Saturday, May 10, 2008

Charley Harper

I am frequently asked who my favorite artist is. I've often stumbled to find an answer, never wanting to commit; always supposing that one day it would hit me like a pile of bricks. Well, that day has arrived. His name is Charley Harper. I've seen his work here and there and I'm almost certain I read a book illustrated by him as a child, but it all came crashing down yesterday when I came across a huge oversized tome of his works written by the interior design icon, Todd Oldham. I just cannot even express how stunning these prints were. It is hard to capture in the pictures that I have posted here. His works at first seem decpetively simple; it is not until you look at them for a few seconds that you realize that you have come across a master of modernism. His paintings are whimsical and bold - sometimes joyous, sometimes bizarre. I highly recommend getting ahold of Oldham's book. It will brighten your day immeasurably.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Blue and Green Chunky Charm

I finally took some pictures of the second chunky charm I made. This one has a blue and green theme - perfect for spring. There's even some frogs and a fish in it. Can you see them? This one took a little longer than the first one. I struggled a bit with the composition, but I think it came out pretty nice. One of my favorite parts of it is the light blue plastic flowers that you can see in the first and second pictures (there are light green ones on the other side, but these pictures don't show them). They were part of a vintage necklace that I found at a thrift store. It was falling apart so I un-strung it and used the beads for various projects. This charm is about 4" long by 2" wide.