sixth and elm wood accessories: miniview

we are circling back to some lovely burned wood boxes and frames i featured back in march for today’s miniview, since i loved them so and i think you all did too! these tactile pieces are made by toronto artist tellie finley. i think her collection is so pretty, collectible and timeless, and was curious to know more, so i asked three quick ones…

q: how did you get into this type of craftwork?
a: i got into woodburning as a child with a cheap kid’s woodburning kit and i was horrible at it. almost anything i am good at it seems that i have to fail at the first time, and it isn’t until i pick it up again that it starts to feel right. in a fit of boredom one cold winter i thought longingly of the cheap woodburning pen that used to burn my fingers after a while and, seeking some warmth since my husband refused to turn up the heat, i dug it out and started to burn a design on some scrap wood. then i burned on a blank wood picture frame. then our spice rack. soon my husband was hiding all our wooden items, sure that i was going to brand every piece of wood we own.

although i have graduated from the child’s wood burning pen, this was a recent upgrade and many of my original designs were done with nothing more than that children’s woodburning kit from 1989.

q: what inspires you to create these pieces?
a: i am inspired by anything lasting, timeless. the first (and most popular) piece i created was the french script box, which uses the text from love letters that are almost 900 years old. i love the lasting impression the written word can have and i try to create pieces that compliment the age of such.

nature is another thing that inspires me with it’s permanence. to look at an ancient redwood tree and try to imagine how many lifetimes of men it has stood sentinel is quite an experience. i think that is why i am drawn to wood as a medium, and woodburning as an art. i try to use wood from earth-friendly sources and i feel that i am giving wood a way to live on as art after it’s life as a tree is over. and i can’t deny that i love having my house smell like a permanent campfire.

q: do you have an arts background?
a: i did go to arts school, but it was for performing arts. i learned vocal, violin and drama for nine years, but i still think it was relevent as it meant i was surrounded by creativity. i don’t think being classically trained in a particular art is a requisite for being an artist, however.

every artistic technique i have ever learned was from the internet. a lot of great advice and some really bad advice all cobbled together to form the core of my “formal” training. a little success and a lot of failure has sufficed for my apprenticeship. time, more than formal instruction, made me the artist i am today. my official advice to beginners is simple: just keep doing it until you don’t suck at it anymore.

you can find tellie’s beautiful creations at her etsy shop, and see what else she is up to on her blog.

thank you tellie!

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sixth and elm wood accessories

i think these wooden frames and boxes from toronto artist chantelle finley, aka etsy seller sixthandelm, are just lovely. the words and designs are burned on to each piece using a pyrography pen, then sanded and stained.

purchase these items at chantelle’s etsy shop and see her website too for more info!

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ether ceiling light by eurofase

i love how modern and organic looking this ether ceiling fixture from eurofase is. it’s made of crystal and chrome and comes in two sizes: a large version at 56.25″h x 39.37″d and a shorter one at 35.87″h x 39.37″d.

when i look at this this i imagine that i’m underwater, looking up as the oxygen bubbles swirl and float up and over my head.

find more info on the ether light and see more selections on the eurofase website (several sexy chandeliers grace their pages!).

via contemporist

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james fowler abstract art - let’s chat!

look at these abstract paintings from canadian artist james fowler. the obsessive compositions are intricately crafted and orderly and are softened by the vibrant color palettes. unlike piet mondrian, the king of neo-plasticism, these pieces are less rigid with their looser lines, and break from the traditional exclusive use of primary colors. however, similar to others in the cubist-inspired movement, they tell graphic horizontal and vertical stories, which in turn create mazes in my mind. as my eye traces those details that twist and wind around, a gateway to mysterious stories opens that i could spend hours trying to unravel. let’s have a chat with james and find out a bit more!

q: where do you work?
a: i have a studio on queen street west, in toronto. it’s the birthplace of all that is cool in toronto.

q: what is your background, and did you study art formally?
a: i was not formally trained in art. my great grandfather was a commercial graphic designer and a water colour hobbyist, my grandmother also paints so i was born with a silver paintbrush in hand. by age six, i was doing paint by numbers adequately and by the time i was in the ninth grade i had surpassed the standard value exercises others were doing, and was stretching 4′ x 8′ canvases. i turned to the film for university and abandoned art for the film industry for many years. by 2002 though, i had had enough of the “type a” personalities in the industry, and after a friend asked me what i would do if i could never paint again, my path became pretty clear.

q: are your pieces made using acrylic paint exclusively or do you use some other types of media?
a: i’ve been thinking of switching over to oils. i’m currently working in acrylics, but also have another line of art that uses men’s business shirts and plaster in a low lever relief to tell stories of relationship.

q: how large are these pieces and what is their price range?
a: the pieces range from 8″ x 12″ to the largest (to date), 4′ x5′, but i’ve painted 3′ x 7′ pieces too. i do a lot of commission work and the work ranges from $300 to $2500 with the majority being 22″ x 30″ on paper unframed for $550 - relatively inexpensive in the art world.

q: what is your inspiration and message you want to send through these elaborately patterned pieces in these expressive color palettes?
a: i’m fascinated with the business world and what makes a strong capital market, what buildings are made of and what builds a city, who designs them and what makes good human traffic flow. i am also inspired by ancient decorative arts with a high level of craftsmanship, such as early chinese dynasty pots. there is something about steel and iron in molds too that is compelling, that frequently are used in the construction of cities or automobiles.

basically the collection consists of imagined cities from above, using color palettes to give a feeling of place or season or mood (winter in new york, paris in the spring, lost in the city, california, etc.) i’ve been doing the cities now for a while but i’m really encouraged from the attention my work has been gathering in the last six months. the work is also a lot about cities and traffic movement, about balance, a tough mix. i like to spend a lot of time away from the work and add in squares in fits and starts.

q: are you currently exhibiting in any shows or is there any other meaningful information you would like to mention?
a: you can see my work in the march 2008 issue of canadian house and home magazine, the special condos issue. it can also be viewed at toast restaurant and in stores on queen street east in leslieville. my new website is up, and i have a flickr stream as well.

thank you james!

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