I’ve collected so many art links that I couldn’t quite decide what to use for Magpie Monday, so I’ve opted to spread the art-link love to two days this week (check back on Thursday for another installment).
◊ Leontine Greenberg has drawn some pieces that really appeal to me—birds and houses, but not, strictly speaking, birdhouses. Here’s her description:
The houses have no doors. No one ever goes in or out. But at night, light shines from the windows; on a cold day, smoke rises.
There are fingerprints on the windowpanes, hastily scribbled messages on cloudy glass: a smiley face, hello. Behind them, shadows waltz. The creatures dance—one, two three; one, two three—to each home’s song or cry.
Below is my favorite of the three, but be sure to check out the other two images at the link. She has many other lovely pieces, too! Courtesy of Erin Morgenstern’s wonderful tumblr. (As with all the applicable images, click to embiggen.)
◊ Ellen Jewett‘s fantasy-creature sculptures are pure delight (again, courtesy of Erin Morgenstern)! From Jewett’s website:
Ellen was born in Markham Ontario, Canada and raised among snails. She took to shaping three dimensional forms naturally and obsessively at a young age. To Ellen, sculpting has always been about life; biological narratives, emotions, movement, balance and observations about life’s subtleties and overtures. Her aesthetic ranges from the hyper-real, to the surreal, fantastic, and the grotesque. Ellen’s creative process is truly her own, she enjoys making and engineering original material combinations to suit her needs. She has always worked by the principle that materials should conform to her vision, rather than confine her vision to the limits of a material. It is in this way that she produces mixed media sculptures that achieve an otherworldly quality.
The detail of her work is impressive, but I love most the marriage of the real and the unreal in her sculptures. I’m gonna have to start saving pennies! You can see more of her work at her website or her Etsy shop or her DeviantArt page.
Petal Deer by Ellen Jewett
◊ A twin to the Petal Deer (?), David Smith’s Black Buck for a Twin Peaks tribute show (via). You can see more artistic tributes to Twin Peaks at Damn Fine Coffee.
Black Buck by David Smith
◊ Speaking of twins, these Mystery Twins by Ryan Heshka—his contribution to the “Other Worlds” group show at the Roq La Rue Gallery in Seattle—are just delightful. Dig their bats! Via.
Mystery Twins by Ryan Heshka
◊ Some art news that’s probably not “new” at this point, but still interesting:
Face-recognition technology moves to art history.
Musée du Quai Branly unveils painting meant for high-distance viewing.
Compacted cube of demolished amusement park.
Definitely not news, but a lot of fun: Delightful photos of people explaining artworks to other people (I love how much hand work is involved in the explanations!).
This, too: 10 installations that resemble famous works of art.
◊ Love this costume design by Emily Ann Watson (via):
costume design by Emily Ann Watson
◊ I’m constantly impressed by people’s creativity and execution in creating masks and make-up. Here are two great examples: first, some amazing make-up work by Hikaru Cho—be sure to check out his tumblr, too (via):
make-up by Hikaru Cho
Next is a home-made mask by Wayne Adams at the MCM London ComicCon 2013 (via):
Wayne Adams (Leon Neal:AFP:Getty Images)
◊ More nightmare fuel from the delightful John Kenn Mortensen:
plakatfluen by John Kenn Mortensen
◊ And if that weren’t scary enough, Boing Boing shared this picture that makes me both happy and slightly disturbed:
Of the picture, Cory Doctorow writes:
This horrifying clown mannekin was reportedly placed on a hiking trail deep in the Oleta River in Aventura, Florida by a park employee who got it from the Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park in North Miami.
◊ And I’ll end on something sweet—a cat painting! But it’s a cat by Heidi Taillefer, whose work I think is pretty extraordinary (this cat is actually quite tame). Courtesy of Theodora Goss’ tumblr. Check out Taillefer’s website or this Art of Day gallery/profile.
Heidi Taillefer
