Degenerate Craft Fair Dec 11th & 12th

I'll be participating as part of the "Globular Booth". Stop by and say hi! :)
http://degeneratecraftfair.com/

Embroidered Bread Art by Catherine McEver

I think this is a clever idea! More info here.

Flatbush Open Studios- Zane Treimanis

Last weekend I got to check out the Flatbush Open Studios in Brooklyn. It was great checking out the artwork and meeting all the artists! :)


I'm going to do separate posts for each of the artists I saw. Today's focus will be on the work of fine artist Zane Treimanis.


I love this! Her wall pieces remind me of micro organisms. Beautiful!



She makes gorgeous sculptural pendants too!

Crate Man!

Check it out! Recycled milk crate art! Apparently, Crate Man even has his own facebook page. Fancy that!

Saturday Inspirations- Art & Machines

I read a little tidbit in Selvedge magazine that mentioned Schiffli embroidery machines and that set me off on my mechanical art tangent this week. These days most of these Schiffli machines have been computerized, but they have an old fashioned one at the Manchester Metropolitan University in England. They had this neato video on their website that shows the machine in action. It replicates what the artist/operator does in embroidery.






I thought these machines were a fun idea: Artomats! They're refurbished old cigarette vending machines with art inside. According to their website they have them all over the place.

















Rebecca Horn uses simple motors to create movement in her elegant sculptures.












Jean Tingluey became well known for his drawing machines back in the 1950's.




You can find out about more artists who create mechanical artworks here

Interview with Artist Ren Weiner!

name; ren weiner

shop name. firefliz

site- laurenweiner.com

location- New york

me. (bio on the website) in 22, i dropped out of art school where i was a crafts major because i wasnt learning anything new.. unfortunatly ;( so now i do my own thing. i work mainly in ceramics and recycled materials i can pull outta the trash and put to another use.

apart from creating i work with the westchester coalition for the hungry and homeless and with a community gardens program i started with local high school kids growing veggies for local soup kitchens.

materials.... anything i can get my hands on! mostly clay and bike tubes at the current moment


my design process... function! i belive art should be useful and made just for you! everyone uses things differntly whether its a bag or a mug

what inspires me? dame... when i see something broken, or that could be done better, have a better personal function (which is why i prefer to make custom pieces for folks) though i want to bring everything down to its most natural form, i don't like to hide things in my work and i like to bring out the process in the finished product

how did i get into my craft.... i grew up in the woods with no internet, tv, or video games, so i had to DO something ;)
advice... stop doodling and just do it- you will learn more diving into a project then u ever will sitting in a classroom or racking your brain for the next big thing. lock yourself up with materials and no distractions. how can u improve the space around you?

do i have anything to add? get out in your community and make a difference! you'll feel better i promise.

on the horizion... right now im doing alot of custom bike bags and getting them in bike shops around my area, in the near future looking to open an eco organic cafe with my best freind. i cant wait till i can just make cupcakes and listen to punkrock all day.

Saturday Inspiration

Lately I've been thinking it would be exciting to keep track of my inspirations and projects all in one place- this blog! So this is the first of my Saturday Inspiration blogs. It'll be a weekly wrap-up of interesting art, design, ect.

This week I was flipping through the Jan/Feb issue of ID and they're doing profiles of artists'/designers' studio spaces. I love textile design and toy design so I was really interested in Donna Wilson's work after seeing her studio space stuffed with handmade textiles and plush toys.





























How awesome is the red and blue Canibdoll? so cute!



Ok, so I also have some fashion inspirations for this week, from designers Hussein Chalayan and Balenciaga. I love the strong structural shapes in Balenciaga's collection from the Paris Fashion week in Oct. And Hussein Chalayan is just awesome! He uses a combination of big concepts and experimental materials but still makes clothes that look great on people.













....and how bout that giant floral print mixed with super structural shapes on the Balenciaga line? Sa-weet!

My Etsy Eco Friendly Art Picks!

These are some of my latest favorite environmentally friendly artworks that you can find on etsy.