mary osmundsen

blue organisms with red tips by Mary Osmundsen.
This is an original drawing. In fact, Mary Osmundsen only sells originals in her shop at the moment and for that reason alone hers is a rare place @ Etsy.
I stumbled upon those fascinating drawings about a week ago and I immediately knew I wanted to post about them. They have this strange compelling beauty which seems to emanate as much from their “alien” nature as from their extraordinary beautiful color palette – I am so in love with that muted earthy palette! I find myself constanty returning to them and truly they are much more complex than they may seem at first.

organism with coiled neck, original drawing.
Here is a biological world, a world of “organisms”, “cells”, “pods”, etc. but – and here lies the magic of it – you may well see just what you want in them. I see extraterrestrial organisms, life at work in the Universe…
You can read Mary Osmundsen’s artist statement @ The Drawing Center’s Viewing Program. (You have to enter her name to reach her portfolio, statement and bio).
See her complete portfolio on her Flickr.
She will also be selling her art @ mash handmade, a “brick and mortar” shop in Kansas City.
myra and the sasquatch by cate anevski

Myra and the Sasquatch by Cate Anevski.
Haven’t you always wanted your own pet sasquatch?
This is a print of an original artwork.
© 2007 Cate Anevski
my point ears by the maple ridge

my point ears by The Maple Ridge.
This is an original watercolor and pencil drawing. Just love the description :
is this a Halloween costume or just his favorite pair of pajamas? either way i think he looks great in them. pointy ear-sleeves and stripy arms and legs. is he yelling “trick-or-treat” to his neighborhood cat-lady that lives across the street or whining because he doesn’t want to go to bed without having a cookie as wide as his arms are spread? whatever the case may be i bet i know what you’re thinking. you’re thinking how much you want to squeeze him ’til he poops.
I also love this one a lot :

love me (detail).
embroidered paintings by shannon rankin
This is a limited edition print of an “original gouache painting of multi-colored dots, which was embroidered with teal thread” by Shannon Rankin.
There is also a Seaside 1 (with pink threads) as well as a Seaside 3 (with green ones) and you can see a picture of the 3 side by side here @ her Flickr.
She also sells original embroidered paintings. I like this one very much (it has now been sold) :
Shannon Rankin’s blog + flickr.
pounce #4 : roadside projects

The Camera by roadside projects @ Etsy.
This is actually Part 001 of Project #001 (a series of psychological portraits) by artist Jayme McGowan.
This is “a one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional box construction intricately crafted with cut paper, watercolor, and ink in a handmade frame with glass front.”
You can also find Parts 002, The Letter + 003, The Headphones & 004, The Costume in the shop.
reddening beauty

Reddening Beauty by spacedanish @ Etsy.
I’m still on that article about mushrooms in art I talked about earlier, but I like the simplicity of this one, so I’m just posting it.
It’s an original drawing.
rocky mountains by jaime derringer

Rocky Mountains Drawing No. 1 – Limited Edition Print by jaimers @ Etsy.
It probably might not show, but I try to write this blog a bit in the way of “film editing”, which means that I try to find some aesthetic (or thematic) connection between the articles on the main page, so I was wondering what to write to follow – actually precede for you readers – the Appalachian Crafstmen boards and I found this wonderful drawing by Jaime Derringer in my favorites.
There are actually 2 drawings entitled “Rocky mountains” – you can find No. 2 here but this one is really my favorite (although they would certainly look terrific as a pair). The original for No. 2 is still available.
I really love the colors of this one and the fact that the mountains are not centered and there is so much blank space. If you think this is a bit exagerated, just look at the image where it is shown framed and you will see how this is exactly right.
Jaime Derringer is the “bloggeress” behind Design Milk and she also runs an online store called Vitamin D(esign).
pounce #2 : artspreserve @ etsy

Ballpoint pen drawing (original) by ArtsPreserve @ Etsy.
Today seems to be a fruitful day for there was also this great artist Daniel Curtis from Lincoln, Nebraska in the “pounce” section.
He is selling original art, and even though my favorite is the ballpoint pen drawing above, I also love this acrylic and ink a lot :

Acrylic and ink on fabriano paper (original).
You can see more of his art in his Flickr and he also has a blog.
And don’t forget to read his profile @ Etsy in which he invites us to check on his favorites – which I have done to discover wonderful artists…
100 great artists @ etsy you might want to visit…
So last week I got the most crazy idea that I would compile a list of 100 artists @ Etsy and I immediately set to work.
I wanted to write a few words about the “why” & “how” of the affair, but I realized nobody would actually care, so to keep things simple let’s just say that I have discovered many great and talented artists through Etsy, and it is getting more and more difficult each day to browse through their shops since there is no way to tag or organize your favorites into categories on the site and I figured a “memo” or “post-it” article would be of great use, not just for me or for people already familiar with Etsy, but also for people who would like to discover new artists but do not have the time to extensively browse the internet or Etsy for that matter….
yumi yumi : the tenderness of colors

Happiness is a field of Poppies (edition 1) by Yumi Yumi
When I created my first Treasury on Etsy I had included this beautiful print by Aline *Yumi* Yamada. I love the sweet combination of colors as well as the pure simplicity of the drawing. If you look at the girl alone, how much more simpler could it be ? (And as you may know simplicity is one of the hardest things to achieve in art.) And even the background which is much more elaborate and decorative, because it is only composed of white lines upon a gradation of one single color, emphasizes this sense of graceful simplicity. The overall impression is really one of peaceful serenity.
Now if you browse through the yumi yumi shop you’ll notice that all prints come in a variation of colors. The print above is labelled “edition 1″ but there are 2 others. Here you can see edition 2 and edition 3 of the same print. Aline Yamada says in her shop that “she loves color so much it’s hard to decide on just one” and when I asked her about her creative process she wrote back to me :
I start all my illustrations with a pencil drawing then work on coloring them on the computer. so I guess the ‘originals’ are in graphite pencil and the final is digital. The tiny animal prints are small gouache paintings I’ve made into prints and my bird and flower prints have elements of watercolor that are incorporated into the final piece.
I must say that although I like her “Bird Prints” my favorites are really her “Girl Prints”. I especially love that one :
and her last ones – named after her little sister Lily – but I can’t seem to decide which version I like most between edition 2 and 3 :

Lily White (edition 2) + Lily White (edition 3)
You should also check out her Monster Prints, her “monsters” being of course the sweetest creatures ever.
And at the time I am writing this article she has a couple of originals for sale in her shop including this one which I totally love :

Aurora
the yumi yumi shop
Aline Yamada’s blog : Yumi Yumi


