Love to end the week with the work of Henry Gunderson. The first piece on the top would look AMAZING if you hang it on the wall in a HUGE frame of sorts no? Total crazy statement. The last one with the horse is quite vintage-y looking and for some odd reason makes me think of soft porn from the 70′s. Yeah.

Now, my dear Vancouverites – the rainy season is upon us but that doesn’t mean you need to stay at home eating cheetos and watching re-runs of Will & Grace. No sir. Tis the season of art events and pop-up markets that will set you on the right track for the holiday season.

My friends, I am speaking of Art Market: a Project Space fundraiser. In the words of Project Space:

The project is a three-week long pop-up market of commodities created by artists, that will act as a fundraiser and will provoke consideration of the situation artists/artist-run centres face creating work outside of the market while attempting to sustain themselves financially.

You must send a note of interest by November 10 (just a few days left!) and your work should be dropped off by November 21 2012 (oh, you have plenty of time to make awesome goodies). For more info about the event, including guideliness and contact info, click HERE.

Happy weekend amigos!

TOP IMAGES: Henry Gunderson

ART. I need Nice Things

Fall is in full swing and just as the leaves change in color to welcome the crisp, chilly wind – so does the art for this month’s Affordable Art. It’s kinda crazy to see the progression of this series influenced by the weather.

For this collection I dug up a few favorites from I need Nice Things – An Australia based online shop that carries lots of beautiful prints. The style and vibe of this site is more design-y oriented that others; lots of geometry and simple, bright colors. Hope you enjoy the collection! Let me know if you have any favorites! (Mine’s the embroidered circles, of course!).

Ok. Is this a new religion happening? Cuz I totally wanna be part of it. Alex Brewer - better known as HENSE – is an Atlanta based artist that has over two decades of experience creating free-style paintings, murals and installations; all of them soaked with bright colours and patterns.

I think it would be a great project to have someone like Alex reno boring buildings in the city – let me tell you Vancouver has many of those! A punch of color in every city corner? There should be a law for that!

IMAGES: Hifas / Hense

Who knew coloured pencils could make such amazing sculptures?! Lionel Bawden cuts hundreds of pencils in different shapes and sizes to create optical illusions and pattern play. Crazy how some of them look like they’re melting!

I love the green one with the two diamond-shaped pieces. Stunning! So tell me, which one’s your favorite?

IMAGES VIA: But Does It Float / Lionel Bawden

Hey you guys! Today I have a little surprise for you. Today we are going to explore the world of Artsia – a contemporary art site dedicated to promote independent artists from around the world. As you know, I am a absolute lover of online marketplaces and affordable art, so when Lindsey  - one of the editors – contacted me, I couldn’t resist to ask for an interview!

So, here it is. An intimate talk with Lindsey and a peek into the creative world of Artsia:

TAD: What does a typical day at Artsia look like?

We are based in so many locations all around the world so most of what we do is done online, via email and skype. Our founder Colin is now in Vancouver, from where we coordinate our marketing, PR and web development.

The curatorial process is managed online with Catherine in London and Emily in Vancouver, plus various friends and curators around the world who find new artists and help us to grow the network.

I work as editor in New York, writing articles for the site, as well as coordinating new articles from artists and writers around the world. I get to interview a new artist in our community every month and send out newsletters full of featured works. We just published an article about the Melbourne art scene, and recent articles have focused on a range of international art topics, including  the language of art, the Asian art market and the life of art critic Robert Hughes.

TAD: Who are some of your favorite artists from the site?

All of the members of the Artsia team have their favorites, and we really try to find artists who have something special, with a unique and distinct style.

Our favourites also keep changing, a new piece will be uploaded to the site and suddenly we have new ones! Some of the artists we can all agree on who come to mind are (though there are many!):Margaret Zox Brown, Jesus Leguizamo, Karina Knight, Aixa Oliveras, David L. Smith, Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen and Jonathan Alibone.

TAD: What’s your advice for first time art buyers?

Our advice is really simple – buy what you love! Too often buying art is often confused with an ‘investment’ and that is not what art is about. Yes contemporary art can increase in value, but much more than, buying a piece of art is something you will enjoy every day. So it is all about the connection that you feel with a piece, which is a deeply personal thing and so it should be driven by your feeling you get from the piece, and don’t let a gallery owner tell you otherwise!

Some crucial steps are to look around – there are literally thousands of artists who’s art is investible at the moment, and so you should find one who’s work you feel you could look at every day, and still feel that warmth and that special something whenever you look at it. It’s a bit like finding your life partner, you need to think “is this the piece of art I could wake up to every morning?”

And who wouldn’t like to wake up to this cute cow every morning!?

Thanks so much Lindsey and team for sharing your answers here on the blog and thanks desperados for tagging along. Hope you have a great weekend filled of creativity!

IMAGES: Artsia.com

Please note this is NOT a sponsored post of any kind. If you would like to see your work featured on the blog, just drop me a line and let’s talk :)

Together As Always is a project by Julianne Aguilar which serves as a digital archive of handwritten notes found in second-hand books. Are you hooked? I am!

In the words of Julianne – Together As Always:

This project explores the internet as both an inherent archive and a new way of presenting art to the public by way of social network (Tumblr). The inscriptions are grouped by tag to find trends in theme and occasion. As trends emerge, viewers are able to browse by tag, which include holidays, names and dates. It also celebrates the beauty of books, and their ability to become either sacred objects guarded by archivists or next-to garbage that get sent to thrift stores.

From fashion to diets – everything works in cycles and whatever was considered “obsolete” or “not current” is totally making a comeback. I believe same thing will apply to books at some point – all of these tablets and crazy phones will perhaps try to substitute them, but they’ll never go away. Projects like Together As Always will help keep the written word alive.

What do you think guys? Will books ever be replaced?

PHOTO. Pauline Darley for Ever Magazine | ACCESSORIES. dress, gloves, necklace, shoes

What are you guys doing for Halloween? Did you party it all out last weekend? Today marks the official date to dress up and be spooky – you have one last day to goof around and scare the crap out of people! All while looking super dashing, of course. Isn’t Pauline Darley’s photo great? I was saving it  for the last Costumes for Art Lovers post. Fashion meets afterlife. To be honest, you gals could get this getup and still use it for the rest of the year. Multi-task that shit!

Happy Halloween everyone. Go hit a haunted house or even better, go frighten your neighbors kids! (not responsible for any lawsuits).

Shiny disco balls! Or rather, shiny mighty art installation by Tara Donovan. This is a new discovery for me, I didn’t know about the art of miss Donovan until I stumbled upon these images. Obviously, my heart kinda skipped a beat and I had to dig more. As described by the NY Times, Tara Donovan is “The Genius of Little Things” - known for her absolutely stunning installations, she has a skillful eye for symmetry and large scale pieces.

She also has the reputation of turning everyday objects into crazy works of art (like the one above). Ah! I am so very glad I found her. I think I’m gonna stare at this for a while….come, sit next to me and let’s space out together. Ready? 1.2.3…….

IMAGES: Pace Gallery and Barbara Krakow Gallery, via Cave To Canvas

Nothing compares to the outstanding design of nature. Colors, shapes, symmetry – all perfect! Alexander Semenov knows this too and he has gone to the depths of ocean to capture living creatures that are more like living art. Do you always look for the jellyfish tank when you go the aquarium? I do! Those creatures are amazing, so serene and beautiful – except when you touch them and then someone has to pee on you to get rid of the pain. Oh well, there has to be a price for all of this perfection, right?

IMAGES: Alexander Semenov

I am seriously loving these photographs by Helen Sear. They’re all part of her series Inside The View in which Helen used photographs and digital manipulation to create layers of textures and colors that resemble lace and vintage film. She actually drew some of the textures herself (with a tablet) – crazy huh?

These images totally inspired me to grab my polaroid and explore the city this weekend! What about you? Do you like Helen’s work?

IMAGES: Helen Sear