Art Hound, a guide to living with art Art Hound

on the hunt for good art

artist crush: vanessa skiles

November 2nd, 2011 · 6 Comments

I’m in love with Vanessa Skiles’ ceramic creations. They’re magical.

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Believe

June 22nd, 2011 · 3 Comments

Prints by Amy of  See Change Design. Very fun.

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Artist Crush: Irena Zablotska

April 13th, 2011 · 3 Comments

Irena Zablotska, my artist crush today, is from Lviv, Ukraine. I discovered her work on flickr. While I’m not super into the flickr art community, I do love using it to come across super talented artists from far-flung places around the world. This was definitely a big win.

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Design Crushes: Cute Creatures

January 18th, 2011 · 5 Comments

Hobo ghost rubber stamp by nikoart. $5.

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Bau bau Bear Brooch by teconlene. $22.

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“Blossom pin” print by Mint Parcel. $6.

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My Egg & Soldiers by Takae Mizutani on Welcome Home. £19.50

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Bear coin purse by OneLittleRedFox. $28.89

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“Roundy: colored rays” print by Laura George. $20.

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Monty the Fox wool plush. $66.

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Ghost zip wallet by La Lisette. $40.

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“Mallow Roastin’ Mallow” print by nutandbee. $6.

Artist Crush: Talita Hoffman

December 4th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Talita Hoffman is a 22-year-old neo-folk artist (my description, not hers) living in Sao Paolo, Brazil. On her website Hoffman explains that “her work [is] inspired by nature and its different connections and relations, creating a unique universe where mythic and hybrid animals exist.” I am overwhelmed by the colors, compositions and odd visual language. Despite the alien figures and strange narratives, each of her paintings strikes a chord at the core. I look forward to following Talita as she develops as an artist.

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Jennifer Davis On Symbols, Creatures And The Inner Child

January 17th, 2010 · 1 Comment

One of my favorite artists, Jennifer Davis, has a fantastic and *affordable* show at Walker Contemporary in Boston. (Most pieces are under $700.)

For those not familiar with Davis, her paintings are fascinating in a way that makes you want to revisit them again and again.  She has cultivated her own language of symbols and creatures and other visual oddities which she talks about in the interview. Davis’ paintings are mind-bending yet beautiful and surprisingly serene.

Interview with Jennifer Davis:

AH: Tell us a bit about the work in this show.
JD: This show features a series of mostly small-ish acrylic/graphite painting/drawings that I made during the past year or so.  These paintings are reflections about my life, the people around me and trying to live as an artist in these crazy times.

AH: There are certain themes that are prevalent in your work (faces/masks, musical instruments, balloons, ferns/branches). What kind of significance do these themes have for you?

JD: Each object has a kind of invented meaning for me and I just keep returning to images that resonate. My made-up vocabulary of symbols is always growing and changing. For example, I am currently obsessed with drawing a tuba on everything.  ha ha.  I am surrounded by a lot of music/musicians so I am just using a tuba as a beautiful representation of various musical themes that pop into my head.  Nothing very deep or tricky going on there.

AH: Some of your paintings include what seem like partially-human creatures, which often blur the line between cute and strange/creepy. Who are these creatures? Do you identify with them?

JD: Absolutely.  The animals and creatures in my paintings are symbols too.  I use them as stand-ins for people.  Cats, horses, dogs, monsters all have their own “personality” traits that I project onto the people in my life, strangers, myself and humanity in general. Sweet and soft balanced with more feral qualities, as humans tend to be.

AH: Much of your work has a distinct femininity to it (delicate lines and patterns, pale colors, little girls), but the feminine sweetness seems to be intertwined with loneliness. Do you feel there is a connection between innocence/sweetness and sadness?

JD: I try to strike a cord by finding a balance between things I find beautiful and darker themes running  just below the surface.  If I painted my pictures with dark bold colors (as has been “suggested” to me many times) they might seem overly gloomy and depressing.  Instead, I think they celebrate beautiful things as if through the eyes of a child that has reluctantly grown up a little bit.  I take such great joy in the act of painting so it is funny/odd that they sometimes look very somber.  Maybe today I will paint some smiles!

AH: What are you painting now? What’s next?

JD: I am currently painting like crazy for a big solo show opening Feb 5th in Ontario, Canada.  After that I have a solo show of drawing/paintings on paper at First Amendment Gallery in Minneapolis (http://burlesquedesign.com/category/first-amendment-arts/).  I will also be showing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Oct.

Thanks, Jennifer!