andrea joseph drawings

beautiful pen, pencil and ink work from uk artist andrea joseph.

see what’s on her mind right now at her blog.

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sarah spitler paintings

reader hilary pointed me towards the powerful, engrossing work of san francisco artist sarah spitler. sarah relates her work, crafted from ink, acrylic, graphite, enamel and other media, to geographical forms and the chance combinations that come together to create such entities. she is also mindful of chaos and the ephemera that is created and affected by it. i don’t think i need to urge you to look at the details of these pieces; they speak for themselves.

there are extraordinary delicate and intense details, explosions of color and feathery lines and bulges and drips that lead my eye down and around and in, and lead my mind to otherworldly places.

we don’t need permission to fall in.

see more and contact sarah on her website, and also find select works at the beholder.

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cathy connolley illustrations

check out these lovely prints and beautiful original pen and ink pieces by uk artist cathy connolley. a self-taught artist, she uses the pointillism technique to create many of the items in her nature and mythology-influenced collection.

say hi to cathy on her blog, see more work on her website, and purchase these pieces at her etsy shop.

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reina mia brill knitted wire and ceramic sculpture: let’s chat!

when my cool friend burt came back from the acc show in baltimore, he told me that he really enjoyed the ceramic sculpture collection of new york artist (and recent donor to locks of love) reina mia brill. of course when i looked at it i went a little nuts. i love the clever combination of color and form, all the intricate detailing and facial expressions and most importantly the freedom these pieces give to my imagination when i look at all of them. let’s have a chat with reina mia and find out a little more!

q: where do you live, and where do you create your art?
a: i live and work in a remote section of the bronx in new york city called city island. i like to call it the mythical island in the bronx because in all the 10 years i lived in manhattan i never heard of this place. my boyfriend dan grew up here and we are living in the actual house where he grew up. city island is a very unique place… it is an old fishing village trapped in time. my studio is in the basement with two windows at ground level where i say hello to all stray cats, birds and even snails that come and visit me.

q: what is your background, and did you study art formally?
a: i have an mfa from san diego state university in jewelry and metalsmithing which was where i got started knitting wire. i made hand-knitted wire jewelry for five years out of graduate school. i never was really happy making jewelry, it just seemed practical at the time. so in 2001 when i received a $7,000 fellowship from the new york foundation for the arts i decided to finally ditch making jewelry and do what i always wanted to — make sculpture. i also hold an undergraduate degree from fit (fashion institute of technology) in accessory design which is why my creatures are always very well accessorized.

q: so, why wire and clay? and how did you get to that place of combining the two (along with several other materials)? have you always worked in multiple mediums?
a: up until last year i only worked in knitted wire over a stuffed fabric covered armature. all the hand sewing was killing me. i wanted to be able to make work quickly. working in clay is not quick but it is quicker than sewing by hand. now i am able to build the figures faster and more sculpturally. after the pieces have been glazed i will embellish all the clothing and sometimes the bodies as well in knitted wire.

q: these pieces are exquisitely detailed and must be very labor intensive. (without giving away any secrets of course!) can you tell us a little about the techniques you use?
a: i first start with a drawing usually found in one of my sketchbooks. the figure is then hand-built in a low fire clay and glazed with underglazes. i use two very old-fashioned knitting machines to knit the wire. one is a sock-knitting machine from 1923, the other is a big double bed passap machine from 1960. i can create beautiful dimensional patterns off of the passap machine which i usually use for the clothing. the sock-knitting machine creates a sinuous knitted tube that i like to use as skin covering. i knit with very thin gauge coated copper wire that has been coated with a polynylon coating for color. once the figure has been fired i determine which areas are to be covered in wire. sometimes it is just the clothing and eyes and other times it is the entire creature. the knitted wire is stitched to the clay body by hand and then tacked with an epoxy resin.

q: i see a common thread of expressive human emotions as well as physical animal traits in these characters. did it come naturally to blend the two?
a: i have been drawing since i was a kid. my dad and i used to play these creature drawing games together. we would start with a blank piece of paper and then one of us would draw the first creature. the next person had to draw a creature interacting with the one on the page. we would keep drawing until the page was filled up trying to make the most outlandish creatures.

q: what is the price range of your collection?
a: i offer a wide range of prices. on the low end i do creature illustrations framed in knitted wire as well as wearable creature brooches. these works sell for $95 to $250. my standing and wall sculptures start at $275 and increase in price depending on the size and the labor involved. two figures i made for an exhibition in poland last year stood just under 5 feet. they each sold for $10,000 but i spent 6 months creating them.

q: what is your inspiration for these works? do you have a message you want to send through these pieces?
a: i do lots of sketches. i will study people, usually children on the street for a variety of poses. children’s faces are the most fun to watch for their devious little expressions. the animal/human imagery has just come naturally. when i study human faces, so many are very similar to animal faces. animals, however, offer a wider array of eyes, ears, feet and mouths to come up with my own species of creature. my work does not have a message. i love that it makes many people laugh and smile and remember their childhood. other people are scared by my work and that’s interesting too. the work is open to individual interpretation.

q: where can we go to see your collection in person? are you exhibiting in any current or upcoming shows?
a: i am currently in three exhibitions around the country. the first is called contemporary repetition at the long beach island arts foundation in new jersey. it’s on view now through june 16th. the second is called contemporary crafts at the jrb gallery in oklahoma city. the show just closed but the work might still be there for a little while. the third is a traveling exhibition called fiberart international 2007. this show opened last year in pittsburgh and will be traveling through 2009. currently the show is in charleston, west virginia through june 22nd at the clay center. this show is accompanied by a beautiful catalog as well. i also show work regularly in new york at the eclectic collector in katonah and mano a mano in bronxville. i will be selling my work myself at the following craft shows: the niada conference in las vegas at the show and sale on july 27th; the doll and teddy bear expo in washington, dc august 9th and 10th; and back again in dc in november for the washington craft show. in 2009 i will be at acc baltimore in february and most likely craft boston at the end of march.

thank you reina mia (and thanks to burt for the great tip)!

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daniel edlen vinyl art: let’s chat!

poring over liner notes, admiring cover art, studying lyrics and playing albums over and over again in my room was a beloved activity for me as a child and a teenager. it continues to be an intensely personal and highly satisfying activity. it’s a place to escape, a place to relax; an inspiring, creative, dynamic place that can unlock favorite memories, and be interpreted in myriad ways. this is why i love the work that daniel edlen creates, using white acrylic paint on vinyl. there is soul in these earnest portraits that honor the musicians we all know and love, and i think the technical skill here is as sharp as a needle on a turntable. let’s have a chat with daniel and find out more!

q: where do you live, and where do you create your art?
a: i live in gilbert, az and i create my art in one of our house’s bedrooms.

q: what is your background, and did you study art formally?
a: i wouldn’t call it formally, but i did take art classes at a private art school from the time i was six to the time i was 27. my background, if you mean academic, was regular old school and then computer science at ucla.

q: how did you ultimately come to work with vinyl and how do you choose your subjects?
a: it wasn’t really ultimately. i came up with the idea as a teenager following my acquiring a mess of records and doing a high school art project i made up involving white pencil on black paper. then a couple years ago, friends said i should try selling them and people wanted them for christmas, so i started doing commissions. i paint whomever people commission me to do, and ones i like and think might be popular, and ones for whom i find records that i know would be popular.

q: what is the price range of your collection?
a: they sell for $175 plus shipping, framed. unframed, they’re $100 plus shipping. i add $10 for each additional portrait beyond just one and i’ve done up to 4 (pink floyd, kiss).

q: do you think your love of music is stronger than your love of art, or vice versa?
a: honestly, i don’t really distinguish between them that way. it’s more my passion for creativity that drives me.

q: do you have a favorite piece that you’ve made?
a: the marley that i did the video of (below) was for roger steffens that i wrote about in my blog. that would probably be my favorite piece because of the experience of connecting with such a wonderful and passionate person.

q: who would win in a fight — led zeppelin or u2?
a: bonzo’s dead, and he’d be the only one i ever could see fighting, so i think they’d reach peace before even starting.

q: where can we go to see your collection in person? are you currently exhibiting in any shows, and is there anything else meaningful you would like to include here?
a: i’ve got pieces for sale on consignment at rockzone records in chandler, az, red dog gallery in phoenix, az, raw style in brentwood, ca, primitive kool in san diego, ca, and wild about music in austin, tx.

i just had a piece in the 12 inch art show in winnipeg, and I’ll be in that one again when it comes around next year. i’m also in the part art show at the agni gallery in new york now through april 15th, 2008.

i’ve really put a lot of myself into my blog since i started it, so i hope people will take the time to read it from the beginning. i have a link to that first post in the “who, me?” section. all that i would consider meaningful is there.

daniel is currently accepting commission work. check him out on flickr, see his website for more and make sure to stop by his blog to say hi!

thank you daniel!

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hope gangloff illustrations

i have always been drawn to pen and ink illustrations, and these ballpoint pen works by new york artist hope gangloff are no exception. these pieces are drawn from photos and recreated with details that are soft but still precise and complete. her vivid scenes of daily life, both in palette and composition, take me to a place where i have been before at some point. a place where i felt liberated, hard, youthful and wise all at the same time.

the combination of ennui and casual confidence within her subjects is just so excellent.

hope is represented by the art department and the susan inglett gallery. view her portfolio and contact her on her website.

via wrong distance

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bottle cap mosaic art by john unger

okay, okay, one last blast with the upcycling and then i will be quiet. look at the beautiul details of these folksy mosaic fish from michigan artist john unger. they’re carefully and obsessively made of bottle caps, with select metal accents.

purchase the fish and see more sustainable design work at john’s etsy shop. be sure to check his blog out too for much, much more!

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red cap cards and letterpress

i love the whimsy and beautiful details in these illustrations for red cap cards. created in beverly hills by artist carrie gifford and her husband hal mertz, the collection includes multi colored letterpress and work from michael morrison and francesca montanari. all the styles merge to set a festive tone and easy, colorful way to communicate.

see much much more on red cap’s website!

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