Pimp My Ride

Photo by Piel de Metal

Have you ever looked at something and been blown away by how much time it must have taken? I'm a person who thinks of a project and knocks it out as quickly as possible. Too much time spent equals a bored Jessie and an unfinished project. Therefore, I admire anyone who devotes weeks, let alone months, of time on one project. Now, in this case, I'm not talking about a painting, or a dress, or a sculpture. Let's talk about something so complex that just thinking about doing this project makes my back hurt! Applying tiny beads to the surface of a VW Bug. Yup. What?! I know, I was baffled as well. 

The Wixaritari of Mexico are known for this kid of artwork (well, maybe not so much including the car). Traditionally, they create intricate patterns by placing individual beads into beeswax to cover the surface of bowls, plates, etc. This lovely little number, El Vochol, uses a more resilient resin and a whopping  2,277,000 beads. That's A LOT of beads! Two Wixaritari families spent seven months creating the peyote-trip inspired artwork, and it was worth every single bead.

El Vochol was commissioned by the Association of Friends of Museo of Arte Popular in Mexico City (whew! That's a mouthful!) as part of an effort to show off Mexico's traditional arts and artisans to the global community. "The project took on a greater message to the world: indigenous work is not to be forgotten, and in fact, celebrated." (Maria Gracia-Vasquez) Well, I'm going to jump out and say that this is definitely a success! 

The decked out VW Bug is starting on it's global tour this Fall, and will be swinging around to the Smithsonian next year! I'm inspired to grab some beeswax and seed beads to try out this art! But just so my impatient crafter doesn't get too restless, I think I'll start with a coaster. 

To read more about this fantastic artwork, check out the full article here, or check out the embedded YouTube video.

Photocopy

Ladies and gents, I love looking at all the great pieces that others are making with their crayon art, but I am ashamed of artists who steal photography. If you ever come across someone who's stolen another artists photos, please report them - especially on Etsy! It's not fair to falsify your product to the buyers, nor is it fair to the original artist. 

I want to thank the fellow Etsian, thekyladesign, who noticed another "seller" who had stolen my photography for one of my pieces, Rainbow Falls. Etsy has been notified and hopefully the "seller" straightens up her act! Here's the link to her shop. I'm nervous that the tie-dye she's selling is also a photo she stole, so if you find it somewhere else on Etsy, please report the seller directly to Etsy with a link to the original artist's work. 

As I wrote to the owner of Change of Heart (who stole my photography), "Etsy is a site for honest, hardworking artists who respect one another." Anyone who isn't begin honest, or isn't respecting other artists' work should not be a part of that network. I understand that there are always going to be people who are only after their own gain, which is sad. Artists are especially subject to being copied, having their styles copied, and overrun by others with ambition for money. This is why artists need to stick together and look out for one another! 

I've reported the seller to Etsy and am not sure what the result will be since they will not keep my updated on the results of my reporting of the seller. I also sent the seller a message asking her to use her own photography. We'll see what happens… so if the following links don't work, that's a good sign! Here's the link to her shop, ChangeOfHeart, and here's the item using my photography, listed on September 25th. Now, here's the link to my item which had sold on July 18th of this year. Yup, they're the same. Not just one of the photos for this item, but BOTH! Grrr... just makes me upset. 

Well, thanks for listening to my vent. On a brighter note, this is looking to be one of the most beautiful Fall weekends in Michigan ever! I can't wait to be spending time with my boyfriend's family up north and to see all the lovely Fall foliage. I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Just plain honored!

This morning I discovered a message in my Etsy inbox informing me that I had been featured in a new blog post on A Bit of Bees Knees. When I checked out the post, I was blown away that I had been included in this collection of Amazing Artists: Julian Beever, Margaux Lange, Shu Uemura, Dalton Ghetti, and Janine Golbert. Some of whom I had heard of before, some who are new to me, and all of which are fantastic artists! Thank you, Brittany, for loving my art and including me in this post! Check out her blog - it's full of great posts ranging from art, to home tips, all kinds of fun things! =)

Smiles to The Painted Laugh!

A few days ago I was contacted by someone in San Diego regarding my art. I won't divulge the details (it'll be a surprise!) but I am so excited about her work! Sonja is an extremely talented artist whose work has been featured in OK magazine, San Diego Home and Garden, and The Luxury Spot Magazine - just to name a few! I've been exploring the website (which you can also do right here!) and am absolutely in love with what Sonja does. I can't wait to see her artwork live when it's featured at the Grand Rapids' Art Walk! Her work will be located in the b.o.b.!

What does every parent love more than anything in the world? Their child! And nothing is more precious than a child's laughter. It's hilarious, adorable, infectious, and pure joy. The concept behind this art is to take that beautiful laugh, and turn it into beautiful art. I love the way she translates the sound waves into brush patterns and the use of color!

As soon as I have a little one, this is definitely something I'll be looking to do! Hopefully Sonja's still doing this when that time comes (a few years out still). Here's one of my favorite pieces, but you can see more of her work at thepaintedlaugh.com and request a Push Button Recorder by clicking the button below to start progress on your custom piece!

Etsy Ladies

This is a blog dedicated to all those wonderfully talented and fabulous sellers on Etsy! I want to feature a few of my friends who have shops on there. It's so difficult to make yourself stand out on a site with thousands upon thousands of sellers, and these women are so gifted at what they do. So show a little love and check out what they have! Their sites are full of great gifts for anyone - including yourself!

JengaJam is owned by one of my friends who is not only awesome at crocheting/knitting, her paintings are beautiful as well! Unfortunately, those aren't up on her site since it's dedicated to knits. But you have to see all the crocheted/knit products she had! I just adore the baby hats and flower headbands she does. Look at how adorable they are!!

Fashion Lovers Dream is the site of one of my newest acquaintances. I met her out in CO last week and am blown away at how talented she is! She makes beautiful jewelry that I pretty much drool over. Don't worry, I didn't get any on her pieces! Not only is her stuff suited for any occasion, but her prices are extremely reasonable. Not like others who seem to slightly gouge their customers. I'm in love with these earrings and am purchasing them...now. Yessss... sorry to disappoint those who wanted them, but she has lots of other great stuff in her shop as well!

I'm moving toward setting up a small Etsy shop for stationary I'm designing. Right now it's all in the early processing stages, but I'll let you know when it's up and running! Yay!

For all of you Etsians who have shops - PLEASE - tell me what they are!! There's nothing better than helping out friends and knowing that someone you care for made something you own. I love that feeling. So share your site and I'd love to feature you as well!

Pay it Forward in 2011 & togeNYC

I saw this on one of my friends' facebook page and instantly had to put it as my status:

"Pay it forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They in turn must post this and send something they make to the first 5 people who comment on their status. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011."

Within 10 minutes I had my 5 people and started brainstorming! While I do have throughout the entire year to complete this project, I'm going to challenge myself to have all the gifts mailed out by the end of February. Plus, it will help with my New Years resolution to create one project a week throughout all of 2011! I'm so excited about it.

Speaking of that resolution, I really need to get started! Only 4 more days to complete something... Hmm... What to create...

If you come up with any ideas, send them my way and I'll take a shot at it! In the meantime, I saw this on Huffington Post and think it'd be fun to do a project with this concept:


A dragon made completely out of plastic knives, forks, spoons, and cups! Well, and some hot glue as well. So cool! I'm not sure the actual artist's name, but you can find more of their stuff on DeviantArt.com and "~toge-NYC" is the username.

Just goes to show that art can be found in and made of ANYTHING! It's up to us to see it =)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. Because I can post while my pit bull sleeps on my elbow. =)

Craig Mitchell Smith

Has Christmas snuck up wayyyy too fast for anyone else this year? I can't believe it's already Christmas Eve! I suppose it'd be lovely to post a festive project that I've done, but instead I want to promote a local glass artist who is extremely talented and passionate. His name is Craig Mitchell Smith and he has a gorgeous gallery in the Meridian Mall in Okemos. Imagine how happy I was to be strolling through the mall and stumble across an art gallery!! It was amazing.

The reason I'm choosing to talk about this particular artist today is because he created an ornament for the national Christmas tree this year! It's a beautiful red cardinal set in a snowflake. So pretty!



Not only is Craig Mitchell Smith an amazing artist, but he's also a huge supporter of other local artists. So much so that in the back of his gallery, he has eight mini-galleries, each dedicated to a different artist from the area. But what I love most about his gallery is that he has a workshop out in the open for everyone to see. Being able to view the artist at work brings a whole new appreciation for art, and it seems like he's always there to talk to people about his art. Each piece has a story, and you can't help but get wrapped up in Craig's enthusiasm.

Here are few more pieces of his, and I highly encourage everyone to peruse the gallery. His work truly is beautiful!




"Leaping Lena"




"Tuesday's Child"




"Jellyfish Dreams in Blue"