Tuesday, December 30, 2008

hanging art

Hanging art at home when you have limited wall space and a lot of art is a challenge. I did some web research and found a few helpful articles on arranging art on a wall. Here is the best of what I've found:
http://www.rentaldecorating.com/0505walls/artwallarranging.htm

Also, I found different ways to support a changing art gallery without turning your walls into Swiss cheese. I am not sure what looks better though - hanging wires, or art on a shelf-ledge?

hanging wires: http://www.ashanging.com/?gclid=CLG7-5bj6JcCFQFvGgod6hQbDg

ledges: http://hollysview.blogspot.com/2008/07/art-ledges.html

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Monster Burghers


More monster sightings in our fair city of Pittsburgh...








Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Shaun Tan


(One of Shaun Tan's illustrations for the book The Rabbits, above.)

Shaun Tan is an artist whose primary art form is picture books. He describes his books as "picture books for older readers, rather than young children." His themes are more mature than most picture books, including colonial imperialism, social apathy, depression and the nature of memory. Many of Shaun Tan's works have been adapted into performances, including a theatrical adaptation of my favorite of his books, The Red Tree. Here is a still shot from the play, matching the artistry of the book:


He has a new book coming out in February that I can't wait to get a hold of, called Tales From Outer Suburbia, an anthology of fifteen very short illustrated stories. Here is a peek into the upcoming book:


"We only have to wash and wax our missile on the first Sunday of every month."

This mural in a children's library in Australia is among Shaun Tan's other accomplishments:

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Romaine Brooks

(Her most celebrated self portrait, above. 1923.)

Romaine Brooks was a portraitist who painted women in androgynous and masculine attire. She used mainly a gray scale with just accents and highlights of color. She was inspired by Whistler and also the Symbolist painters while her contemporaries were cubist and fauve painters. I love how moody and expressive her paintings are with their limited palette and stylization, and the design of her compositions. Her subjects included close friends and famous people, such as this portrait of Jean Cocteau:


Here is another self portrait which is on the cover of a wonderful book about her art called Amazons in the Drawing Room:

Monday, December 1, 2008

George Barbier

It's December, and today I flipped to the last page of my wall calendar at work. The image is this illustration from 1924 by George Barbier:

George Barbier was a French illustrator whose theatre and costume designs, posters, textile and wallpaper designs, illustrations for books, and fashion illustrations embodied Art Deco style. Here are some other beautiful images by him: