Etsy | The Eyes have it

Beautiful things

Posted on August 8, 2008 by angelbrew

At some point in the next couple of months, I hope to open my own little etsy shop with my own tiny creations (with all my available free time – ha!). But until I reach that point where I feel I have enough inventory to sell (and it could be awhile), I am enjoying the whimsical art of others.

L'envol des Libellules - Print

I love Anne Julie’s work because her pieces feature a sweet dark-haired girl with an angelic face. She, like so many others I’ve come to like, creates digital illustrations so that the tone and coloring of her pictures is rich and subtly atmospheric.

sometimes - 8x0 FINE ART PRINT by Mixed Media Artist Kelly Rae Roberts

Kelly Rae does a lot of mixed media artwork that reminds me of a couple of classes I took with Paul Davis, one of my favorite instructors up at the U of U. The layering, the shapes, the subject – mmm, all my favorite.

Paul Davis by paulferney.

Speaking of Paul Davis, this is one of my favorite paintings of his. Gosh, I would love to take another class from him! He teaches workshops down in Helper, Utah and maybe next summer I can work on taking a week off to have him teach me again…

And somedays I feel like this

Posted on April 27, 2008 by angelbrew

This is a brilliant card I found on etsy:

You make me less miserable letterpress printed card

Sigh…somedays it can sure feel like this. Ah well, the ebb and flow of life, eh?

What I Love #3 – Letterpress

Posted on December 4, 2007 by angelbrew

I’ve mentioned before that I earned my BFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Utah. I loved my classes and there are many times since I finished (over 5 years now) that I’ve wished to be back in a classroom drawing, painting, or doing printmaking. Half way through my program, new classes were introduced to the curriculum and they centered around bookmaking and letterpress. I decided to take both as they fulfilled my printmaking requirements. And let me just say this: I fell in LOVE with both of these art forms. I ended up taking three letterpress classes as well as submitting a proposal to work in the studio after hours. I created a series of books on a little French girl named Lalette. And I’ve been looking for an opportunity ever since leaving to go back and take a few classes.

For those unfamiliar with the process of letterpress, it involves a very large press (or sometimes smaller if you have a tabletop design) such as the one pictured below:

You set metal pieces of type to create your image or you make have one large block of metal that has been cut and molded into the desired shape.

It’s a beautiful and painstaking process at times but the result is always so pleasing. I was in my second letterpress class when my sister got married and I ended up printing all of her wedding invitations – all 400 of them. My arm was so tired and sore for a few days after that (you have to crank each paper through separately) but I know she appreciated the effort.

Until I am able to find the time to participate in another letterpress class, or possibly buy my own press at some point, I will just have to enjoy the fruits of others labor. One of my favorite letterpress items that I’ve bought off of Etsy (beware – you will get addicted this site) is by greenchairpress, a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt.