Sarah ESTEJE

© Sarah ESTEJE

On november 22d, I went to "les puces de l'illustration", an event at "La fonderie de l'image" in Bagnolet.It is one of those rare events not to be missed, where you meet and see many young and talented illustrators. Sarah ESTEJE caught my eye in particular. After majoring in photography at the school "les gobelins", she started drawing again with a ball point pen. Her work is so incredibly realistic that you could almost think her drawings are photographs. Two things struck me. First, how she packaged her postcards with but of course, a BIC ball point pen! The second, was she was so humble saying that when she was a student, she wasn't that good at drawing!!!! You've got to be kidding!!! Which pretty much goes to prove that you can learn if you put your mind to it, meaning if you put all your attention and efforts to learn!!!  

http://abadidabou.com

Scott Blake

© Scott Blake

Oh dear, it's been donkey's years since I last posted a message hasn't it? So here goes.
Is this Pop art or Op art? No neither or perhaps yes, both at the same time! Actually, it's Bar Code Art by Scott Blake, an american artist from Omaha. Barcodes come in different shades of grey, so that he uses them like pixels on a grid. What is really amazing is that he pushes the concept so as to use only barcodes related to the subject matter, which you realize when you scan them, thus making the work interactive. That's truly something!

http://www.barcodeart.com

Nancy Fouts

© Nancy Fouts

Nancy Fouts is an American born-London based fine artist. Her visual puns are both whimsical and unexpected. She is a self-proclaimed hoarder, and her work reminds me of surrealists like Dali and his lobster telephone! You might think the recipe is easy, but it simply isn't! She really has a knack for marrying unrelated, ordinary objects. Absolutely astonishing!

http://www.nancyfouts.com

Wayne Thiebaud

Sorry, no picture! I wanted to post the four cupcakes painted by Wayne Thiebaud, a key figure in Amercian contemporary art, known for his paintings primarily of food like cakes, pastry, ice cream cones (absolutely mouth watering!), land and cityscapes (simply exquisite!) and portraits. There is a very distinctive and personal touch to the way he paints and interprets his subjects, a beautiful sense of color. Art critics have often catalogued him somewhere between Pop Art and Morandi.Well, go see for youselves!

I tried to contact him for permission to use one or more of his visuals but my request was transfered to the ADAGP here in France, who agreed if I paid 7€ plus tax a month! This is the reason why I always ask beforehand, so as not to get into any copyright trouble!!! So my advice would be, always ask for written permission before posting anyone's work on a blog, and type "Wayne Thiebaud" on google image to see some of his work. There's plenty to see. Truly inspiring!

Judith Klausner

© Judith Klausner

Next time you eat an Oreo cookie, think of these Victorian-era oreo cameos that are part of a food art series by Judith Klausner! You might want to read her statement "from scratch" while you are at it. Some people have an incredible knack of making things with just about anything! What an ingeneous way of using oreo cookies!

http://jgklausner.com/series/from-scratch