CasaSugar

Love Shack: Lisa Congdon's Lovebirds

CasaSugar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:30:52 -0800

I've long been a fan of online art site 20x200, so when I saw that it was featuring one of my favorite San Francisco artists, shop owners, and collectors, Lisa Congdon, I knew I had to share this art piece with you. Even better, it would make a great Valentine's Day present for a friend, true love, or family member. (For more of my Valentine's Day ideas, look for the tag Love Shack in the coming days and weeks). Lovebirds, by Lisa Congdon, is available in three different sizes at price points ranging from $20 to $200 and features two lovely colorful birds roosting next to a vibrant, patchwork home. You can purchase it here. Interested in other Lisa Congdon work? Then check out Lisa's work, available through Chronicle Books. For a limited time, you'll get a 25 percent discount plus free ground shipping on all stationery products, including Lisa's journal and notecards, when you use the promotional code STA10 at check out.

Great Art Online: Rowan Morrison

CasaSugar — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:15:00 -0800

While Rowan Morrison, a gallery in Oakland, Calif., owned and operated by artists Pete and Narangkar Glover, may be tiny in proportions, it is gigantic in artistic scope. A contemporary art gallery and art bookstore, it specializes in fine art books, small-edition prints, unique paper goods, and self-published zines. They also publish Rowan Morrison editions of art books, prints, and original paper goods. Best of all, many of these items are available for sale online. Take a look at the slideshow for more information about the gallery, as well as links to some of the items available for sale. Source

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Great Art Online: Tree Factory by Amy Ruppel

CasaSugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:30:52 -0800

Every month, the good folks over at Reform School work one on one with some of their favorite artists in a collaboration called "Student of the Month." This collaboration features work from talented artists and designers and offers new and limited-edition goods from an ever-changing list of artists.

One recent offering is Tree Factory by Amy Ruppel ($35.00). This limited-edition print will appeal to all of you bird enthusiasts out there, not only because it features a cute feathered friend, but because 5 percent of the proceeds from the print will be notated to Amy's charity of choice, the American Bird Conservancy. "Tree Factory" is printed at Pinball Publishing on postconsumer recycled paper with soy-based inks, measures 11-x-14 inches, and is signed and numbered.

Give the Gift of Art: Polly, by Christina Muraczewski

CasaSugar — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:34:09 -0800

I love this bird print from Jen Bekman's 20x200 gallery. An archival pigment print, Polly, by Christina Muraczewski ($20), was originally created with acrylic marker and glitter on canvas. While the print itself is perfect for the holidays (there's just something so cozy and wintry about birds in branches), this would look lovely all year round with a thoughtful matting and frame. I've ordered prints from 20x200 before, so I can personally vouch for their quality. Hurry though: There were only 200 of this size printed and fewer than 100 remain!

CasaSugar Giveaway: Yee-Haw's Art Prints

CasaSugar — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:41:43 -0700

Earlier today, I told you about the beautiful letterpress art from Yee-Haw Industries. And now I'm giving you a chance to win some of their creations!

Yee-Haw has given me a set of their "Flowering Trees of Appalachia" series, which includes hand-carved wood cuts of Dogwood, Magnolia, Paw Paw and Redbud trees. These can be used as cards, but if I were you, I'd consider framing this series and hanging them together. I have some framed in my own home, and they look great when grouped together. All are letterpress printed in delicate color blends of pink, green and brown ink on recycled white paper and come with recycled kraft envelopes.

Enter to win simply by leaving a comment below! For the official rules, go here.

Great Art Online: Yee-Haw Industries

CasaSugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 05:00:00 -0700

Yee-Haw Industries was established by partners Kevin Bradley & Julie Belcher, who opened up shop from a back-40 barn in Corbin, Kentucky, with salvaged, antique equipment. Their vibrant, folk art, wood cut prints of country music's classic stars, such as Hank Williams, Sr. and Loretta Lynn, caught eyes and told stories. Soon, modern music acts, including Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and Southern Culture on the Skids began commissioning promotional posters and album art. In 1998, having outgrown the bluegrass barn, Yee-Haw moved to Knoxville, where they offer tours of the Yee-Haw studio in action and maintain a store to sell their wares.

To see more of Yee-Haw's beautiful work, and to find out how to win some of it, just read more

Yee-Haw's work has been honored by selection to PRINT Magazine's Regional Design Annual for seven years running and has been reviewed and featured by The Washington Post, AIGA Journal, Fortune Small Business, Southern Living, Esquire, American Illustration 21, and was recently published in The Art of Modern Rock, the Poster Explosion. Yee-Haw has done fine illustration, as well as design and letterpress, for clients such as RRL-Ralph Lauren, The American Visionary Art Museum, MTV2, and the Cartoon Network. The studio has recently collaborated with the National Gallery of Art to design & produce a unique line of Dada merchandise, available exclusively at the National Gallery for the duration of the 2006 Dada exhibition.

Check back later today when we'll be giving away some gorgeous Yee-Haw Industries products to one lucky winner!

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Casa Capsule: The Week That Was

CasaSugar — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 10:32:16 -0700

Su Casa group member Leah Hennen showed us her fabulous seventies living room vignette.
You gave azduring13 some advice on living with concrete floors.
Newlywed Karazzies needs your help in creating a cheap and chic living room in the latest Casa Craving Challenge.
If your walls are blank, The Decoder Ring has some great art online.
There's no need to be tacky on the 31st, get some classy Halloween décor.
Lisa Jones brings sculpture to the interior design world, take a seat!
You too can get the Miranda Hobbes look at home.
The west elm contest winner, kavi484, told us all about her home décor style.
If you're looking for some fruity lighting, check out Pratt student Nick Foley's breathtaking LED pear lamp.
Need to spice up a bland table top? Make your own beautiful pumpkin centerpiece!

Great Art Online: The Decoder Ring Design Concern

CasaSugar — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:09:13 -0700

The Decoder Ring Design Concern creates both lovely and edgy silkscreened concert and art posters (thanks for the tip, Penelope829). Founded in 2004, their mission statement is simply "Do work we love for clients we admire." Partners Christian Helms, Geoff Peveto, Paul Fucik, and Derrit DeRouen have worked with clients including Leo Burnett Worldwide, Levis Jeans, Toyota Yaris, MTV, Sony BMG's Epic Records, Capitol Records, South By Southwest, Modest Mouse, Dave Matthews Band, Erykah Badu, and Wilco. Each project Decoder undertakes reflects what they love about design: collaboration with companies, groups, or individuals who have something important to say and deserve to be heard.

To find out how to contact The Decoder Ring Design Concern for custom orders, and to see a gallery of their work, just read more

According to their site, this group of designers decided on this odd, long name because a decoder ring "is used to solve complex problems, and design concern is an historic term that references the rich heritage of our industry." Since, they also mention that everything is better with bacon or monkeys, I'm not sure if I can take everything this talented crew says too seriously. Though I do believe that GiggleSugar would agree with them about the monkeys.

You can contact The Decoder Ring with questions or custom orders here.

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Great Art Online: 20x200

CasaSugar — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:30:08 -0700

Getting your art collection started is often limited by your pocketbook. The only way I could afford my first large art purchase was because I bartered an artist friend for it. So what to do if you're art-friend-free and low on the benjamins? Why, turn to the internet, of course. One site that I'm in love with is 20x200.

To find out more, just read more

20x200 doesn't offer a ton of images that might overwhelm you. Instead, the site introduces one photo and one work on paper each week. Each of these images is available in three sizes.The smallest size is reprinted in the largest batch, at 200 prints, and sold at the lowest price – $20. (That's where the site's name comes from, by the way.) 20x200 also offers two larger sizes at 2 larger prices, for the more cash-heavy collector.

Jen Bekman, who started the art site, also has a small art gallery on the Lower East Side, which she opened five years ago to support emerging artists and collectors. In the April issue of Good magazine, she writes

"As we see it, there are a lot of people out there who want to sell their art and a lot of people who'd like to buy it. They just have a hard time finding each other. The internet is the perfect place to bring those people together, and we're exactly the right people to make it happen. We're passionate about art and the internet at 20x200. We're really excited about creating a place where almost any art lover can be an art collector."

Source and Source

Sale Alert: Chronicle Friends and Family Sale

CasaSugar — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:57:17 -0800

Chronicle Books is one of my go-to sources for gift ideas. Its selection of titles, which range from arts and crafts to children's and design (and much, much more), is a welcome assurance that I can find something for everyone on my gift list.

Through Wednesday, when you shop Chronicle online, you'll save 35 percent off on all purchases, plus free shipping. Just enter FRIENDS at checkout to take advantage of this great offer.

Want some ideas for titles to buy? For your crafty friends, try Stencil 101 Decor or Lotta's Printing Studio. Or for your design-savvy family members, look to titles like Creative Space: Urban Homes of Artists and Innovators to inspire their next decorating project.

Check out a few more titles that might tickle your gift-giving fancy below!