John Clark

These black and white prints are from John Clark. I love his use of book pages. You can see more of his work at his Etsy store.

Marlene Rose

"Watching Marlene Rose at work in her studio is a glimpse into some heavenly inferno. Once Marlene scoops up a heavy ladle of glowing, liquid molten glass from the furnace, she carries it to the sand molds she has carefully prepared. Attended by her crew, she carefully pours the glass into the molds. Like bright, white treacle it eases into the sand molds and begins to cool. Her crew immediately blasts the glass in the mold with fiercely roaring portable burners. to slow the cooling process down, and make sure there are no hot spots that might later crack off. In the mold the liquid glass changes color almost imperceptibly as it hardens, from bright yellow to orange to pale red and then to crystal clear. When it is at about 1000 degrees F it is carefully picked up (the crew wear thick, heat-proof gloves) and carried into a separate oven where it is slowly brought down to room temperature. This slow cooling process prevents the glass from cracking, and can take from 5 days to two weeks.

You can see more of her work at http://www.marleneroseglass.com/.

Kathy Triplett

The above is the ceramic sculptural work of Kathy Triplett. This is part of her tile series. You can see more of her work at her gallery, Blue Spiral (http://www.bluespiral1.com/).

More Alphabets...

Danielle Bodine

"My recent work is a natural progression of experimentation of paper on baskets. In this show, I reference textiles in various ways: the forms are made by casting paper on baskets, texturing with stitching and use of a wood burning tool, and collaging.I like the idea of using found objects, often, plastic ones, to create new shapes and to embellish them. I love to travel and hang out at Ethnological Museums...my work often reflects these experiences with other cultures." - Danielle Bodine

To see more of her work go to Jane Sauer Gallery at http://www.jsauergallery.com/sagemoon/MainPages/XtremeBaskets2008.html

Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz

I love the whimsical yet dark work of Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz. The tiny figures in the snow globes are caught in uncompromising positions. To see more of their work go to http://www.martin-munoz.com/

Words to live by...

Marianne Anderson

"Inspired by the history of ornament, Marianne Anderson’s jewellery presents a considered exploration of traditional ornamental forms and a refreshingly original interpretation of the decorative.
Working within a restrained palette of oxidised silver, 18ct gold, red garnets and white pearls, she creates luxurious and wearable collections that skillfully reference the human fascination with adornment."

You can see more of her work at http://www.marianneanderson.co.uk/

Linda Chamberlain

"Linda Chamberlain's primary focus in designing her mixed media assemblages is figurative in form.Her pieces evoke conceptual references to the figurative form, nature, botanical themes, mechanical constructions, and early childhood.Vintage game pieces, tin toys, gears, pulleys, rhinestone bobbles, doll fragments, old letters; are just some of the elements used in creating these whimsical theaters.In the studio, these found objects take a direction of their own and through the assemblage process, evolve into their final form.At the core of many assemblage is often an articulated figure using combinations of drawings and paper cuts from 19th and 20th century papers.These figures are based on the 15th century Commedia Dell' Arente period."

Play for Charity

Go to the Free Rice site to answer the vocabulary questions to earn grains of rice for the UN World Food Program. They are not easy... Go to http://freerice.com/index.php to participate.

Ruven Afanador

This was a 2008 shoot for Italian Elle called "Evolution of the Specie". You can see more of Ruven Afandor's work at www.art-dept.com/artists/afanador/.

Who Knew???

Did you know:
- The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 in broad daylight by an employee. It was recovered two years later

- In 1956 a man named Ugo Ungaza Villegas threw a rock at the painting, causing damage to the paint around Mona's left elbow.
- The Mona Lisa resides in her own climate controlled, bullet proof room which reportedly cost the Louvre around 7.5 million to build.
- One theory as to why Mona has no eyebrows is that they were accidentally removed in an early cleaning and restoration ... ooops!
- There are supposedly three different paintings underneath Mona Lisa ... one depicts her clutching a chair in front of her ... wonder if the enigmatic smile stayed the same?
- The Mona Lisa is not insured. It is considered priceless, a national treasure, and owner insured by France.

from Adrienne Hurtt

Grainne Morton

"Collecting obscure and miniature objects is the starting point for Grainne Morton's jewelry designs. Through experimentation, objects both formed and found are grouped in to 'collections' and housed in handmade boxes. The various materials used include pressed flowers, old buttons, shells, pebbles, sea glass, printed tin and words/graphics/print. To complement these found elements, handmade objects such as enamel work, miniature drawings and punched metal shim are added to complete the collections." You can see more of her work at http://www.grainnemorton.co.uk/

Unique Crayons

Make your own unique crayons. Take a silicone baking tray (you can get shapes at Michael's) and place all of those broken crayon bits into the holes. Try and make sure that the pieces are about equal size. Fill each hole 1/3 of the way up. Place in a 250-degree oven for about 20 minutes. Let stand and cool for 30 minutes. Pop your new crayons out of the tray.

Cal Lane

"By combining domestic and industrial imagery and objects, Cal Lane breaks down function by exposing visual patterns. Lane applies decorative patterns such as lace to objects designed solely for function, such as steel I-beams, oil drums, wheelbarrows, shovels, and dumpsters. These masculine utilitarian objects are thus feminized and transformed from their original use to become beautiful objects often charged with politically meaning." You can see more of his work at http://www.callane.com/.

Todd Reed

Diamonds are a girls best friend...

"Over the last 15 years the medium has been jewelry, and the voice used to express my ideas has been raw diamonds. I became most interested in raw diamonds as a way to question the fascination with diamonds used as a status symbol in our current society. I maintain still today that the "most perfect cut" is still an uncut. It became a fascination for me to use and make aware the beauty and raw elegance of the diamond in its most pure form. Today my collection continues to grow as does my interest and relationship with the material. My work is fabricated with 18 karat gold, platinum and silver, using cut diamonds as an accent to the raw diamond. " - Todd Reed

You can see more of his work at http://www.toddreed.com/.

I love alphabets

Elle Moss

This quirky and color-rich photography is by Elle Moss. You can find more of her work at her Etsy store.