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| Photo from Etsy.com |
I just made my first Etsy Treasury. It's a pretty fun process, getting to curate a little collection of Etsy items. My Treasury's called "Mountain Love: Art prints for rock climbers and mountain lovers..."
Click here to see it on Etsy!
More Obama fun! Paste Magazine has made a neat little site where you can make your own Obama poster, in the style of Shepard Fairey's iconic work.
Obama:
Me:
Barack can go lead the USA next week; I'm planning to just kick back and draw.
There's something going on in Winnipeg.
The Weakerthans.
Marcel Dzama.
And now this: a Steamroller Print Festival.
Yes. Printmaking meets heavy machinery.
Photo by Perfectbound
For the past two years Martha Street Studio has hosted ‘Under Pressure’, Winnipeg’s only Steamroller Print Festival. High school students, community groups, and artists from across Winnipeg create large linoleum carvings leading up to the festival. On the day of the festival the carvings are inked and printed with the aid of a real steamroller.
I am not American. I am not into politics. But - for once - there is something inspiring about the current US political race, thanks to Barack Obama. This collective inspiration is manifesting itself in many forums - including the visual arts. There seem to be so many artists out there right now who want to show their support for Obama - and in turn inspire others.
Obama art. It's everywhere.
The best known Obama artworks to date are, of course, the posters recently created by uberfamous street artist Obey, aka Shepard Fairey. Creativity magazine interviewed Obey about his motivation behind the prints - which sold out in a mere 15 minutes.
Other graphic artists have also been inspired to show their support. Some are quite similar in style and palette, such as Gemini Studio's "Yes We Can" poster and The Mac's "HOPE" poster -- but damn, check out The Mac's fine brushwork!
Xtrapop created this retro-style Obama 08 poster (below centre), as well as this variation in warmer hues. The Date Farmers created a Mexican street art influenced poster that calls out for "!Cambio!" (below left). CRO, aka Ray Noland, has been postering up Chicago with smooth pro-Obama signage since last summer (below right).
Jill Dryer (who's usually here) made this cute poster of lines of birds who "Stand 4 Change", and another Obama bird poster, too.
Crafters have also been showing their colours. A quick search for the keyword "Obama" on Etsy brings up a surprising number of results -- today there are 132 Obama items for sale.
Alcove Press' "I want to Barack your world" cards were originally created for Valentine's Day, the cards were so popular that they brought back them back - so now you can spread the O-love all year round.
Holliday's "Obama is sexy" wallet features some nice silkscreening and colour choices.
There are lots of ways to show your Obama support through jewellery: a few options are SquishyMatter's "Obama Mama" and "Obamaphile" pendants, "Vote Obama" charm necklaces by matsudabunch and SilverStones, and beaded necklaces and bracelets by leeza888. On the more, let's say, bold end of the spectrum are cbtscloset's earrings of Obama's face.
Taking it to the next level, the able-fingered Etchasketchist twisted and turned to produce a portrait of Obama on an etch-a-sketch.
And last but not least: the weirdest Obamarama-inspired piece is certainly joanmwyand's "Go Obama 2008" political moustache pin. I love staches as much as the next gal - but am I missing the connection here?
Oh my, can sea life get any cuter? I mean, sure it's wet and slimey... but is it ever cute.
This jellyfish xmas card by Sub-Studio is one of the best holiday cards I've seen so far this season. What crafty little guys! You can pick up the cards right here and all proceeds are donated to the Shama Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing educational opportunities for children in Madagascar.
The other sea creature that's swum into my heart today is this octopus numbers poster by Binth. Oh, octopus, I knew your eight legs were meant to teach the world something.
(Both aqua links via Bloesem)
Are you starting to feel Christmassy yet?
These wintery prints might get you in the holiday spirit...
Winter Woolly by belleandboo
My Favourite Spot in Winter also by belleandboo
Stumps by Ashley Goldberg
Heartbreaker also by Ashley Goldberg
Wild Woman by Katy Horan
She Comes in the Fall by Christopher David Ryan
Hot potato, these are cute! I love the illustrations on these patches made by the fine folks at Etsy Labs. Smiling yarn, a bear in a sweater, a shower of diamonds, ice cream cones and paper airplanes! That is a serious overdose of cuteness. The patches are for sale in the Etsy Labs shop: $2 for 2 patches!
Those happy yarn peeps also pop up on Etsy's bright yellow shipping labels. Hooray for cute drawings.
You can keep tabs on the crafty goings-on at Etsy Labs via their flickr photos or their blog.
The ever-fab Make blog has a great video tutorial on how to silkscreen - or screenprint, depending on what you prefer. It's hosted by two guys from Make Magazine and Etsy. (Wow, talk about a couple of jobs that I'd love to have.)
And cause they're both cool guys, they demonstrate the process by silkscreening a wolf. Rawr.
Watch the video tutorial here.
Also worth another look, Thimble.ca has a nice round-up of online silkscreening tutorials.
Thanks to a reader for reminding me of Thumbtack Press... Siobhan had posted about it a few months ago, but I forgot! Ah, how I am wont to repeat myself. And others. Anyway, good recommendation.
For instance, this is a nice one.
I've been living as a student for so long, moving every few years and staying in an everything-is-temporary mindset. "This is good enough for now," I'm always thinking. "This will do." Yesterday, when I was asked what the best-designed thing in my house was, I struggled to think of anything that was really all that well designed. How is it that I'm so interested in design, and yet do not make any effort to surround myself with well crafted, well designed things? It's not a matter of having more, of owning more, or of buying more - it's about putting a lot of thought into the pieces (furniture, art, accessories, accents...) that make up your personal space. I resolve to begin fixing this now.
As a first step, I've been looking into lovely (and reasonably priced) prints. Art was never something that I allowed myself to spend money on, thinking that I would either never find something I liked enough or that I could/should just do it myself. Excuses, excuses.
Here are some sources:
Little Paper Planes
In particular, I like the treeboat, horsehead hostess, and mountain battles prints. Also, none of the prints currently available by Jillian Tamaki or Katy Horan are quite right for me, but I'm going to keep my eye on those two.
Tiny Showcase
Not much available right now - I'll have to keep checking.
Via the guest blog, it's Design*Sponge's affordable art guide!
Some of the artists I like:
Camilla Engman | Jillian Tamaki | Katy Horan | Amy Ruppel | boygirlparty | kozy 'n dan
Who am I missing? Where else should I look for good prints?
Woop! My first craft fair was this past weeekend. It was awesome. I had a great time, met some great people, saw lots of talented crafters, got lots of great comments about my work, and even sold some of it!
A few days before the event, I started worrying that it would be like Grade 7 science fair - sitting around at your booth all day, waiting for something to happen. Super-prepared for dullsville, I brought along a book, embroidery projects and my sketchbook - but I only doodled half of one drawing all day. I was kept busy chatting to customers, friends and other crafters and wandering around the hall looking at all the marvels on display. My friend Ren also valiantly came along for company, to hold down the craft fort, to make sure I didn't go hungry, and to sell some of the buttons he made.
Here's the loot I picked up at Craftynest from some of the talented crafters:
Thanks to Thimble.ca, here's a nice roundup of screenprinting tutorials. Inspiration to get my gear out of the closet...
Read more...
For the next two weeks, Maria of port2port press will be writing a guest blog on designsponge. Very cool - she's highlighting places to buy afforable art - places such as Thumbtack Press, where there are all kind of really lovely prints for under $50. Nice.
Follow the guest blog here (Maria's entries start on September 18th).
There's a nice round-up story on the new craft movement in today's Globe and Mail.
. . . . .
The new church of craft
Is it art or handicraft? The sweetly ironic work of today's young crafters is claiming fresh aesthetic territory
TIM MCKEOUGH
So you're sitting around the cottage and it's raining cats and dogs. You get out your craft supplies. What are you going to make? A Popsicle-stick house? No way. You'll crochet a striped cozy for your iPod or snip your empty pop cans into cool cuff bracelets.
While it's no secret that knitting has dominated the DIY world for the past few years, there's now an explosion of interest in all forms of craft, from felting to printmaking, all with a distinctly ironic edge.
Nowhere was the trend more apparent than at the recent Renegade Craft Fair (http://www.renegadecraft.com) held in Brooklyn, the new hotbed of North American hipsterism. Two hundred counterculture crafters from across the continent came together to present a stunningly diverse collection of goods.
Montreal's Red Rooster (http://www.redroostercraft.etsy.com) showed off its bird and lion-themed tote bags made from vintage and recycled fabrics. My Paper Crane (http://www.mypapercrane.com) came from small-town Pennsylvania with a family of food-inspired stuffed toys (golden toast was happy; burnt toast was sad). Brooklyn's Perch (http://www.perchdesign.net) presented handmade ceramic birdfeeders, but it also showed salt and pepper shakers shaped like bird feet, for feeding humans.
"People have preconceived notions about what a craft fair is going to be like," says sewing enthusiast Kathleen Habbley, who founded the fair with jewellery designer Sue Blatt in Chicago in 2003 (this year's Chicago edition is scheduled for Sept. 16-17). "And then they come here and it's just totally different."
One of the first pioneers of the alt craft show is Leah Buckareff of Toronto's Coldsnap Bindery (http://www.coldsnapbindery.com), who started the Pedal to Metal shows in 2002. Buckareff makes handcrafted journals and also manages the Toronto section of the popular Church of Craft website.
"It's really growing," she says of the number of people now heeding the call. And part of that growth is fuelled by the explosion of the on-line craft community. Event listings, tips and tricks are traded regularly on websites such as http://www.craftser.org, http://www.getcrafty.com, http://www.supernaturale.com, and http://www.churchofcraft.org. And for the truly prolific, finished products are sold through websites like http://www.etsy.com and http://www.cutxpaste.com.
Nathalie-Roze Fischer, another passionate Toronto crafter, has just opened the boutique Nathalie-Roze & Co. to sell the work of about 70 different practitioners (including herself), and to offer workshops on everything from sewing to soap-making (1015 Queen St. E., 416-792-1699, nathalie-roze.com).
At a time when many consumers are looking for an alternative to impersonal, mass-produced objects, crafting is turning out to be a good business.
Dana De Kuyper of Montreal, for instance, has attracted plenty of curious shoppers with her collection of Damned Dollies (http://www.damneddollies.com). Plush, aggressive-looking figures that might share DNA with zombies, these one-of-a-kind dolls take the notion of cute in an entirely new direction.
"Some people actually get kind of scared," De Kuyper says. "But usually people are excited and laugh a lot. They say, 'That one looks like me,' or 'That one looks like my friend.' "
Although she started making dolls as a hobby five years ago, they received such a positive response that she eventually gave up her day job to focus on them full-time.
The sheer creativity of products now being churned out has even led some to question whether crafters aren't crossing into the more rarefied disciplines of art and design.
It's a question that will be underlined during the first Modern Art Design Exhibit (MADE), to be held tomorrow at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel (modernartdesignexhibit.com). It will feature designers who are making objects with a new sense of artistry.
Montreal's Serigraphie Cinqunquatre (http://www.cinqunquatre.com), run by Jason Cantoro and Alice Jarry, typifies the contemporary artist-maker philosophy. With a studio that produces show posters and cover art for bands, Cantoro and Jarry also create moody screen prints (most recently with sea creature and animal themes) as their more creative outlet, and sell them at craft fairs.
Neither of them is interested in debating the difference between art and craft; they attend events like the Renegade Craft Fair to be with like-minded people.
"It's more like art," Cantoro says about the pair's work. "But we're not afraid of interacting with real people. The galleries are kind of an alien environment for us. We don't mind saying we're doing a [craft] sale instead of an art show."
Lacking the patience for pretense, today's crafters just want to take creativity into their own hands.
. . . . .
Holy crap:
1) DIY silkscreen. Step-by-step over at Flickr.
2) Beautiful Hungarian shelves. If my living situation was a little more permanent, I'd love to make these. Maybe in my next apartment.
3) How to make pop-up letters. I was just thinking about this idea a couple of months ago, when we were making bookmarks.
They say that good things come in threes. Well, in this case, bad things came in threes - and good finally dragged its sorry self out of bed for four.
Yesterday I had a stressful day at work, then came home to no internet connection and a cranky sewing machine. After wrestling with the tension (both mine and the machine's) for a while, I gave up and watched Martha Stewart, The Apprentice instead. It's hilarious that on Trump's Apprentice he gives amazing rewards to the winning team - fancy dinners, exclusive events and the like - whereas Martha's big reward is going horseback riding and playing scrabble with her on her porch. And boy, was Martha ever pysched about playing scrabble.
Anyway, today went much better. I discovered my sewing machine does not like T1 thread, but T4 (which I was using beforehand) is OK, so I just changed the plan and used that instead. Now I have a happy little stack of cards. Christmas won't be cancelled after all.
Day Two of making my Christmas cards was relatively uneventful. How smoothly things go when you don't have to assemble yout gear from scratch and improvise for power tools! I printed my second layer lickety split, without even ripping the stencil this time as I used a heavier paper stock (genius!). The paint dried so fast that I even did some sewing on the cards and wrote out the envelopes! Throughout, I listened to the fantastic CD that Lindsay, my fellow magpie&caker, just sent me in the mail. A great soundtrack goes a long way.
Tomorrow: Final sewing touches and... actually writing the cards!
This weekend I had planned to make all my Christmas gifts. I would dream up ingenious plans for each of my unique and brilliant friends, and craft away with a song in my heart until Sunday evening, when, lo and behold, I would be all ready for Christmas. Heck, there might even be time to make gingerbread cookies for the gals at the office.
Evidently, this did not happen. I did nothing crafty nor Christmassy all weekend. And to top it off it, on Sunday evening my mum reminded me that I haven't sent Christmas cards out yet. Which means I haven't made Christmas cards yet. Gah! New priority.
So tonight at 8:30pm, I decided to start silkscreening. For the first time in 13 months. Here's what I learned from my crash course back into the craft:
1) Preparation is key. When I took a silkscreen course last fall, this was my teacher's mantra. Did I follow this essential guiding rule? No. But did I wish I had? Several times? Yes. Nothing went horribly wrong; it was more a case of "Hey, where's the...? Oh yeah, I didn't prepare that yet..."
2) Get your gear ready to rock. This is much like Lesson One, but here I'm referring to me not having screwed the hinges onto my board yet, and then not having a drill, and then using a nail and three sizes of screws to make up for the lack of a drill. Oh McGyver would've been proud.
3) Paper stencils stick to paint. And tear. But only blue paint at 10:30pm.
4) The pantry makes an excellent drying rack for papers. Yet another reason to love the pantry.
5) Check what colour the bathtub is before you rinse out the screen. After I cleaned up, it looked a little green around the edges. I scrubbed away (and won!), but in the end, I'm pretty sure it was not my permanent fabric ink staining the tub, but instead my roommate's green soap. Eww.
Tomorrow: Phase Two!
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