Monthly Archives: December 2011

robin kranitzky and kim overstreet: the storytellers

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

Tiny, wearable scenes that tell a story and captivate the viewer mark the signature style of Robin Kranitzky and Kim Overstreet’s collaborative jewelry collection.

Brainstorm Brooch

Brainstorm Brooch on stand

The two friends, who first worked together in advertising, have been making and teaching mixed media, found-object jewelry for more than 25 years.

Ambiguity, mixed media brooch #1741
2 1/2″ x 3″ x 1″

Dress Rehearsal

As I was scrolling through their website I was struck by how timeless every single piece is – so many of them date back to the 80′s and 90′s and yet are perfectly and completely relevant and beautiful today. 

Romance, mixed media brooch #1742
3 1/ 2″ x 4 3/ 8″ x 1 3/ 4”

Each piece offers a feast for the eyes and you feel like you might just be able to pull a Mary Poppins and jump into the complex little worlds. What story do you want your work to tell in 2012?

Kranitzky and Overstreet’s Gallery of Mixed Media Brooches

Look – they have a Facebook page

 

Create And Maintain Your Artist Website

{Sale Ends At Midnight 12/31/11}

Get instant access to the {DIY} version of my popular online class at a discounted price through Saturday 12/31/11 (price goes up January 1st).

Are you an artist? Do you need a new website? Need to update an existing web presence? Learn how to create a website that properly showcases your art without spending thousands of dollars on webdesign.

Sample pages from the 80-page course guide: {DIY} Sample Pages

Read more about it and watch the video that takes you inside the {DIY} classroom here.

If you need more guidance than the {DIY} version you’re in luck – there is still time to sign up for the next Artist Online Seminar program, which begins January 9, 2012.

 

get your art online

dinh truong giang: wet folded paper sculpture

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

Over the years I’ve shared the work of many origami artists – most often complex structures that require dozens if not hundreds of folds.

Buddha

Lazy Bear

Dinh Truong Giang follows a more minimal approach, wet folding watercolor paper to create these lovely sculptures.  The work has a quiet grace that is utterly appealing.

Hippos

Polar Bear

Cats

The Kiss

DinhTruong Giang’s website

get your art online

shauna richardson’s crochetdermy

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

Borrowing from the world of taxidermy, Shauna Richardson crochets wool animals that are not your children’s stuffed animals. Richardson stuffs each life-sized animal and completes the sculptures with claws, jaws and glass eyes.

“In an attempt to remove the pieces from the realms of soft and cuddly, I use coarse wool such as mohair mixes, reproduction claws, jaws and glass eyes. My crochet technique is freestyle, one color, one stitch – the direction of the stitches highlighting anatomical features. All of the animals I make are life-size.” From Richardson’s interview on Dazed Digital

What began as an exploration of the theory that ‘anything can be art’ has turned into a full time, worldwide, event-making job. For the last two years she has been working on the Lionheart Project, the largest crochet sculpture in the world. Richardson is sculpting three 25 foot lions from polystyrene, setting them in steel skeletons and crocheting their ‘skin’. The project is her contribution to showcase crochet as a valid medium – her hope is to inspire a new generation of artists to utilize this ancient craft.

 

Shauna Richardson: Crochetdermy from Nick Hand on Vimeo.

Shauna Richardson’s website

Watch Richardson in action in this video

More about her Lionheart project here

Interview on Dazed Digital

get your art online

jim sams: realism in wood

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

I thought the leaves, the petals, the stems, were real. I was certain of it. No. Not real, but really wonderful. Jim Sams is a self-taught artist who sketches, carves then paints wood to depict birds and wildflowers. Hours of research, drawing, carving and painting go into each piece, and each one captures a swift moment in time.

Paphiopedilium Orchid

Detail

Warbler On Hawthorne

Swallowtail On Coneflower

Jim Sams at work

 

Jim Sams’ website

get your art online

deelyn’s re::strung jewelry

Sign up here to receive the DAM newsletter.

A quick post before the holiday weekend to share an interesting use of discarded guitar strings.

 

DeeLyn, an American now living in the UK, creates geometric jewelry with recycled guitar strings and sterling silver. She even teamed up with NYC charity The Voice Project, to create jewelry with strings donated by well-known musicians. Proceeds from those sales will benefit families of abducted child soldiers in Uganda. . .something to think about in this season of giving.

 

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday – see you next week!

DeeLyn’s website

 

 

 

get your art online