Art inspired gifts
29 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Art, Life, News Tags: gifts, gifts for art lovers, Holiday Gift Guide, Mary Cassatt, Pierre Auguste Renoir
And how about these figures as gifts for the art lovers in your life?
Mary Cassatt Figure
The Art Institute of Chicago’s 2009 Gift Catalog includes these “inspired versions of great artists, each with a mini-masterpiece. Art lovers and collectors will appreciate the charming detail of these handcrafted figures. Each is handmade by Byers’ Choice® Ltd. and conveys a distinct personality. The original works of art can be found in the museum’s collection.”
What’s so cool is that each artist figure comes with an artwork on an easel. Check out the Mary Cassatt Figure with Cassatt’s painting entitled The Child’s Bath, 1893. Direct from the Institute’s collection. Although I’m not sure if the oil paints on Mary’s palette match her painting…
The figures are handmade by Byers’ Choice® Ltd. This Pennsylvania-based family run business oversees a team of 180 artisans who handcraft these figures. Delightful!
Here’s the Pierre Auguste Renoir Figure, complete with a copy of Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881. Enjoy!
Pierre Auguste Renoir Figure
One Man’s Trash …
27 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in Architecture, Art, design, Life, Thoughts Tags: Dan Phillips, Gomi Style, Joel Hester, Max McMurdo, recycling, reuse
As reported in The New York Times:
AMONG the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town [Huntsville], 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters. [...] They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who [builds] low-income housing out of trash.
Check out The Recycled Houses slideshow.
Link: Dan Phillips: weaving dreams from discarded things
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Then there’s Joel Hester who creates Modern Steel Furniture out of recycled car hoods.
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And chairs made out of recycled shopping carts by designer Max McMurdo.
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Finally there’s Gomi Style , “a DIY lifestyle and design show created by San Francisco Bay Area robot makers, artists and engineers who use found objects, recycled materials, and technology to create cool, contemporary design projects for everyday life – with a twist.”
~MadSilence
Hiding in plain sight
24 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Art, Creativity, News, Thoughts Tags: bottle cap art, crafts, folk art
This inspirational series continues to play on PBS. Craft in America (a journey to the artists, origins and techniques of American craft) is an incredible TV series. Whenever I view a program I’m always inspired to create something. The PBS documentary series reinforces the message that human beings are creative animals, that creative activity is part of our social & cultural heritage, that creation is good for us!
I’m reminded of my friend and coworker, Terry. Terry demonstrates a tremendous creative capacity, manifest in his speech, his poetry, and his bottle-cap art. He’s a natural story teller. Terrry recycles plastic bottle caps as components of personal portraits. Using colored pens & markers, he creates on disks of paper a portrait of the recipient, their calligraphic initials, and images that capture their personality. The paper disk is fashioned to fit inside the cap. A red rubber binds the three caps into a triptych.
According to Craft in America:
We have a deep sense of longing for the handmade. [...] Craft gives pleasure as well as function. It is inspirational as well as useful. It is the best representation of who we are as a culture. Craft is democratic. It is broad enough to accommodate anyone who makes something or appreciates the handmade. Craft is all around us. You’ll find it wherever you look – hiding in plain sight.
A recent issue of the National Endowment for the Arts’ NEA Newsletter deals with the Folk Arts. In an article entitled The Core of Absolutely Everything, author and educator James Bau Graves explains why the folk arts matter.
The folk arts matter. They matter because they reflect who we are as U.S. citizens. They matter because they sustain our heritage. They matter because they bring us together as community.
Looking for inspiration? Or pure aestheitc delectation? Visit the Virtual Exhibit on the Craft in America website.
~MadSilence to&w
The artist speaks
16 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Art, Culture, Life, News Tags: Vincent Van Gogh
I read Van Gogh’s letters several years ago and found them fascinating, an accessible and easily readable personal history & chronology of an artist dedicated to his craft. They made the famous artist come alive. Now the letters are available via an online database.
You can access the digital library at the Van Gogh Letters Database. This electronic compendium includes all 820 known letters by Van Gogh, tracing the artist from his youth and late start as a painter to his spectacular blossoming in the late 1880s. The free, searchable database is written in French, Dutch and English – the three languages in which the painter wrote.
The database includes precise translations and includes reproductions of more than 2,000 paintings Van Gogh makes reference to. You can read the artist’s words and view facsimiles of the letters that include Van Gogh’s own sketches. What a pleasure it must have been to receive these letters in the mail!
~MadSilence
Hello, kitties!
13 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Art, Culture, Japan, Life, Thoughts Tags: Cat clothing
Dog owners dress their pets, don’t they? So why not cat costumes? Cat clothing designer Takako Iwasa started designing cat outfits in 2000.
There’s even a cat cafe in Japan where where customers can play with cats, using cat toys if they wish, or simply enjoy watching the furry ones while having a drink or a bite to eat. Alcohol is served in the evening.
Ever wondered why cats paint? Then go here.
If you’ve had enough of this feline infatuation, try this this cool cat repellent from Steve over at InventorSpot.
Links:
Hello, kitties! Felines take over catwalk, TV
Cat cafe doubles as pet adoption agency
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Think cat costumes are your thing? Want to complete your cat’s getup? Visit the people over at Kitty Wigs!, the only website you’ll find with specially designed cat wigs. America’s gotta keep up with Japanese cuteness somehow!
Kitty Wig's Electric Blue model.
They even have a blog and their own book coming out filled with cats in wigs called “Glamourpuss” ^^.
"Glamourpuss," the newest in cat photography.
~MS the Younger
It’s Okay for Artists to Make Money
10 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Art, Culture, Life, Thoughts
It Is Okay for Artists to Make Money…No, Really, It’s Okay
Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers
When art and commerce are mentioned in the same sentence, many people become bad tempered or think something needs fixing. This paper argues that more artists ought to make more money more often. HBS professor Robert Austin and theater dramaturg Lee Devin identify and undermine three fallacies about art and commerce, and suggest that it is necessary to carry on a more careful and less emotional conversation about the tensions between art and business and to overcome a general aversion to business common among artists and their patrons. They also stress the need to develop better theories about how art and commerce can achieve integration helpful to both. Key concepts include:
- The interests of art, artists, and business can be best served if more commerce enters into the world of art, not less.
- There are three fallacies, often implicit, about relationships between art and commerce: (1) art is a luxury and an indulgence, (2) art is clearly distinguishable from “non-art,” and (3) commerce dominates and corrupts art, and subverts its purpose.
- Good art should achieve appropriate commercial value consistently, not just occasionally. A conversation takes place when art and commerce are in tension, a conversation in which neither artists nor managers should dominate.
+ Full Paper (PDF; 173 KB)
Via ResourceShelf
~MadSilence to&w
RIP: Gourmet Magazine
09 Oct 2009 9 Comments
in Food, Reading, Recipes Tags: gourmet, Gourmet Magazine, magazine, magazines
RIP
Victim to current circumstances is one of my favorite food magazines: Gourmet. Blaming the bad economy, Gourmet’s publisher, Conde Nast, announced its shut-down on Monday as well as 3 other magazines in their repertoire. It’s a sad day for foodies. Back in the day I thought Gourmet was about exactly that: food snobs and recipes that can’t be made without importing ostrich eggs from Africa. Only after getting hooked on the website (and not having to leaf through all those awful advertisements that seem to clutter up 90% of magazines theses days) did I see what Gourmet was really about: living frugally. Treating animals and farmers well. Eating locally. Bringing the impact of eating (political, social, and environmental) to an audience that usually doesn’t like to think about the results of their actions. All wrapped up in a fancy wrapper with amazing food photography. While all the Gourmet recipes are going to go onto the BonAppetite website (which is essentially a database with a search box, so much for quality), their own website with its collection of great writing is in limbo. It sounds like it will be up during the “transition period” but who know how long that will be, so pop over there while you still can!
~MS the Gastronomically Distraught
T-shirt art for everyone!
08 Oct 2009 1 Comment
in Artist Spotlight, Creativity Tags: clothing, crowdsourcing, design, diy, Threadless, threads, tshirt design
Remember 20×200, the art site that produces small artists’ work in small batches for very affordable prices that Dad wrote about? I totally love the concept of small affordable art, but I have to admit that I like art that’s a little more, well, useful. While decorating my house is awesome, I really prefer functioning art. Like clothing art!
So how’s it work? Basically, you head over to Threadless and create an account. Then, if you’re a designer, you submit your designs to be reviewed and voted upon by other users. If your design is popular enough, it’ll be printed on a limited run of good quality, affordable t-shirts (most of them run between $12-$20). Crowndozen has a nice little interview with the site creators if you’d like some more details. While most designs are from regular people, they also have special runs by famous artists and designers. An awesome opportunity to support small artists and deck yourself out in some super-cool threads!
Fail! by Budi Satria Kahn
Pillow Fight! by Fiona Lee
The Communist Party by Tom Burns
Infinity MPG by Ross Zietz
~MS the Younger
Domo with your coffee
07 Oct 2009 Leave a Comment
in Japanese Culture, Life, News Tags: 7-11, anime, Domo, Domo-kun
Of course anyone who has a certified Japanophile in the family must be familiar with the Domo character, especially when that lover of all things Japanese is also a JET ALT. So it came as no real surprise when, upon entering my local 7-11 store, what should I see but images of this Japanese animated character and mascot. After all it was good enough last Halloween for the Target chain of American retail stores.
Related links:
7/11 ‘Domo’ Promotion Goes Live
Dark Horse, TPop Join Domo Promo
New at 7-Eleven® Stores
Image source
Hoping to see you in Japan! JET Programme Application 2009
06 Oct 2009 3 Comments
in Japan, Japanese Culture, Life, Travel Tags: Japan, Jet Programme, Jet Programme 2009 Application, Teaching English, Travel
The Jet Programme Logo
It’s that special time of year again, that tiny window of 2 months to apply for the JET Programme! The US website has the application up, which is due on November 24th. If you’re not in the US, check the participating countries list which will direct you to your country’s application procedure.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Mark Twain
The Jet Programme is an amazing opportunity that you won’t get in any other country!!! In this, Japan is special… and a little strange (has any other country tried to import diversity in quite the same way?). You’ll get travel expenses, an interesting, challenging job, a great paycheck and a chance to make a difference on a local level as well as creating connections between people from countries all around the world. When I applied I never realized what a life-changing experience living in such a different country would be – and I think it’s an experience that ALL people should have.
Peace in Hiroshima
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” St. Augustine
America is so big that it’s forgotten that other countries exist. While other countries encourage their students and young people to travel and expand their horizons (for example, the gap year programs in Australia and the UK) America is geographically, and subsequently mentally, isolated. Yes, we’re far away from many places, and yes, many people don’t study a different language seriously in high school or college, but without that mind-shocking experience of living abroad – eating different foods, seeing different values and religions at work, communicating with your body when you can’t speak or read properly, seeing the universal kindness of people no matter what color their skin is – our minds will always be fettered with that patriotic “We’re the best!” attitude. Not that I’m against patriotism (I love home and I will never stop loving it for its idiosyncrasies and flexibility), but it’s important to understand why you love your country, and you can’t do that unless you have some other experience to compare it to. So people, take advantage of programs like Jet or the other English teaching opportunities there are around the world!
Here’s an excerpt from an email I wrote to a friend of a friend who was interested in the JET Programme:
You sound like a lot of us who want to get out of the US and have an adventure…. Japan is one of the most amazing adventures I’ve had yet. Japan is so familiar on the surface and yet so completely different underneath. It drives some people crazy, they can’t adapt to it. Some of us become completely absorbed, Japan just agrees with us better then our home country. Some people straddle the line between the two, like me. You can do so many things here, so many doors are open that aren’t at home. Here you’re an alien rock star, sticking out no matter where you go, being stared at in the street by children and old ladies alike, being treated with extreme respect and kindness most of the time and occasionally being stalked or treated like an idiot. You will find yourself getting used to being so obvious and use it as a way to draw other people out of their shells. You will make friends with gaijin from around the globe that you would never meet or even think of socializing with anywhere else. Your English will be bastardized and you will talk in pidjin English-Japanese (so take your GRE now before your vocab starts to decay!). You’ll go to karaoke with your students, get drunk and naked with your co-workers, carry penises through the streets and dance at international festivals. You’ll eat foods you never thought would enter your mouth – you’ll find yourself loving fish and losing weight . Japan will change you in ways you never expected and I expect that none of us will ever go back to the way we were before, it’s impossible. You have to be aware of the immense cultural, mental, language stresses that you’ll be placed under and be patient with yourself to get over them, no matter how long you’re here you will be riding the ups and downs of the culture shock roller coaster, but you’ll have amazing friends to tide you through everything from moving to going to the doctor in another language to falling in love with people you can’t communicate fully with, mentally or with language. It’s a mad mad mad mad world out here <3 but I love it.
Here’s a little more about the bones of the program:
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