Bubbles

I'm still off travelling today, so while I'm gone, please enjoy these pictures of places reflected in bubbles, courtesy of artist Tom Storm.

Turkey

St. Louis

Denmark

Poland

Artist Profile: Mark C. Myers

Isis Among the Ibises

Ok all, I will preface this post by saying it is totally nepotistic. Mark Myers is related to me, by blood, and I hope he gives me another piece of art for posting this. Just saying.

Mark Myers, born in Indiana, raised by two wonderful teachers (my grandparents), alongside one troublesome brother and one bratty sister (my mother). Works as an art teacher in Texas. Creates art inspired by.... well, I'm not quite sure. So I asked him.

The Four Riders

Mark, your work deals with images and symbols that reference a host of global cultures. How does a guy from small town Indiana become so well-versed in this type of iconography?

Answer: I was well versed in a traditional Liberal Arts Education. That curriculum provided me with the foundations for an encyclopedic curiosity that has continued to inspire me through all my years. I have not as yet had the opportunity to travel and experience all the cultures and traditions that I have embraced as an academic and as an artist. I read, I study, I observe, and I learn. Every person and different culture I encounter is an invitation to learn more about the family of man.

Procession of the Cybernagas

Globalization makes it possible for us to interpret and recognize iconography from around the globe. At the same time, images like the McDonald's golden arches and Mickey Mouse become new, global icons. What is your feeling about this process?

Answer: I am intrigued with the phenomenon of the world wide web and telecommunications, these two most ubiquitous expressions of expanding globalization, which may be responsible for erasing cultural distinctions. Ironically, they may also be our best vehicles for preserving those distinctions and passing them on to future generations. There is in my view, a great need today for a system of symbolization that can address a new emerging world view of humankind’s greater cosmic purpose and the individual’s place in the changing landscape we are creating.

I'm in love with the painting you gave me last Christmas, The Dark Design. It's definitely a hot topic at my house during parties -can you tell me anything about the story it tells?

My living room, proudly displaying MCM artwork.
I think I could use one or two more, right ?

Answer: That painting is from quite a few years ago and represents a breakthrough after a long and difficult creative dry spell. I discovered the works of Joseph Campbell and his theories on comparative mythology, metaphor, and religion. His work was a revelation to me. The painting depicts a map of an alternative dimension of reality derived from a Yakut Shaman. The shaman climbs the celestial ladder from the mundane world, across the bridge of the Milky Way, to different spirit dimensions. He returns via the same pathways bringing new knowledge he has acquired to his social group.

Ok, let's talk about the frogs. I hear that was an obsession for a while?

Answer: Those paintings represent my fascination with the natural world. I have always loved the natural sciences. I spent many happy hours as a child looking through a microscope. Poison arrow frogs, butterflies, carnivorous plants, whats not to like about all that ? I feel blessed that I have been able to retain the same sense of curiosity and wonder that I had as a child. I think we have lost a lot of that curiosity; we've gotten intellectualy lazy.

Starfish

Your art reflects so many places and cultures. Where have you traveled, how has traveling affected your art and where would you dream to go?

Answer: I have been very much the armchair traveler. As an artist and an academic I have never had the means to travel as I would have liked. I hope to address that as I enter my second 50 years of life. Regardless I continue to keep an open and curious mind. Places I would love to visit...Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Bali, Indonesia, Lascaux, France, Borobudur, Java, Brazil, Peru.

Thanks Uncle Mark!

* All Images via Mark Myers. Prints available here.

Welcome to the World!

Stock baby, from here.

I'm not sure what got in the water 9 months ago, but it seems like everyone around me is giving birth this week -- The Boy's sister,  J.,  just delivered a healthy, handsome boy and my good friend R. is giving birth any. minute. now.

It's pretty exciting for me since, as an only child, I was never really around babies or pregnant women. It's kind of like a magical, slightly gross, other world. I am DEFINITELY not ready to jump on the bandwagon any time soon, but it has been beautiful to see how excited J. and her husband are to add a second baby to their brood and how R. and her fiancee are being transformed by the idea that they're about to be parents.

So in celebration of these great parents and parents-to-be and their lovely tykes (one boy and one girl, how perfect!), here are some really ridiculously cute baby things:

No Nursery will every be as perfect as Frank's creation in Father of the Bride 2,

From here.

But these are close...

From here, here and here.

Every baby needs a penguin shirt. and lots and lots of curly hair.

(I'm bitter - I was bald until age 3.)

From here.

If I could knit, I would run out and make a million little baby turbans and one big grown-up one for me. Alas, I will just smile at this picture and imaging pinching those cheeks. Squish!



From here.

Mobiles are like baby's first entree into the art world. It's a powerful first statement, right?

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All from here.



But, cute as they may be, these human babies will never be as cute as this baby sloth. Sorry.

XOXO and much love to all the beautiful mommies out there --

and welcome to the world, you sweet babes!

Vintage Gems

Don't you just want to jump into the world of these vintage travel posters? Ahh....swim around in the bright colors, the exoticism, the elegant relaxation. I dream of donning a traveling suit, train case in hand, and jetting off to the India, Korea, and Sweden of these posters. Those times may have passed, but we don't have to acknowledge it, do we?

All Images via Ebay.

All of these posters are available on ebay. Many of them were less than $7 (they're reproductions), though if you're looking for the real enchiladas, get ready to spend more than a couple hundred beans. You can also find some vintage travel poster art on etsy.
Hellooooo Christmas shopping!

Online Art Crawl

I'm generally too lame to attend a real art crawl (you know, where you stop at different galleries, sip white wine and remark on your own fabulousness while briefly glancing at over-priced wall hangings). But sometimes I do come across things other than Pinterest and weird news stories while on the internet. And sometimes, those things are fabulous pieces of fine art ...which would look really nice in my apartment.
Some recent faves:

Lisa Congdon:

I think she's kind of a big deal, but her work is just so charming and whimsical you want to believe she's a gifted twelve-year-old painting her daydreams up in a tree house somewhere...

Rüdiger Nehmzow:

I ran across this photographer on A Cup of Jo  this morning. For the cloud photos, he shot out of an airplane--with the door open!

Cozamia:
Combining hand paintings with digital art to create interesting patterns in amazingly fun colors, Cozamia's pieces are definitely my new obsession. I want these blown up on huge canvases; they'd dominate a room -- but in such a nice way.

Ok, now where's my white wine?

*All images are from the artists' websites.

Paint Chips Taste Good

Look good, I mean, look good.

Seriously, though folks, I had a great, exciting post planned for today but my damn-ass microsoft computer refuses to let me rotate the pictures so unless you want to see some really exciting stuff upside down, you'll just have to wait for another day.

I did find this on the blogosphere (find is probably unfair. Google Reader fed this to me like a mother bird feeding its young - totally without effort on my part.) But hey, I hear it's good to post links to other people's blog if you want someone other than friends and family you coerce and/or facebook pester to read your stuff.

Anyways, here's the neat-o:

Cuteness, from here.

This darn-near adorable art piece is made from, can you guess it? - paint chips!! Seeing this set off a little bell in my head because, ever since I was a wee child that my father dragged to and from hardware stores on a weekly basis, I have loved/collected/hoarded paint chips. Walking into the bright "natural" light of those rainbow displays, the unending boredom of the hardware store fades away and I am left in an enchantment of rainbows and highly calculated color saturation. As a kid, I had cigar boxes full of chips that I did, wait for it, nothing with. And as a semi-adult, I have several lying around the house, waiting to inspire me to paint something (ie doing nothing again).

I also really really like the names of the paint chips. A Tint of Turquoise is my favorite wall color right now, but I'm beginning a relationship with Mossy Green. We'll see how it works out. BTW, how do I get that job, right? Paint Chip Namer? I dig that.

From here

Anyways, Elsie from A Beautiful Mess actually DOES something with her paint chips. Show off. But I do love the idea and may use it for decor or gifts in the future, if I every actually act on my creative impulses.

I am writing a blog, ok? Sheesh.

Urban Art



As I've mentioned before, feathering my nest/apartment has been big on my brain lately and I have a major pinterest attack anytime I see something bright and snazzy that I can pick up (or just fantasize about picking up) for my pad. My latest themed obsession has been with graphic city posters. See below:

Banalore City Print by Fernando Volken Togni

I love this print. Love the little rickshaw. Love the bright spice market. Love the mix of old and new architecture. Love the little garden references - Bangalore is the garden city of southern India, you know. Oh, and if you're confused, Bengaluru is the more modern name for the city. The government decided to move away from the Anglicized city names (think Bombay, Varanassi) and pushed for a move to more Hindi-cized names (Mumbai, Benares) that are supposed to be closer to the actual historical names. FYI that! Also, Fernando has illustrated other cities as well, including faves like London, Paris, and Cairo.

Hong Kong Map Print via Etsy

Here's is another fun take on the city print. This gal Jenna Sue on Etsy takes maps of different cities and makes cool, graphic prints. They each feature only two colors which could be a really neat way to tie into the colors of your room. She already has cities from Akron to Yokohama covered, but if you don't see your ville you can order a customized print just for you!

Indiana print via Esty

So this print is neither international nor colorful, I now realize, but it is one I'd like to have on my wall regardless. Cities of Indiana arranged all neat and tidy in the borders of the state map. I'd want it customized with little red hearts leading from Indianapolis (where I live) to South Bend (where The Boy lives). That drive up 31 is etched on my heart (and tire treads).