recycled bottle cap beads

oh what charming beads minnesota artist cathy collison makes! she solders recycled bottle caps together to create these handmade one of a kind pieces.

aren’t the vintage ones fun?

check out cathy’s website for more beautiful things!

via craft

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kelly newcomber art

i am enjoying the happy colors and stories told in minnesota artist kelly newcomber’s art. kelly is inspired by a multitude of things electronic, and expresses their usefulness and collected poise in paintings, prints and lively little stoneware sculptures painted with acrylics. i am enjoying the everyday objects interconnected with larger human ideas, and the randomness that all seems to make sense in these pieces. there’s science and technology and astronomy - and love - all bundled up here into irresistible, vivid packages.

i love the idea of these prints in a kid’s room (and wish for those sculptures on the sideboard in my living room!). there is something so very appealing about those little sculpture guys. that chocolate keypad reminds me of a blackberry device (or something else of that ilk) to keep track of yourself on.

now, if those pdas would appeal like these pieces do in real life, we’d really be cooking with crisco!

if you’re passing through new mexico, be sure to stop by the roswell museum and art center to see the artist-in-residence alumni show that kelly is participating in, now through january 13, 2008. if you can’t make it to the desert southwest, see kelly’s website for her portfolio and visit her etsy shop to purchase these lovely items and more!

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colin johnson prints

what an extraordinary piece of art we have here, from minnesota artist colin johnson. it’s called flotsam and jetsam, a favorite phrase (and category) of mine. i love the lively colors and the slightly odd, organic figures, numbers and symbols that seem so vaguely familiar, sort of like a beck album cover…

colin is a graduate of the maryland institute college of art. he has a show october 19th - november 24th at the gardenfresh gallery in chicago.

see colin’s portfolio and bio on his website.

view the step by step process to create the amazing original collage that is this print on his flickr stream.

the prints are signed and numbered in a limited edition of 50! get ‘em while they’re hot at thumbtack press.

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zippy, amusing illustrations by blake hunter

i’m really happy to show you a glimpse into the world of minnesota artist blake himsl hunter. blake took easily to pencils and crayons as a child, and, supported by his family, grew his love of art into a career as an instructor at a certain famous school — you know, the one with the turtle and the pirate on the tv commercial? he works in a variety of media, including acrylics, pen and ink, and digital. his immense portfolio, the springboard for his new illustration business, had me grinning from ear to ear. have a look:

retro rockabilly gocco prints

the monster a week series (yikes! a consultant!) with markers and pencil on post-it notes

moleskine sketches with brush pen

colorful fun with markers and digital

blake is inspired by all kinds of people: german expressionist artists like max beckmann, contemporary illustrators and cartoonists like von glitschka and john kricfalusi; and, (maybe most of all?) his lovely wife kristen (who happens to be a pretty zesty crafter - her embroidered towels are making me nuts)!

the pulpy gocco prints are currently in a show at altered aesthetics until august 30th (hurry!). see more works and find out more info about blake on his blog, flickr sets and etsy shop (where more new goccos are coming soon - yay)!

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amanda webster - poignant illustrations

i like these illustrations from new york (via minnesota) artist amanda webster, because they make me squirm.

amanda has a background in psychology and her work is inspired by human nature and internal conflict.

she works in traditional and digital media.

 i’m compelled by the themes of pain, yearning and isolation.

the somber victorian feel and the raw emotion in some of these pieces make looking at them an arduous task — which is why i love them! 

moving, and so rewarding. 

check out amanda’s blog and online portfolio for more info.

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