I’ve been a big fan of Sick on Sin for awhile now but just finally purchased a shirt. Their merchandise consists of t-shirts, pins, magnets and compact mirrors.
All shirts are on sale for $21 through Saturday. Besides their official site, they have a blog and an Etsy shop. Check ’em!
I bought a shirt with this design..
Here are some other radical designs..
Posted in Art, Random Interests
Tagged Art, erase all humans, ninja, sea creatures, shirt, sick on sin, T-Shirt, vampire cupcake, vegetarian
Spike Press comes out with some of my favorite band posters. The first 3 pictured below, for the National, are incredible. Does anybody know what the images are that make up the colored portion of the prints? It looks like Rodin’s Gates of Hell (which is mind-blowing in person – check it out if you’re ever in Paris) but it seems like it would be hard to make a print from a sculpture, so I’m lost. You can purchase prints from their site or view a collection of prints from past and present at Gig Posters.
Tagged Art, band, Bon Iver, posters, Prints, Rogue Wave, spike press, Spiritualized, The Decemberists, The National
One day I’ll want to live in a house like a real grown-up. And when that day comes, I think I’ll buy something from KAM Lamp Company. Retro-y handmade deliciousness. The Swarovsky crystal light is like a Victorian disco ball. Love it!
Posted in Art
Tagged Art, Etsy, handmade, KAM Lamp Company, lamps, lighting, Minimalism, vintage
Ellie is Lost with the Others by Jeremy Asher Lynch
I’m completely and helplessly addicted to LOST. I’m already mourning the end of the series and there are still 9 episodes left. The most common complaint I hear from people about LOST is that the show never answers any questions but keeps asking new ones. I couldn’t care less. I love being teased so I could go for another 6 years of the same thing.
Here are some cool LOST inspired art pieces. Even if you’re not a fan, there’s some cool stuff by some talented artists worth following.
The Swan by Carlos Ramos
Locke vs Jaco by Tasty "Shops"
Circle of Ash by Chris Ryniak
8 By Mattson Creative
The Number 108 by Ben Strawn
Rousseau's Transmission by Dan McCarthy
Hurley by Jimiyo
The Polar Bear Conundram by Dan May
The Swan Station by Rob Jones
Posted in Art, Travel, Hobbies, Events
I’m loving these belt buckles made from recycled license plates by Vintage in Retrospect. You can have them write whatever you want on the cassette tape before they seal and ship it. Awesome. I’m trying to remember what cassette tapes I used to rock… The Misfits, The Descendents, Face to Face, The Smiths… Oh and Cyndi Lauper! What about you?
Nathan Ota is painter and illustrator based out of California whose influences include graffiti and comic book artists. He creates eerie worlds where trees are a living force who twist themselves into every being’s existence and the animal kingdom has developed a taste for pointy hats. I particularly love his images containing robots who appear to have become obsolete in a bizarre future where a thriving nature has driven technology out of existence. If the Matrix had an alternate reality, this would be it.
You can follow him on his site or blog and purchase his work at a number of places including Thumbtack Press.
Left Out
Repair
Broken School House
Hiding Out
Decision Garden
Dede the Tree Man
Schools Out
Posted in Art
Tagged Art, Broken School House, Decision Garden, Dede the Tree Man, Going Home, Hiding Out, Illustrations, Left Out, Nathan Ota, paintings, Repair, Schools Out
The Foals album, Antidotes, was one of my favorite albums of 2008. I’ve been anxiously awaiting their next album, Total Life Forever, which is scheduled to drop in the U.S. on May 11th so I was pretty stoked to run into this video for a new song, Spanish Sahara. I was surprised by how different it is from the dance-punk rhythms of earlier songs but not at all surprised by how much it tickled the pleasure center of my brain. The video itself is a little creepy but gorgeous and mesmerizing (as is singer Yannis Philippakis and his big brown eyes). Oh and the expansive winter landscapes completely reminded me of a Dan McCarthy painting.. like this one minus the dinosaur.
It’s been a crazy week! I started a new job (which I am loving) and my little bunny friend, Squirrel, was in and out of the vet hospital and on the verge of keeling over. Finally, today, she’s back to normal and I can breath a sigh of relief. I know, I know.. I’m that strange and ridiculous cat bunny lady. I think I can live with that.
Today I stopped by Leia Bell’s cool little print shop, Signed and Numbered. It’s there that I discovered a new favorite artist, Dan Grzeca (pronounced Jet-sah). The Chicago-based artist creates wonderfully fluid prints that mesh the animal kingdom with human engineering. His style reminds me of playful steampunk, but without (and before) steam.. folk-mechanical-punk maybe?
You can follow his progress through his blog or purchase prints at his Etsy store. I think my favorite is the first one I posted below, There is no American Buffalo but the Black Keys set is a close second. Just fantastic.
There is no American Buffalo
Black Keys NYE/D
Black Keys NYE/D
Blue Tiny Cowboy
The Year of the Rooster
Airlift
A couple of days ago I made a status update on Facebook in opposition to the group “Making Drug Tests Required to Get Welfare” which started a debate over whether or not the idea is (as the ACLU puts it) scientifically, fiscally, and constitutionally sound.
I’m sure my conservative friends and family see my viewpoints as naive, sinful and heathenistic while I see theirs as cold, exclusionary and based on a sense of moral superiority. Sometimes I have a really hard time finding any common ground and it feels like the chasm is too great to ever agree on solutions.
The whole thing just reminded me of an interesting chart I saw awhile back on one of my favorite sites, Information is Beautiful. It’s called Left vs Right: A View of the Political Spectrum by David McCandless and information artist Stefanie Posavec, taken from my book The Visual Miscellaneum.
Click on the image to enlarge. And FYI, counter to what you’d expect, Left is in red and Right is in blue.
Posted in Art
Tagged Art, Chart, Information is Beautiful, Left vs Right: A View of the Political Spectrum, politics
Cyberoptix is a tie “lab” created and ran by Detroit artist, Bethany Shorb. I love the delicious colors and fun graphics. If you’ve gotta wear a piece of useless fabric around your neck, might as well make it art! You can purchase one of her ties on her site or at her Etsy shop for around $30-$40. She also maintains a really cool blog, Toybreaker, where she showcases new designs.
Posted in Art
Tagged Art, artist, Bethany Shorp, Cyberoptics, Design, Detroit, Etsy, screen print, ties
Battle Bunny 