Art-A-Whirl

This weekend is the 17th-annual Art-A-Whirl! Sponsored by the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association, it's the largest open-studio tour in the country. 
If you're in the Twin Cities this weekend, I highly suggest checking it out. It's a great opportunity to tour artist studios, meet the artists, and purchase original artwork. This year I think will be especially fun since I know a few people participating in it! :)

Friday, May 18th -  5:00-10:00 p.m.

Saturday,  May 19th -  Noon-8:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 20th -   Noon-5:00 p.m.

:: Plan your visit by checking out the directory here ::

Inspirational Artist :: Dragon Escape

Second stop, China!
For the past three months, Chinese artist Yang Yongliang has worked to create a dragon sculpture made of cement that looks as if it's bursting through a wall. The Chinese dragon has been a long standing symbol of peace, prosperity and power. Yongliang explains why he chose to use cement :: "China is now at the stage of rapid development. The construction, which has been built in the past 30 years in China, consumed nearly 40% of the cement and steel all over the world. It can be imagined that China, as a whole, is almost a huge construction site. Consequently, many problems emerge, such pollution, energy consumption, and cultural destruction.
"In this circumstance, I made a metaphorical creation of an escaping dragon, which is constricted to death, wanting to get rid of the enclosed wall."
Fiberglass, ceramic, and linen were also used in creating this amazing sculpture.

pic taken by artist

Inspirational Artist :: Bonsai Treehouse

First stop, Japan!
Japanese artist Takanori Aiba, is the architect behind these amazing bonsai sculptures. He creates his sculptures using materials like stone, clay, copper line, plastic, and resin - doesn't it appear that something, or someone...very miniature of course...has taken up residency in these beautiful bonsai treehouses?! His goal is to make a modern bonsai that portrays "the beauty of spiritual accordance between human and nature in miniature." Love it!

images via artist's website

Travels

My younger brother is traveling throughout Asia and Europe for the next month and I thought it could be fun to highlight artists and art events from the countries he'll be visiting!
Check back soon to see where in the world he's headed first!

image via Etsy

RAW : natural born artists

I'm looking forward to attending RAW tonight at the Fine Line. Should be a fun evening filled with independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair and makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art....whew, did I get it all?! :) For more info check it here.

A little glimpse...

Here's a quick peek at the progress of what will be my next print!

Inspirational Artist :: Beach

With summer drawing near, I thought I would share some alluring beach scenes shot by renowned Italian photographer Massimo Vitali. I can't wait for days of sun and sand :)

pics from artist's website

Up Next

This morning I've been busy sketching ideas for my next print. I thought I would do a print similar to one I did when I began printing again....almost a year ago now! Do you remember the little spring flowers print I did? 
Anyway, I think this next print could go quite well with the yellow blossoms with a similar cut-out style.
Here's a quick peek at one of my finalized sketches!

Words to Pause By

photo by yours truly

May is Minnesota Museum Month

Say that five times fast... :)
Really though, this year is the inaugural year of what will hopefully become an annual festival of the many museums across the State of Minnesota. With approximately 600 museums in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, you're sure to find at least one that will be of some interest. Where will you go first?

.:. Click here to discover a new museum .:.

:: Some of my Favorite Minnesota Museums ::

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Dorothy Molter Museum

Walker Art Center

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Minnesota Zoo

Science Museum of Minnesota

James J. Hill House

The Museum of Russian Art

The Landing

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

Minnesota History Museum

Also, don't forget about the Museum Adventure Pass...it's a great way to explore some of these museums for free!