Art and fashion with a Scandinavian flair

I have a thing for Scandinavian folk art.  I just love the stylized characters and the use of simple, yet unique patterns.  Today's collection showcases a couple of contemporary artists whose folk art-inspired works make my heart flutter.  Also featured are a couple of fashion lines that complement each other and the design elements of the folk art. 

These two works were created by French illustrator Anne-Lise Boutin.  I love the minimal color palette, and the dolls are absolutely stunning. (So I realize that matryoshka dolls are Russian, but I still feel that they have a Scandinavian look, yes? Especially so with the deer and tree graphic.) 

Lina Rennell hails from California, and title of her collection last year sums up her fashion sense perfectly- "Big Sur Meets Helsinki."  I love the tent print! 

Sanna Annukka has a passion for folk art.  Shown above are a few of her more recent works. (That little birdie is hard to resist!) She got her first big break in illustration by designing Keane's Under the Iron Sea album cover! Since then, she's worked with companies like Marimekko.

Ivana Helsinki was one of the first collections we ordered when we opened a retail store in Portland a few years back.  The log cabin and tree design are still two of my favorite patterns.  At the time, Ivana Helsinki had a home collection as well as a fashion line.  So a pattern that was used for a dress (such as the log cabin) was also used for a journal cover.  You know a pattern is good when it looks good on a form and on a tabletop!

Creating art from found materials

Whether it's worn clothes, old magazine clippings, discarded security envelops, or yellowed book pages, I seem to come across a lot more found and reclaimed objects in art nowadays.  I'm a huge proponent of resourceful living.  So, needless to say, I love the idea of giving used materials a new purpose in art.  Here are a few of my favorite recent finds. 

Lesley Bricknell

Michelle Thompson

Sarah Nicole Phillips

Blondebeard

Sticker Giveaway

Today I printed a couple of my smaller drawings on clear sticker paper.  I placed the rose sticker on my laptop and the tree sticker on my work desk.  I tried putting a sticker on cardboard, but it didn't seem to adhere as well.  Now that I have a small pile of stickers leftover, I figure I would let readers figure out other ways of using them. Just leave a comment below, and I'll randomly draw five names on Tuesday, May 25th at 12p PST.  The winners will receive both of the sticker designs shown above.  And because I love giveaways, I'll also throw in a set of postcards.



UPDATE: Thanks to all for such lovely comments! The winners of the Sticker Giveaway are moodymama, Rosemary, Katie, Tina, and Heike.  If you are one of the lucky winners, please email me your mailing address.  My email is catmcmurray[at]gmail.com.  Oh, and I'd love to hear where the stickers end up going!

New work, "Sea"

This week I decided to "recycle/reuse" one of my older monoprints.  There was one that reminded me of the ocean, and I felt compelled to add some patterns and details to it.  The new work is titled Sea, and, measuring at 18" x 24", it's the largest mixed media piece I've completed in the last six months. 

Lately, I've been experimenting with flattened features in relation to three-dimensional qualities.  With this particular piece, I wanted to create a multi-viewing experience, kinda like looking at a fish bowl.  I wanted the viewer to feel as if they were underwater and also looking at the water from above.  To help with this interplay of perspectives, I added some tiny leaves that are falling onto the surface of the water.  

The pattern of ovals can be viewed as a ground or a structure.  I drew each circle by hand with a pen and then filled in the spaces with a small brush and black ink.  It was tedious but therapeutic at the same time.



Although time-consuming, I enjoyed working at the larger scale.  And I'm all for taking art work that I'm not sentimental about and reworking it into a new piece.  I already have ideas for the next monoprint make-over! 

The art of sculpting books

When tired books are rescued from the inevitable and given new life . . .

Nicholas Jones

Sam Winston

Jonathan Callan [image sources: Haute Nature, Mattress Factory]

Cara Barer

Polaroids of the famous

I've met the actor Matt Dillon before.  Okay, met is a stretch.  I said hello and he said hi back.  Maybe it was just a nod back.  My high school friend was infatuated with Dillon, and we found out one day he was shooting Drugstore Cowboy near the school.  We waited for two hours just to see a glimpse of him.



Drugstore Cowboy was directed by the acclaimed Gus Van Sant (My Private Idaho, Goodwill Hunting, Milk), who calls Portland home.   I actually haven't seen the movie yet.  I am, however, planning to see Polaroid portraits of the cast. Yesterday was the opening of "One Step Big Shot: Portraits by Andy Warhol and Gus Van Sant" at the University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.  The exhibition explores the parallels between Warhol and Van Sant, featuring 300 original Polaroids of actors and other notable individuals taken by both artists.

The show's title comes from the Polaroid Big Shot camera, a favorite of Warhol's.  He liked how the flash flattened his subjects. Van Sant used 665 film, so that he would have negatives of the images as well as the positives.  He used the Polaroids to help him cast his films, like Drugstore Cowboy.  All of Van Sant's Polaroids on display are on loan from the artist. 

"One Step Big Shot" also features several short films by both Van Sant and Warhol.  And if that doesn't get you headed in the direction of the show, I hear that there's a Polaroid of River Phoenix in the exhibition.  Where are my car keys?

 

[Images: Drew Barrymore, Gus Van Sant; Jack Nichlaus, Andy Warhol; Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol, Debra Messing, Keanu Reeves, Gus Van Sant.  Sources: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene Weekly]

My Week

new hanboks for the girls thanks to hal-muh-nee (grandma)

the birthday girl running through streamers

my new mixed media piece: Kites