Imogen Heap - Endearing, Delightful, Generous

I will never tire and will never stop being fascinated and appreciative of people who I admire sharing so much about themselves freely and with no strings attached. The tools of the web allow this like never before. These tools allow anyone to publish their thoughts with the whole world. Or in my case, the 150-200 people that stop by this blog daily.

One of the musicians I admire is Imogen Heap. My friend Beth at work shared her with me a few years back. Imogen was basically on repeat for the whole of 2008 in iTunes for me. She is an amazing singer, songwriter, thinker and artist in general. I have yet to tire of her music, and recommend you check her work out if you haven't heard her talent.

One thing we don't have in common is her love for twitter. I can't stand it. My day is a constant battle with occupational interruptions and the attempt to set and stick to priorities, so keeping up with what my "friends" had for lunch just isn't that important to me. But Imogen seems to love it, and in this video, among other things, she shares her fascination and appreciation for twitter in a very transparent way.

Imogen also shares a ton of behind the scenes thinking and snippets of unfinished songs that to me is both fascinating and generous. She also speaks of her desire to share and not guard her music and videos, which is something I also enjoy doing. My dozen or so sxc.hu images have been downloaded over 4,000 times, and are completely free. Sharing is fun, and hearing on occasion how someone benefited by my photography is really rewarding.

So get to know Imogen Heap in a very endearing and personal glimpse behind the scenes. And her other video blog entires here. Thank you Imogen for your spirirt of sharing.

Todd Oldham Essay: Artist Charlie Harper

I love Charlie Harper's work. The Illustrator Charlie Harper, not this artisté. So much has been said about him since his recent passing. So much so, that I'll not add to the conversation other than to say WOW, and to share this video interview from a session of Todd Oldham's Handmade Modern.

I recently picked up two copies of Betty Crocker's 1958 Dinner for Two Cookbooks, which I found sleeping peacefully in a sea of otherwise worthless children's books. They're illustrated exclusively, profusely, and throughout, I grabbed both for around $4.00. My guess is these will pick up fans and will rise in value. Already his 1961 Giant Golden Book of Biology has caught collector fever and has sold for $750 plus, and I've seen it listed this week for $2,000 (whew!). Charlie is a legend worth every bit of praise thrown his way. Also worth noting, Todd Oldham has somehow secured licensing rights to all his illustrations via the Harper estate and has come out with a hardcover book on Harper's work that as best I can tell at 150+ has sold out already. I also found a great interview on the CBS website talking about Harper.

I'll post on my Harper stuff to this blog or to a Flickr set someday soon. My thrift store finds have been off the charts lately. More on that later. To learn more about Charlie's work, check out the Harper Flickr group here.

Harry Wysocki: Mid-Century Modern 3D Art

Last summer my wife and I vacationed in Golden Colorado to visit my brother-in-law. During the week he generously gave us full use of his car while he was at work, and we took it to downtown Denver one afternoon to visit Antique Row on Broadway street. We came across a place called Hooked on Glass, which for the most part specialized in, well, collector glass of course, but in addition to a bunch of Heywood Wakefield items and other great mid-century decorative art , we found these 3D pieces of art. The minute my wife and I saw it, we knew these were special.

Upon returning from Denver, I began my research. Each piece is hand signed "Wysocki" on the back. I found a ton of work by him, mostly Americana puzzles and impressionism painting. Some of his work is selling for big dollar on eBay, so I decided to call him. Harry as very kind to have spoken with me, and he was fascinating to talk to. A graduate of the former Art Center in Pasadena, he had a long career as an ad man. To make a long story short, he told me the whole story behind these 3D artworks. He told me they were ideas he had for art while he was working at an ad agency. He wanted to try and prototype these out, so he went to a machine shop and had a mold made first out of wood, then he took that to a plastic extrusion facility and had prototypes made. He then took these to a company who specialized in making art for office furniture stores, which he tells me was a rather common place for art to be sold then, at which point he and this company produced rather short runs of the cat, owl, plus a third which I can no longer remember. Suffice it to say these are super rare, and from my conversation with him believe these may be worth several thousands dollars each. Harry is alive today and maintains a studio.

This is some information about Harry from his website.

A dichotomy exists in Wysocki's present works as expressed by his ability to paint impressionism along with his fascination for nostalgia. His many collectors appreciate his diversity. He describes his Americana paintings as nostalgia: a time before computers, hi-tech movies and fax machines, when traveling by horse and buggy were the mode of transportation. He finds a lighthouse, an old hotel, a railroad station, and then the historical research begins. He delves into archives, haunts old book stores, or talks to old-timers who remember "the way things were", and the painting begins to evolve. The finished portrayal is history, nostalgia, and fantasy.

It is really fun for my wife and I to spend time together looking for collectibles and treasures. And for me, I have even more fun doing research and at times speaking with the artists themselves to hear the story behind the treasures. The truth is, neither of us have the desire or resources to spend very often, but admittedly we do have a knack for finding deals. Big time deals. And it's something we enjoy together. These two pieces were the most we ever spent on art. $240. But if my research is correct, this could represent a $4,000-6,000 profit. Not bad for an afternoon spent doing what we really enjoy. Next time you see a garage sale, flea market or collectible market, stop in and see what you might find.

Nik Ainley: Shiny Binary Goodness

ShinyBinary is the web home of Nik Ainley—a designer who taught himself Photoshop in his spare time. (Punk). His raw artist skills are rivaled by his incredible sense of typography. This guy is way in front of the curve.

( via EyesOnCreativity )

Hotel FOX: Lifestyle Art in Copenhagen

Volkswagon, in conjunction with the launch of their new VW Fox automobile, invited 21 international artists from the fields of graphic design, urban art and illustration to turn central Copenhagen's Hotel Fox into individual works of art—and as a result the world’s most exciting and creative lifestyle hotel. 61 rooms, to be exact. Each room is an individual piece of art. From whacky comical styles to strict graphic design. From fantastic street art and Japanese Manga to simply spaced out fantasies. Flowers, fairytales, friendly monsters, dreaming creatures, secrets vaults and more. Extra Large, Large, Medium and Small rooms. Fun.

( via CJ )

30 Days. 30 Pieces of Art.

20 artists make a piece of art. Each day. For 30 days.

( via LOUNGE72 )