Posts tagged ‘Art’
Mr. Foxy Pants and yes, another owl!
I’ve added two new pieces of merch to my etsy shop y’all!
Meet Mr. Foxy Pants, inspired by my favorite pooch Saci.
and Captain Owl – Ocean Hues.
Both are still original pieces, once I perfect my printing process I’ll start adding prints of these items!
Hope you like them as much as I do!
Frame Frenzy
Friday was a good shopping day for me. Well really it was more like FANTASTIC!
I purposefully hit up Aaron Brothers because they were having their biannual penny sale, buy one frame get the second for a penny. um Amazing!
I walked away with 8 frames of varying sizes (three of them being 18 x 24″) for only $100. I felt a like I had won a mini lottery…a mini frame lottery because I’m a dork.
We have countless art pieces that were just sitting in a closet at home and NOW we can frame the majority of them. Yesterday, with Alex’s help we hung them. It’s so great having my favorite pieces adorn my favorite walls. Some areas of our home even feel like an art gallery because of it…mainly the hallway with its white walls.
I have a few more pieces in mind that must be framed but for now…I’m a happy and content girl!
I love this home office
Perfect mix of black and white and art. I enjoy how it looks like a space that is very well loved and worked in but has a great sense of organization. And you all know how I love all things to be organized and tidy…also to that note, I don’t see ANY stray wires. Something I’m trying to remedy with my desk situation (at home).
I was inspired by this post last week to co-organize the wires and cords that are shared between my boss and me at the office. And man, what a difference it made…for me at least. My feet are no longer kicking or disconnecting anyone’s power supply and it just looks and feels light years better!
I recommend everybody make the change. And dream/imagine the days when everything is wireless!!!
art projects up the a**
My mental list of art projects I need/want to sit down and do is becoming a little unmanageable lately. Which is good, it’s good to be inspired and stuffed to the gills with ideas and colors and textures. But it doesn’t help that I read about a gahzillion art/design blogs a day and am constantly bombarding myself with cool and fresh ideas that others like AND cooler than me have already created. SOOO what am I going to do about it, well thankfully, I’m a highly organized artist. I make lists, organize and sort my supplies into neat cubbies, and rarely start a new project until the other one before it has been completed. So yes, I’m going to finally finish the photo album for my semester abroad in Florence, yeah that’s right, that semester FIVE years ago. I KNOW!
Then after that there’s this totally awesome painting that I want to start…the idea, I think, is totally awesome…so that will give me some extra motivation to get a move on with this dated photo album…and because I love you guys I’m leaving you with a beautiful picture of bright fabrics. yay fabric :-)
It’s about that time…
…soon there will be a new header on Cappuccino Chit Chat. Remember, with each new season comes a new blog header. In any case, the month of May has been incredibly inspiring, as far as art goes.
Of course it all started with our Western Roadtrip that began May 1st and brought us to cities with great art scenes, i.e. Denver, Boulder, and of course SANTA FE! While on that trip I saw so many shapes, patterns, and compositions that I tried to tuck as tidily as possible into my brain. I think I fared quite well, sketching a few ideas proved to be helpful too. So within the next few days I will be drawing from those inspirations as well as others that I of course see mostly via the internet. Below are some yummy tidbits to munch on!
Santa Fe was great…and now we’re back.
Santa Fe… awww Santa Fe. When we first arrived I couldn’t help but realize how very much like Phoenix it was. Except for the absence saguaro cacti…I half expected to be on my way to my grandmother’s house.
We rented an exceptionally adorable adobe styled casita 8 blocks from the famous Plaza. It was so cute and fully stocked with anything we may need. Tin foil, ice, batteries, and washer/dryer were in full abundance and we took advantage of it all! And for $115 including tax per night…it really couldn’t be beat. Next time you’re traveling ANYWHERE check out homeaway.com. It’s based here in Austin and so far we’ve used them for European and American accommodations and have been so pleased each and every time!
We jogged into the Plaza of Santa Fe on the first day and immediately met friendly locals that directed us to their favorite hot spots. It was incredible how helpful these locals were. Giving us directions to churches, restaurants, and parks. We were so grateful for their hospitality and willingness to talk art and culture.
There were many high points to this three and half day stop. But my favorites included perusing dozens of art galleries (there are over 200 in the city), eating local Santa Fe fare, visiting the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, and window shopping. We even saw the oldest church and house in the U.S.
And now, we’re back. It was nice that we came back on a Friday so that we had an extra two days to settle in. Our yard was a lush, green jungle that resembled FernGully. Guess my dad’s secret fertilizer recipe worked…it’s a highly protected mix of manure, oregano, and the sweat from a mature bison.
And because of all the refreshing inspiration I gathered throughout the entire trip I’m elbow deep in two craft/art projects. It’s totally Martha Stewart-ville on our dining room table at the moment!
morning annoyance
I was sitting down with my famed bowl of cereal this morning. I LIVE for cereal. I sadly go to bed the night before excited for eating a freakin’ bowl of cereal the next morning.
Anyway, it’s at this time that I switch from CNN Headline News to The Today Show or even Good Morning America. I happened to be watching mostly The Today Show this morning, and they even had a segment that caught my eye. The segment detailed the group of four hosts taking on a new task each day…each task entailing something that requires them to step outside of their comfort zones. Today’s was painting models in the nude at a famed art school in New York City. Something I could definitely relate to having started drawing/painting live nude models when I was 18 and doing it on a regular basis throughout art school. In college it was no big deal at all…I even had a class with my model from my life drawing class. One moment I’m drawing her naked and the next she’s my partner in glass blowing. No big deal.
The hosts handled themselves very professionally during their painting session…no wise cracks about how it was “weird” or “uncomfortable”…thank goodness. But what pissed me off to no end was when they went back to the live studio where they were to reveal their finished works of art to today’s viewers. Each host revealed their piece of art one by one…when Meredith Veira pulled the red fabric off her canvas revealing the two nude models I was APPALLED. The genitalia and boobs had CENSORS over them. Seriously? Have we gotten to the point where art shown on TV has to have little blurry areas over the “private parts.” We’re not children! And even if children see that, who the hell cares? It’s the human body, we all know or SHOULD know what the parts look like!
It’s become so insanely stupid and silly that my gut was twitching and turning while watching it. It’s dumbing down art for goodness sake and it’s making a mockery out of the human form…especially the female form.
Nudity in television/movies/books has been a topic that I’ve talked about a lot the past few weeks with friends. I forget how it was brought up the first time…but it’s something that I feel the need to argue constantly! I believe Alex makes excellent points when talking about this subject. Why is it okay to see a man’s head blown off on prime time television but the moment a woman’s nipple slips out of her tank top it’s blasphemy?
“Oh Dear God…her nipple is exposed. What distasteful SMUT!”
Alex argues that by turning nudity into taboo (something that it’s not) is what leads to sexual deviance in the first place. People who are told their entire lives that “sex is bad, nudity is smut, and homosexuality is evil” are more likely to rebel in unhealthy manners.
While spending a lot of time in Europe I saw and learned how Europeans handle nudity and sexuality in a way more healthy way than we Americans. On a daily basis I would see flyers and ads with boobs…heaven forbid. And guess what, after which I didn’t have an uncontrollable urge to rip off my clothes and dance around the streets naked. I didn’t even turn into a porn star, I simply went on with my day. Why? Because they’re boobs, sexual or not, they are what they are.
And to The Today Show producers who felt that it was necessary to censor artwork…GIVE ME A BREAK and grow up!
Snappity Doo – Blog Challenge 2 – Museums
Alec is right. I chose today’s (err yesterday’s) topic because I declared it while I was in a Museum…how extremely convenient!
Alex has been wanting to visit the AMOA (Austin Museum of Art) ever since he moved down here in January ’07. Today (err yesterday) we were finally able to cross that off the list of “things to do in Austin.” I’m not extremely familiar with the museum, only having been there 3 or 4 times prior. It was the first place I ever drew a naked man…or woman. I was 18 and took a life drawing class to get some extra work for my entry portfolio for art school. Let’s just say that I’m glad I got the worst life drawing experience out of the way first…when I was a teen. Because that meant i could handle anything after that. The guy must have been AT LEAST 78 and was the teacher’s husband…oi. Old, floppy balls are hard to draw.
But anyway, I digress, the exhibits that are currently at the AMOA are Clifford Ross’s collection of black & white and color photography called “Outside Realism.” As well as Lordy Rodgriguez’s collection of obscure maps called “States of America.” We chose a lucky day and time to go to the museum too because each artist was there and led a group of visitors around their pieces to explain them in depth themselves! It was great. And especially great after running into a new friend who enjoys art and culture as much as we do!
Ross’s collection of photography is what I enjoyed the most. He had a series called “Music Waves” of the surf and waves during or right before a hurricane would hit shore. They were spectacular, the shapes, motion, and textures he captured…some looked like frothy milk explosions while others looked like snow. I would love to own some…someday when I’m rich and can buy art like a crazy Medici.
Rodriguez’s collection of hand drawn maps were daunting. The amount of work and precision he put into them was amazing…as was the subject matter. He basically recreated the entire map of the United States based on his own memories and experiences. Also adding new states such as Internet, Hollywood, and Disney. The colors used were bold and creative and one couldn’t help but get up close and really appreciate the craftsmanship that went into each and every square inch.
So we enjoyed ourselves…good museum visit for sure. The addition of the artists actually being there to talk to us and answer our questions proved to be extra cool! Go Museums!
Typography find.
I was researching type at work today and came across this. Too cool I thought to not share! Maybe someday I’ll grow a pair and attempt a project like this…
