Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Spot'em, Opening Friday

I'm going to be apart of a group show opening this Friday, Sept. 9th at the Spot Art Gallery in NE Minneapolis.


spot'em
time to look out for local art

opening artists' reception
Friday, september 9, 7-11pm
auditory delights by dè boss at 8pm
henna+body art by judy o

featuring
serene scene paintings by arnie hamel
frightful fun paintings by bridget riversmith
articulate insight drawings by joel starkey
captured cloud photography by michael mcgraw
fabulous fashionista paintings by karen o'bryan
and dynamic photography by rob levine

thru oct 7

spotArt gallery
1828 marshall st ne mpls
www.spotArt.org


I've made a couple of new pieces for your viewing pleasure, here's just one example to spark some interest. Stop by the show to check out more!


"Circus Act"
Acrylic and graphite on wood panel
Karen O'Bryan, 2011

Hope to see you on Friday!

Cheers,
Karen

Monday, August 15, 2011

Fall



I'm getting really excited for fall this year. The weather has already started to turn and although this summer feels like it went by in a flash, I hope fall comes early sticks around longer this year.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Pizza Farm



On Tuesday my friends and I took a journey to Stockholm, WI for one intended purpose: PIZZA. If you don't know where Stockholm, WI is, you're not alone. I had never heard of it until last weekend when plans for this journey were being made. It has a population of either 82 or 97, depending on which sign you believe to be true, and is nearly 2 hours outside of Mpls.

So why would anyone in their right mind drive for 2 hours on a Tuesday evening to go get some Pizza? Well purhaps you'll just have to ask one of the hundreds (maybe even thousands!?) of people who were there. I was one of those hundreds and I'd be happy to provide an answer: Because it is F-ing DELICIOUS... and you can pet a goat!

A to Z Produce is an organic farm which just so happens to host a pizza night every Tuesday from April 'til November. They are open from 4:30-8pm (meaning, you need to get there before 8 to place your order) The pizza's cost between $25-$30 (cash only!) and only actually take about 2 mins to bake in their over-sized outdoor brick ovens, the wait depends on how many people have orders in a head of you... We arrived at 7pm, we got our pizza's at about 9.











In the mean time we chilled out picnic style with blankets, drinking wine (which we brought with) and checking out the farm, which included petting goats!











So things you ought to know about the Pizza Farm:

Location: N2956 Anker Ln Stockholm, WI 54769
Phone: (715) 448-4802
Open: Tuesdays 4:30-8pm
Currency: CASH ONLY
Dogs allowed? : NO

Everything else is BYO! (They don't have napkins, or silverware, or plates, or drinks, or tables, or chairs, or trash cans..) Bring everything with you, and take everything with you when you leave, including your garbage and recyclables.

The only down side to the Pizza Farm..? No pizza you have again will ever be as good as theirs.. except perhaps if you travel to Italy... and that would be a really long drive.










Friday, August 5, 2011

Working Woman

A new illustration - hope you like it!



copyright Karen O'Bryan 2011

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Shameless

Recently I was asked to illustrate the cover and leading article of Shameless Magazine's spring issue.



The article(s) were all about stereotypes, and breaking away from stereotypes. Here are the final products. Check it out HERE







Here are some of the sketches I did that didn't make the cut (but I thought were worth sharing..)















Sucka Free Art Sale

Thanks again to everyone who came out to our latest Sucka Free Art Sale and a big, big, BIG Thank YOU to XYandZ and Kate Iverson for all of your help!

If you missed it, check out www.suckafreempls.wordpress.com to get links to the artist's websites and to get information about the next sale!















Monday, July 18, 2011

Jewelry Displays

Recently I decided it was time for me to try a new approach at displaying my jewelry during art sales. With the Sucka Free Art Sale just around the corner, I thought now would be a good time to give it a try.

I knew that I wanted to make simple frame displays - and although I do like the look of a simple wire backing (such as the photo below as seen on squiddo) I knew that wouldn't work for me because I have tags on everything.



Instead, I experimented with a foam and felt backing, which I think will work rather well. Here is what I did:

First I purchased some simple black frames from Ikea, then headed to JoAnn fabrics and picked up some photo-gray felt and some cheap pieces of foam.



I took the plastic covering out of the frame to measure my piece of foam (remember, I said they were cheap frames - no glass here! haha) I cut the foam with an xacto knife.



Then I used plastic sheet to measure the fabric. I left about an inch extra around all of the sides, then trimmed down 2 of the sides to be more exact, while leaving extra around the top and bottom to wrap around the edges. I did this to be able to glue the fabric to the foam, but I thought it would be too thick to fit back into the frame if I did all 4 sides.



I trimmed the corners at a 45 degree angle to make it easier to glue and fold over the fabric edges.



Once glued (hot glued that is - which dries almost instantly) I stuck the fabric back inside the frame and actually used that plastic sheet to go in behind the fabric to make it more sturdy. And viola! Jewelry displays assembled!



I'm excited to see if these displays will be more effective or not. If not, I can always reuse the frames for something else - as I did save that those plastic sheets.

And there you have it - an easy, cost effective way to make your own jewelry displays.