Posted by Manda on Feb 7, 2010 in
Win Free Stuff! The Tiny Art Show at Greenville, NC’s Emerge Gallery opened up this past Thursday with a preview sale, and I can’t possibly do the show justice with words – each of the minuscule masterpieces are deserving of their own recognition – from jewelry to notecards, paintings to ceramics, and many other trinkets and knick knacks smaller than a shoebox and a variety of pieces that would even fit in your pocket.
So what better way to showcase some of the art from the exhibition than to share some of it with you all? That’s right – we have three items from the show that we will be giving away over the next few weeks to you all – so keep an eye out for upcoming posts!
For our first, we have a tiny painting by artist Rebecca Ives that is about 2.5″ x 3.5″ – check it out!
If you think you’d like this gorgeous piece to spiff up your desk, office, or anywhere else that might be in need of a small dose of fine art – listen up!
To win, all you need to do is respond to this post with the following information:
- Your Name
- Your Email Address
- What’s something small that brightens your day?
We’ll take entries until Saturday, February 13, so get yours in today! Don’t forget, we’ll be doing several more giveaways from the Tiny Art Show, so if you can’t get in between now and February 21st to check it out, you can still win some art here at Live Make Create.
Best of luck!
Tags: exhibitions, giveaways, miniatures, north carolina, painting, small art
Posted by Leah on Feb 5, 2010 in
How To Do It Valentines Day is just around the corner and that means time for cutesy crafts! I strolled upon a great craft site today that was featuring several Valentine crafts that are easy and cheap.
First is this quick and easy heart garland. All it takes is some pink or red construction paper, a needle, some tape, a pencil, and string. You’ve probably got those things lying around your house right now! Make some and hang it in your doorways. That’ll put you in the spirit. Or better yet, prank a friend and hang hearts all over their house! Believe me, it’s fun.
If those aren’t crafty enough for you, then try these flowery things. This page shows various flowers using felt, knitting, crochet, embroidery, and ribbon. So even if you can’t knit or crochet, you can still make a lovely flower pin to wear during this happy holiday. Or you can attach some of these floral beauties to stem and put them in a vase to brighten up your home during the cold winter months.
While you’re there, check out this site. It has lots of fun Do-It-Yourself crafts and other goodies. Enjoy your Valentines Day!
Tags: crafts, holidays, paper
Posted by Leah on Jan 30, 2010 in
Events We have some good news for those of you following us from the Eastern North Carolina area!
Thanks to the inclement weather, Emerge Gallery’s deadline for Tiny Art Show submissions has been extended! You can now stop by to drop off submissions between 5 and 8 pm on Monday, February 1, as well as from 10 am to 6 pm the following day. The show opens Friday, February 5 with a preview and Pancake Supper on February 4.
Emerge will also be a part of Uptown Greenville’s Valentine’s Art Walk, which will take place on Friday, February 5 from 6 PM to 9 PM at an assortment of galleries, including Emerge, the Tipsy Teapot, Winslow’s Tavern, and more! So have a night out with your sweetheart or look for that special gift to give someone you love this Valentine’s Day.
Happy Art-ing!
Tags: call for entries, Events, exhibitions, holidays, north carolina, valentines
Posted by Manda on Jan 28, 2010 in
How To Do It It’s very exciting to find a new way to do an old thing – even over here in the art world, painting and sculpture have been done for hundreds of years just fine, but modern artists always find a way to give it a new kick. These bookshelves from Indestructables are more of a building project, but still something you can make at home!
This do-it-yourself project makes an eye-catching way to display your books without having to damage them at all – you can even swap the books out as you please! The shelf utilities elastic to hold the books in place, so there’s no worry that they’ll slip out. It makes for a neat trick though – and a great way to fool someone as a prank if they aren’t expecting it!
How do you display your books? Did you craft something to do it? Go ahead and leave a comment and let us know – we’d love to hear your responses!
Tags: books, diy, furniture, shelving
Posted by Manda on Jan 26, 2010 in
Featured Artists It’s no secret that we at LMC love knits. Knit clothes, the art of knitting – knitted beards?!
When I saw WifeOfBrian’s Shop featured on the front of Etsy today, my curiosity was sparked – instead of the usual boring hats, socks, and scarves, she’s turned her love of knitting into something slightly more amusing – beards, mustaches, and other funny disguises!
She describes her work on her website as a “beardy wonderland,” and that it is! All of her designs are clever and very beautifully crafted, usually in the form of fuzzy yarn facial hair to keep you warm or silly gloves to make a statement and sometimes scare your friends. She keeps up a blog with all of her goings-on, including crafts shows and fairs, so you might just get to see her beautiful beards in person!
We highly recommend taking a look at her stuff – it’s a must see for anyone with a sense of humor – or a desire for fuzzy facial hair. :)
Tags: crafts, england, etsy finds, knit, yarn
Posted by mandarific on Jan 24, 2010 in
Art Marketing I see a lot of budding artists trying to harness the power of the internet for their art – but what really is the best way to go about it? The artistic approach says to make a solid resume for your work, boast your previous experiences, and show the world your expertise – something that works fine on paper and in person, but on the internet we have moved towards the age of personality over work. Work is still important, art is just as important as ever, but a simple resume website isn’t going to do the trick so much anymore.
So I thought I would share with you all today, from an internet perspective, some tips on marketing your art through the internet – slightly unconventional in nature to the traditional artist, but many of these publicity tactics have been in use on the rest of the internet for quite some time! I plan to do several of these posts as time goes on, so I’m just going to start you off with the basics today. I hope some of you budding art celebrities can put some of these tips to use, and by all means – leave suggestions in the comments as far as what has worked for you.
So what has happened in the world of the internet is that the “Personal Webpage” has expanded from this silly thing you can do to make your mark on the internet into a machine for making yourself known. When it comes to being an internet personality, you don’t want to show the world just your art – you want to show them the artist behind it. Having a personality is crucial – people who get a feel for what you’re about are more likely to make a purchase and tell others about your art.
Our example for this purpose is award winning author, John Green. John and his brother started video blogging over YouTube on January 1st, 2007. I started following them only a few months after – a couple hundred of us eagerly awaited John’s latest video. Not because he wrote books, but because he was interesting. It actually took me a few weeks of watching his videos to even realize he wrote books, and awhile after that to find one on the shelf. Now John has hundreds of thousands of youtube followers along with his brother, who’s gone from a simple eco-blogger to having a couple CDs produced with an online record company he founded through the same Brotherhood 2.0 project with his brother on YouTube – a record label that was voted the “Best Online” in 2009 by Mashable.
While John’s books are good in their own right, his stint on YouTube has clearly shown the power of social networking – his latest novel debuted at number five on the New York Times bestseller list after his brother asked that the “Nerdfighters,” their community, help make that happen for Johns birthday. The book is phenomenal – but because John opened up to the world and showed them that he’s really a person behind the pages, it made us all the more eager to read it.
So something to consider for yourself after this introduction is – how can you market your personality? How can you show the world what you do? Try making YouTube videos with demonstrations of your craft, open an Etsy store with a few knick-knacks you’ve made quickly to draw attention to your more complicated works. Use twitter to get up with other artists and notify folks of shows that you’re participating in. Most importantly – can you start a blog? What can you write about? Do you have other interests beyond art that you could share and use to gain a friendship with your audience?
Let us know in the comments – what are you going to do in 2010 to help market your work online?
Tags: blogging, internet, marketing, social networking, websites
Posted by Leah on Jan 1, 2010 in
Featured Artists Tea towels and aprons. Seems like something you wouldn’t really consider art, right? Well not the way these guys do it. Studiopatró take domestic items and give them a life of their own beyond the kitchen. This San Francisco based company screenprints designs with a modern aesthetic and basic catalog of imagery. The ideas began as a collage of typography, leaves, maps, and architecture and blossomed into a simple blend of geometric patterns and organic shapes. Their color palette is a perfect match with neutrals on top of crisp white.
Towels are a highly useful and sustainable item which can take on many uses. Studiopatró prints quality images on high quality textiles that can be used, washed, and used again. Art takes on a new green meaning with these useful pieces!
On a side note, they have a kickass site with some kickass photography.
Posted by Leah on Dec 24, 2009 in
Featured Artists It’s that time of year when snowflakes and candy canes adorn every shop window and strings of lights illuminate every house. Yes, it’s the Christmas season again! While most people are thinking about getting their gift shopping done and cooking up the perfect ham, I’m thinking of all the wonderful winter crafts awaiting me in my very own home.
One such craft that caught my eye was both cute and made with recyclable materials. The mittens can be made with and old sweater and a simple stitch. An easy way to find a new use for an old item and to keep your fingers warm.
And while we’re staying green, I found another craft which shows how to make a christmas tree from an old book. This Paperback Christmas Tree requires few materials, but mostly a bit of time. If you don’t want to cut up one of your own books, try finding a used book store or Goodwill store in your area. At my favorite used book store I’ve found books that were being given away for free and were perfect for this sort of craft. When it’s not Christmas time, you can fold books into a variety of interesting shapes. Hardback books are the best for these kind of projects because the covers can serve as backing once all the pages are folded.
Posted by Leah on Dec 11, 2009 in
Featured Artists While searching for artistic inspiration, as I often do, I stumbled upon this fascinating artist. Jen Bervin is a book artist with a style that I very much appreciate. Her work incorporates two things that I dearly love (and use often in my own work), paper and fibers.
In these pictures, Jen took an existing book and made it her own with thousands of yards of thread. She hides some words, while exposing others to give the book a new meaning. Her voice is certainly unique in an art world filled with paintings and sculptures. Literature and fiber work are so often overlooked by Fine Art perspectives, but Jen’s work brings it back into the spotlight for a second look and a second chance.
Some of her other works follow this similar process of giving old text new meaning. She has even published a book, entitled The Niagara Book that includes famous works reinterpreted in her own style. But she is certainly not a one-trick pony and exhibits many other techniques and styles. She produces photography, multimedia work, and drawings, among other things.
So, is she destroying famous literature or giving it a new and unique voice? You be the judge.
Tags: books, fibers, paper
Posted by Leah on Dec 8, 2009 in
Featured Artists I recently was accepted to East Carolina University’s Textile Art program. As my first article here, I want to celebrate this overlooked medium. It’s more than just your grandma’s quilts. In fact, a lot more. There are a lot of processes and a lot of chemicals and dyes and techniques that go into making textile art. I haven’t learned that many in my short time at ECU, but I’ve had a taste and I’m sure hungry for more.
My art deals with the memory of both people and the objects which recall our memories. So, when I was working on my latest piece entitled Forgotten Memories, I found this artist which was a great inspiration. Rayna Gillman works mostly with batik and deconstructive screen printing. Like me, she also enjoys working in a spontaneous fashion which leads to quite lovely “happy accidents”. She also has a series that is based on memories and it is, of course, my favorite of her work.
Have you ever tried any textile art? Even just tie-dying? Maybe you should.
