vogue sponge by frost indri
This is probably one the most extraordinary things I have seen these last months and I keep coming back to it fascinated by its strange beauty. I also love the description given by Frost Indri (which I don’t think I had read before) :
This sponge is Proud of its long thin legs, and has no doubt in (what passes for) it’s mind that it is >sexy< !
Now about the fantastic texture, she goes on explaining how it is obtained :
By sitting there and poking at the clay with a variety of poking tools. Each and every single hole. Alas, there is no real way to do this any faster. Not with the same results anyhow.
Be sure to check on her deviantART for she has a lot more great sculptural works there for you to enjoy. Besides other evolving sponges – with great funny titles – I love this Vampire Cloak.
Frost Indri is also a member of the Etsy Mud Team.
doubleparlour : cassandra & ernesto velasco
Maiya 2 by doubleparlour.
I had included them in my review of 100 great artists @ Etsy and their art (see for instance their “creatures of habit”) still emerges from that selection as among the most powerful. I had not been in their shop for quite some time, but I discovered today that they also made small polymer clay sculptures and truly amazing ones.
The one above is named “Maiya 2″ for there was a first Maiya – very similar but with a different mood – which sold recently.
I also love this Toshiro immensely :
He’s described as :
A boy who dreams of flying kites and running away from home.
Doubleparlour, born in 2007, is a creative collaboration between Ernesto and Cassandra Velasco. You can find them on myspace.
felicia nilson’s creatures made of clay
Brown bear bowl : Grumpy Bear by MaidOfClay @ Etsy.
Felicia Nilson had sent me a very nice message through the contact page just after my post 100 great artists @ etsy you might want to visit…. She wanted to bring to my attention as she wrote it three other artists I might enjoy. And although two of these artists were quite interesting, I was actually much more attracted by Felicia’s “MaidOfClay” creatures and even fell deeply for a couple of them !
At the time, the Grumpy Bear above had not yet been sold and it was the first item I really noticed in her shop. I just love this bear ! It reminds me of that rabbit with an “attitude” I have written about here and there I realize I might particularly be fond of creatures with an “attitude” even though there’s also this extremely cute bear that only sold recently that I have been watching regularly ever so often ! Here it is :
How cute is that ? Can you resist that face ? And notice the “little white toenails” ? Aren’t they just great ?
Now here’s what Felicia writes about these hand sculpted ceramic bears :
The thing I love most about the bear bowls (…)
is the little white toenails – don’t ask me why :-)
Well, those bears with their little white toenails are terrific all right but I think some of MaidOfClay’s other sculptures are quite amazing too like this Goth Kitty Girl :
Goth Kitty Girl – Miniature hand sculpted porcelain bust.
Felicia Nilson deals with many different styles and some are not exactly to my taste but you should know that she has a lot of “cat related” stuff and – once again – I like the sculptures best. She is a member of the Etsy Mud Team.
things of beauty by lisa stevens
Oceanic Craters Ceramic and Glass Dish by seaurchin @ Etsy.
Whenever you come upon the Simply Gorgeous and Beautiful it is better to just sit back and let the artist do the talking :
One-off ceramic sculpture, this low dish has a pattern of large double craters. The bowl is made of sculptural white clay and has been glazed with a matt ivory stoneware with chocolate brown in the craters. Aqua coloured glass has been melted into some of the craters and the edges have been highlighted with gold lustre. Some of the craters are pierced right through, and some are very thin so you can see the light coming through….this gives an interesting effect with the glass.
The dish is 4.5inches/11.5cm across and 1inch/2.5cm high.
All of my sea urchin and coral ceramic sculptures are individual and experimental, and very personal to me….my true artwork!
This is intended as an object of beauty only….it is not intended for food use.
You can read more about Lisa Stevens on her profile and on the “featured seller” page @ Etsy.
She also has a Flickr.
heather knight ceramics @ element clay studio
Orb by Heather Knight Ceramics @ Etsy.
Heather Knight ceramics are sculptures. The way she experiments with texture is amazing and I especially love her botanical tiles. (She has several ones : turf, noni, magnolia, durian, lichen…)
Heather Knight Ceramics @ Element Clay Studio : Etsy + DaWanda + her blog.
Michael Traister takes her photos.
gary taxali’s green toy monkey
The Toy Monkey by Gary Taxali – Exclusive Green Version available @ Kung Fu Toys
While Gary Taxali’s new vinyl figures “Oh No” + “Oh Oh” are on the verge of being released by Bigshot Toyworks, you can still find some of his Toy Monkeys. The yellow version (500 numbered pieces signed or unsigned) is the regular one and not many people are aware that a green version was also released in a limited edition of 200. It was at one point sold by some museum – I think it was the MOMA but I am not sure now – and I just found that Kung Fu Toys has it for $150 dollars.
You can still order the Original Toy Monkey Deluxe Edition @ Chump Toys or @ Orbit Gallery space.
Also see the Original Hand Painted “Toy Monkey” on Gary Taxali’s website.
Oh No + Oh Oh by Gary Taxali – sculpt by Scott Wetterschneider
Note that you can buy the Oh No Bronze Statue along with some artwork by Gary Taxali @ Magic Pony.
OH NO Bronze Statue – Gary Taxali
too young to die
“Too Young To Die” Ashtray™ – Yoshitomo Nara
So this is Day One of “At last you won’t risk getting lung cancer from spending too much time in a café-bar-restaurant-nightclub-pick your choice here” in France and what with the big fuss around that and the so predictable reports on the radio – I don’t watch the news on TV anymore, I got spare the smokers vs non-smokers images – but what it really made me think about this morning waking up was this ashtray based on a painting Yoshitomo Nara made in 2001. (I wonder however whether anyone has ever used the thing as an actual ashtray…)
Anyway, besides the other well-known figures made from Yoshitomo Nara’s work, the PupCup™ and the Little Wanderer™ – my favorite one so far – I recalled that this year another figure in a Limited Edition of 300 had been released by How2Work. It’s called “Sleepless Night” (sitting), retail price was HK$7800 (around EUR 730 or US$ 1,000 at the time back in July), but even though you might have had the money it was still a tough job to get one. But the only thing that really matters is that it is amazingly and breathtakingly beautiful.
“Sleepless Night” (sitting), Yoshitomo Nara, 2007
However, if you happen to be interested in the financial aspects relative to art, while researching for this article – believe it or not I do research before writing – I found out that there has been a recent auction at Sotheby’s Paris about Contemporary Art and that number 276/300 of “Sleepless Night” sold there for 9,850 euros (14,415 US$).
Yoshitomo Nara @ Blum & Poe + Yoshitomo Nara on Flickr
Shopping @
Addict Galerie + Artoyz + Giant Robot + Inhabit [Canada] + Little Fashion Gallery + Museum of Contemporary Art [Chicago] + My Plastic Heart + Raw Space [Australia] + retromodern.com + unicahome
brendan monroe studio visit @ fecal face
Brendan Monroe Assimilation, 2007
26×40 Inches, Acrylic on Paper
Richard Heller Gallery
With Brendan Monroe’s solo show “Insides” opening at Richard Heller Gallery, Fecal Face takes us for a visit inside his & Evah Fan’s studio in Berkeley. Besides some great shots taken around the place you can see some of Evah’s work plus of course some of Brendan’s recent work. And there’s a really nice video ending with Brendan taking us inside his giant interactive sculpture titled “Borborygmi” which “represents a giant walk through plush stomach”.
I absolutely love those peeks into artists’ studios and workplaces and I had already mentioned PROJECT S2DIO #049 – BRENDAN MONROE by www.glltn.com.
The show at Richard Heller Gallery has just opened and there are not many reviews yet but you can see some pictures of the works shown on Flickr.
brendan monroe bacterium mug
Ceramic coffee mug by Brendan Monroe on Park Life, go to Homewares.
New in 2007. Very limited Edition of 150 pcs.
Brendan Monroe is an amazingly great artist. I discovered his work at the same time I discovered art toys since his Sour figures were then being released amidst quite a bit of turmoil as I seem to recall. The toys had been shown back in 2005 at SDCC and were first scheduled for October/November of the same year, but as is often the case with vinyl figures the production experienced some delays so that even though they were at some point announced for late January 2006 they were not actually released until April 2006. The release itself was a bit chaotic since it was mostly done through pre-orders and it seemed Glen Liberman from Android 8 was doing pretty much everything by himself. You could find the Green and Brown versions in a couple of shops though, but the Red Sour was a Munky King exclusive and the Orange one which was an Android 8 exclusive was sold solely at SDCC.
These “toys” are truly fantastic figures. They are a bit scary at first sight but they are so unlike anything else and so “strange” and sculptural that for many people – including myself – they ranked among the best and most beautiful toys produced in 2006. I love them. I love their strangeness and mystery. (And, Oh joy, I even managed to buy the Green one a couple of months later from Giant Robot – the Brown one was unfortunately “sold out”).
Indeed they have all long been “Sold Out” and the only way to get one – you guessed right – is eBay. Of course the prices today for those figures are quite insane – not to say totally insane if you are aiming for a complete set (the last complete set of four on eBay sold for a little more than $800 about 2 weeks ago) – so if you really love Brendan Monroe’s work for that price you could as well get an original painting or one of his Microbes. Or for less money than you would pay for one Green or Brown Sour you can also buy one of his Potato Heads at HarnerHouse. And truly it is a mystery to me that these sculptures be still available… (Edit : A friend of mine tried to order these and they are in fact sold out. I am sorry since it was not clear at all on the site. 21 September 2007)
Potato head (large) + Potato Head (small) by Brendan Monroe (2005, resin & wood, signed)
Also from HarnerHouse : In Case of Paper Face, a small interactive book.
Other books and zines :
Sour Leaves available at NOWhere Limited and Rotofugi.
Organelles available directly from Brendan Monroe.
Brendan Monroe
Brendan Monroe’s Studio PROJECT S2DIO #049 by www.glltn.com.
Upcoming exhibition “Insides” at Richard Heller Gallery from October 13 to November 11, 2007.
The Sours by Brendan Monroe :
Sculpted by Dave Pressler
Produced by UNKL for Android 8.
According to Squidoo numbers were as followed :
1. Brendan Monroe Sour Brown 400 Produced
2. Brendan Monroe Sour Green 400 Produced
3. Brendan Monroe Sour Red (Munkey King Exclusive) 100 Produced *At Last Report 50 Actually Sold To The Public*
4. Brendan Monroe Sour Orange (Android 8 Exclusive) 100 Produced *SDCC Exclusive Now* *At Last Report Only 50 Will Actually Be Sold To The Public*