Iktomi, Whimsical Ceramic Clay and Art by Denise Ferragamo

I found this etsy shop a while ago. It gives me faith to return again and again to ponder the inspirational artworks listed by this florida artist.


Her works have a solid, grounded aspect I find comforting. Each animal spirit guide promises to share their secrets with us. The animal faces peer up at us ineligently, curious to hear from us our stories, noddingg sagely.


She also makes lively painted dishes, small animal sculptures, and little bitty houses. Checkout her etsy shop for the perfect gift for your spirit- minded friend.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/iktomi?ref=seller_info

SCRAPdannymansmith

SCRAPdannymansmith




It is hard to find an artist whose work is completely their own. I am excited to share with you my find today, SCRAPdannymansmith , an artist in fiber from Chicago.



I find it so refreshing to paw thru the listings on his etsy site. So much creativity and all unbridled! I especially enjoy his clothing. Most are custom pieces. Some are works he made for himself, then decided to sell. I tend to work this way too, I make the work for myself, then the world benefits from my need to make so much of it.



I have included a pic of his custom coat offerings. Beautiful and individual, each stands on its own as a solid, gut-felt expression. Yet each would be a transformative apparel, something brining the wearer to a new vision, a new place. New, though the journey ends at the wearers deepest core of themselves.



There are a lot of items in his shop, so I recommend using his shop sections to navigate through the items that most attract your fancy. Don’t miss it!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SCRAPdannymansmith?ref=pr_shop_more

Review: Allison Strine

What is poetic beauty?
In art school, I heard of a professor who assigned his students to illustrate the concept BEAUTY.
What a challenge! Is there a definitive beauty? Is there something we can nail down, and all agree is attractive, positive, uplifting, beautiful? One of the few things that the students eventually agreed on, when handing in their assignments, was that beauty involved regularity, evenness, balance, symmetry.
Certainly there are archetypes for these attributes, there are gods and goddesses who embody these qualities.

I am in line with none of them, myself.
Therefore I celebrate the uneven beauty; the irregular and attractive, the unbalanced and still healing, the unsymmetrical bouquet.

Showcase Allison Strine, artiste of poetic beauty.
Her work is funny, and hauntingly sincere. Her images embrace the wide variation of human shape, and celebrate our strengths, and laugh joyously at our weaknesses. With a bit of collage, painting, quotes and original text, she is able to hold woman-kind in a warm circle of acceptance.
There are images of animals and birds capping human bodies, and the iconography resulting I find deeply inspiring.

Just in time for the holidays, affordable artwork, and it’s available near you! Check out her website, www.allisonstrine.com, where you can peruse her gallery of images, or search for a store carrying her work near you. Live in the middle of nowhere? Shop on etsy, and have your purchases shipped to you for the holidays. Search on www.etsy.com for Allisonstrine, and you’ll find a store of opportunities waiting for you!

Malphi : Rustic Chic

I was perusing Etsy one day, and discovered this treasure. I have to share!
Old fashioned, fun and comfortable, functional, poetic, historical, romantic, yes, what fits in these descriptors better than aprons?

Let’s face it, the world is changing, and I want to curl up in a book and forget about it. I want to go back in time. I want to mop my floor with a mop, a scrub brush, ancient non-toxic good-smelling soap, not use a plastic machine from walmart to suck the water off it. I want roots, connection, to feel the earth while I garden, to dust with a duster, not a disposable swiffer.

So here are clothes to help you get that down home, egg-hunting, water-carrying feeling.

Malphi, who believes you’re never to old to play dress up, is a terrific spearhead of the apron movement. Trained as an actress, this UK seamstress has brought her theatrical style to sewing, and now to you. She learned to sew from her mother, (the best way in my opinion, as Mum isn’t trying to sell you a sewing machine.)

Dig her designs at her etsy store, her website, http://www.malphistyle.com/, or her blog, Malphi.typepad.com. On her website, Malphi: Rustic Chic, she sells aprons, from short to long, and verity dresses. Each is designed to go over your clothes- just imagine the flexibility! A wrap around verity hope dress to brighten and feminize the standard black outfit, a patchwork apron to hug you at home, over the sink, while you have to face the housework dragon. Turn house work into comfort, turn everyday into Jane Austen’s day… now that’s what I call moving forward!