Art Hound

How awesome is this? Earlier today artist Christine Finley covered several NYC dumpsters in fashionable wallpaper as part of her Wallpapered Dumpsters Project, and tomorrow she is doing the same in DUMBO (25 Jay St)!

What a lovely idea. I especially love that this “polite graffiti” is, well, polite and girlie (which proves that street art can be!).  So, thank you, Finley, for make everyday walking about in NYC a little sweeter!

Photo by Rob Bennett from the New York Times.

I’ve had a big, fat crush on Portland, OR since getting involved in affordable art three or four years ago. It goes without saying that so, so many of the artists I love and feature on Art Hound make and show their art in this beloved city.

One of these days I’m going to take a trip to Portland and stay at the Ace Hotel which seems to embody many of the qualities the city and its residents are known for: creativity, quirkiness, a d.i.y. sensibility and a laid-back attitude. The hotel commissioned local artists to decorate each of the guest rooms and the resulting designs are vibrant, fresh and very Portland!

Bakers Dozen is a charming e-shop selling exclusive prints in editions of… you guessed it…13. Participating artists hail from around the world and include the very talented Blanca Gomez, Hanna Konola, Lizzy Stewart, Anna Melcon Bond, Esther Ramirez, Evah Fan, Juliansa Swnney and many more!

Many thanks to Amy Borrell, artist and founder of Bakers Dozen.

(from top left to botom right: Anna Melcon Bond, Gemma Correll, Vivian Mayser, Julianna Swaney)

This post was inspired by Cursive in Grand Central, which I popped into on my way back from visiting family in CT. I think it’s fair to say that they have the BEST selection of independent cards and paper goods in NYC.

I pretty much wanted to buy everything in the store but was good and only picked up a few cards from pancake & franks and Hammerpress cards including SNAP! (see left). I am itching to go back at some point to pick up one of their notebooks which might just be too pretty to write in.

All of the AMAZING designs on paper inspired me to write about my favorite design studios, some of which (pancake & franks and Hammerpress) Cursive carries. I personally think that each and every one of the designs below is beautiful enough to merit being framed and hung as art, but for those looking for unique pieces, there are many artists and designers who sell handmade one-of-a-kind cards for less than $10 (e.g. Essimar Papel). Buying these kinds of paper goods is certainly a very economic way to enjoy art!

My short list of design studios:

Essimar Papel

Hammerpress

Orange Beautiful

pancake & franks

Two Guitars

[View with PicLens]

 

Anna Corpron and Sean Auyeung of Sub-Studio are the creative force behind Working Proof, a new limited-edition print shop with a humanitarian mission.  Every Tuesday Working Proof releases a print by an emerging artist and donates 15% of proceeds to a charity of the artist’s choice. It’s a great concept but they’ve nailed the execution as well; the artwork is fresh, exciting and diverse! They also include great bios of the artists.

Participating artists have selected the following charities:

• Doctors Without Borders (Osoo)
• Kids in Need (Yasmine Surovec & Samantha Hahn)
• Architecture for Humanity (Justin Richel)
• Jane Goodall Institute (Gretchen Wagoner)
• Smile Train (Heather Smith Jones)

[View with PicLens]

Samantha Hahn

Heather Smith Jones

Yasmine Surovec

Gretchen Wagoner

Justin Richel

 

We are officially Art Hound and have moved to http://arthound.net.

Just about everything else will remain the same.

Some of you may remember the poll we had a few weeks back to help us decide on a new name for Honestly Art. None of the suggested names ended up making the cut, but we have finally settled on a new name – Art Hound! Our new name is inspired by our barking dog logo and the fact that we like to think of ourselves as “sniffing out” awesome art to share with you all.

In the near future we will be redirecting traffic to http://arthound.net

Thanks to everyone who took the time to participate in our first poll!

The feedback we received was that people aren’t sure Honestly Art is the best name but that our other suggestions aren’t any better. So… for the time being we’re sticking with Honestly Art, until one of us has an incredible brainchild for a better name.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

[polldaddy poll=2164192]

Lumadessa, a design shop by Josh Brill, offers free iPhone wallpaper of its charming Flora Fauna collection. Fun and Free!