Dick Daniels

Finally, it's my time to own a super fun artwork by my friend/co-worker Dick Daniels (I call him Didi)! I got it last night in an annual art+craft sale. He had so many amazing pieces and it was very hard for me to pick just one. But I am really happy that I got this funhouse sign... I love the niphead characters on it and I am gonna name them Haracio, Emilio and Xavier! Heehee...what a fun bunch! You have to check out Dick's website "FunHouse57". There are lots of colorful mixed media wooden signs and cool ceramic skulls, too!

Jenny Mendes

This morning I got a postcard from artist Jenny Mendes,reminding me that she will be at the annual Plaza Art Fair which is one of my favorite event every year... I am so excited! Jenny is one of my favorite artist, and some of her artworks are my most treasured purchase from the art fair throughout the years. Usually I don't have a huge budget, but her cute little ceramic bowls or gorgeous tiles with intricate yet naive style line works are still very affordable. I am excited to see what she will bring to this year's Plaza Art Fair which is scheduled for September 21st,22nd & 23rd.

Brian Barneclo

Brian Barneclo is a San Francisco based artist. I used to live in San Francisco and till today I still take yearly trip to the city by the bay which is so close and dear to my heart. I saw Brian's limited edition screen prints for sale in Recchiuti Confections (which, by the way, makes chocolates that are too pretty to be eaten) at the Ferry Building, and I had to get it. I love how his artworks reflect the spirit of the city and its people, as well as the way he combines colors with the graphic quality. According to the artist's website, his latest big work is a huge 225 foot neighborhood mural in San Francisco's Mission district in 2006, and it's paid for by the people... how cool is that? I don't know how I could have missed it during my last trip, maybe it wasn't done yet at that time, but I have got to see it in person next time when I go there! You can go to Brian's website to read about the artist and see more of his amazing artworks.

Art Unleashed 2007

It's just way too hot today (um, 102 degree to be exact)... some of my girlfriends went to Race for the Cure first thing this morning and I totally, totally respect them. I didn't go, but I had my reason and I wasn't really chilling at home either. I didn't realize the deadline for submitting artworks for the annual Art Unleashed is next Friday and I had to crank up some artwork for it during this weekend. Art Unleashed is an annual live and silent auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit for The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City. This is gonna be my 4th year of donating artworks to Art Unleashed and I always have a lot of fun doing it. Since there were some sawing, sanding and stinky staining involved, I had to do some work outside at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I thought my skin started to smell like BBQ and was gonna peel off myself because of the sun, but at the end it was all worth it. I used whatever I could find around the house (cause it was too hot I didn't want to go out) and did a mixed media artwork titled "Tag Team". I liked how it turned out so I did another one for myself to keep. (I don't know why but I love drawing luchadors!)

If you are in the KC area and want to buy some unique original artworks and help the animals at the same time (and there will also be lots of yummy food to enjoy), you cannot miss Art Unleashed, which is scheduled for Friday, August 24, at the Uptown Theater. It's a super fun event. For detailed information and to purchase tickets, please click here.

Art-o-mat

This is so cool! I just saw this on the local Fox 4's night news. Since 1997, Artist Clark Whittington has been using retired cigarette vending machines (actually banned in 1997) to create Art-o-mat machines to vend artworks. The first machine was installed to sell his own artworks, but nowadays there are 82 active machines in various locations throughout the country with more than 400 participating artists. For only 5 dollars you can pull the knob and get an original artwork. There is one machine in Kansas City area located at the Pi gallery. For more detailed information about Art-o-mat and to find the machine in your area, just click here.

This is the machine in KC.