Monthly Archives: March 2013

Art Break Wednesday: Enjoy Meandering through these Great Links!

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Yay Images

Yay Images

That good old Road Less Traveled can lead to some wonderful surprises and delights!  I’m always coming across art-related links I’d like to share, so today I have a meandering kind of assortment for your enjoyment.  (Some I’ve mentioned before and others are new here.) Click on whatever tickles your fancy:

Like reading about artists and discovering new original work?  Check out Jama Rattigan’s  Alphabet Soup blog for her brand new series this year spotlighting indie artists.

First you’ll meet Kari Van Gelder, Mandy Troxel, and Amy Lum of Bossy’s Feltworks.  (You’ll have to click on the feature to learn how that business name came about!)  You’ll also meet some adorable fuzzy characters you just might not be able to live without.

Then, enjoy the miniature sculpted delicacies of Stéphanie Kilgast  of PetitPlat.  You won’t believe your eyes!

If you love printmaking as much as I do, check out the website for printmaker and illustrator Holly Meade and her Reach Road Gallery.

Her bold and lively work can be found in a trio of books by David Elliott – On the Farm, In the Sea, and one of my favorites, In the Wild.

Is photography your thing?

My author friend Sarah C. Campbell has a terrific website with lots of great info about how she and husband Richard created photographs for her award-winning nonfiction books for young readers.  Here is a great little video interview with Richard about making the pictures for Growing Patterns.

Lettering fan, you say?

Take a peek inside the wonderful print journals offered by the amazing folks at John Neal Bookseller, Letter Arts Review and Bound and Lettered.  (Scroll down to click on sample issues.)

Are you mad for mixed media?

Check out Pam Carriker’s inspiring blog and website.  Her second book is now available for pre-order, Creating Art at the Speed of Life.

Then be sure and enjoy all the layers at Seth Apter’s amazing blog, The Altered Page.  If you really want to get lost, start clicking through the hundreds of art blogs he’s painstakingly compiled in his Art Blog Directory!

Getting serious about launching, or growing, your art business?

 

Yay Images

Yay Images

Beth Rommel pointed me to this first one:

The Art Biz Blog by Alyson B Stanfield. All kinds of great resources for those doing this for a living!

 

The Etsy blogs are a terrific resource for art business entrepreneurs.  Here’s an article from yesterday about what kind of business structure to choose. 

 

 

Interested in illustrating for the children’s market? 

Check out the expansive website and blog of my author and illustrator friend Elizabeth Dulemba,  with this page of helpful links.

Finally, for the art history buffs and gallery geeks among us – have you seen this?

MetPublications is “a portal to the Met’s comprehensive book and online publishing program with close to 700 titles published from 1964 to the present…

MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for most titles, as well as information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to related Met titles by author and by theme. Current titles that are in-print may be previewed and fully searched online, with a link to purchase the book. The full contents of almost all other titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF. Many of these out-of-print books will be available for purchase, when rights permit, through print-on-demand capabilities in association with Yale University Press.”

Oh, my.  If I go missing, I have likely gotten lost in these amazing publications.  Please send a search party.

Let me know if you’d like to do this again sometime – there are plenty of wonderful trails to explore, and you might even have a favorite to share, too!

 

Art Break Wednesday: Making Impressions with Printmaking

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Earlier this year, I had the most wonderful surprise in my mailbox.  It included this card from Jama Rattigan, handmade by her sister-in-law, Alison.

lovely orignal handmade card by Alison

lovely orignal handmade card by Alison

 

Jama is an author, kidlit and food connoisseur, and blogger extraordinaire.  (If you don’t know her blog, Alphabet Soup, get thee there post-haste after reading this post!)  She has excellent taste in, well, everything – and she’s generous with her time and talent.

Back to my mailbox!  Jama is also from Hawaii.  On a trip there over the holidays, she was browsing in what looks like an incredible book and gift shop, Native Books in Honolulu, and found something she said made her think of me.  (How lovely is that?!) It was a pack of four hand printed note cards, with each block print representing something Hawaiin:  the Hawaiian hawksbill turtle, ‘ulu (a type of breadfruit tree), hula implements, and coral.

Palapala DESIGNS group of cards 579 X 384

The cards were made by Palapala Designs.  Here’s what you’ll learn on the website:

“Founded by artist Palapala (Barbara) Chung, Palapala Designs is a small company based in Maui, Hawaii. Barbara designs and carves original blockprints of Hawaiian motifs and subjects, combining them with contemporary form and function.”

I’ve loved browsing her beautiful designs! Palapala DESIGNS info card 2013 03 20

And I really love that I popped into Jama’s mind as she looked at them, too.  Thank you again, Jama (and Alison – for that colorful, cheerful card which makes me smile.)

 

One more printmaking gem I wanted to share was this video, ALL ABOUT PRINTS:

Click for more info.

Click for more info.

This 2009 54-minute DVD from  Steriopticon Pictures™ was produced and directed by Christopher Noey and “explores the collaborative nature of printmaking, the democratic character of multiples, and the deep-rooted traditions of the art form.”

It’s a guided journey through Western printmaking, with long stops in the 19th century (saying hello to Whistler and Homer) and even longer stops in the 20th.  Edward  Hopper’s influence is noted, and I really enjoyed the section about the influence of muralists from Mexico after the revolution there and through the 1930s.  Also fascinating was the role of the WPA in hiring artists as part of the Federal Art Project.    The last few decades are examined, too – the print “boom” of the 1960s and looks at what contemporary artists are creating now.  The documentary explores different kinds of Western printmaking available throughout history from the creation side as well as the collecting and curating sides.

I found this on the sale shelf (online!) of NorthLight Books, a dangerous destination for folks like me.  I don’t see it there now, but the producer has a terrific website, which includes a list of interviewed artists and experts, clips from the film, and purchasing info/links.

Thank you for coming by, and go make an impression!

Art Break Wednesday: Connections and Combinations

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Greetings!  I’m not exactly sure where the past week went, but between travelling, enjoying the last bit of spring break with Morgan, and a couple of work things, it slipped through my fingers!  Oops.

Happy to be back and eager to share art and inspiration this spring.

Today I’m thankful not only to have been a creator but a recipient in the Pocket Change  Artist Trading Card project.  Folks participated from all over the world:  the US, Canada, Italy, Australia, India, Mexico, and New Zealand! Beth mailed out my own cards to keep (or share) a couple of weeks ago, and they have been brightening my days:

 

Images © the artists

Images © the artists

The “Flowers of Time” card from Nancy is particularly special because she put the date on the back – and it was created my birthday, January 30!  Its collaged text reads:

The truth, that painter, bard, and sage,

Even in Earth’s cold and changeful

Clime,

Plant for their deathless heritage

The fruits and flowers of time.

 

Isn’t that beautiful?  I was cheered by the other cards as well – Leslie’s lively hot pink and ink drawing, Fiona’s happy Friendship card, and the colorful collage from.. Spain? Well, it has Spanish postage stamps.  I love knowing that the creators put not only their imaginations into these delightful pieces, but their hearts as well.  Thank you!

For more about the project, here’s a post on 6 Degrees of Creativity with links to other blog posts by participants.

In other news… customers often have the best ideas.  I was recently asked about putting together a combination package of note cards from my Etsy shop, an idea which I’ve been stirring on the back burner and whose time has come.  After sending off her custom package, I decided to offer a couple of themed packs as well as a “Your Choice” option for those who can’t decide.  Finally got them posted today:

Literary Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Literary Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Literary Combo Pack

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Animal Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Animal Combo Pack

Custom Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Custom Combo Pack (Click for Link)

Custom Combo Pack

The price per pack is slightly higher than my same-design packs, simply because there is a little more time involved in assembling them.

Thank you, Dear Customer who spurred me on, and I hope other folks will enjoy these options as well.

Now, I’ve got some new projects coming up with the daffodils – what are your artistic plans for Spring?