Collectors

Tiny Showcase brought illustrator Lauren Nassef to my attention this morning. I've been perusing her portforlio (and you should to - you won't be disappointed). The thing which seemed the most magpie-like to share was her collector series. After all, we've had animals, tea sets, and wunderkammers on heads before. This series of illustrations though, is for the specialist collectors:


Duchess, shell collector


Edward Palmer, plant collector


Imelda Marcos, shoe collector


Mr. A.C.D. Pain, mineral and gemstone collector



John Kirk Townsend, bird collector


Andrey Avinoff, butterfly collector

Do look at her site. There is much, much more to see.

Other Hagiographies

The word hagiography makes me think of Robertson Davies. It is the study of saints. These are saints of a different sort.

First, Steve Seeley's woodland sort of hagiography.






{psst... you really should also check out his extensive portfolio... it's not all sainted animals, sometimes it's superheroes, aliens, antlers, rainbows, creative anatomy and more, via je voudrai que}.

If robots and aliens are more you style, io9 has an entire gallery of Star Wars Saints.

Empire by Scott Erickson


Imperial Saints by Patrick King


Pope Yoda from La Nuova Figurazione Italiana

These remind me of a photo I took at Nuit Blanche in Toronto 2007 of the modern day pièta with E.T. and animatronic Yoda:

tapestry of colour, gems & floating heads

Creature Comforts featured the work of LA artist Sarajo Frieden. This is someone who knows about textures, lines and colour, has a good sense of humour, and a whimsical thing for the birds. See what she has to say about colour:



Some of her work incorporates embroidery, like this:


stitched bird 4 (7.5”w x 11”h framed: 11.5”w x 15”h)


lady leaving chair (7.5”w x 11”h framed: 11.5”w x 15”h)


pinktree (gouache, collage on paper 28 1/2″w x 22″h)


green journey 2 (gouache on paper 23 3/4″w x 15″h 2005)

Recurring images include the "mini me", birds, trees, people dressed as cats, mushrooms, water, silhouettes, ship and gems. Which leads me to ponder, what is it with all the crystals in contemporary art, anyway?


jewelled bush (gouache, collage on paper 22.25″w x 24.5″h 2007)

Crystals appear frequently in a stylized network of lines and explicitly as gems.

These are the work of NYC artist Ramblin Worker (Steve MacDonald), whom I first found years ago on www.craftster.org. He also combines drawing and painting and sewing. For the record, most of his work does not contain disembodied puma heads- I just happen to really like them. Beyond the multimedia, these artists have something in common in their exuberant colours, lines and nets, and layering of pattern (as well as boats and natures as subjects). Some of the tapestries (I can think of no better word) are incorporated into 3D sculptural pieces.

Screenprinting the light fantastic

I have a lot of etsy favorites, and amongst these figure a large number of printmakers of a variety of media. There a few who make serigraphs/screenprints or even just work with the well-loved miniature Japanese gocco screenprinting devices, who have something in common. It's somewhat ineffable, but I have been trying to put my finger on it. It involves critters, no doubt, but it is also something about the line work, the colour choices and the surrealism. These four work in different countries, but they all happen to be women, and they all happen to have a touch of magic.

Consider London-based Ellie Curtis and her EllieCurtisDesings:

Josephine


Battle of Birlundula


Bird Emperor Cushion (pink), on calico

Why I haven't bought myself a pillow yet, I don't know. I think I'm simply having trouble deciding which one I need most.

While some of the work of Finnish Brooklyn-based artist animalsleep (with etsy shop here)is a little less abstract and mere fantastical, some strikes a similar vein:

extra terrestrial specimen collection 6 color silkscreen, 9" x 15"
2007, edition of 21
{This is a reminder folks: Butterflies are the new pirates!}


jefferson's frog suit 5 color silkscreen with spray paint, 8" x 10"
2007, edition of 30


dropping in to say hello *
4 color silkscreen, 7.5" x 14"
edition of 30


flamingo home
5 color silkscreen, 12" x 16"
2006, edition of 28
Now her work is on my wall.

I sense some sort of akin-ness to Madison, WI artist icebear (her blog):

our beloved sausage


Top Village



Game of Jacks

And, last but not least, one of my particular favorites, Lille, France-based Australian artist Emma Kidd, known as benconservato on etsy. Her work adorns my walls.


Zombie with a Thylacine


Sibiline {part of her book Erm Malley}


Black Fox

You must check out her work in other media as well.

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, natural and supernatural phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. Subjects for anthropomorphism commonly include animals and plants depicted as creatures with human motivation able to reason and converse, forces of nature such as winds or the sun, components in games, unseen or unknown sources of chance, etc. Almost anything can be subject to anthropomorphism. The term derives from a combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), "human" and μορφή (morphē), "shape" or "form".

[wikipedia]


The ancient Egyptian god Thoth appears with the head of an ibis, though sometimes, he has the head of a baboon. Thoth invented writing and is the god of scribes.






Killer rabbits, dancing cats and demons. Via BibliOdyssey here are some gorgeous examples from illustrations for children's literature. Also, some not-so-fit for children:




[images via BibliOdyssey]
In 1794, Wolfgang von Goethe adapted a medieval version of Reynard the Fox to produce an epic poem in hexameter 'Reinecke Fuchs' perhaps influenced by the events of the French Revolution. German artist Wilhelm von Kaulbach produced an elaborate set of steel engravings in the 1840s which were first published in the 1846 edition of 'Reinecke Fuchs'. The images above are from the 1857 edition.

That Reynard and his acquaintances got up to some mischief.


'La Lutte Artistique' (The Artistic Struggle)
Jules Worms, 19th century [via BibliOdyssey]

Though a trend in art as old as art, it seems to me to have been more prevalent in recent years in the collective unconscious. Why is that?


By Olaf Hajek. You should take the time to check out his extensive portfolio.
[via bohemian hellhole]



Check out the mysterious work of London-based photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten.

Winter Stories is the name of a recent exhibit by photographer Paolo Ventura, shown in Paris. His work blurs reality and fiction. I am particularly taken with this one:


[via Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien]

A local Torontonian, Michael Wandelmaier has some fabulous illustrations on favorite themes of animals and imaginary things (uh... and hair). Furry and feathered friends are more common than fish, but check out his work:

Something Fishy! 20×12.5″. Graphite on Bristol with digital coloring. 2008

I can not resist sneaking in this illustration by Victoria, B.C. artist Marc Johns:



By the lovely Princesse Camcam

There's always the haunting, beautiful and delicately-coloured work of Minneapolis artist Jennifer Davis.


yes
mixed media
9x12"


trouble in mind
acrylic/graphite
12x17"

Riikan Sormunen is a weird Finnish girl (perhaps that is a redundant observation) whose art portrays strange ideas about animals. So, is posting. She has a deviantART page too.


What, you say that penguin isn't doing anything that penguins can't do? Please. I am not that naive.

The anthropomorphic food seems less common than the anthropomorphic animals, but such images are not entirely absent. Check out the magical illustrations of displaced prairie girl Chelsea Cardinal. She has an incredible sense of colour, like a children's illustrator not afraid of nightmares.

Apple Head