sérigraphie cinqunquatre screenprint art

I need to show you one more peek of what I saw at the Renegade show last month, and then I’ll stop for a while. I love LOVE all the inventive, urbane silkscreen work that the French Canadian team of Alice Jarry and Jason Cantoro do for their design and printmaking company, Sérigraphie Cinqunquatre. The motifs of Alice and Jason are a bit different but their bold styles, high levels of technical skill and unconventional points of view converge seamlessly into quite the formidable collection. The edgy, heavily textured pieces are rough, multilayered and extremely handmade, and their unique style translates directly into unusual print sizes too: from the odd 8″ x 22 1/2″ all the way up to a grand 4′ x 4′ (mounted on wood).

Did I mention that I love this collection? I’ve got 2 pieces right now and look forward to having a few more adorn my walls…

See all of Alice and Jason’s truly wonderful work at their website, where I am really enjoying practicing my reading in French (there is an English version too). If you are lucky enough to be in New York or Chicago, you can view select works in person at the Glowlab and AllRise galleries, respectively.

share this story

the art of michele bosak

When I went to the Renegade Craft Fair last month I saw a lot of great stuff, but was immediately drawn to a few certain things, one of them being the wonderful artwork of Michele Bosak. Michele, who told me she was just finishing up her MFA in Drawing at NIU, splits her time between northern Illinois and Michigan. Her collection has charming childhood themes, greatly effective negative space and a thoughtful vintage feel to it. The soft color selections draw me in and envelop me like a favorite childhood blanket once did.

I appreciate Michele’s use of many types of media, like graphite, ink, watercolor and acrylic paint. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite in her collection but since I bought this piece, I think I like her wax and oil paint encaustic paintings best.

See more from Michele on her website, blog and Etsy shop.

share this story

jesh de rox photography

I know some of us think wedding photography can be so cheesy, but have you seen these wondrous images from contemporary Canadian artist Jesh de Rox? They are simply extraordinary, with an elegant, vintage timeless feeling achieved using modern techniques. His intimate and textural style feels like it comes much more from an whole, artistic point of view than the old methodology. And the breathtaking results transcend the traditional ideas of wedding photography and what we thought were its subsequent limitations. These are thoughtful portraits that can so easily be diplayed everyday in your home instead of in a dusty old album.

The loosely styled, posed-but-not-stiff looking images capturing the beautiful nuances of a moment in time were exactly the kind I had wanted for my own wedding so many years ago (15 years to be exact!). We did our best to articulate it to the person we had hired to shoot the wedding, but it really did not work out the way we pictured it in our minds. We can always hope for something exciting if we do a 20th vow renewal though…

For those of you lucky enough to be living in Western Canada, Jesh takes on a few commissions per year, so you might be able to ensure that the dreamiest, happiest day of your life will be recorded in the most special way. If not, you can always enjoy more of Jesh’s stunning portfolio on his website, and follow along with him on his life’s journey on his blog.

share this story

the art of veronika nagy

i don’t think i have mentioned this before, but i have been diligently building a fabulous etsy bunny collection. now that you know, looky here what just came in the mail from talented california artist veronika nagy:

isn’t it clever? veronika’s work is not exclusively limited to rabbits either. she enjoys experimenting with different traditional and digital techniques, which is reflected in her eclectic collection filled with paintings, etchings and mixed media drawings. strong childhood narratives and a certain positive, dreamy energy run through her pieces too, which serves to link all the different mediums used very cohesively.

purchase these pieces and see more in veronika’s etsy shop, and see what she’s up to on her blog right here.

share this story

michele muennig prints and paintings

i am going a little nuts today staring at the beautiful mixed media pieces, monoprints and paintings of california artist (and fellow tulane alum) michele muennig. these works move me with their moody color palettes and symbolic imagery. there is a mystical energy about them and the unfolding, haunting narrative themes evoke ideas of fairy tales, or the nightmares within them. the longer i look at michele’s work, the blurrier the line between dreaming and being awake becomes.

what a powerful, successful collection.

you can find more info about michele and see more engrossing works on her website.

share this story

the art of angela petsis

today i have a terrible internet connection, but am loving the soothing tones and soft layers on this mixed media work from dynamic artist angela petsis. these acrylic and collage pieces represent only a fraction of angela’s formidable work– she also has strong beeswax, polaroid transfer and altered book page collections. i am enjoying the cohesive motifs of so many mysterious tales and romantic, melancholic, even tragic stories, which unfold in front of my eyes the longer i look.

see more of angela’s fabulous work on her website and flickr stream, and purchase select works at her etsy shop.

share this story

george handy sculpture and ceramic art

beautiful textures on these intriguing, puzzle-like mixed media wall pieces from north carolina mixed media artist george handy. a talented multidisciplinary artist, george creates large scale wooden sculpture and also has a notable collection of ceramic vessels.

see much more on george’s website.

share this story

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.

share this story