For today’s edition of Design Foraging, I’m excited to introduce you to online retailer, Erie Drive! Erie Drive offers hand-picked unique gift and home items and I was happy to be asked to curate for them a few of my favorite ED pieces. Now that spring is in full swing, it is time to get out and enjoy all the art and music festivals coming our way. Check out a few of my favorite pieces perfect for an outdoor and artsy day below, plus more soon on the Erie Drive blog, The Niche!
Don’t these make you want to spend a day picnicking?! Have a wonderful weekend, Artsies! Mr. Forager & I are leaving Joshua Tree tomorrow, will spend a few days with friends in San Diego and then make our way up the Coast to SEATTLE!! We are so excited we can’t stand it. PLUS, I’ve got some fantastic Guest Foragers coming in next week. I’ll be in and out around these parts for the next few weeks, but can’t wait to start sharing Artsy finds directly from my favorite city!
Monday morning, as Mr. Forager & I were leaving home, we both got excited at how grey and blustery a morning it was here in the desert. A “Northwest kind of day!” we both exclaimed. Perhaps you might think us a bit odd, but we really miss the grey and the rain. Cool days spent reading in a coffee shop, wandering through used bookstores and galleries. Those days just don’t seem to happen here in the desert. So as I’m finding myself longing for clouds, I rounded up a few artsy finds of the cumulus variety!
Ok, so I’m not really using 3D in quite the right context in that there title. But doesn’t the whole 3D thing still seem terribly futuristic, even though every other movie these days is being made that way? I admit, I tend to avoid 3D movies if I can. I think it goes back to a harrowing 3D movie snake experience at Marineland as a youngin’. Thus solidifying my dislike of snakes and my skepticism about 3D films. But 3D printed jewelry?! That’s a snake of a different color. The idea that you can design an object on a computer and then print it, not on flat paper but in real, three dimensional proportions and in mediums other than paper was mind blowing! I’m just beginning to explore this world, but check out some of my favorite finds so far!
I’m kind of dying to see some 3D jewelry up close & personal now. How about you? Have you seen any 3D jewelry? Do you own any? An inquiring Artsy wants to know. Have a fantastic weekend, Artsies!
So yesterday I confessed to you that I am trying to pare down my clothing collection. What I didn’t tell you is that I am also traveling with way too many purses! Back in my gallery days, I was the girl who changed bags with almost every outfit. And I’m carrying about 10 of them with me every time we move. That’s about 9 too many to find a place to store. I’m ready to let go. I told Mr. F, if I can just find that perfect bag, that Goldilocks & The 3 Bears, it’s just right bag, I would happily donate all the others. He didn’t think I could do it. Hmmpf.
Well, I haven’t been successful yet. If money were no object I’m sure I could have been, but this is real life after all. Needless to say, I’ve had bags on the brain. Now none of these would be my IT bag ( need more neutral if I’m going down to just one ) but oh boy are these artsy bags fun!
Small Weekender Bag in Abstract by Kate Spade Saturday
Wouldn’t one of these clutches be seriously perfect to carry to your next gallery opening? What? Clutches don’t count. They’re for special occasions. Duh. Happy weekend, Artsies!
The limited palette and tight scope of the work of this month’s Featured Artist, Peri Schwartz is what continues to keep me enthralled with her paintings. An artist whose work shares these same characteristics is Lily Stockman, whose work I’ve featuredtwice here on the blog.
Lily and her sister, Hopie, have teamed up to create Block Shop, a textiles company creating hand block printed, naturally dyed scarves crafted in India by the Chhipa family of master printers ( more about the process here ). Doesn’t it seem fitting that if you love Peri’s focus on her place of inspiration, creation, and process that you would wear an artist designed, hand crafted and created scarf? Of course it does!
Because they are hand crafted, only a limited number of Block Shop textiles are created at one time. The entire inventory sold out in less than a week when Block Shop launched back in December! So Lily & Hopie have restocked and are taking pre-orders for April 1st shipping. And if you love these as much as I do, you’d better get your order in now before they’re gone!
See more from Peri Schwartz and Block Shop on their websites, linked here and here.
It’s like fries and ketchup.. chips and salsa.. hot wings and ranch.. the design trend of dipping objects in any array of colors makes something good even more tasty! Here are a few examples I dug up this week..
Just imagine wearing that blouse.. wouldn’t you feel like a brush dipped in paint?! Love it. Happy weekend, Artsies! Mr. Forager and I are taking a little road trip over to La La Land for the LA Art Show. So excited and can’t wait to share the adventure with you on Monday!
Sometimes, OK if you’re me, often, we fall so in love with a piece of artwork, we want to live in it, breathe it, and yes, WEAR it. The Wear the Artsy series imagines doing just that.. what if I could become my favorite work of art? Today, I’m longing to put on the garb of Featured Artist Christina Baker’sDinner Mints. Classic, sophisticated, yet laid back yummy.. just like Christina’s painting!
art| Dinner Mints by Christina Baker, acrylic on canvas, 6×6*
*Dinner Mints is just one of the pieces Christina will be showing in our very first found exhibition! I’ll be giving you the lowdown on the show later this week!
While visiting with friends in San Diego recently, somehow the topic of self-worth came up. My friend Veronica mentioned that the Dalai Lama didn’t understand the Western issue of low self-esteem– we are not born thinking negatively about ourselves, yet something sinister creeps in. The work of Boston area artist Jane Maxwell uses vintage fashion, advertising, and pop-culture ephemera to deconstruct the messages being sent to women and young girls by the fashion and entertainment industries.
Runway Girls and Circles, mixed media and resin on panel
Our body image issues don’t always begin with someone actually telling us we’re too fat, too skinny, too pale.. we are inundated daily, especially as women and young girls, with images of stick thin fashion models and actresses, being held up as the current standard of ideal beauty. Maxwell chooses to use silhouetted versions of these iconic figures, deconstructing them so that they become an anonymous “every woman”, which could help us to see the somber truth that these women have indeed become pawns in this game of idealized beauty.
Blue Circle Girls, mixed media with resin on panel, 48×48Circle of Thought, mixed media with resin on panel, 48×48Blue, collage, wax & resin on panel, 36×36
This standard of beauty seems to fluctuate with each generation, remember the days of Reuben and his voluptuous figures? Or the curvaceousness of the iconic beauties of the 1950s? When will we reach a point where women of every size, shape, and color are held up as quintessentially beautiful? Maxwell’s work recognizes that struggle within us of that longing to be lauded for our unique beauty yet we continue to strive to attain the ideal.
Walking Girls and Bullseyes, collage, wax, and resin on panel, 70×40
What are your thoughts on Jane Maxwell’s work or on self-image in general? Where do you see the struggle?
To see more of the work of Jane Maxwell, please visit her website and Facebook page. Her work can be seen in galleries throughout the US, you can find a list of her representing galleries on her website.
An artsy scarf, that is! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a bonafide scarf junkie. I wear them all year round and my favorite is a vintage silver crocheted scarf that my mom wore in the 70s. It has such a bohemian, artsy air. Turns out I’m not the only artsy in love with the neck cloths. Here are some wearable sculpture faves I’ve discovered lately!
I’m so bummed to be living in the desert during prime scarf-sporting season! Mr. Forager & I are headed up to Idyllwild tomorrow.. maybe I’ll be able to break out one of my faves. Happy weekend!
To see more artsy fashionable finds, check out my This Fashion is Artsy board on Pinterest!
All image sources are linked under the images above.
With the continuing improvements in digital printing, designers and artists are able to collaborate in amazing ways. I’ve been noticing a trend toward printed, wearable art incorporated into gorgeously designed fashion. Here are a few of my faves, spotted on Pinterest recently!
Glam Canyon Dress from ModclothFlashed Back Shift from AnthropologiePrinted Silk Dress from Mary KatrantzePennii Artist Palette Dress from Ted Baker London
What say you, Artsies? Which is your favorite? Any other fabulously artsy fashion I should know about? Find these and other artsy fashion finds on my Pinterest board, This Fashion is Artsy. Happy weekend!
