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.

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paintings on pencils by ghostpatrol

look at these unusual acrylic and ink paintings from the mysterious melbourne-based multimedia artist ghostpatrol. they’re precisely painted onto rows of yellow pencils, which have been carefully stripped of their color in the image area. the subjects and the ultimate results are perfectly meticulous and just a little bit spooky.

see much more at the ghostpatrol website, where you can purchase select art pieces and contact the artist.

via designzen

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harlan erskine photography

talented new york-based photographer harlan erskine shot his eerie convenience stores series in miami, and were taken with a large format 4 x 5 camera. harlan says that these lonely urban scenes speak to our demanding consumer culture, information overload and loss of local identity.

see his website here for much more and check in on his blog too.

via today in art

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witches’ kitchen by tord boontje

not that i have changed my mind about the opinion that tord can do no wrong, but his carved witches’ kitchen line of serving utensils, made of sustainable wood by artisans in guatemala, remind me of that one scary movie that one time, with jeremy irons playing twin doctors… oh man what was the name of that? i can’t watch those things. the fact that the pieces have names like sprurk and dagger really does not ease my anxiety either.

anyway, go have a look at it over at moss and more of tord’s collection for artecnica there too.

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riki blanco art

q: what is sweet and wistful, filled with rich colors, awakens vivid memories of childhood daydreaming and wonder, and feels warm but just a tad lonely too?

a: the marvelous work of prize winning barcelona artist, album and book illustrator riki blanco.

i can’t decide which one i like best - maybe the whale with the bather on the top?

get these prints while they’re hot at thumbtack press. check out amazon to purchase the children’s literature. and you absolutely must (must!) check his whimsical website out too!

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chris poulin photography

i love this abandoned ghost town series by chicago (by way of texas) photographer and graphic designer chris poulin. as is the pattern with other photographers i’ve featured in this space (what is up with that?), chris first started taking pictures at the tender age of nine, with a camera from his grandfather. he hasn’t stopped since then. with extensive background, knowledge and skills in architecture, photography and graphic design, he currently works as a well-rounded graphic designer, who has the natural ability to see the big picture and execute projects with careful attention to scope and scale.

this particular collection is foreboding and slightly sad, but it sure does have some soul.

see more cool images and find more info about chris on his website.

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las vegas neon sign graveyard

they call it the neon graveyard. 3 acres of decades-old signs from the heart and soul (if there is one) of las vegas, signs that have seen better days in a city where hot, fast and new becomes instantly old. since i am a rogue, and also not as tall as my husband, i made him peer over the jagged chain link fence, complete with green wind screen and barbed wire, in a sketchily populated area north of downtown, to snap some shots. aren’t they cool?

there is talk of plans to open a museum featuring these pieces, and although we have heard such talk in prior visits to the city, we did not see any such evidence. those were, in fact, the same visits which found us asking concierges all over town about this place. although helpful, most of the folks behind those desks barely knew what the place was, let alone direct us to a tour company. it was only this trip that produced directions to the site.

it turns out that there is a company called boneyard tours that takes people in, by appointment only. we only found this out by seeing the random sign slapped on the fence after we got there, so it certainly isn’t a well-known fact.

it was a strangely spooky experience, even in broad daylight.

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paper cut art by peter callesen

danish artist peter callesen creates art and sculpture by making small cuts in plain white paper. this medium gives the work a fragility, which is harmonious with their underlying themes.

he focuses on the reinterpretation of childhood memories and classic romantic fairy tales, and is interested in the relationship between two and three dimensionality.

he considers his pieces to be a combination of dream and reality. when captured somewhere in between, they become living, bittersweet things.

he calls the metamorphosis of a flat piece of paper into a three dimensional form “obvious” magic, because the process is straightforward, and the figures remain attached to their origins, with no possibility of escape.

in that sense, there is also an aspect of something tragic in most of the cuts.

peter also creates large scale sculpture, like this floating polystyrene castle.

his poetic and intriguing work can be interpreted in myriad ways, by children and adults alike.

peter will be exhibiting in copenhagen later this year.

for more info about him, click here.

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