Ninja March 5th, 2009
Good morning, lovelies. I’m thinking of Ms. Amanda Palmer and this song as I sip my coffee, eat my Rice Chex, & check my email this fine Thursday morning.
I just stumbled across Amanda’s funny take on Feist’s 1234 (Sesame Street Version) from her show at the Brattle theatre. It features Michael McQuilken on the ukulele.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, & smiles,
Ninja
Ninja March 4th, 2009
One of my favorite, young, emerging talents, Melissa Haslam, was kind enough to take time and tell me about her life and her work!
I am thrilled to introduce you to Melissa Haslam. I was immediately smitten when I first saw one of her graphite drawings. Her pop-surreal drawings and paintings are romantic, whimsical, and even a little melancholy. Her creations are inhabited by beautiful, fashionably dressed women in exotic, fairy-tale environments. Her intricately rendered figures, plants, insects, and animals pull the viewers into her haunting landscapes.
This Melbourne-based artist studied Multimedia Technology and then went on to work at a software company creating user interfaces graphics. After a few years, Melissa returned to school to study a Visual Arts.
I have always been interested in art and drawing and loved doing it at school, but it took a while to work out what kinda of art I wanted to do for myself. It wasn’t until I was in Borders book store one day flicking through magazines that I discovered the book Curvy, and illustration style art. I immediately knew thats what I wanted to do. It was beautiful, imaginative, and like an adult version of the books and cartoons I used to watch as a child.I tend to draw females and nature at the moment, but this doesn’t mean I’ll be drawing the same thing forever. I don’t know yet.
Not surprisingly, Melissa is inspired by the female form, fashion photography, Victorian painting, vintage culture, and botanical art. Her two biggest artistic influences are John William Waterhouse and Arthur Rackham. She also enjoys the work of Aubrey Beardsley and Henri Rousseau among others.
I find inspiration comes from everywhere. From going to exhibitions to look at other peoples art to going for a walk and looking in peoples front gardens. Everything you do in life gets remembered and sometimes finds its way into a picture.
Random bit of trivia:
This drawing (above) got lost in the post on the way to a gallery and was later rerouted to Melissa. After its misadventure, she decided to keep it for herself. It is currently hanging on her wall.
Thank you so much for sharing, Melissa!!
Related postsNinja March 3rd, 2009
James Jean and SURU will release a giclee of Swan this Friday, March 6th.
The painting from which this giclee was created was originally exhibited as part of a his solo show, Kindling, at the Jonathan Levine Gallery.
This print is a limited edition of 50, is signed and numbered by James Jean, and is available for pre-order for $500. The giclee measures 25 x 44 inches, beautifully reproduced with archival pigment ink on hot press fine art paper.
If interested, please contact SURU to reserve and pre-order!
SURU
7662 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 655-0770
Ninja March 3rd, 2009
Christine Norrie talks all about romance and NYC in her Graphic NYC interview. You can read it and take it in, here.
I feel like romance and love, which I’m all about, is also one of the beautiful and crushing things we do to each other. It can be so hurtful and painful, also wonderful and uplifting, except there are no rules, no formula, and so many, many variables. I know everybody goes about it differently, and there’s great love out there, but there’s also such great sorrow.
– Christine Norrie
All photos from Graphic NYC
Related postsPenguin March 2nd, 2009
This is a video I edited for Metro. The purpose was to show how much the church really cared and celebrated volunteers. Previous churches I’ve been a part of have provided dinners, but this is the first time I’ve seen a church honor volunteers on this scale. And with dancing!
You can also see the spots that I edited for the banquet.
Camera: Christian Dedrama, Koo Chung, Dean Liaw
Photography: Koo Chung, Grace Liaw
Music: “Great DJ” by The Ting Tings
Edited on Adobe Premiere CS3
-Penguin
Related postsLimited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
