KOCO NY

Today we are doing a featured artist courtesy of my sweet co-worker and good friend Casey. She sent me an e-mail from art.com that featured an art company called KOCO NY. It was founded in 1989 by Janeen Koconis with the idea of bringing more meaning to common greeting card. However, the company has since expanded to more than just greeting cards. You can buy prints from the company on art.com. Check this stuff out:

love this one.

What do you guys think? Aren’t these great? I’m in love with the bright colors, cute sayings, and neat composition. And for the record, I do believe in the color wheel. Thanks so much to Casey for introducing me to these great works of art!

succulents

Apparently, succulents are all the rage right now. I saw this adorable dinosaur planter– kind of like the ones I previously posted– and I had to share it with you guys.

There are tons of examples of adorable succulents out there, but to me, the magic is in the planter. Succulents can be perceived as boring or plain, so the way to spice them up is with planters– either different or unique or simplistic and beautiful. After ogling the little dinosaur, I found some more examples that I felt I needed to share with all of you.

Examining all of these succulents has gotten me thinking. This might be a plant I could manage to take care of. I feel like it wouldn’t need a ton of attention, and it would looks so cute just sitting on my mantle or maybe in my cubicle. Since I’ve had some recent success with growing vegetables, maybe this is something I could handle. Does anyone have any cute succulents in their home? How do you like them?

linda monfort

I’ve got another etsy artist for you guys today. Today I’m featuring Linda Monfort. Linda is an abstract artist that creates bold and vibrant paintings using broad brush strokes of acrylic paints. Her paintings are abstract forms of flowers, landscapes, and even some figures. I really enjoy the vibe I get from her paintings. And I hope you guys will too. Check it out.

What do you guys think? I’m loving these colors and shapes she uses to create these awesome pieces of art! Head over to her etsy shop to see more of her art!

color love

Look at this amazing plaid dress.

Admittedly, the listing is for the belt. However, I saw this dress in a Treasury posting over on etsy, with some excellent items along the color palette found in this dress. Would we call it gold and teal? I’m not sure what exactly we would call it, but you’ll like it. Trust me.

Okay, that’s all I borrowed from the treasury. The rest is all me. Let’s hope I can keep it up!

Okay– That’s all I got. I hope you enjoyed it. Sometimes we all just need a burst of bright colors in our lives.

RozArt

Whenever I’m browsing things on etsy, I’m always drawn to brightly colored paintings. And the other day, I ran across this shop called RozArt owned by Roz from South Texas. I was particularly drawn to her series of paintings called “leap paintings.” I think you’ll understand why. Check these out.

I am in love with these paintings! As my regular readers have surely come to discover, I have a pretty defined sense of the type of art that I love. And these colorful abstract paintings are right up my alley. Not to mention, the little leapers! They are so happy and ecstatic and just leaping all over the place! I’m in love with the entire idea of this series of paintings. They just make me smile! And in my opinion, that is priceless in a piece of art.

polar bear party

You know how every kid has that one stuffed animal they love and carry with them everywhere? Mine was a polar bear. Maybe mine still is a polar bear, that’s not the point. The point is that I think that is what has always fueled my love of polar bears. They look so gentle and majestic that it’s hard to believe they are stone cold killers. Are you all aware that the polar bears are losing their homes? The ice caps are melting, and polar bears are losing their habitat and their food sources. I recently symbolically adopted a polar bear via Polar Bears International. I’m hoping my donation can go toward raising awareness about the danger these bears face. That’s why I’ve decided to do a polar bear post. I’m hoping that this post will also raise awareness. Can you imagine living in a world without polar bears? Who would be the symbol for Coca Cola?!

I didn’t even know you could make an origami polar bear!

I love Dimdi! I know I’ve featured her work before.

Oh! I love these beasts! I wish I could do more to help them! You guys go check out Polar Bears International! See what they’re all about, and what you can do to help the polar bears!

PVC pipe art

I was driving to work this morning, and I saw a truck carrying a huge load of PVC pipes. And I was amazed by the beauty I saw on the bed of this truck! The shapes that the pipes created were like honeycombs or some kind of intricate structure. Check this out.

So I started to think how PVC pipe is a completely untapped (by me) resource in the craft world. Check out some of the interesting pieces people have created using sliced PVC pipes.

And then! I ran across the art of Korean artist Kang Duck-Bong. No giggles please. Anyway, Kang takes pieces of PVC pipe and creates intricate sculptures with them, and then covers them with a thick paint. The thin lines of PVC pipe, arranged in such a way create a sense of movement within the sculptures. Here they are sitting perfectly still, but it appears as if they are wooshing past you! Check out some examples below to see what I mean.

How cool are these?! I love superman and the cars the most. I think these sculptures are awesome. I would love to look at them from different angles. I bet they don’t look like much when viewed from the front. I love art like that. When you’re circling it in the museum and you’re thinking to yourself, “what the?” and then you get in just the right spot and it all comes together. It’s like the heavens opened and a light shines down, angels sing, and it all makes sense to you. I love it. And that’s what I feel with like this PVC art!

laura frisk

Okay! So today we’re featuring textile artist Laura Frisk. I’m not sure if she would classify herself as a textile artist, but that’s what I’m going to roll with. She actually calls herself a painter and printmaker as well as a sewing addict. I guess she uses her paintings to create pillows and wall hangings. Check out her adorable pillows below.

I love these! How cute would these be in a nursery? I think the flying owl is my favorite. I love the basic primary colors and the simplistic animal forms. Which is your favorite?!

san francisco

One of the coolest places I’ve ever been is San Francisco. I loved everything about it. The food, the vibe, the people, the atmosphere– it’s all great. I enjoyed walking down the street at night and watching the street performers. I liked eating clam chowder out of sourdough bread bowls. I loved turning my head and seeing the golden gate, and riding on cable cars. Lately I’ve seen a couple of really neat San Francisco photographs, and I wanted to share them with all of you!

Sigh.. I need to go back!

shadow art

So with the wonders of the internet, I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the pieces of art that just look like piles of junk until the light hits them just the right way. When they are illuminated from just the right angle, the suddenly transform from piles of junk to shadow images projected on to the wall. Like this:

or this

Amazing, right? Well I saw an image showing where an artist took it one step further. By using color! I think that technically shadows are only gray, when light shines through an object, it’s called a refraction. Using the refraction of light through colored translucent objects, amazing images are displayed on the wall. Check this out:

I’m sorry, but how badass is that? Translucent airplanes strung from the ceiling, light shining through them to create this amazing art! I love this. I wish I could find some more examples of the use of color, but this is all I can find. The artist is Rashad Alakbarov. Here are some more examples of his work:

I’m impressed. Imagine the patience required to line everything up just right, and to get the light in just the right place. I’m continually amazed by the creativity of people out there! I hope you guys enjoy me sharing these things with you even when I don’t have a lot to say, or a lot of examples to show you. I just get so excited that I have to create an entire blog entry to show you one awesome piece of art! So there you have it!