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.
the colored crocheted jewelry of studiokarma
Yellow Brown Necklace With Large Crocheted Rings (detail) by StudioKarma.
I am always amazed by the beauty of felt or crocheted jewelry. There are a few extraordinary shops @ Etsy – you regularly find their items on the front page – and StudioKarma is one of those. Her necklaces are simply gorgeous.
They are OOAK, but you can ask for custom items anyway. I found this one below in the sold section, and it is one of my favorites :
Multicolored Nacklace With Various Crocheted Rings.
gorgeous handmade clutches by red ruby rose
Tree Rings, silk-lined clutch bag by Red Ruby Rose.
Rowena Dugdale @ Red Ruby Rose makes the most wonderful and gorgeous clutches. Her choice of fabrics is very sophisticated and the one above “tree Rings” is one of my favorites – it is lined in deep red silk – but I also love this silk starburst luxury clutch bag a lot. All of Red Ruby Rose’s creations are Limited Editions, but she loves custom orders, so if you are interested, just browse through the sold section of her shop to see if there is any fabric you like, providing it is still available she will make it for you…
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.
heather smith jones
“in this place” by Heather Smith Jones @ Etsy.
I love this piece by Heather Smith Jones and since I was going to post it before I took my “little break”, here it is !
It is an original watercolor painting with pinholes on paper. Heather Smith Jones uses this “pinhole technique” a lot – you can see some here @ Etsy or on her Flickr in this album – but I really love it the most when she combines techniques.
She has an amazing sense of color which is not only obvious in her watercolors – she grinds and prepares them herself which tells me she has a sensual relationship with pigments and colors – but also in her acrylic, tempera and oil paintings. I absolutely love this one called “a cottonwood seed”.
And did I say that she only sells originals in her Etsy shop ?
She also has a blog.
Edit {17 11 2011} : Her blog has now moved here.
blythe fashion : joyful flowers
Joyful Flowers – Blythe quarter sleeve dress by Lalatroop @ Etsy.
I have been quite busy this last week and really did not have the time to post, so here’s just a great and colorful dress for Blythe dolls as I love color so much…
abstract paper collages by cherie lester
Original Paper Collage, Abstract Works on Paper by Cherie Lester.
Cherie Lester is also a photographer, but I am not so fond of her photos as I am of those paper collages of hers. The first one is an original, whereas the second one below is an archival print.
You can also see some paintings on her website.
Archival Pigment Print of an Original Collage.
rainscapes by mintage designs
rainscapes I – Original Mixed-media Painting by mintage designs @ Etsy.
I love the simplicity of this one. This is an original.
One interesting thing to note is that mintage designs also does custom banners for Etsy.
pounce #3 : appalachian craftsmen
End Grain Cutting Board Purpleheart by Appalachian Craftsmen @ Etsy.
I have what can hardly be called a “kitchen” – it is a very small place not made nor organized to cook, but then I do not cook, so – but the cutting boards designed and made by Appalachian Craftsmen are so beautiful you could almost build your dream kitchen around them…
They use different varieties of woods, so the boards do not all have the same colors and they also have simpler designs. But this one is really my favorite, I think you could just use it to display fruits or anything you like.