If you haven’t heard of the Bazaar Bizarre before, it’s a quirky craft fair that currently visits three cities in the U.S – Boston, Cleveland and San Francisco. In Boston it’s held at a large historic venue in the South End named the Cyclorama – and this year it was packed with fantastic artists showcasing their work, and hundreds of people perusing all the goodies. The selection of vendors and magnitude of the crowd were a bit overwhelming at first, but I slowly made my way through the whole space, and got to catch up with some of the local artists that I’ve covered here on the blog.

First up is Sarah Ressler (images above), who makes lovely drippy bird paintings. I can’t tell you how much I adore these paintings, and I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonable her prices are. For more info on her paintings, you can check out her Flickr page, or email Sarah directly for ordering.

Furniture refinishers extraordinaire Alicia and Tony from Chroma Lab made an apperance at the BBB this year with a booth full of their colorful clocks. Chroma Lab takes well constructed furniture pieces in need of an update, and transforms them with bright modern paints. Check out their shop here for ready made pieces, or contact them via their web site to arrange custom work.

Saint9: I loved the adorable cards and fabric pouches at Saint9’s booth this year. You can pick up a handy pouch for $15, or a card for $3-4 in the shop right here.

Of course JHill Design was at the show as well, with a truck (car, boat?) load of amazing prints, cards, 2010 calendars and other goodies. I could not resist the Andalucia, Spain card (above, center), so I snatched one up to frame in my office. I love all of the places JHill has never been, and all of the beautiful patterns she chooses to represent them. You can find all of her lovely designs for sale on her site, right here.

You may remember Egg-A-Go-Go from my post back in February, so naturally being a fan of the clever cards and home goods, I was glad to see the booth! It was great to finally meet some of the local designers that I’ve written about in the non-internet world. Check out her shop on Etsy, right here, for something to brighten up your day (sorry, no free candy on the internet).

One of the brightest (and funniest) booths at the bazaar was definitely Heather Jeany. It was great to meet this designer from Providence, and while we chatted more and more of her designs kept calling my name. I wound up with a set of her fantastic gocco cards, and a bookmark. Check out her shop here, for tons or irresistible cards, clothing and a few prints.

Did I save the best for last? The Paper Apartment was definitely my favorite booth at the BBB this year. It was tucked at the end of a row in the very center of the room, and as I was making my last run through the building I turned a corner and let out a little squeal (just in my brain). Their prints are stunning in person, and I fell in love with their hand cut Lucky Feathers ($12-16). Be sure to check out their shop right here, they also have hand cut note card sets that are too cute to pass up for only $14 (ruffles AND sea shells, oh my).

To celebrate our return to the internet world, we’re having a little holiday sale on these fancy cork tiles in our shop. Click here to scoop one up for $10.

Stay tuned for a great post later today on the Boston Bazaar Bizarre and all the amazing artists that caught our eye at the show yesterday.

This is a series of cutouts I’ve found around Roncesvalles in the High Park area. I wish I knew who was doing it. I feel like maybe it’s a church, but who knows? It’s a nice change from the neighborhood stench of rotting things (thank God the garbage strike is over now) and the torn up road. Apparently the area will be under construction for a year or two while they lay new sewage pipes and repair the streetcar tracks, but it is obvious that the people who remain here still care about it a great deal, and enjoy laying hidden treasures for us around to see, think, care about. It’s also a nice conceptual series as opposed to the random one-off grafitti. Plus I love cardboard graffiti because it isn’t truly being disrespectful – the damage done to Meryl Streep’s face is totally reversible. However, I want to know about the change in tense, between the solid “I …” and “I’d …” – is that intentional? If anyone knows who’s done this, let us know. We’ll try to get an interview. I admit, I have not yet tried to call the phone numbers. I think it’s a crime the way mobile companies operate their pay as you go plans in Canada – charging you to receive calls and texts. I’d feel empty without my cell phone… Not.

New York Times recently published a lovely piece on making art in challenging times.

Artist, friend and coworker Alexander Conner is featured in a short, yet wonderful video in this article in which he speaks on living while breathing art. Alex makes drawings, photographs and new media art despite of enduring what many refer to as “this economy” – because he needs to make.

“It’s between buying paint and buying dinner. If you’re not one of those people, you won’t survive.”

This somber glance into our times is filled with sparks of inspiration.

Cheers.

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“The world’s first alternative motivational posters” by Right Brain Terrain out of Orlando. Adorable? Yes. Am I motivated to plaster my walls with them? Also, yes. I especially love “ego” (above) and “relax” (below).

All of their posters are printed on 100% recycled paper with vegetable-based inks, so you can feel even better about dressing up your walls. You can snatch up one of their posters for only $14.95 right here.

No, I wouldn’t call it fine art by any means – it doesn’t have much depth, it’s not very personal, and it’s pretty much the opposite of “surprising”, or “though provoking”. But it’s graffiti! Fairey’s illustrations are beautiful, and I enjoy them most in their true element – pasted to the sides of old buildings.

Fairey’s posters are all over the city (and many, many others), and the ICA offered bicycle tours of his work throughout Boston and Cambridge (sold out). What could be better than a summer bicycle ride to see really good graffiti? Nothing. If you were not lucky enough to catch a spot on the bicycle tour, you can arrange one yourself by following the map below, which points out all of Fairey’s posters around the city:

View Shepard Fairey’s Outdoor Works in Boston in a larger map

It’s a beautiful day – go ride a bike. Or, go to the museum and check out the installation in person – it runs through August 16th. Every Thursday evening from 5-9pm, the ICA opens its doors for free, so you won’t even have to pay to see graffiti.

While visiting The Paper Factory today, I ran across the work of freelance animator Gina Napolitan, who creates incredibly unique, detailed characters for animated films. I absolutely love the haunting quality of the little figures she creates. I absolutely love this little shadow box type house she created with some characters from a recent animation piece:

The detailing on each figure and their costumes just blows me away. I have such an appreciation for artists that can lose themselves in the minutia of design, probably because I envy that eye for the smallest detail.

Another stand-out artist on my limited tour today was Alethea Roy’s work at The Little House. She describes her work as “terrifyingly beautiful art”. I don’t necessarily agree with the terrifying part, but it is definitely beautiful. I tend to gravitate towards art with ocean scenes, so naturally I fell in love with her Lost At Sea triptych from the moment I laid eyes on it.

The haunting imagery, the vacant eyes, the squid tentacles! The triptych plot seems to unfold as such: girl captured by pirates (obviously), girl escapes from pirates only to be sucked into a whirlpool (not the nice spa bathtub kind either), girl rescued and possibly seduced by giant pink squid, the end. You’re welcome for that very deep and meaningful interpretation.

Anywho, the fun continues tomorrow from 12-6 pm all over Somerville. If you’re in the area, definitely stop by any of the studios that might interest you – there is something for everyone.

I wanted to post a quick note that our Shop has been updated with some new Black Chevron Tiles. I decided to limit the run on all the chevron cork tiles (this includes the Dark Cork Tiles as well), so the quantities you see listed will be all that’s available for quite some time. I can’t commit to forever, but I am definitely not planning on printing these again for awhile, a long while.

But on the up side of that is that I will be working on a new tile design, and a couple other secret projects as well. More on that to come as the images and ideas have been solidified.

If you haven’t heard of it (which I suppose is excusable as it’s very industry-specific), Flash in the Can is an annual conference for anyone involved in digital media. Oh my Lord the names it brings. As well as the students, the seasoned digi-teers, the tech-heads, the brilliant artists, all sorts of clever, creative people. I arrived with a kind of jaded skepticism and have left the events feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, inspired to put my efforts in the right places. Money can’t buy that sort of thing. FITC can now be found “through 30 cities and eight countries” – so see if an event is coming near you. They’ve got a kickin’ new website, too: www.fitc.ca.

Since I had the luxury of not having to buy my way in (I received a free ticket from the Female Initiative – 100 free tickets given to women so we would get our asses out to these events), I wanted to share what has been shared with me. Plus my little Beast friend (see illustration above) was on my back to tell him why I was gone so long, where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing. Here you are little Beast Friend, everything I learned at FITC:

1. Don’t be afraid of technology. You artists and designers – I feel your pain, it’s hard work trying to squeeze math and programming into our already overcrowded, buzzing brains. Sin curves fill me with as much fear as the slow ascent in a rickety cart to the top of a wooden roller-coaster. But the sheer volume of people who attended this event, and people who appreciated what other artisans were doing with technology (Joshua Davis, James Paterson, 1st Ave Machine), goes to show that the extra skill-set is well worth the effort. I don’t think we’ll put any programmers out of jobs by learning a little Actionscript, but it helps us open our mind to possibilities, to think creatively in a less usual way, and to communicate better with the awesome programmers who help bring creative executions to life.

2. Find the ideals you believe in and hang on tight. You will always be able to find someone or something to share your beliefs, your lifestyle, your hopelessly idealistic conversations (ie. if you believe in hotdogs, eventually you will find some real-life condiments). Hang in there, and seek people out who look intriguing.

3. Be so so nice to everyone, even little bugs. Some day those little bugs will grow up to be monster bugs and could eat you alive. Or maybe they’ll become fabulous superstar bugs and give your rides to all your favorite concerts. I don’t know. What I mean is just be humble and kind, and little bugs (like myself) will appreciate it and remember you.

I could go on with my life lessons forever but I’ll limit them to the key points – I think practical advice is overwhelming the twitter-sphere right now anyway. So here’s a list of awesome people I had the opportunity to see speak at FITC, and whom I think may inspire you as well to do some awesome thinking and executions:

Big Spaceship – the company structure makes me giddy with hope for humanity. I met a couple of  the company’s aeronauts and found them fantastically genuine and approachable. Their Experimental Side – Big Spaceship Labs

James Paterson – funny, jaw-dropping, poetic work. James considers himself first an artist, then a programmer, and not an illustrator or designer at all (this is another topic of discussion). I’ve been a fan since I was 14 – keep in mind that the humor originates from that era of my life! He’s got a bit of work online but when I suggested he post more, he claimed he didn’t want to be held accountable. Fair enough! www.presstube.com

1st Ave Machine – highly polished motion work but what really caught my attention was Matt Lambert’s emphasis on concept. I haven’t heard it enough since graduating college, but concept concept concept is SO important. 1st Ave Machine

Powerflasher – Maybe more technical than artsy, but Carlo Blatz also speaks to non-linear project conception/development/management. This was the first presentation I attended and I found the company structure again, really inspiring. Get past the techno music to the meat of the presentation

Zachary Lieberman & Golan Levin – implementing advanced technology to really help every day people. For example, they presented an eye-tracking program that is still in development. They have tested their experiment with an ex-grafitti artist who is unable to move anything but his eyes due to the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This software enables tracking of his eye movements so that he can actually still draw and communicate. Completely amazing. They say it better than I do: Levin’s site and Lieberman’s site

Closing words: Do consider going to FITC next time, I found it well worth my days and nights. All the FITC sessions were recorded, so I’m hoping I can get a link for those out fairly soon so that you can revel in all the motion, technology, and design goodness. Peas fellow geeks and artisans!

A little Wednesday eye candy – two new heart prints from Chicago-based designer Jenny Beorkrem aka Ork Posters. I love her city posters, and am so glad she is exploring new subjects in the same theme. This print really fuses two subjects that evidently were made for one another: anatomy and typography. Separate each is great, together they are unstoppable – like the Hulk,. So click here to pick up a heart print in warm hues or black and white, or here to browse their city posters.