August 2, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Influenced by the wild and colorful culture of Miami, Jen Stark builds unimaginable, gravity-defying sculptures out of layers and layers of hand-cut paper. Jen began working with paper when she studied abroad in France. Armed with two suitcases filled with clothes and no art supplies, she purchased a pack of assorted card stock due to its value and potential qualities as an medium. She continues to redefine her work into new shapes and complex forms both as sculptural and animated pieces.
July 26, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
The Icebook engages book arts and projection mapping into a magical performance of paper, light, and romance. The Jaffe Center for the Book is running a limited showing of this performance for just $15, and how I wish I could be in Florida in early December. This project was put together by award winning couple Davy and Kristin McGuire whose expertise and talents range from film and theatre to dance and choreography.
July 26, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Sanya Glisic is an illustrator and printer located in Chicago, who cleverly creates dynamic imagery with the use of a few colors (combing muted and saturated) underneath lines varying in thickness and depth. I first fell in love with Sanya’s work through her zodiac series being sold through her Etsy shop Horsedrawn Carriage. Jason and I own the two screenprints shown above; I find myself getting lost in the details, studying the fine line work in awe.
Sanya’s illustrations perfectly marry the foul and eerie feeling behind the cautionary tales in the 19th century German publication of Struwwelpeter. In 2010 she reprinted the tales alongside the illustrations inspired by them in her own artist book.
July 24, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Not only does Lulie Wallace have a great name, she’s also an amazing painter whose madly in love with color and texture. She transforms the idea of the traditional floral still life through layers of radical shapes, vibrant colors and simple patterns. As a bonus, her work is for sale and you can commission her to paint a custom bouquet or floral arrangement.
July 19, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Montgomery Perry Smith collects everyday objects like glass bowls, incense sticks, fake flowers (to name a few) and transforms them into something more foreign then common. Symmetry and repetition compose circular forms that lure your gaze with familiarity, yet leaning inward could arouse feelings of bewilderment.
July 18, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
These dice letterpress print are extraordinary. Who knew dice could withstand the pressure of a Vandercook. Bryan Christopher Baker of Stukenborg Press is a printer living in Detroit who painstakingly arranged 520 die for each layer of the print posted above. The shapes and pathways created by the dot pattern is both rhythmic and mesmerizing. Jason and I already own two prints by Stukenborg and I’ve become continually enchanted by the ways Baker has reinvented the patterns and illusions of this work.
July 17, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Jennifer Davis paints a world full of playfulness with her bold use of color and patterns. Yet something is a bit eerie about her creatures and characters. Although not strange enough to detour me, I’m saving my pennies up for Scaredy Cat (image above). Check out her store at Etsy where she sells original paintings and limited edition prints.
July 12, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
Lauren DiCioccio is an amazing embroiderer and sculptor, her series sewnnews applies unusual colors and shapes in a painterly way to bring new life to the familiar aesthetic of the newspaper. She uses the same process with other objects both antiquated and common.
July 12, 2012 by Erin Fletcher
As the founder of Snedker Studios, Pernille Snedker Hansen uses nature as her inspiration for creating surfaces to challenge the aesthetics of interior spaces. By combining western marbling with Japanese suminagashi, Pernille emphasizes the growth rings with vibrant pigments in her appropriately titled work Marbelous Wood.
As a student at North Bennet Street School, I had the opportunity to learn and practice marbling. It’s a fascinating process, where pigments float and spread on top a watery surface and once you lay your paper down the pigments are captured into the fibers.
