Take a Gander Tuesday #8 - Jessica Rae Gordon

Work =  crazy right now.  But we did just have a long weekend, so I was able to prepare some blog posts and I'm almost finished some new nail art (they're pretty tight butthole...*hint*)

On the weekend, I was looking for Archer (the TV show) illustrations/art on Etsy to find something for a gift.  Using "Archer" as your search word also finds listings related to Archery.  One of the archery illustrations led me to the work of Jessica Rae Gordon who, small world, also lives in Toronto.

Here are a few pieces that are listed in her Etsy shop that caught my eye:

Hope everyone had a great weekend! (and for my Canadian friends, a good Victoria Day)

Alex & Arthur

New York - The MOMA

I was going to wait a couple of days to do another New York post but I was going through my image gallery yesterday I saw all the pictures I took at the MOMA.  I studied art and art history in university (longer ago than I want to admit...I'm going to be 30 this year, eek!).  I knew what pieces the MOMA has in their collection when I was in school and had written a couple lengthy essays on some of them.  For some reason that knowledge left my brain and I completely forgot what was at the MOMA, so when I stepped into the room with Andy Warhol I entered "kid in a candy store" territory.

I definitely had tears in my eyes and Dan had to tell me to slow down because I was so excited I didn't know where to focus so I ended up scuttling around.  He also had to tell me to use my indoor voice more than once.  I may have yelled, "OH MY GOD IT'S *insert artist name*" a few times.

 Andy Warhol

Mark Rothko

Jackson Pollock

Piet Mondrian

 Willem de Kooning

Henri Rousseau

Edvard Munch

Pablo Picasso

Claude Monet

Henri Matisse

Vincent Van Gogh

ART!!!!

Alex & Arthur

Throwback Thursday

Here a two photos that I did for my fourth year photography class.  I think they were rough shots/edits for pieces that I was planning on submitting for our year end show.  

I'm in the process of organizing the files on my laptop and I'm finding all sorts of images or components for items I've designed that I have absolutely no recollection of doing.  Worst memory ever.

Looking back, I really dislike this hair colour on me.

I don't even remember shooting or editing this picture

Alex & Arthur

Arts & Crafts

Sometimes I catch Arthur doing the cutest things.  This is a picture that I took yesterday - he was just sitting in his favourite chair, holding a bone in his mouth while looking back and forth between me and Dan.

In other Arthur related news, I found some Sculpey when we pulled the Christmas stuff (and some craft bins) out of storage.  I made this Arthur brooch...Dan thinks it looks like Arthur after he stuffed his face full of Christmas dinner.

Alex & Arthur

Take A Gander Tuesday - #4

For this week's Take a Gander Tuesday, I want to direct you to the work of Blair J. Campbell - Artist, Geek, and Distinguished Gentlemen. 

I follow Mr. Campbell's Instagram and Twitter and thoroughly enjoy checking out his latest illustrations or additions to his RedBubble store. He also has adorable dogs that make frequent appearances on his instragram feed....just pointing that out in case the illustrations aren't enough to persuade you.

I've just selected a few of my favourite Blair Campbell illustrations that I've come across:

Redbubble Link

Definitely take a gander at Blair Campbell's work!

Alex & Arthur

Dave Perillo Illustrations

I can't remember if I've posted about the art of Dave Perillo before but I'm not too worried if I have because his work is definitely worthy of a double post.  I know that I first discovered his work on etsy but couldn't decide on what I wanted to buy, so I just bookmarked it as a favourite and then went on my way.

It wasn't until I saw his Venture Bros piece in Gallery 1988's Adult Swim show that I was reminded of his work and I went and purchased a few prints almost immediately.  Although I was bummed I couldn't get his Venture Bros print.

This is one of the prints I bought from his etsy store.  I really like the size of it (it's 8 x 8) and I love Ghostbusters.  I have several of his 8 x 8 prints.

 

This is one of his newer pieces that he did for Spoke Art's show "Bad Dads" A Wes Anderson Tribute.  You can purchase it through their store here but if this print isn't your cup of tea, I urge you to go check out the rest of the store because there are a ton of awesome Wes Anderson inspired prints and original work. 

I've just clipped a few others that caught my eye, but there are so many on his blog and etsy store that I love.

Alex & Arthur

Take a Gander Tuesday

Oh my goodness it's been awhile since I've made a blog post.  I'm so exhausted from TIFF, I don't understand how people can go to tons of movies and still find the time to post about them-- they're troopers.   I'm going to do a final write-up of some of the highlights but I still need to decompress.

So this is a new thing I'm trying -- it's inspired by my Sponsor Swap post (re: Nicole's blog Happy Pretty Things).  I'm calling it "Take a Gander Tuesday" and I'm going to be writing about various blogs, twitter, or websites I think you should check out.  (Also, I wanted to use the word gander)

Will it happen every Tuesday? Given my track record of creating posts on the proper days, probably not.   

Will you only post recommendations on Tuesday? I'm going to try to stick to Tuesday but I can't make any promises. I'm one of those people who feels the need to give people gifts as soon as I purchase them regardless if his/her birthday is weeks away...so if I see something cool, I'm going to want to tell you right away.  In fact, the whole reason I decided to do this post was because I wanted to tell you all about PonyChops.

 So why should you take a gander at PonyChops? Two words: Zelda Shoes!

Aren't these amazing! This is only one example of PonyChops' awesome shoes.  You can see the rest of her work on her adorable blog or you can check out her etsy store.

I'm definitely hoping that I can get a pair of shoes.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Tuesday so far.

Alex & Arthur

Gosia & Kelly Grace

Last week, on August 30th, I went to the opening of an art installation in one of my favourite stores Labour of Love (which I've written about before here).

It was a collaboration between the artist Gosia and Kelly Grace  I'm a big fan of Gosia's work, I have one of her pieces hanging my kitchen, which I will photograph and post at a later date.

I loved the show. Gosia and Kelly Grace created a family that revolved around the main characters Mary Jane and Arthur (yay!).  The installation, set above a fireplace, was a collection of family portraits and memories.

Here are a few images that I took with my iPhone.

Once upon a time there was a very peculiar couple named Mary Jane and Arthur.  When Arthur was growing up...

 

You can check out the installation at Labour of Love until September 30th - I recommend it.  Also, both Gosia and Kelly Grace will be at the Cabbagetown Arts & Crafts Sale this weekend (September 7-9).  Here's the list of exhibitors at this weekend's festival.  Sabine Alpers from Felt Factory will also be there...I'm also a fan of her work.

If I have time between my TIFF schedule I'm definitely going to head on over to the Arts & Crafts Sale.  Speaking of TIFF, it's the opening day and I'm pretty darn excited.  I get to see these people perform a live unrehearsed reading of American Beauty.  Can't wait!

Alex & Arthur

Snow Drawing

Just wanted to make a quick post about these beautiful snow spirals by Sonja Hinrichsen.  

They almost make me wish it was snowing so I could go outside and make my own beautiful drawings.  Although if Arthur was with me, he'd stand by my feet waiting for me to kick snow in the air so that he could try to eat it from the sky.

So amazing!  You can check out the flickr site for this project here

There's also a video -- check it out!

Alex & Arthur