Hydrangea

Here is a pen and ink that I just completed. I am still trying to decide what I want to do with it: I could leave it this way, do a watercolor wash over the whole thing, or ....

more dried flowers

new watercolor with dried flowers

two new images I work on over the weekend - the red one I did after watching the movie Bridge to Terabithia and the blue one (a little bottom heavy, I think) I started with Grace working on her own watercolor next to me - practicing with our new watercolor pencils. I like the way the watercolor pencils work, I think I would like to get a set with more colors. what watercolors do you use?

Yellow Orchid

Here is a painting that I did today. Let me know what you think of the background. This is a watercolor on textured claybord. It is really easy to rework a watercolor and really get into molding certain elements. If I end up not liking this background, it will be easy to paint over the background and make it a dark blue or something.

Utrecht sells these claybords in 6" X 6" (and other sizes). I think you would really like working with this.

Fiona Rae on Artnet.com

an artist working in London - visit: Fiona Rae on Artnet to see her impressive resume -

image pictured titled: "You'll be relieved when you can see your favourites"

it reminds me vaguely of a desert landscape - almost dream like - with the different elements together. I have come across her work a few times, but never looked closely. for some reason it didn't intrigue me until now. I like the simple background with graphic elements over top - I don't understand the graphic letters, but that's how dreams are, some things don't make sense... the combination of paint brushstroke and black line drawing is very cool - almost as if she randomly scribbled with the paint then drew with black to pull out an image of a flower or creature (at least that's what I see).

indoor Chairs on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

indoor Chairs on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I was doing a search on Flickr for fiber art and came across this house built with bed frames woven with a variety of materials... it's pretty cool.

sketches

some dried flowers - these might look cool as embroidery over painting........ or a sketch over the watercolor..........

Inspiration - yellena (on etsy)

currently yellena is the featured seller on the Etsy homepage - check out the interview and check out the images in her shop. very precise and beautiful line work, yet playful at the same time. very inspiring.

artist Peter Myers

follow this link to see the book The Exact Mind: An Artist with Asperger Syndrome on amazon by artist Peter Myers - also written with Simon Baron-Cohen and Sally Wheelwright. His work is amazing. I saw the book in class the other day and was just blown away.

you've heard of podcasts, right?

well, I've been listening to Craftcast by Allison Lee and it's really cool. She interviews some great people in the art / craft world - it's fun to listen to the actual conversation and get a good idea about someones personality. you should listen to a few, I think you would like it - like I said the other day, you should do something like it since you like to talk so much.

I might be totally alone...

but I think I'm funny

This took me about 10 minutes to do in Flash. I forgot how easy it is to draw in Flash. (FYI, a couple of weeks ago Chertoff said he based a heightened security threat on a gut feeling, or something like that, and then it turned out he based it on a real report.)

I wished it showed up larger...the little guy jumping out of his stomach is the guy from Total Recall. Somewhat funny? At least I amuse myself.

Inspiration of the Day...Great illustration blog

http://drawn.ca/


Kelly, check this blog out. The author highlights a lot of terrific illustrators.

inspiring photography

grace is such an artist - what an eye!

Inspiration - Simone Pheulpin

I know I just showed you this image from the latest Selvedge issue, but here it is again. A gorgeous linen sculpture by Simone Pheulpin. The article is written by Jessica Hemmings.

Inspiration - Mary Ann Wakeley (again)

5 - Mary Ann Wakeley

Critique

To get everything we can out of our collaberation, I think we need to really have detailed critiques of each other's work. I think that once a month we should have a decent body of work that the other can write a comprehensive critique. The critique can reference influences and thought processess that have developed in this blog and point out goals. What do you think?

German Expressionism

I know that I have said this before, but I am really inspired by german expressionism, and in particular Max Beckman and Otto Dix (pictures below). The last picture is a still from a german expressionist film, which I recognize a lot of the images but I have never seen a full german expressinist film. So I am planning on getting one at blockbuster or something and check it out.

30 and a month

So, I have been 30 for a month now...not much has changed. I think that our discussion was good last night and that we just need to create a lot of work and then reflect on what we created and find a theme. So you should post some of your 6" X 6" pieces on the sibling page.

I have to run and catch my flight (I have a big net). See you this weekend.

curating

quick note - check out this article about curating THE ALCHEMY OF CURATING by Jerry Saltz

Isabel and Ruben Toledo

I was looking through my Harper's Bazaar February issue this morning and came across an article on Isabel and Ruben Toledo. Isabel is a fashion designer and Ruben an illustrator - together living and working in a gorgeous loft in Manhattan. Theirs seems to be an ideal artists life - doing what they love with no distinction between work and pleasure.
I did a quick search online and found a nice article about them on the New York magazine Home Design website



could you imagine having windows like this in your studio?

5 current favorite textile techniques / artists...

since my list yesterday was completely lame I decided to revise it...

here is a list of some of my favorite textile art:

• Abigail Doan - crocheted yarn, threads, string


• Alison Willoughby - great portfolio of embellished skirts


• Sara Tse (follow the link then look for her name in the list of artists) - incredible textiles turned into porcelain

• Carol Hummel - love the wrapped tree


• Tao Kurihara - very creative collection of knitwear designs

ProBlogger

hey Colin - I came across this site the other day and it is very interesting - it goes right along with our conversation... anyway, check it out.

so I was reading ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and this week he is featuring a theme of Rediscover Your Blogging Groove in which each day for 7 days he will announce a new type of post to help you get in the groove. as much as I like lists, I am really too tired right now and should be in bed - but here goes.........

5 things I should be doing right now (instead of surfing the net):
1. sleeping
2. painting
3. writing a paper for class
4. reading homework for class
5. did I say sleeping?

ok, totally lame, I know..............

Multimedia message

Art-o-mat

did I ever tell you about this website and project?

What is an Art-o-mat?
Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art. There are 82 active machines in various locations throughout the country.

What a great concept - there is one machine in Michigan that is being hosted by an individual who will change the location from time to time: Took Gallagher. right now the machine is in The Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville. and for you, there is a machine in Northhamton at Faces - there are also two in Rhode Island, look up the locations on Artomat.
I'll try to make it to the gallery here in the next couple weeks............

visual journal

a collage for my visual journal in reaction to yesterdays fire.

Here are some more

Shadows

So, today is a beautiful day, and I have been really inspired by all of the different shadows around town.

Inspiration

i love the composition from a distance - up close, it has a completely different feel.

Scott Johnson

more cool stuff

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
ok, Design*Sponge is becoming one of my favorite sights right now - I keep finding awesome artists and great design...
check out Rob Nadeau

this image is some of his works on paper - I like the idea of doing small minimal paintings / sketches. also, check out his floor pieces - very cool.

inspiration

after all the craziness of the apartment fire this morning, we went for a walk to the closest school playground - it was a beautiful day -

Inspiriation of the Day

I was inspired today by Jane Freeman, http://watercolorist.blogspot.com/. I am pretty sure that I have posted something about this artist before. Every time I start a Google search to look for watercolorist, her name and website pops up, so she is doing something right with getting her name out there.

She is really great about showing pictures of her process.

What was the name of that watercolorist that was one of the artists at thelounge.com?

have you checked your smoke detector lately?

an apartment in the middle of our complex was completely ablaze this morning at around 10am. we could see from our front porch the top floor apartment was burning. black smoke everywhere. their porch completely burned down. I took that picture with the firefighter on the ladder still working to put it out completely.

on another note, art therapy is great - grace saw the fire and listened to our neighbors all concerned about it and so she was a little scared and concerned as well (rightly so, it's a scary situation) - so right away we talked about what was happening and then did an art project based on what we saw. she drew pictures of things that can start a fire, the fire truck and firefighters, the building on fire, the people that lived there (one of which had a good idea to call 911), then she drew a picture of a new house without any fire. the relief she felt was obvious - she wasn't scared anymore and we talked about it more and went to look at how they were taking care of everything.

Something that inspired me today

So, remember when I was a kid and I drew editorial cartoons? I was thinking of that today and I remembered the name Thomas Nast, who was the first really popular political cartoonist in the U.S. I "wikipediaed" him, and found the work below...look closly, it's bishops attacking.

I drew a couple (very rough), but it got me thinking about how I enjoyed cartooning. Maybe I will create another blog for a series of editorial cartoons...what do you think?

FYI, my cartoons are very legal specific (it's just what I'm reading right now), the cartoons are in reference to two recent Supreme Court decisions: Morse v. Frederick is the "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" case. A kid in Alaska was expelled when he unfurled a banner during the olympic relay that had the bong hits slogan...he sued claiming freedom of speech...it went all the way to the Supreme Court...the Court sided with the school, even though it was off school property. The other cartoon has an explanation.

gooseflesh: Inspiration

gooseflesh: Inspiration

this is the first post I saw on this website and I was so intrigued by the photos - I really had no idea what these things were until I scrolled down to the bottom image - it's part of a plant! awesome pictures - it reminds me why I always talk photos of my flowers in different stages of growth and from different angles. you never know what ideas you can generate from nature.

check out the most recent posts - I really like the journal drawings she shows - all about progress and the development of an idea.

So I was reading Town & Country

(it's Melanie's magazine...which I read all the time...I'm so manly) It had an article about the advent of ipods in Museum settings, audio guides. One of its examples was the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston, so I think I might check that out this weekend and report back to you.

We should try to do something like that once a month, or at least when we get a complete set of work together...how hard would that be?

memory fading - revised

new painting - please critique

new in memory series

Inspiration - Kelly Lynn Jones

Kelly Lynn Jones

another link found from Design*Sponge - I think you will really like her work..................................

It's a bird, It's a plane, It's a cat, It's a boy, It's a dragon...

It's a start.

Inspiration - Design*Sponge

Design*Sponge

Inspiration of the day -
I just recently came across this site from a link from another blog (whipup, I think) and they feature some incredible work - I was looking today and noticed two artists that I had not seen before - Jessica Polka of Wunderkammer making super cool crocheted sea creatures and Stepanie DeArmond, a ceramics artist.. ceramicist.. artist who works with ceramics... anyway, check it out - lots of cool stuff........................

I Can Totally Do That

I found another interesting article in the Times. The article is “Portrait of the Artist as Curator, and the Dealer as Artist,” and it talks about (1) an artist (John Baldessari) being a guest curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and (2) an art show showcasing the work of several prominent art dealers. Pretty cool.

How great would it be to be invited to the Detroit Institute of Arts, or some other prominent museum, and explore their immense collection in order to develop a show! When we create our website we should make a point to have a feature that would allow viewers to rearrange our work and create a sort of gallery of their own online. Also, when we open our own gallery we should make a point to have guest curators all the time (what was the name of the gallery we went to in Detroit and talked about guest curating?).

So, I was reading that magazine that comes with

the New York Times, and there is an article about the knowledge of mobs...very timely huh. It talks about this great website http://www.threadless.com/, which has people submit ideas for either t-shirt designs or slogans and then the mob votes on which t-shirts (or slogans) the company prints. And the winning design gets $2K.

Inspiration - Tilleke Schwarz

Tilleke Schwarz - News

gorgeous embroidery work by artist Tilleke Schwarz - I first saw her work in Fiberarts magazine, then on the cover of KnitKnit Issue 6, and recently in Selvedge. She has a new book out with images of her work which I hope to soon. I'm inspired by the playful line quality she creates with embroidery and the way her images look like sketches when it is obvious that a great deal of time and energy is spent on each piece. very impressive work, check it out.

Inspiration

So, our call last night was inspiring...We really need to gather and share our ideas everyday (blog or phone call). I will try to write down a list of what we decided on with respect to promoting our work, but the main thing was to at least post something everyday (and then we forgot to post something yesterday-ha).

For now, we will post just images on the sibling page and then a statement when we have a decent body of work. Also, we will post anything and everything that we find inspiring throughout the day...either images, websites, other artists, new stories, etc. And maybe we will try to do a top ten every Friday...like top ten most inspiring artists that we found on the web that week.

Today, I am inspired by the latest list of the new 7 wonders of the world:


(CNN) -- The new seven wonders of the world were named Saturday following an online vote that generated server-crushing traffic in its final hours.

The final tally produced this list of the world's top human-built wonders:
• The Great Wall of China
• Petra in Jordan
• Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer
• Peru's Machu Picchu
• Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid
• The Colosseum in Rome
• India's Taj Mahal

I have not seen any one of these places, but I am inspired about the collaberation that made this new list happen. Millions of people gave their opinoins about what should be on the list. There is something interesting about reaching a conclusion by such a wide consensus: the brilliance of mobs? I think that if you get enough people chipping in with their points of view, there is a tremendous amount of value that can be derived by the end result...wikipedia logic.

3rd times the charm?

Okay, this will be the last image I post on this blog...or should we just post the final versions on the other blog?

silvina romero

silvina romero


I am sooooo inspired by this artist right now - her jewelry made with recycled textiles. I came across her work through a link from Layers of Meaning, a blog about commentary on design & textile art from Serena Fenton" and Inhabitat "Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future."

I have recently been trying to recycle my own materials to use in new ways - one neckpiece I've been working on with reclaimed yarn from an old sweater (light pink yarn knit in i-cord) combined with crocheted sterling silver spheres - it's not quite done so I don't have a picture of it yet - I'll post one when it's ready.

Here it is again

Let's go

I think we should officially start our planning for our joint show (rather, for our first of many joint shows). I think, for now, we can just focus on creating works while listening to certain inspiring music. And I think that we should commit to starting at least one piece every week. What do you think?

I also want to create our own website and a newsletter and start cross marketing (and I am going to draft a sort of business plan to send to Kim, so that she can start being an agent for us).

memory fading - new painting

working on a series with the idea of memory - layers of memory, overlapping, fading, changing......