Art Collection Round 2

Last time I showed you some of my art collection and promised to show you the rest at a later date. Well that date is today!

This piece we commissioned from a friend of Lee's (my husband), J. J. Rudisil. Check out his website. He is one of the most awesome artists I know. For this piece the only thing we told him was that we wanted it Coney Island themed. We still must get it framed to show it's true beauty. But right now it resides in a predominate place in the living room and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

Look at the detail J.J. does, incredible

Love this face.

Just wonderful.

Sitting right next to it is a lovely little ceramic skull we purchased from an LA artist on the beach front in Venice Beach. Unfortunately I don't remember his name- it's signed Glez or Gle3. Each and every skull the artist had was different. I sure wish I would have bought more!

Hand painted skull from Venice Beach

 I picked up this lovely lady at the Rescue Mission in Winston-Salem. I found her quite lovely. I love the soft pinks and those bright red lips. I wonder who she was. What a deal too, she was probably less than $1.00!

I'll call her "Pretty in Pink"

Another one of my favorite artists (and people in general) is Leanne Blake Pizio We own a lot of her pieces. Unfortunately some are in storage as we don't have a lot of display room up here in NYC. I do have a screen print and a pitcher of hers to proudly display.I just the pitcher to hold fresh flowers.

Pink screen print- so lovely

Anyone who knows me knows I love me some BATS!

When I saw this piece I really wanted it bad. It's not what I typically go for but for some reason I just loved this piece. It was crazy and kind of frantic. It's a small piece and to make it have more presence I had it framed with this really wide white and black double mat. It's by Matt Sesow. I bought it from a gallery in Raleigh that I have shown in called Rebus Works. They always have a great collection of work there.

I love this unsettling piece.

Not too long ago we happened upon an opening of yet another favorite artist of mine John John Jesse. I have long admired his style. I was also happy to see him at the opening 'cause he is rather hot! We could not afford an original of his but we did get a limited edition signed print of his and it's the first one! Woo hoo!

This is the print that we have, we're so lucky to get the first one.

See, told ya- HOT!

Several years ago I took a trip up here to get some artistic inspiration and I found myself at MF Gallery where I snagged up this print by Angelique.

Looks amazing on our light blue walls.

I think that is about it. We have tons more art back in NC but when we moved to NYC we just weren't sure how much room we'd have to display things. I can't wait till the day I can go to storage and bring out all my "old friends" and put them back where they belong- on the wall!

Art Collecting and a Puppet Show!

the first thing i do when i move somewhere new is hang up my art work. boxes are still packed, furniture is askew and grab my hammer and get to work. so- sure in these times art is one of the first things cut out of someones budget. after all there are bills to pay and mouths to feed. art is not a necessity for life. but it is one of the most important thing in MY life.

i've been blessed in my art collecting. i lived in winston-salem, nc most of my life and there are so many wonderful artists there.being an artist myself has allowed me to trade pieces over the years which makes it a little nicer on the budget!

i thought i'd share part of my collection today. i'll post some of the other pieces in round 2 at a later date.

let's start with family...

my dad is one of my favorite artists. ok so i may be a bit biased, but really he is so awesome. he carved this narwhal for me since it is my very favorite whale. after all it is like the unicorn of the sea!

Narwhal by tommy luper

not only is my dad an artist but so is my older sister lisa ocampo. i got this piece from her at one of her latest art shows in savannah ga.

princess pea pea by lisa ocampo

one of my favorite artists is mike duggins. his work reminds me of the old timey cartoons and i love his slightly warped since of humor he puts into his pieces. he and i are both old souls. we've had this piece for several years and i just love it!

painting by mike duggins

we also got this little ditty one of the last times we were home in winston. we've not found it's true home yet so it hangs out in my studio area to give me some inspiration.

my husband bought this next piece in austin texas from yard dog gallery. if you're ever in austin you need to check that place out. the piece is by mike egan who also does embalming- how totally suiting for this house hold.

hello devil by mike egan

while traveling we love finding some local art to bring home. when we went to puerto vallarta we happened across a lovely little shop that sold local artist's works. great for us and great for the community! the top piece is made of wood and metal and the bottom piece is made of yarns.

pieces from puerto vallarta

 

sometimes i even find art on the street for free. ok so this rarely happens and most may not see this as art. but i found this big giant g on the street when we first moved here and it makes a great display for my coney island crown that i made.

g stands for GREEN!

 here's how part of the wall looks that i featured today. i'll give another art tour later of some of the other pieces we have. 

oh i 'bout forgot to show you MY piece that i did this weekend. it's "another puppet show" done in graphite and colored pencil. i had found the frame a while back and it was just calling to have something in it. isn't she sweet?

another puppet show by me- tiffany o'brien

awwwwe

 

 thanks for taking the tour with me today! cheers!