This is My Boyfriend by Julia Pott


Giant Bear in a Tiny Village by Lizzy Stewart


the giant suburban bear monster visits new york city by matteart

A few months ago I started feeling a craving for a visit to the Museum of Natural History here in New York. Not for learning about anything, or seeing gems or artifacts, but for those lush, old, retro-colored dioramas filled with stuffed animals. And yesterday I finally got to go!

What's not to love about these dioramas? Well except for the depressing part about the dead animals/taxidermy, and seeing baby animals and wondering how those were collected...Let's ignore that part, actually. The dioramas are fantastic! And there are so many! I think the bears will always be my favorite, but the African Mammals exhibit was fairly amazing as well. Two floors of all sorts of familiar and unfamiliar creatures, like elephants and ostrichs and greater and lesser koodoos and elands (a word I know only from crossword puzzles) and so many more.



The highlight of the visit, besides the diaromas, was seeing a special exhibit called Extreme Mammals. We learned about the biggest and smallest mammals, yes, but the best part was seeing lots of creepy weird mammals that went extinct thousands of years ago...beavers with horns, whales with four legs, and a wooly mammoth-type monster with a long silly gonzo nose, to name a few. We watched sugar gliders hop around a little mini-environment, and discussed the pros and cons of having baleen instead of teeth.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on finding a local place to show some art. I have organized the results, but there is a bit more fact-finding to do before I narrow it down to a few places to actually approach. I started working on my artist statement, and am varnishing a few pieces that I want to move out of here. More information to come!

Today I go on my first fact-finding mission throughout the area, looking for potential venues for showing/hanging/selling artwork. Coffee shops, diners, small stores...Game on!

Normally I'd make a nice template that I could fill out for each location, just so I could stay super organized. Unfortunately, my computer and printer are no longer speaking so I am going to have to take notes in a little notebook with no formatting whatsoever. Still, exciting, no?

Things I will consider:
1. Does the venue already have artwork on its walls? If so, what kind?
2. Does it seem like my artwork would fit with the venue's vibe?
3. How crowded is the venue? How many people will be seeing my artwork?
4. What kind of customers come to this venue? Families/yuppies/hipsters?

After I've gathered the information, I plan on choosing my top 3 venues and organizing everything I need to approach them about my artwork. I might have some brochures/flyers made. It's very exciting! And I need to work on an artist statement so I can join the local artist group here.

5 tips to developing a unique art style, from imagekind's blog.

Romantic Space, original illustration by dropesdementol

I love the work of fricdementol - she makes these incredible gocco prints, very colorful and fun, with lots and lots of patterns and details - so I was excited to see she opened a new shop for her original illustrations. This one is my current favorite. You can also find her on flickr and on her blog.