The Craft Begins

The Craft Begins

Art, cooking, life – everything's a craft.

 

Archive for the ‘art’ Category

Shadows

A friend of mine sent me the link to these images, and I have to say, I was amazed.  From what looks like a pile of trash comes these amazing life-like shadow images.

Can you even imagine the foresight and patience it would take to create something like this?

Lyndi Sales

Can you believe that these pieces are just made from paper and pins?  So amazingly intricate and unusual.  Lyndi Sales is an artist from Cape Town, South Africa, and the pieces shown above are all in reaction to a horrible plane crash.  From destruction comes beauty, I suppose.

Gregory Euclide

There’s something very entrancing about Gregory Euclide‘s work.  It’s like the dioramas that you used to make as a kid, only infused with massive amounts of skill and political and social commentary.

He creates these little worlds that you just want to get pulled into, though there’s a bit of a recoil once you realize what his pieces are composed of.

If you want to see more of his work (and there’s a lot more), click here.

Charles Burchfield

I think the universe has been conspiring to constantly show me paintings by Charles Burchfield.  There’s an almost impressionist-esque hand in the way that he renders landscape, but the color palette that he chooses really conveys a sense of sadness and perhaps oppression.

Burchfield was an American watercolor painter who lived in the earlier part of the 20th century.  He’s a decidedly midwest presence in a world that seems to be dominated by art from the major coasts.

It’s amazing to me how his works can simultaneously be so joyful and yet so haunted.

Brian Jungen

Brian Jungen‘s work is created from such everyday, mundane objects that the end result is even more amazing.  His craftsmanship is stunning – it seems as if his pieces came that way from the factory, as if there were a template made and machines to do his bidding.

Carefully disassembling Nike sneakers and turning them into Pacific Northwest-eque tribal masks?  Genius.  I find it’s rare that an artist can meld the conceptual and the craftsmanship of a visual artist, but Jungen has this skill in spades.

I’m particularly enamored with the whale skeleton composed of stackable plastic folding chairs.  What sort of crazy vision compels someone to create at this scale?

Nancy Bass

How sweet and unusual are these paintings from Nancy Bass?

I always find myself drawn to images of cows (there’s something about their faces that is so playful – either that or it’s the farm blood in me) but I rarely see them juxtaposed with more modern art in such a compelling way.  Aside from that, her rendering of the cows themselves is simply artful, and she’s got an amazing eye for color.

Irving Harper Paper Sculptures

I am totally enamored with these paper sculptures created by one of the genius designers of the mid century.

They’ve really got that amazing 60′s sensibility about them.  A book that celebrates Irving Harper’s paper sculptures is in the works – I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

Also, if you’d like to read an interesting story about the man (and see where I got most of these pictures from) click here.

Driftwood Horses

I’ve always been fond of making small sculptures when I’m out of my element somewhere.  There’s something very freeing about having a few materials lying around that you wouldn’t otherwise work with instead of having a houseful of materials.  Not that I mind that, of course, but sometimes restriction stokes creativity.

These driftwood horses from artist Heather Jansch really exemplify the art form.  They are, in a word, amazing.

It’s pretty amazing that they are built to be life-size, but I have to say I’m also really impressed by the way that the works themselves are photographed.  Can you imagine walking along a deserted beach somewhere and coming across one of these, just standing there in the silence?  Yikes!

The Heads of State

Just in case you haven’t seen enough awesome city posters this week, make sure to check out these choice selections from the Heads of State.

And yeah, of course, no one ever thinks Denver is cool enough to include.  What about being the only major city between the coasts?

Ork Posters

I’m not sure where I saw these first but they’ve been popping up all around the internet lately, and for a good reason!

A great way of organizing information.  I wish they would do this for Denver, but I’m not really sure what the neighborhood breakdown is there.  Stop by Ork Posters and see if they have your favorite city – if not, they’ve also got great prints of the heart and brain.  So nerdy.  I love it.

Oliver Peoples

Videos like this make me wish that I had gone to film school.  Either that or owner a really nice camera so I could shoot little stories like this all of the time.

Song in Flight

This installation from Celeste Boursier-Mougenout is simply fantastic.  I have to admit, I find most modern/conceptual art to be indulgent and completely lacking in charm, but this falls into the category of “magical”.

I used to have some zebra finches who would absolutely rock out every time I played the Killers.  Strange, but true.

You can visit the website for the exhibit in London here.

All the Green Bits in London

What an interesting concept – a picnic blanket illustrating all of the green spaces in London in a sort of “map”.

by Ben Branagan

Artistic Tattoo

When I first saw these abstract tattoos from Amanda Wachob, I thought that they were simply finger paint on people’s bodies.  Nope.  They’re real tattoos.

They’re joyfully expressive.  And kind of amazing.  I’ve always been fascinated by people’s tattoos and these are right up my alley.  See more of her work here.

LOST Posters

I’m entralled with these LOST posters from Mattson Creative.  SO clever and just a hint of mid-century design.  A perfect combination.

See the whole series here.

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