Pharmacie in Minneapolis, MN

Falling, 24x30", acrylic/colored pencil/graphite (SOLD)

I am happy to announce that my paintings are currently on display at PHARMACIE, a beautiful new store filled with artisanal, handmade, local and interesting home decor and accessories in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Shop photos swiped from Pharmacie website. =0)

Curious, acrylic/graphite, 24x30" (SOLD)

Pet, acrylic/graphite, 18x24"

The shop is hosting a grand opening/launch party this weekend.  

Swing by next time you're in the neighborhood!

Architectural Digest

Well, looky here. My painting, "Night Voyage", is in the current (Nov 2013) issue of Architectural Digest Magazine!

Night Voyage, acrylic/graphite on panel

The article is a feature about Hudson, NY and highlights several innovative new stores including Harvey's Counter.

Harvey's Counter has commissioned a whole slew of my paintings and shooting targets which are currently for sale in their shop. Swing by and say hello if you find yourself in Hudson- or visit their online shop. SO many amazing vintage, handmade and unique items.

Some of my shooting targets now available at Harvey's.

"Creative Block" Book

I've been waiting impatiently for over a year to share this news! My art is featured in this amazing new Chronicle Books release, "Creative Block" by Danielle Krysa (AKA The Jealous Curator)!

In Danielle's words (swiped from her blog post) :
"I came up with the idea for CREATIVE BLOCK for myself, just as much as for all of you. I wanted to make something beautiful – a contemporary art book filled not only with inspiring images, but also inspiring words, advice, and tips to help amateurs and professionals alike, find their way through those days when the ideas just won’t come. Because everyone who dabbles in something creative feels that way at some point – right? Right. I wanted to write this book to show you that if you’re feeling this way you’re not alone either. I’ve written hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of posts about successful, working artists who seem to have this whole “creative thing” figured out. But surely they have blocks from time to time? How do they get through them? Where do they find fresh inspiration? How do they handle negative feedback? Does it stop them in their tracks? Now, these full time artists don’t have the luxury of not finishing, or giving up on a project – not when they’ve got a gallery or art buyer waiting on them! So how do they push themselves through those moments when the ideas just aren’t there? Or when the ideas are there, but their hands or materials will not cooperate."

"This chunky block-buster of a book is chock-full of tools to help artists overcome the dreaded and unfortunately universally crippling, feeling of creative block. Art blogger The Jealous Curator interviews 50 successful international artists including such talents as Lisa Congdon, Trey Speegle, Martha Rich and Wayne White, and mines their golden insights on how to conquer self-doubt, stay motivated, and get new ideas to flow. Each artist offers a tried-and-true exercise that will kick-start the creative process. Superbly visual with more than 300 images showcasing these artists resulting work, Creative Block is an essential ally to students, artists and creative professionals."- Amazon.com

The book won't be released until FEB (!) but you can pre-order it via Amazon right this moment!

In case you're still not convinced that you really need to pick up a copy of this book: the "blurbs" on the back cover feature endorsements by Jerry Saltz (Senior Art Critic for New York Times Magazine), Brené Brown (TED Talk-er Extraordinaire) and Faythe Levine (all around Art HERO).

Lastly, here is a hint (in the form of sketches) about my lil' section of the book:

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I am incredibly honored and proud to be involved.

Thank you, Danielle and Chronicle!

Neu Folk Revival at Lequivive Gallery

Spoiler Alert #1, 12x16", acrylic/graphite on mounted panel

I have two new paintings in "Neu Folk Revival" at Lequivive Gallery in Oakland, CA.

Opening this Sat night (Oct 5, 2013.)

Spoiler Alert #2, 12x16", acrylic/graphite on mounted panel

The line- up for this show is INCREDIBLE!

Ryan Bubnis, John Casey, Chip 7, Lisa Congdon, Uriel Correa, Cosmic Nuggets, Jennifer Davis, Cannon Dill, Doodles, Bill Dunlap, Mike Egan, John Fellows, Christian Brock Forrer, ghostpatrol, Robert Hardgrave, Katy Horan, Anthony Hurd, Rich Jacobs, Yellena James, Max Kauffman, Scot Lefavor, Matt Leines, Linsey Levendall, Justin Lovato, Troy Lovegates, Maseman, Erin McCarty, Mildred, Jaime Molina, Hari Panicker and Deepti Nair, Daryll Peirce, Jeremy Pruitt, Faring Purth, Jesse Reno, Ryan Riss, Brian Robertson, Katherine Rutter, Souther Salazar, Lucien Shapiro, Santos Shelton, Chris Silva, Colin Van Der Sluijs and Zio Ziegler (Curated by Max Kauffman)

A few more previews of the show from:

* Vans

* Arrested Motion

* Supersonic Electronic 

* Platinum Cheese

Beautiful Decay 2

My Shooting Target series is currently featured over at Beautiful Decay.

"Visual artist Jennifer Davis is well-known on the internet for her whimsical and imaginative drawings and paintings (previously here). But in one of her latest series, Davis takes her trademark renderings and has paired them with an unlikely match, paper shooting targets.

In a conversation with Beautiful/Decay, the Minneapolis-based artist explains the history of the series, starting with inspiration for a printed target seen in an architecture/lifestyle magazine. “…I learned that I could get enormous packs of different colored targets from a gun shop for under $20.  I started off thinking more about the symbolism of guns/violence/innocent victims/”badguys”/etc. (one of the first targets I made was called “Riddled”- I cut an intricate pattern of tiny holes all over the target.)” Davis then began using the colored paper targets as a base, decorating them with hand-drawn and painted intricately unique characters.  The series evolved as Davis began taking commissions and painting other people’s ideas and applying them to the targets. “I started doing a lot of commissions, which morphed the way I was thinking about them. It is a fun exercise for me to paint someone else’s vision- it has stretched the way I think about the targets. I no longer relate them only to violence. I think about each one differently and it is interesting for me to play with adding whimsy or beauty to such a symbol. I am transforming them into something new.”

When asked about the inherent quality of violence in the base material, Davis responds with a heartfelt and measured answer. “While I was in the middle of making 80 bazillion new targets the Newtown school shooting happened and I was devastated. I wasn’t sure if I should continue with these because I didn’t want to be associated with promoting violence in any form.” Because of the time and energy spent reworking the material, however, the targets are quite obviously freed from the violent potential and association, which may have also inspired Davis to eventually continued the series. “I was encouraged by the curator at The Devos Art Museum (and many others) to continue making these pieces for my show. People seem to “get” what I am doing and I have not received any negative feedback.” - Nathaniel Smith for Beautiful Decay

See the full profle here.

Shooting Targets are available in my Etsy shop.

DeVos Art Museum Installation Photos

All installation photos courtesy of The DeVos Art Museum.

This amazing photography of me and my girls geeking out courtesy of my mom. 

The soft sculptures are by Amy Long.

6 shooting targets left! All of my works from the show are online here.

Me, Amy and Ngoc in the lobby at the Museum.

Sugarloaf Mountain!

A rare respite from beer and karaoke. We had a blast in Marquette, MI!

Gorgeous exhibition catalog design by Edwin Cater. (Photos swiped from his website too!)

Huge thanks to Melissa Matuscak (Director and Curator- for EVERYTHING!) and everyone at The DeVos Art Museum, Edwin Carter (for designing the gorgeous catalog) and Amy Long (for creating such amazing art work.) 

THANK YOU to my friends Amy and Ngoc and to my mom, Aunt Sal and uncle Jerry for joining me on this trip. The support of my friends and family means THE WORLD to me.

Enormous Tiny Art Show 14

I made a little flock of hand-painted thrift store birds for the 14th installment of Nahcotta's Enormous Tiny Art Show- opening tonight- 9/6/13- in Portsmouth, NH!

Available now via EnormousTinyArt.com

Two Birds (SOLD)

More photos here.

Small Quail

More photos here.

Small Owl - More photos here.

Large Quail (SOLD)

More photos here.

Large Owl

More photos here.

Duck

More photos here.

FREE SHIPPING

Free shipping on all three of my iPhone case designs via
The Wallery through Mon 9/9/13

Flora, Floral Study and Sweetest Fruit- approx $23.99 each until 9/9/13!

These ship from The Wallery in SPAIN so free shipping reduces the cost by more than 50% for US customers!

Use code " #BACKTOSCHOOL " at checkout. 

Thank you, Wallery!