Wise Words

Lovely, lovely work by South Carolina-based artist Danna Ray from her etsy shop, Groundwork.

Explosive color...

...literally. I was struck by the beauty and intense color of these abstract works by NYC-based artist Rosemarie Fiore. And then I read they were firework drawings, a two-word phrase that was totally new to me, and I had to know more! Turns out Fiore actually explodes fireworks in contained areas and captures the super-saturated, abstract results on paper. Check out her site to see a few shots of her work in action. As an artist, she's no stranger to rather dangerous, large-scale works; Rosemarie has also created enormous"drawings" by attaching paint to a Scrambler amusement park ride, and heated paint in a waffle iron before applying to canvas (bottom image).

I must admit those last ones do kind of make me crave a warm crispy buttery Belgian waffle though... maybe it's just me.

Scenic Indeed

Love these painterly takes on San Francisco's scenic drive sign, by artist Annie Galvin. Annie runs a cool shop with her husband, fellow artist Eric Rewitzer, called 3 Fish Studios.

Etsy Faves for Friday

Rosie Music's "I think I'm in Love" print was a featured Etsy Find recently and it led me to her shop where I fell hard for the very dapper Mr. Elegant Cat, top. He is just awesome. I'm pretty sure if he was here in my studio we would have stimulating imaginary conversations about the state of the world and such.
The Elegant Cat by Rosie Music

Other Friday faves: Tangerine cosmetic bag by quiltish, 70's Sheer Striped Dress by Ainslie Wood Co., Screenprinted poster by honey & bloom

Color Fields

A nice Kenneth Noland tribute in today's NY Times.

Nice Way to Start the Week

These cheery, Matisse-esque interiors by Brooklyn-based artist Bella Foster are just what the doctor (dentist?) ordered to help me forget my minor tooth-fix this morning, my second dental appointment in as many Mondays.

I spotted Bella's work at the Martha Stewart Holiday Craft Sale that took place Saturday over at Martha's offices in Manhattan. It was chock-full of crafty goodness and crazed Martha fans - the line was beginning to stretch outside the building and down the sidewalk when we left! I'll post a few more of my fave vendors from the sale this week.

My New Obsession

I can't tell you how taken I am with these excellent paper and acrylic collages by New York-based artist Aaron Wexler. Just stunning.

Wild-scapes

Maybe I've spent a bit too much time at the computer this week and not enough time outside. These trippy, paint-by-numbers-gone-wild landscapes by under-the-radar American painter Charles Burchfield are feeling just right to me this morning!

Monday Inspiration

If you've seen the recently-published compendium Naive: Modernism and Folklore in Contemporary Graphic Design, then you're familiar with Helsinki-born, Barcelona-based illustrator Pietari Posti, whose work adorns the cover, shown at the end of this post. His pieces remind me of the 1950's era of illustration that I love so much but with a mod, less-innocent twist. I'm particularly fond of his "GIANTS" series, above, a personal project depicting oversize animals in minimal, brightly-colored cityscapes. I'm also digging the slightly moodier Olivia series (below).

Have a happy Monday!




Naive: Modernism and Folklore in Contemporary Graphic Design

Fun and Colorful Monday

Paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Misaki Kawai. Kawai is currently part of a show at Freight + Volume.

Leon and me

The recent MoMA exhibit, Tangled Alphabets, featured the work of Leon Ferrari and Mira Schendel, and it was a broad, extensive overview of both their life's work. But for me, it was all about several of Ferrari's elegant yet natural calligraphic works, some consising of letter-like scrawled shapes and others of actual words. Unfortunately I couldn't find a lot of this work represented online, but you can view a portion of the exhibit (now closed) on MoMA's exhibition site.
I've always loved swirly scrawly type; this type of thing is just impossible to reproduce in a font. His work inspired me to practically run home, get out the calligraphy pen and go to town (results below). Not exactly MoMA-worthy, but I think it will lead to some fun patterns and designs.