waste paper
(Venice), baobab seeds (Australia), beech, elder and magnolia branches
(Uster), thorns (Almeria), nylon blossoms (one-dollar-shop), pigs’
teeth (Indonesia), seaweed (Seoul), orange peel (Migros shop),
fertilizer crystals (home grown), pigeons’ bones (San Staë), silk buds
(Stockholm), cattail (Ettiswil), cats’ tails (China), celery roots
(Montreal), virility rind (Caribbean), wild bore quills (zoo), banana
leaves (Murten), rubber snakes (Cincinnati)...

what...

Dalton Ghetti
creates miniature masterpieces on the tips of pencil.