art

The hubby and I are head to Chicago this weekend.  We haven’t really been anywhere all summer execpt for a trip to the lake and with baby Buscher’s impending arrival it will be a while before we can plan another weekend get-away. 

There are all kinds of events going on this weekend including the Renegade Craft Fair.  My friend & jewelry designer, Elizabeth Williams, will have a booth (No. 57) so if you’re in-town be sure to stop by or you can check out her Etsy store.  Artist and plush toy maker Shawnimals will be there as well as one of my favorite silkscreen clothing designers Harrilu.  There are over 300 booths this year! 

I hope to do some crafting of my own on the drive up there.  As always.  I’m working on another crocheted frog like the one I made last year only this one will be yellow.  I just hope the weather will as nice as weather.com is predicting.  Fingers crossed.  Two-da-loo for now!

Today is my husband’s birthday.  I wanted to do something special this year so I planned ahead. As some of you may know we have a pretty eclectic art collection.  Back in February, I contacted one of our favorite artists, Jason Limon, to create a small painting for Jason’s birthday. 

I love the depth and detail in Limon’s work. So, for this piece the only direction I gave was that my husband loves blue and that his robot characters are his favorite!

Here’s the end result:

The Mummy’s Ghost movie 5in by 5in “9 Volt Heart” by Jason Limon

It came out perfectly and most importantly the hubby loves it.
Happy Birthday Sweetie!

download Day of Wrath

Today I participated in a papercrafting workshop at Red Lead.  I learned about the store through Beth’s blog. It’s a great store but sometimes I get overwhelmed by all they have to offer and I never know what to do with it hence the need for the workshop.

The shadow box workshop was ideal because it combined painting, papercutting, fabric and sewing.  I decided ahead of time to personalize the project with a favorite photo of my grandparents.

Having never taken a workshop on this before I learned that there were quite a few supplies missing from my tool kit but fear not the ladies of Red Lead have everything.  They have paper, 50 kinds of glue and all kinds of vintage images and trinkets.  The list goes on and on.

The thing I enjoyed most was learning some new techniques.  They have some fun workshops coming up in April and although, I’m not sure the finished product is my style I’m still curious to see how it works.

Wow…did we see some amazing art last week. Art Basel was such a huge event that after 3 days of non-stop art it was a little overwhelming.  Thank god for my digital camera!  After a while everything became a big blur.  There is so much to talk about that I thought I would spread the trip into several posts.

Dress form made from blue china dinnerware

My husband and I have similar but different tastes in art.  I’m always interested in technique or the substance a piece is made of as things aren’t often what they seem.  I saw a lot of art that reused found objects and art that was inspired by the modern craft movement.  Whether it be sewing, fabric or crochet there was a little bit of everything.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Image created using all different colored shoelaces…amazing up close!

Bus shelter ad reproduced using only craft die cut stamp tools

Portrait created with reused newspaper

Horse sculpture made from scotch tape

Installation of crocheted babies.  Strange but different!

Last year I picked up an original painting by Cathy Nichols named Blue Bicycle.  It currently resides in my work space along with some other smaller art pieces my husband has picked up.

I love her style and use of color so when I saw this owl painting on her blog last week I knew he would be the perfect addition to our mini painting wall.  What can I say, I love the color blue and I love owls!  It was a match made in heaven!

He can now be found among friends in my work space. Cathy has some originals paintings as well as art prints available in her Etsy store and be sure to check out her pretty blog.

Thank you all for entering the Quilted-Kit giveaway!  The winner is Vana Chupp of Le Papier Studio.  Congrats Vana!  I’ll be contacting you via email. 

For those of you that didn’t win I hope to have some handmade goodies for December to giveaway. 

Until then be sure to check out Vana’s stunning Etsy site.  Her 2009 calendar is a perfect Christmas gift for friends and coworkers. 

 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16686320

This beautiful leather bound sketchbook by Oberon design was a gift from my friend, E, last Christmas. For a few months it sat in my home office where I admired it from afar. It was one of those gifts that seemed “too nice” to use on a daily basis. You know what I mean, like a favorite shirt that you try not to wear too often for the fear of it fading.

Anyway, in June I started taking this gem of a journal with me everywhere! Rather than having five different notebooks, everything goes in here.  It has a front and back pocket where I can stash photos, notes, receipts and it even has a handy lined paper insert.  I write lists, workouts, ideas, freelance projects, sketches, whatever pops into my head. It’s like free therapy!

Thanks E, this has been a great gift!