Tiny Showcase Summer Print Collection

Last chance to buy the Tiny Showcase Summer Print Collection 2008...It was supposed to come down yesterday but it's still up for a few more days, so snap it up, yo (I just did)...I love love (!!!) Ryan McLennan's "Haul" and Julie Morstad's "Untitled". So gorgeous.

10% of the profits from the seasonal collection are being donated to Clean Water Action. Clean Water Action is a national organization working to assure the supply of clean, safe and affordable water.

PS. In light of our current economic state, we've updated the Idea's column with lots of great piggy bank ideas!

Lucky and Peer!

Two very exciting things happening recently...The very awesome Jean of Notcot listed us in this month's issue of Lucky Magazine as one of her favorite design blogs, alongside two of our favorites - Designboom and the Wooster Collective. Huge thanks to Jean and Lucky Magazine for the mention!



Also, Peer, a limited-edition book, collaborative art coloring book curated by Renee Garner of Wolfie and the Sneak just came out, and we have an illustration in it! Renee asked 25 artists to contribute: Kate Bingaman-Burt, Will Bryant, Lisa Congdon, Stephanie DosReis, Camilla Engman, Jessica Gonacha, Frances Hawthorne, Abbey Hendrickson, Jennifer Judd-McGee, Sandra Juto, Kelly Lynn Jones, One Good Bumblebee, Puloverchito, Selflesh, Groundwork, Jen Ray, Justin Richel, Julia Rothman, Model Citizen, Heather Smith Jones, Lisa Solomon, Sub-Studio, Something's Hiding in Here, Oh My Cavalier! and Wolfie and the Sneak. Each artist drew a self-portrait for the book, and Renee labored hard to put it all together. After you have contributed to the artwork with your beautiful coloring skills, each print is easily removed for framing. Also, when you're finished coloring in the prints, you can upload your masterpieces to the Peer flickr group.

Andrea Heimer

Andrea Heimer emailed us about her most recent project, Coveted. I love the simple, clean line drawings and the small bits of color in each print. Check out a great interview with her here.

Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton

Have you ever wanted a full-size Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for your own? The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research has one ready for you to pickup. Made to order, the replicas of a T-rex named Stan (recovered by BHI) are 40' long and 12' high at the hip. The position can vary based on your house's layout or where you want to keep him in your front yard. At $100,000 each, why not get yourself one?

Hannah Stouffer

Please excuse the late start - our server died over the weekend and we are still trying to figure out how to get information off of it. Doh. Back up your work, people!

Anyway, check out these lovely illustrations by Hannah Stouffer that I spotted over at Designboom. Hannah is a San Francisco-based artist influenced by luxury, royalty, muscle cars, heavy metal, the animal kingdom, femininity, horse races and foliage. You can buy here prints here.

Katy Horan

The Shiny Squirrel has some great new prints by artist Katy Horan in the shop.

From the artist's website: Katy Horan’s paintings and drawings are meant to be the long lost folk art from an imaginary world. Based on a wide variety of interests and influences, her work tells stories about the characters and communities that populate this world.

Jaime Derringer

Jaime Derringer sent over the newest addition to her etsy shop this morning - Salmon Birds on Crystal Chandelier. The print is part of the Chandelier series.

Heather Smith Jones

We are really pleased to welcome Heather Smith Jones as an advertiser this month - we first came across Heather in a gallery show we were part of at Artstream in New Hampshire last November. I was blown away by Heather's work - she had some amazing paintings in the show, as well as the great line drawings/watercolors that you can now find in her Etsy shop. Her work is still very affordable (so get it while you can!) - between $25 and $60 for an original drawing.

And...we finally switched out the Idea's Column! Here, for your viewing pleasure, are several well-designed USB memory sticks. If you know of one that's missing that you think we'll love, give us a holler!

Nick Dewar

Nick Dewar's illustrations exude a retro charm in their linework and blocks of color. The smoothness of the paintings gives them an almost dreamlike quality. Check out the portfolio page and prints available at Thumbtack Press.

Craig Atkinson

Craig Atkinson is a UK designer/illustrator/artist whose sketch work brings out the quality of a single line. You can find a few of his drawings on Etsy or at his website.

Pigeon Ring Necklaces by Chinny Chin Chin

The Pigeon Ring Necklaces by Chinny Chin Chin catalog pigeon racers and contain a collectible piece of sports memorabilia. The anthropomorphic quality of the pigeon portraits combined with the pigeon's likes/dislikes makes the flying rats look almost like-able.

Heather Smith Jones

We took part in an exhibit with Heather Smith Jones at Artstream in November, and Heather just emailed us about the opening of her online shop. Heather's works are both beautiful and quiet, with splashes of color and simple line drawings. All of the pieces in her shop are originals, so be sure to check them out before they disappear!

The artist's statement: "My paintings intuitively originate with fields of abstract color. I use marks, patterns, pinholes, words, and imagery to visually sew information together. Through painting I examine relationships within the detailed world of human experience. Particular thoughts, objects, experiences, and memories, become in my mind, moments of beauty when understood on a phenomenological level. Replanting elements from the natural world in an abstract way allows new correlations to become recognizable."

Scripophily

SCRIPOPHILY (scrip-af-il-ly) is the collecting of canceled stock and bond certificates. Large and incredibly dense in detail, the certificates circulate and then eventually end up in a personal collection or long lost basement storage. These certificates from Bethlehem Steel Co. (left) and Stone Cabin Consolidated Mines, Inc. (right) are two examples of the certificates available for purchase through scripophily.net, one of the leading traders in collectible certificates.

Denise Simon

The Shiny Squirrel has a great new artist in her shop - Denise Simon. I love Denise's line drawings and her illustration style.

Washington and Jackson $5 Stamp

I love the engraved style of old stamps much more than the full color images of current stamps. The single color etching somehow captures the nostalgic nature of the handwritten, hand-delivered letter. The origin of the Washington and Jackson $5 Stamp is a little cloudy, which also makes it more interesting. Plus, it's a little trippy, a rarity in stamps. Hop over to your USPS and pick some up.

Art School Girl Editions

These are the first two prints from Art School Girl Editions. January's (left) is by Amy Jean Rowan, and February's by Sun Young Park. ASG Editions will work with a different artist each month. Each art piece will be letterpressed and a limited edition of 125. Best yet, they're affordable at $25 per print.

Happy Valentines Day, all! Today is a great excuse to spread a little extra love to you significant other, best friends, parents...have a great one...

Linzie Hunter

These ended up in my inbox this morning - the Spam One-Liners print series by Linzie Hunter. The prints remind me of the random sentences and nonsensical phrases that were used on journal covers and other trinkets when I was living in Thailand as a kid. Each archival digital print is being sold through Thumbtack Press for $29.99. 20x200 will also be selling two limited edition prints from this series soon.

Kate Wilson

Kate Wilson is a British illustrator with some fantastic illustrations. I love the pieces that use the negative space of the page in the illustration itself, and her limited use of watercolor is gorgeous. See a large body of her work on Coroflot, and read her blog here. You can purchase her work from her etsy store.

Sub-Studio at the Shiny Squirrel

As promised, here are some product shots of the limited edition prints and cards we did for the Shiny Squirrel. The prints above are from the Kingdom Spirits Series and draw from ancient mythologies of supernatural animal-beings that roam the land, sea, and air. The cards below are from our Bloom Series. Jessica also will be selling a new print from our Celestial Extinction series. Congrats again to Jessica on a great launch. We hope to see you all at the launch party!

Poppytalk Handmade

It seems like there are a million web launches today (congrats, Grace!)! Today marks the first day of Poppytalk Handmade, which Jan of Poppytalk calls an virtual street market. Each month will feature new designers and products. She's got some great participants this month (clockwise from top left): Skinny Laminx, things are better than a parrott, The Sherwood Press, Alyssa Ettinger, Ink and Wit, and Restless Things.

Life by Adonis Werther

Life by Adonis Werther is a set of 4 prints that depicts the passage of time through one's life. The prints have a similar narrative and structure of Chris Ware's work. The print is available at Thumbtack Press, a great site for affordable art.

20x200

I've been meaning to post about 20x200 after hearing about it over at Raul Gutierrez's great blog, Heading East. 20x200 is a new limited edition showcase dedicated to providing affordable art to collectors with all depths of wallet. Curated by Jen Bekman, 20x200 debuts two artists a week (one photographer and one illustrator). The prints come in three sizes: S,M,L: S (6"x10") has an edition of 200 for $20 each. M (13"x20") has an edition of 20 for $200 each. L (26"x40") has an edition of 2 for $2000 each. Art for everyone! The artists shown above: Dana Miller (left) and Jennifer Sanchez.

Melissa Moss

Melissa Moss sent us a link to her illustrative work a while back. Her work is very imaginative - I love the creepy trees silhouettes and all the little creatures.

Port2Port Press & Camilla Engman

Maria from Port2Port Press has a gorgeous set of new, limited-edition prints out. A collaboration with Camilla Engman, I just love their mix of illustration styles. At only $16 for both prints, I couldn't resist!

Renegade Craft Fair

Hi all! This weekend is Renegade Craft Fair and Sean and I have been working really hard to get ready for it. If you are in the Brooklyn area and are looking for something to do this weekend, feel free to stop by! The fair is located at McCarren Park Pool on Lorimer St. (between Driggs & Bayard Ave.). We will be there from 11-4 on Saturday and 11-6 on Sunday. Stop by and say hi! We are Booth #81 and are located right smack in the middle of the venue. Some previews of our work above...

A few booths I'm excited to see - Alyssa Ettinger, Foxy & Winston, Lotta Jansdotter, perch!, The Onion (yes! the newspaper! I'm curious as to what they are selling!), Sesame Letterpress, Twigs and Heather...

Abyssal - Magenta

To celebrate having almost sold out our first edition of Abyssal prints, Sean and I printed up a limited edition in a new colorway - magenta and tangerine. It's currently only available at our Etsy shop, but will also be for sale at our booth at the Renegade Craft Fair on June 16-17 (booth 81! Hope all you new yorkers will stop by!).

Also, we started a blog that is dedicated to our design work and the things that inspire it, called submerge. We hope you will check it out!

Ashley G

I'm sure you've all seen Ashley G's work before...I love the simplicity of her drawings and the beautiful colors that she uses. The little girls in her illustrations are especially appealing, maybe because they are so quiet and thoughtful.

Stoked Sessions Two - Zoo York x Giant x Stoked

Stoked Mentoring is a NYC/LA 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that I really believe in and actively promote among my friends and community. They use skateboarding, snowboarding and surfing as mentoring tools for at-risk youth here in nyc and in la. By combining a stellar mentoring program with a boardsport-based curriculum (for both mentor and mentee) to teach self-awareness and community building, Stoked is at the forefront of this non-conventional mentoring approach. I have been serving on their advisory board since last year and I am excited to see where we go this year.

On June 6th at Pink Elephant, Zoo York will hold a fundraiser and release a limited edition board and t-shirt designed by Mike Giant to benefit the Stoked Mentoring 2007 season. If you are in NYC, I urge you to contribute and help us expand our programs and outreach.

Tickets are $40/advance and $50/door. Purchase tickets for the fundraiser here.

If you are interested in volunteering or contributing in ANY way, whether you want to be a mentor, teach surfing or have other contacts that you think can help our organization, please contact info(at)stokedmentoring.org.

Artstream Un{limited}

I've been meaning to post this for a while...Thanks to Grace for the reminder! Artstream's current exhibition looks amazing - it features the work of Penelope Dullaghan, Lisa Congdon, Ashley G, Flossy-P, and Lisa Kirkpatrick. You can purchase pieces from the show (at affordable prices!) here.

Ben Schlitter

I have been a big fan of Ben Schlitter's work since he sent us an email last year about his geography postcards. Ben has an Etsy shop that is full of really great prints and paintings. The Drumlin print (above) is a digital reproduction an original vector illustration and is available for $15. You can find more of Ben's work here.

Dan McCarthy

Check out this amazing print by Dan McCarthy (I just bought one). 90% of the image was printed with glow-in-the-dark ink, so you really get two prints for the price of one. I love that it changes with the light. Beautiful.

Lure Catalog

Sean and I are excited to present a new series of prints...The Lure Catalog is inspired by the perennial ritual of learning how to fish - waking up at dawn, greeting the crisp, cool air with a sleepy grin and finding your way over to that secret fishing hole. The Lure Catalog features 9 spinning lures including spoons, spinnerbaits, minnows, and insects.

Each lure is available as an individual 5"x7" print for $10, as well as in a combined print (15"x21"). All are silk-screened by hand on 300gsm archival Fabriano Magnani Pescia White paper. You can find the prints here.

Kleen-Bore Bad Guy Target

Bad Guy 23"x35" Target by Kleen-Bore is a perfect piece to have framed for your house. Except that you have to buy 100 of them at a time. So pick one up for yourself...and your 100 closest friends. Nothing says 'you're a good friend' like a shooting target.

Rainy Prints

Cute prints from Sherry of Rainy Prints. I like the illustrations of vintage chairs. They are a pretty good deal at $20.

Jason Thielke

I just bought a copy of this print by Jason Thielke. There is something very architectural about the way he draws - his illustrations are more like technical drawings of an urban landscape.

EDIT: This print is available online through OKOK Gallery.

Mary Burr Studio

Check out this beautiful hand-carved and hand-pulled linocut print by Mary Burr. I love the graphic flowers, and at $15, it's a pretty good deal!

Matt Cipov

I just bought this set of Field Studies prints by Matt Cipov. At only $6, they're totally a steal! Matt's Etsy store is full of great prints and original art pieces. Definitely worth checking out. His work reminds me of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Readymechs

I've seen a lot of these DIY paper toys lately. These ones from Readymechs are pretty cute! All you need is double-sided tape, card stock paper, and about 15 minutes of construction time. You can download the templates on Readymechs' site.

Chocolate Skateboards - Day of The Dead

Check out the Day of The Dead Series over at Chocolate Skateboards. Even skeletons like to have fun.

Alien Workshop - Believe

The Believe graphic is a classic from the 90's, and definitely one of the most memorable from when I was growing up. I a mustard colored XL t-shirt of it back in the day. Alien Workshop recently re-released the graphic as an Omar Salazar pro graphic.

Matte Stephen

Grace posted about Matte Stephen's work a few weeks ago, and I came across his Etsy site recently. His work definitely has a retro feel, and I love the colors that uses. Matte's work can be seen at Velocity Art and Design in Seattle, Alphabets in NYC, and in an upcoming show at Office PDX in Portland.

Oliver Lake

Love these illustrations from Oliver Lake. The print to the left is an illustration he did for a children's book called 'Pip of Pengersick'. The print to the right is from a series inspired by the music of Tom Waits. Cool!

Design*Sponge Shop

Thanks so much to Grace Bonney for including us in January's Design*Sponge shop! It was truly an honor! This month sees new products from Amanda Kavanagh, Foxy and Winston, Laura Lienhard, Jon Setzen of Standard Motion and Geoff Wood. The lovely print above is from Foxy and Winston. As was the case last month, 100% of the proceeds from select items in the shop go towards the Design*Sponge scholarship.

Artstream Gallery - Lovely Hearts Exhibition

We are very excited to be a part of the Lovely Hearts exhibition over at the Artstream Gallery, which was curated by the wonderful Susan. 50% of the retail price of each artwork sold goes directly to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. All of the works exhibited are under $100 and are available for purchase here. We hope you will check out the show and support this great cause! The opening reception is Saturday, February 10.

We also want to thank you all for your great comments this week! We love hearing from our readers!

Dan McCarthy - Dino in the Woods

Dan McCarthy is a great printmaker with amazing dinosaur prints. He just released a new poster called 'Dino in the Woods' for a show at The Middle East. I had to post about it because I love Dan's work (we're proud owners!), and I have fond memories of The Middle East. I worked in Boston over the summer of 2000 and lived down the street near Central Square, so I would see shows at the little downstairs every week.

Jonathan Apgar

Jonathan Apgar is a Long Beach artist with some linocuts for sale at his Etsy Store. I love the two prints above and I am amazed at the fine detail at the 8.5 x 11 size. Maybe I need sharper cutting tools or something.

Left: Shuttlecock Lino Block Print
Right: BBQ Lino Block Print

Wall Art

The Op Art Wall Piece from Kenneth Wingard Stores in SF brings playful lightness to any room and decor.

MikroMart

Mikroworld is a land of fold-up metal sculptures created by Sam Buxton. You can find the individual sets of living areas and vehicles at Mikromart. Above are the Bath (left) and Garden (right) mikro-environments.

Steven Harrington

Check out these beautiful prints from Steven Harrington. I love the colors that he chooses...Thanks Nidhi, for bringing him to our attention!

Design*Sponge Shop

We are very excited to announce our inclusion in the January Design*Sponge shop. The cards above are from the Sea Pattern series and are available in a pack of four (one of each design) for $16, with shipping included.

Grace Bonney also launched a really great new project - she is raising money for a scholarship fund for three design students, which will be awarded later in the year. 100% of the proceeds from the following the items in the shop will go towards this award (as well as a percentage of the ad revenue): the Tug Drawing and Chair Drawing by Alyson Fox, the A-LIGHT by RE-SURFACE (Donna Brady), and beautiful handprinted pillows by Lena Corwin. I hope you will check these out and support Grace in this new endeavor!

Natalie Tweedie, Nebo Peklo

Lovely limited-edition prints from Scottish artist Natalie Tweedie (aka Nebo Peklo), who silk-screened them by hand with a print-gocco. Yay gocco!

Updated store

We wanted to announce updates to our online store. There are a bunch of new prints available, including prints from our visible:invisible panorama series (details of the prints above), and prints from the catalog specimen series, among others. We hope you'll take a peek!

The Art Dump

The Art Dump is the collective of artists responsible for the creative direction of Girl and Chocolate skateboards. There are a few monoprints available on the Foundation Gallery for sale for only $50 ea. A monoprint is a non-reproducible print that is one-of-a-kind. Snap them up while you can.

Dan McCarthy

I really like Dan McCarthy's work. Besides his very graphic illustrative style, I like how he uses various skeletons (human, dinosaur, or otherwise) to convey the infinite cycle of death. This print is titled "shared memory: the moon", which I find very romantic somehow. Thanks to NOTCOT for the introduction!

Thumbtack Press

Thumbtack Press releases high-quality and affordable reprints of artists. Most prints run from $15-$35! On the left is one by Lilly Piri and on the right is one by Heiko. Both are very, very talented.