S-ART-urday (Jasper Johns)

I have really been drawn to this Jasper Johns piece recently.

Map, 1961 via

I love this piece because you can obviously tell what it is, but there is still a sense of flexibility and chaos in the borders, really melting the states together in a way. It's very fitting for my life right now because I am about to start working for Pi Beta Phi as a traveling Leadership Development Consultant. I will be traveling the country visiting college campuses to support Pi Phi's collegiate chapters with recruitment, leadership development, chapter organization, or officer education. I am more than excited to start this journey with the nine other women selected as LDCs! I think the key to enjoying this year will really be to relish flexibility and understand that things aren't always going to happen the way you planned them. This is something I have really been trying to work on with my type A personality, so I am excited for what this year will bring!

Just to get an idea of the size of the work via

Jasper Johns was born on May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia. He was raised in South Carolina and moved to New York City at the age of 18. Johns often paints simple everyday objects and has been known to blur the lines separating art and reality.

Flag, 1954

Target with Four Faces, 1955 

Three Flags, 1958

Souvenir, 1970

Scent, 1975-76

Land's End, 1978

Voice 2, 1982

Summer, 1985 

S-ART-urday (Art Museum Day)

In conjunction with International Museum Day, today is Art Museum Day! 

International Museum Day was established by the International Council of Museums in 1977 to encourage public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society. International Museum Day is organized on or around May 18th each year. Last year, 32,000 museums from 129 countries participated in International Museum Day. Approximately 125 museums in the United States celebrated Art Museum Day by offering free admission or special programs. Click here to see which art museums in your area are hosting special events today.

What museums have you visited recently?

Check out these past blog posts for some of my favorite museum visits: Kentuck; Smithsonian; MoMA

S-ART-urday (Kentuck Festival of the Arts)

The Kentuck Festival of the Arts is a lovely festival in Northport, Alabama that is regionally and nationally recognized.  It was named one of the USA’s Top Ten Art Fairs and Festivals and is currently in it's 41st year.  Over 270 artists come for a weekend in Kentuck Park each third weekend in October (also the same weekend of a lovely little football rivalry).  Check out some of the artists here and the festival program here.

I visited the festival Sunday with Callie Ann.   We ate lots of good festival food (fried catfish, kettle corn and sno cones) and bought a few prints by the adorable Yvonne Miller.

Yvonne Miller print 

Other snapshots:

Sno Cone fun (and yes, I am wearing my Mark Ingram jersey; Go Saints!) 

 View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Molly Mattin, Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg, 1Canoe2; Porter Flea

S-ART-urday (Porter Flea)

Today, after a delicious brunch at Jackson's, I went to Porter Flea with some friends.  This is the third time the event has occurred, allowing many independent crafters to sell their stuff.

Once I worked my way through the crowds (sign of a successful event!) I found some good stuff. Here's what I bought.

Check out Jam + Toast here.  This set of 12 cards was only $11!  

I also got a great deal on a print and card from the Clearance sale. Apologies on the terrible photo quality. I don't have my camera cord in Nashville to upload pictures.

"Nightscene" print from Adrienne and Brad at the Clearance sale 

Card from the Clearance sale 

 Check out more from Brad and Adrienne here.

More artists that were at the Porter Flea Market today that I loved:

Monkey Ink Design

Sally Harless

Little Things Studio

Jude Landry

and Jude's friend Tim Cook as well as jewelry by Lindsay Farrer at Simon&Ruby.


What did you do this weekend?

 View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Molly Mattin, Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg, 1Canoe2

S-ART-urday (1Canoe2 on Etsy)

1Canoe2 is a best friend duo from Missouri.  Carrie Shryock and Beth Snyder create letterpress works from a big red barn in Missouri.  Read more about their process and their journey as friends here.  Check out some of my favorites from their print collections:

AL

LA

I seem to have a trend going of liking prints from various states.  

NYC

TX

Alphabet

Betty the Librarian

Let's Go Ride Bikes

Home Sweet Home

 View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Molly Mattin, Chuck Close, Robert Rauschenberg

S-ART-urday (Robert Rauschenberg)

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) was born in Port Arthur, Texas and served in the U.S. Marines during World War II.  For a brief period, he used the GI Bill to study art in Paris, but moved to North Carolina after less than a year. He moved to chaotic and exciting New York after North Carolina and became truly inspired.  Not really belonging to any one movement, he rejected the Abstract Expressionists and embraced popular culture and non-traditional materials.  In 1997, the Guggenheim Museum organized the most comprehensive exhibition of his works ever.  Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective featured nearly 300 works.  Rauschenberg died from heart failure on May 12, 2008.  

via

Find out more about Erased de Kooning (1953), Rauschenberg's work created by erasing a work created by Willem de Kooning.  

via MoMA

Bed, 1955, is one of Rauschenberg's first combines. This mixed media piece was on view during my trip to MoMA last week. It is oil and pencil on an his actual pillow, sheet, and quilt.

via

This piece, Untitled (Asheville Citizen), was made from two canvases, matte black paint, and a piece of the August 3, 1951 Asheville Citizen newspaper. Asheville is near Black Mountain College, an experimental arts college with professors like Josef Albers, where Rauschenberg was a student during the late 1940s and early 1950s.   It is reminiscent of Mark Rothko. This was on view as well during my visit.

via

Signs, 1970, is a silkscreen print that really sums up the 1960s through an assemblage of various clippings. Images include U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Janis Joplin, Martin Luther King, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.  According to Rauschenberg, Signs was "conceived to remind us of love, terror, violence of the last ten years. Danger lies in forgetting."

via

Lotus Bed I from The Lotus Series, a 2008 series of twelve digital prints.  View more of his prints here.

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Molly Mattin, Chuck Close

S-ART-urday (Chuck Close)

Check out Chuck Close, a photorealist who does massive scale portraits. Seriously, these are crazy good.  They look so much like real portraits.  Even after a spinal artery collapse in 1988 that left him paralyzed, he still continues to create beautiful works. 

self portrait via MoMA

Brad Pitt via 5election

via 5election

Kate Moss via 5election

 Some other cool portraits have a more abstract approach:

via 5election

Bill Clinton via 5election

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Molly Mattin

S-ART-urday, a little early (Molly Mattin on Etsy)

I have been a little behind in my S-ART-urday posts, so here's a S-ART-urday on Thursday. 

(Everybody's working for the weekend; we're almost there!) 

Check out Molly Mattin.  Her funky colorful states are awesome, and her prints are very reasonably priced! One of the best parts: If you don't see your hometown, just let her know, and she will add it! 

Louisiana

Alabama

Roll Tide!

New York

For a limited time, use the coupon code 20sale and save 20% off your order.

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle, Jean-Michel Basquiat

S-ART-urday (Jean-Michel Basquiat)

I love Basquiat. Read more about him here. He died too soon at the age of 27.  He worked with another of my favorite artists, Andy Warhol. More on him later.

View previous S-ART-urday posts: DIY Paint Chips, Tom Slaughter, Eric Carle