All about my Zazzle, Society6 and Amazon journey, including graphics design hints and tips, effective promotional tools and showcasing some great products from me and other storekeepers.
“2 1/2″ (2010). Oil on Carved Paintbrush.
“The World Is Your Oyster” (2013). Oil on Carved Paintbrush
“Reflections on Beauty” (2010). Mirror, Oil on Carved Paintbrush (Installation).
Geisha (2010). Oil on Carved Paintbrush.
“Doña Hongari (after Velazquez)” (2011). Oil on carved paintbrush.
“Untitled (Blue)” (2013). Oil, Acrylic on Carved Paintbrush.
In a poetic twist of fate, end-of-life paintbrushes are whittled down and sculpted into artwork by San Francisco-based artist Rebecca Szeto. Tools that were once used to create artwork, now bear the face of female portraits largely inspired by women of the Renaissance period and other female figures of art history. Szeto, who previously worked as a faux finisher, uses her skill and background to create playful objects that question our notions of beauty and value; trash and treasure. “The slow and repetitive nature of whittling becomes a meditative activity,” says Szeto, referring to her ongoing series of Paintbrush Portraits. For Szeto, the build-up of paint layers helps define their ultimate form as she reflects “on the idiosyncrasies of each individual brush.” (Via Lustik)
For the last 20 years, unassuming Dutch photographer Hans Eijkelboom has traversed the world, picking a spot, be it in Shanghai, New York, or Paris, and meticulously photographed what he saw. “I take between 1 and 80 photographs a day, almost every day, 12 months a year,” he says, referring to his “Photo Notes” project, which has now been turned into a book titled People of the Twenty-First Century. The “Photographic Journal,” published by PHAIDON, is the largest, most comprehensive work of his to date, and includes thousands of photos that, together, create a fascinating picture of mankind.
The “anti-sartorial” photographs of everyday people capture specific visual themes – people in red jackets, men with bare chests on roller blades – that are grouped together with the date, city and time range they were taken. And this combination and repetition is what makes the photographs so powerful. Viewed separately, they would hardly even catch our eye.
“I don’t use this diary to show what happens in my life but as a method of visualizing the development of my world view,” writes the artist. Much like the way stalagmites form in caves over hundreds of years, Eijkelboom’s landscape is the result of a methodical fixation to the banality of everyday life. Hans Eijkelboom’s “People of the Twenty-First Century” is available for around $26 (Via Citylab)
