Where's my wittle wed wagon?

That’s what I’d like to know, dagnabit!! This durned blog here has gotten all dusty over the last little while and that kind of behaviour from a blog just won’t stand, man. We’ll be back with your regularly scheduled awesome in just a little bit.

Keep Calm and Carry On,

BDunn

Click for art hailing from the UK has a pretty good thing going on. They’ve amassed a great collection of artists ( somewhat like your favorite skin company that shall remain nameless – oh ok, it’s US) and are adapting the art to unique and original applications – like tea cups.  These cats have done a super job with the printing on the cups and saucers resulting in the awesome specimens you see before you. They’ve got options from at least 3 GelaSkins alumnus, Tara McPherson, Nanami Cowdroy and Si Scott and really, who doesn’t want artist designed china?!

Declare War on Cancer by becoming our Facebook Fan

In the spirit of the season, we thought of a good way of bringing us closer to you while helping to bring us all closer to a cure.  That’s why we’re proud to announce the GelaSkins T n’ A Charity Drive and Facebook Fan Finder Bonanza and Discount Fireworks Blowout Sale*. The GTNACDAFFFADFBS (as we refer to it around the office) is a way for us here at GelaSkins to reach out to our fans and keep you in the know what we’re up to. Plus, we’ll donate $1 for every new facebook fan** to Breast and Prostate Cancer research. Our goal is to add 10,000 new fans by December 31st 2009 and we think with your help we’ll be able to hit that number with ease.

Here’s how it works: You join our Facebook page as a fan and we donate $1 to Cancer Research. Couldn’t be easier, right? And the perks don’t stop there! As our way of saying thanks, we’ll give you access to weekly GelaSkin giveaways and special Facebook-only discount codes! So step up, show your true colors and help us reach our goal of 10,000 new Cancer-fighting friends by December 31st and let’s keep T and A around for a long, long time!

Link to our Facebook page

Love,
The GelaSkins Folk

* We were kidding about the fireworks BTW, those are dangerous and  shouldn’t be joked about.
** Up to our goal of 10K new fans

One of GelaSkins’ long time contributors and artist extraordinaire, Greg Simkins, is mounting a new show at Gallery 1988 LA tonight  entitled “The Pearl Thief” and features Greg’s largest EVER work ( the title piece is a whopping 96″ x 72″ !!!).

Taken from the I’m Scared newsletter:

“The Pearl Thief  tells the story of a greedy monster, which travels the world stealing the imaginations of unsuspecting souls.  The stolen imaginations exist in the form of pearl, but not the type of pearl that we are familiar with.  In Simkins’ world, the pearl holds much more value.  “Inside of everyone’s mind, there is a place which holds all the ideas, all the thoughts and creativity that a person will need for a life time. We have some notion of it from our dreams where it sometimes surfaces as a cloud of images jumbled together. In fact it is in the deepest part of our dreams where these confused clouds become most potent and luminous. This my friends, is a Pearl. It is also what the Pearl Thief lusts for the most and has devoted his entire existence to taking each and every one in to his possession, both as treasure and as currency.”

To stop the Pearl Thief and return all of the stolen imaginations, there is an interactive puzzle that the gallery has created for Simkins fans and gallery patrons.  When solved, the puzzle will lead to a free 5 x 5 inch, original Simkins painting.   More information about the puzzle will be released on the gallery blog: g1988.blogspot.com, now through the opening of the show.”

Cool idea, n’est pas? Well needless to say this show is going to be the shit, so go and check it out if you’re in the area tonight and who knows, it could be YOU that catches the Pearl Thief!

Here’s a couple of preview pics Camp Simkins sent over to us yesterday…

This makes me wish more than ever that I lived in the LA area. These three heavy hitters (all of whom are GelaSkins artists thankyouverymuch!) are going to be exhibiting their own solo shows in three seperate galleries at Copro.

Here’s a little blurb about each via the Copro site:

Amy Sol “Wilderness Buffet” in gallery 1

“The Wilderness Buffet” is a small collection of new works created with acrylic on wood panel, that emphasize Amy Sol’s adoration of nature, inner exploration, and musings of latent ties that bind living things with earth and consciousness. Each scene interprets a gentle ceremony of creatures in a realm bathed with energetic patterns; the subtly muted tones seem to suggest the colors themselves are alive, yet sleeping. Sol intends to convey within the slightest meandering details, a gentle entangling of curiosity, playfulness, and introspection.

Though the style of Sol’s work is greatly influenced by a combination of manga, folk-art, vintage illustration and modern design, she remains a self taught artist. She has dedicated many years of her life mixing pigments and mediums to achieve a unique color palette of subtly muted tones. The artist works intuitively from the beginning to end of each piece, with the intent that each painting’s theme or message can be interpreted subjectively. Within these delicate works, you may often find whimsical landscapes populated with exotic plants, animals and females… Amongst the expressions of each character are notions of peaceful reflection and a sense of companionship. Amy Sol spent her childhood years in Korea, and then moved to Las Vegas, NV where she currently lives and works.

Stella Im Hultberg “Penumbra” in gallery 2

Stella Im Hultberg’s “Penumbra” reflects a transitional phase in Hultberg’s life and thinking. This new body of work, created on paper with a mixed media of oil and acrylic plus ink along with pencil drawings on tea-stained paper with watercolor washes, went through a transformation due her experience with a tragic family death and personal injury. While Hultberg’s pieces have always dealt with various forms of personal identity, this recent chapter in her life has given her works a new twist. “Somewhere, deep down, identity is something I always base my works from, not just self-identity, but identity as life as well. I still believe that most of us spend our lives figuring out what it is that we’re living for. Dealing closely with death and injury makes you realize the frailty of identity and life…Just that one moment you can fully exist and the next you can be gone” states Hultberg.

While the pieces she was working on already had a dark feel, the facial expressions of the figures took on a darker and sadder, even tearful tone. “I initially chose the name “Penumbra” for this show, to impose on myself a transformation and I indeed feel like I have transformed during the preparation of this show” states Hultberg.

Hultberg originally studied Industrial Design at CSU, which enabled her to become a toy designer early on in her career. Work in the design industry serendipitously led to her building on her natural talents as an artist and a career as a self-taught painter soon followed. Having grown up in Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan, she has a diverse blend of cultural influences to pull from.

Nicoletta Ceccoli “Babes in Toyland” in gallery 3

Nicoletta Ceccoli’s “Babes in Toyland” takes the viewer to a land where classic fairy tales meet 16th Century Flemish paintings, a place where Snow White and Alice in Wonderland-like doll-girls and their toys live amongst a magical forest of lollipops and candy.

Ceccoli’s lifetime love and passion for children’s picture books came full circle when her first works were published in 1997. Since then, Ciccoli has earned numerous awards including the Andersen prize Baia Delle Favole. and in 2006, a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators in New York. Ceccoli currently lives and works as a full-time book illustrator in the republic of San Marino, Italy.

There’s no doubt in my mind that each and everyone of these shows would be incredible on it’s own, but having 3 of them in one gallery is going to mind blowing. You should cancel whatever plans you have Nov. 7th to make it to this opening. Seriously…