Ugh, for whatever reason I forgot to post this. So better late than never, I'd like to share my twisted favorites from the big summer art show in these parts. But before I get started I'd like to present a couple twisted things past and present from my son, the reluctant artist.
This was a traced hand project from kindergarten and one of my favorites. Remember when Anakin was tattooed by slugs during the Clone Wars, that was a definite influence here.
Sticking with the hand theme is this clay piece. A few weeks prior to its inception, he had an accident in art class that required five stitches. I love that he channeled an unpleasant experience into a work of art.
So here it is memorialized in a pottery tea light holder, ripped flesh and lots of blood in beautiful detail.
And here's what set my sinister heart a flutter at the art fair:
Mike Bose - Who makes dead fish look awesome? This guy. He also makes some fabulous lizards.
Chris Hildenbrandt - Creepy cool critters from repurposed metal parts.
James Bearden - His sculptures make me think of what you might find on an alien craft at the bottom of the ocean. The framed mirrors were beautiful. I didn't see any of the spiders pictured on his website at his booth, I wish I would have, those are awesome.
Ryan Myers - Beautiful ceramic skulls and skull painted faces.
Ingrid Hyde - Lovely skull, with vivid colors and gorgeous details.
Dakota Pratt - The skull I saw last year, and the skull from this year. The bottle caps used for the nostrils also have skulls on the them.
Eric Grimes - The skull and monster boxes are adorable, I love how much personality they have.
Bruce Holwerda - Fantastic flowing figures, say that three times fast. I really love his collection of 'Suspicious Characters'.
Tai Taeoalii - Lots of creepy cool geek art. What he can do with a pen and then the way he pulls it together with other mediums is just amazing.
Nicario Jimenez - All of his stuff is incredible but I love the glimpses into the lives of his little skeletons. Here are some more pictures of his works on pinterest.
Nick Ringelstetter - I first saw his work and 2013 and was hoping he'd be back last year, but no dice, so I was thrilled to see his booth this year and add to my collection. I love all the aliens and eyeballs.
Andy Van Schyndle - Always excited to see his work. I don't know if dark whimsy is an oxymoron, but there it is.
Joachim Knill - I love how stuff animals are the focus, but they are so serious, these are not a child's playthings. The 'Rattler' is my favorite.
Tyler Voorhees - I realize that I see the world through creepy colored glasses. It's like I catch a creepy alternate version hovering on the edges of reality, but then when I focus it's gone. That's what these were like, online they look pretty harmless, in fact the story behind each picture is pretty interesting in a completely not scary way. In person is was kind of like being in a Gravity Falls flashback where everyone mutates into Coraline's Other Mother. I have to think it was just me. Well it can't just be me, I'm not that special. Probably me and like four other people.
Britt Hallowell - Again probably just me, but her paintings had a haunted serenity, like being alone at dusk in the wild, but feeling like your not quite alone.
Michael Bryant - His pictures have an eerie quality to them, it was interesting to read that he purposefully uses a cheap toy camera and how he uses that to his advantage.
Justin D. Miller.com/ - I love the alternate universes with skewed perspectives, like visual stories just waiting to be read.
Laura Harris - Love the mix of gears, baubles and shards of glass, also loved the trees, they definitely belong in a haunted magical forest.
It might seem with my frequent use of the word love that maybe it has some diluted generic meaning for me. But no, each and every instance took my breath and butterflied my heart while the rest of the world took a fade to the back. So no, when I say "love", I mean what I say.
