Serving Up Some Unique Art

Esther Derkx gives new life to vintage, discarded serving ware by adding images of athletes and dancers to these abandoned pieces and creating something new and unique. She uses the technique of screen-printing onto ceramics, creating a wild juxtaposition of the human body, mixed with the floral and decorative existing designs of the vintage cups, plates, teapots, etc. The result is simply art...beautiful and imaginative.

See Esther's website for more of her work.

One Day I Will Own: Stephen Chambers

This will be the first of many "One Day I Will Own" posts. These will be my little dream posts about all the glorious works of art I would purchase if I only had limitless amounts of money. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In the meantime I will just admire these things, put them on my list, keep buying lottery tickets, and hope that one day I will be lucky enough to acquire these amazing works.

I am in love with the work of London-based painter Stephen Chambers. I have admired his work for such a long time, so I think it's only fitting that he get the honor of being the first on the list.

The image above is titled, "The Emissary." This is an oil on canvas from 2005. To see more of Stephen Chambers' amazing work please take a look at his website.

Fruit Post-its

These post-its look good enough to eat! You can buy one or a crate of six.

Available from D-BROS.

Today's find on Etsy

"DoomGloomBoom" is the etsy shop of artist Zack Pinson. I am in love with this this piece titled "Duck." I may be getting out the credit card and making a purchase. At $12 per print how could I pass it up? The only thing that could make it better is if it was the original, but I won't let that stop me. The good news is that Zack sells original pieces in his etsy shop as well. Unfortunately...no original of "Duck," but there are several other original pieces available to choose from. Take a look at his etsy shop here and see for yourself.

Paintings by Marion Peck

Marion Peck's paintings are dream-like. Some are like a good dream...some are like a bad dream. But they are all beautiful. Her subjects are people, animals, animals that look like people, and people that look like animals. There are portraits of puppies dressed in suits, kitties with extra eyes, evil snowmen, and so on and so on. It was hard to choose which images to include in this post because there are so many amazing works from this artist to choose from. You can these pieces and many more on her website.

"Nice Girl" and "Boy with Puppy" from Marion Peck's website.

Inky Dreadfuls

"Michael Mararian possesses a poetic propensity for taking traditionally cheerful images and concepts and turning them into frightening, yet humorous, tableaus. Focusing on children as the last bastion of innocence, Mararian draws on a diverse range of influences to deliver the peculiar ink work he aptly calls, M. Mararian's Inky Dreadfuls. In this world our fondest visions of childhood’s naiveté are darkly rearranged to uncover lost innocence and the fear of our modern times.

Though often shroud in the macabre, Michaels' ink paintings are also suffused with a sense of mischievous, almost self-deprecating humor. What can on one level be construed as melancholy and cruel, can alternately be viewed as amusing, even charming. He enjoys letting his viewers decide."

-A portion of Michael Mararian's bio from his website.

The image above, "Pupaphobia-Fear of Puppets" is from Mararian's Phobia Series. Each piece in this specific series is disturbing yet comical. Although, that is true for most of Mararian's work.

To see more of his work take a look at his website.

For the Mod Plant Lover

These planters from Metaphys are ideal for any modern home. Simple and clean, these planters make quite a contemporary statement. The "picture" planters can hang on a wall or sit on a table. The "factory" planters can be grouped together to create a modern design. Beautiful!

To purchase or see more products from Metaphys click here.

The Odd Couple

Polly George has an interesting attention to detail, and it is in the details that her handmade ceramics come alive. Her work is modern--stark white ceramics with classic shapes, but it is the hand applied details that Polly adds to each piece that truly makes her work unique. She creates coffee mugs, teapots, butter dishes and more with roses, butterflies or birds adorned to each piece. However, it is her "Mr. and Mrs. Jones" line of ceramics that I find the most intriguing. Pictured above is the Mr. and Mrs. Jones Citrus Juicers. They can be purchased here. To see more of Polly's work or purchase other pieces visit her website.

Paper Cut Creations

Artist Peter Callesen creates intricate paper cut sculptures using ordinary white sheets of paper. The negative space that is created by the cut is a nice contrast to the three dimensional reality it creates. See more of Peter's work on his website.

"Snowballs" by Peter Callesen

Lighting Designs by Jess Shaw

"Imaginative and emotional lighting designs" by Jess Shaw. View her website and see more of her work here.

"Cloud" by Jess Shaw. Made from nylon, wire and lights.

Today's find on Etsy

Beautiful cards and wall art made from layering hand-cut pieces of cardstock. The artist layers each piece with different shades of the same color to create a topographic landscape. Each piece is one-of-a-kind. See more of the artist's work here in her etsy shop.

A Cast of Creepy Characters

"We humans are an odd bunch." That is the short and sweet artist statement by printmaker and illustrator Ryan Price. His work is considered dark and disturbed to some, playful and fun to others. Personally, I find it all of the above. The subjects in his work are interesting little characters. You find yourself wanting to know more about them. His website is set up almost like a book. There are chapters, characters, and stories. Although the website can be a little tricky to navigate it's a very intriguing set-up. I highly recommend clicking on "The Sketchbook Browser" at the bottom of the page to see more of these interesting little oddities.

For the past ten years Ryan has managed Catch-23, a printmaking studio, art gallery and frame shop in the heart of downtown Guelph, Ontario. He continues to create his fine art and illustrations and exhibit in a variety of shows around Ontario and beyond. I would love to see his work paired together with another of my favorites, John Casey. It would be a very exciting...and disturbing show. I would be in heaven!

Images above are from Ryan Price's website. You MUST take a look at his amazing work.