A good idea for those extra beads ...

After a while of actually having this up on my wall, it had suddenly hit me that I haven't shared this beautiful piece of art all of you.

My craftie-bestie Karen - responsible for a certain green dress - took a dive into my destash bead collection with a very ingenious idea.  The result was this beautiful surprise she made for me.

Karen had mounted this beautiful spring day bead picture on layers of recycled cardboard.  She used a paint with a really nice lacquer finish that complements the sheen of the beads oh-so-beautifully.  I think this whole project started off when she saw a collection of acrylic rose beads in the destash pile, she had asked at the time if I was doing anything with them.

I'm currently cleaning up the workspace/dining room right now to make my supplies less conspicuous, so it's in a safe place with no risk of damage.  I'll be finding a new place to hang it with love.  :)

Crystal Lori Boyd: (Paint) Splatter Analyst

I've got a good friend I want you to meet.  She does wonders with the unexpected.

Please meet my friend Crystal Lori Boyd, an artist here in Brampton, Ontario.  I'd like to call her an 'extreme fingerpainter', but I'm worried it doesn't speak of the maturity in her art.  Crystal is what we'd like to call 'green-conscious', using recycled and reused materials in her art.  Most of her canvases consist of cabinet doors, countertops, wood planks, tiles and probably lots more I can't think of but she's used.  She also likes to 'texturize' her paintings by including crumpled materials drenched in paint and moulded much like the splatters on the canvas - her favourite lately being party streamers.  It makes for an incredible effect that adds wondrous depth and dimension.

She confesses that she doesn't use paintbrushes very often, but does most of her creations in paint with her hands.  Crystal had done an interactive art show for Synergy's Grand Opening at the end of the summer, and I'm a fool for not getting any pictures - I had sworn there were some!  Covered in paint up to her forearms and all over her legs, she had produced some beautiful paint in front of a wonderstruck audience.  Here are pictures of some of the finished pieces she had brought with her and completed at the event.

Winter Enchantment with Artbeads.com!

Welcome to another Artbeads.com creation!

Our latest project is called "Winter Enchantment", to design a piece inspired by what we love about winter.  I have to be honest and say that the only reason I like snow and winter are for sentimental reasons; around Christmas and New Years, the snow makes those lights outside glow at night.  Other than that, it's cold, wet and gets in your boots and makes you uncomfortable the rest of the day.  There is one inspiration I did turn to, however, to feel the 'enchantment' of the winter season, and that was to The Group of Seven, a famous group of painters who pioneered Canadian landscape art when many artists thought at the time it to be "unpaintable or unworthy of painting."  Their works of art are now part of a rich, artistic culture and these images serve as iconography to our picturesque beauty of Canadian wilderness.
  
I remember a field trip in grade school to the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg, ON, where nearly 6000 pieces of art by the Group of Seven are housed and displayed.  I loved these paintings, and seeing the beauty of my country through the eyes of artists such as these men and women make me proud to be a Canadian ... thus, by default, enjoying the 'enchantment of winter'.  No?  My choice inspiration for this project is one of my favourites, Mount Lefroy by Lawren Harris.  I had also found a lovely pendant that I thought echoed the styles of many of the Group's works.

 

Wordless Wednesday, Issue #11: Graffiti Art for 'Rent'

The set is all done for this weekend's run of Brampton Music Theatre's Rent - and only this weekend at the Rose Theatre in Brampton!  A big thanks to Shawn, a local artist from Orangeville who provided some rather awesome graffiti art for the set's ambience of the backstreets of New York City.  Check out these photos of art in action!

The Art Of 'Lost'

If you've previously tuned in, I was trying to keep up with the reveal process of the commemorative art to introduce the final season of Lost.  Many things fell by the wayside, as well as the politics of availability of these prints.  (Nick and I had found a chat forum full of 'art snobs', declaring how these posters had 'no artistic merit' and how they couldn't understand why their favourite artists would participate in something so base.)

That being said, all 16 prints have been revealed, and here's a full spread of the 'watercooler moments' that made up some of the most fondest memories of our favourite castaways.

Tim Doyle, The Numbers

Olly Moss, Locke's Secret

Methane Studios, The Dharma Van

Slo-Mo Ballistics Art

I had recently mentioned of Nick's newest hobby and fascination with marksmenship, as he came across this video I thought was absolutely stunning, I had to share with you all.

It's visual stimuli like this that keeps me going; finding inspirations and beauty in the places where you'd have to turn over a rock.  I implore you to watch and admire the beauty of the patterns emerging from the impact of a various selection of ammunition against various targets and substances.

Enjoy and post your comments!

Lost: Deux Ex Machina

I had been meaning to catch up on the Lost commemorative art posters, and then today happened.  Serendipity, I tell you.  It's beautiful.

And to truly take advantage of today's reveal, we will go in true Lost fashion and start ourselves in reverse, back to the point where I left off.  Confusing, just like Lost!

Ladies and gentlemen, this is "The Hatch," by Kevin Tong.

Lost: "You Found Yourselves a Hippie Van!"

Another poster print has been revealed from the artist collaborators with Lost!  

 

The Dharma Van, by Methane Studios

Of all watercooler moments to speak of in Lost, one of the best has to be from "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead", when Hurley, Charlie, Sawyer, Jin and good ol' doggy Vincent taking a joyride in a broken-down Dharma van.  With "Shambala" by Three Dog Night on the 8-track, they rolled around the valley for a little while, just like nothing changed.  Hurley uses the van to the advantage by rescuing Jin, Bernard and Sayid from the Others who had captured their ambush on the beach in the episode "Through The Looking Glass".  Through the end of season five, we see these vans running all over the Island from science station to science station in good, running order, with no skeleton heads present.

Lost: 'Locke's Secret' Revealed!

To continue with the Ronie Midfew/Paul Scheer cooperative effort to bring Lost fans their due thanks,  another poster was revealed at another function for limited purchase ... unfortunately, at this time, is sold out.  With the subject matter, I can certainly see why!

 

Olly Moss for 'Locke's Secret'

Here's what the project is all about:

"In celebration of LOST's final season and as a project of fan appreciation, 16 top designers and artists, who are also fans of the show, were commissioned to create artwork celebrating one of the series' most memorable, and unforgettable, "water cooler" moments. This ultimate "fan art" was then turned into labor intensive, hand-pulled screen prints, limited to an edition of just 300, with less than 200 available to the public through our websites. Each beautiful poster tells its own different story, allowing the fan to relive memorable and influential moments in an artistic manner, as the show's storied run comes to a close. Once this limited edition print has sold out, they will never be printed again. Celebrate the fandom, community and family created by one of televisions' greatest shows by hanging a little part of it's history, inspiration and influence on your wall."

Hallowe'en DIY Ideas: Cartoon Heroines of the '80s

 artwork: twilight-jen.deviantART.com

'Tis the season to be a fabulous cartoon babe! Well, at least in preparation for ...

The diehards, like myself, start thinking about their costumes about two weeks ago. My birthday is on October 25th, so my birthday party usually lands on the 'party weekend'!  I have a few ideas that are right up my DIY alley that are great for parties. Now, I shall warn you that I am a child of the 80s, and a lot of costumes I've recently come up with will certainly represent that. And, in true 'Cassandra' fashion, I always like to put a spin on things, and can always find inspirations, espiecally in 'fan art'. So, I strolled over to deviantART.com and found some spectacular pieces that will help the imagination go to some unexpected places with your own ideas. If you're into retro-fashion like me, you just may find an idea to really pull off a spectacular Hallowe'en costume. The best part - this ain't no prepackage deal, you pieced this together yourself!

Cheetara of the Thundercats
You may remember this feline badass from Saturday mornings with Lion-O and the gang protecting the last of the Thunderans when their home planet is destroyed, and fighting evil on a new planet they now call their home. Cheetara was my favourite character on this show because I thought she had some really cool hair. I've sported a platinum blond 'do before (take a look at the Led Zeppelin tribute performance videos!), and got some hair tips if I ever wanted to dare the 'leopard spot' look.