Tall Paintings by Holton Rower

The past few days I have been looking all over the internet for painting inspiration.  I want to paint something pretty big, colorful and geometric for our new apartment.  While searching, I came across this video of a painter named Holton Rower and was so impressed with the way their tall paintings were so simple and different.  This is not the type of painting I was looking for, but the video caught my attention; enough so that I watched it three times before moving on!  I've never seen this done before, and thought I would share this find with you.

Enjoy.

Tall Painting from Dave Kaufman on Vimeo.

Stanlee Gets Noticed

Most of you have probably been introduced to Stanlee, my Boston Terrier pup who is the face of Little Blue Feather bow-ties and collar accessories.  Incase you haven't met, allow me to introduce him to you:

Stanlee is such a unique Boston Terrier, and he has my heart for sure.  He is very loyal, loves to be cuddled and instantly turns into the best pup model when the camera comes out.  He makes my heart very happy and I can't imagine our home without him.

Recently, this pup has not only been melting my heart, he has been winning over stranger's hearts on etsy.  This past month he has been on the front page of etsy three different days, which lead us to meet some new friends in the handmade world. 

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a couple painters if they could use Stanlee as their subject for their next painting.  I was first contacted by Clair Hartmann and introduced to her amazing paintings she sells in her shop.  I was so impressed with her work and definitely agreed to let her use Stanlee as her subject.  In turn, she is also sending me a print of Stanlee for my home!  I can't wait to receive it and am blown away by how well the painting turned out of my little Stan man.

Please check out Stanlee's painting in Clair's shop and let her know how you discovered her.  She is a sweet person with great talent and I feel honored to have been asked for her to use my pup as her painting subject.  

Isn't it amazing the way an animal can touch your heart?  Even when you don't know him/her?  Stanlee is doing just that across the internet.  

I am one proud momma.

Fragile

Their show was inside the old ice house in the downtown Akron area.

This past weekend, My friend Sarah and her husband Aaron had their first art show together in 13 years!  Sarah owns a nearby art studio that I am always going to and creating something new or to just hang out.  She remains more local and is building an art community in this area that is really impressive.  Little kids to adults are always in her studio working on something and it's cool to see her studio space conducive to teach all age groups of all levels.

Aaron is an ice sculptor, and his work and talents are far beyond what I will be able to put into a few short sentences.  Aaron travels the world competing, teaching and building amazing ice sculptors; he even competed in the Olympics and brought home a gold medal!  To say he is talented is an understatement, and I have been so excited to see his work someday in person.  This past Saturday was the day, and together him and Sarah put together an art show with all of the pieces combining ice and clay; kind of like a his and hers together in one piece.

Their art show was called Fragile, with each piece a different meaning on keeping life balanced.  One of my favorite pieces {picture #1} was about how you need to plant your roots into a good foundation and support system in life or you will be left floating.  When Sarah was telling me all the different meanings behind the sculptures, I felt like I needed to pay her for the advice and the therapy session!  Balanced life is good; don't overextend yourself!

Their show was a huge success and I am very proud of them!  

Art Walk

This past Saturday was an eventful day full of creative inspiration, handmade items, art galleries and a surprise visitor!  My sister-in-law drove up to spend the weekend with us and surprised me at an opening I had at a handmade store where I am now selling some of my Little Blue Feather clothing!  It was a really great surprise and we treated her to a night in downtown Akron with art galleries, good food and a lot of fun.

On the first Saturday of every month, Akron, OH holds an event called Downtown Art Walk.  For this event, artists open up their studios and galleries for visitors to meet and greet, take a look at the artists new work, eat snacks and shop.  In addition to all of the galleries, there are really fun restaurants, night life, shopping and trolly rides to take you to different areas in downtown.  It's a really fun time and we saw some very creative work this past weekend.

Here is a look at some of the galleries and artists we saw this past Saturday.

Walking up the stairs to the Red Light Galleries.

Artist: Ron White

Ron White charcoal drawings.

Ron White sculptures.  The one on the right is "let me get my head together" :)

A sculpture made out of packaging tape!

Sally Patterson, an oil and acrylic painter with a lovely little space in the Red Light Galleries.  

Of course I had to take a picture of this one because of my last name!  A shark made from recycled metals by artist Michael Marras.

A glass chandelier hanging in the shop at Akron Glass Works, a glass studio and store.

In addition to the traditional Art Walk, my friend and her husband had an art show together for the first time in 13 years and it was amazing!  She is a clay artist and he is an ice sculptor.  They combined their two art forms in one show and it was very impressive.  Tomorrow I will share more photos of their show that was a part of the Art Walk as well.  You will definitely want to come back and see them!