To Dry For

This site features one product only: the humble tea towel. With clever graphics and well-known designers (Rob Ryan), they've got a good thing here-- a simple piece of cloth with some pop. It's interesting that the tea towel has become a kind of indie canvas. I have other favorites too, like Third Drawer Down that produce beautiful screen printed towels, most of which could be framed as art. Great stuff.

Lab Partners

These new prints from Lab Partners are just the right mix of nostalgia and cool. They have a great color sense and I like their drawing style. These remind me of one of my favorites: pre-pop Warhol drawings. I like the "olde tyme" subjects matter that references the Victorian remix of the 60s. Well done, available here and read their blog here.

Alyoisius Screenprints

I love these screenprints from Alyoisius, a London artist living in Sydney. I especially like the American Indian themes-- I'm part Cherokee myself and I love the mix of "native" and hip here. I especially like the use of halftones in screenprints, another great thing he (ugh, SHE) does here. See his (oops, HER) blog and a website featuring his (er, HER) commissioned work.

Ib Geertsen

A new retrospective of the Danish mid-century modernist Ib Geertsen has opened at Rocket Gallery in London. The exhibit includes Geertsen's paintings, prints, mobiles and furniture from the last four decades, especially his screenprints. His geometric abstraction and the playful color of his work is striking and timeless. The artist just turned 90!

Sanna Annukka

I love these designs and illustrations from Sanna Annukka. This artist is half Finnish and half English, and her work has a beautiful Scandinavian quality. She has an online shop where you can buy her screenprint and bags. She is also the illustrator behind Keane's second album cover, "Under the Iron Sea." I find the mix of folklore and fairy tale imagery quite beautiful. See her portfolio here.

Little Paper Planes

This online gallery just got a facelift. Little Paper Planes is a who's who of contemporary indy artisans including Jen Renninger, Ashley Goldberg, Kate Bingaman-Burt, and Mike Perry. A favorite stop for affordable prints. (Pictured: Leah Giberson, Rod Hunting, Jen Renninger)

Edward McGowan

UK artist and illustrator McGowan creates these amazing woodblock-like images. There is little information on his site, but I'm guessing these are probably screenprints. Still, the images and style are very strong and I like this work.

Shinzi Katoh

You can't deny the simple charm of this Japanese illustrator. A superstar in Japan, Katoh is the lead proponent of "zakka," a general term that describes an enhanced design to everyday objects. You can find Katoh all over the US now, in many boutiques and specialty shops.

Andrew Henderson

I love these silkscreen works from Andrew Henderson. I first saw his work months ago and have been thinking about them ever since. Andrew says, "My work is based around the ideas of what creates joy and happiness, inspired by images I have taken from the world around me. Transferring the image from photograph, to silkscreen, to print and back. 'Back' being the result of the work on the viewer. So, smile and enjoy." Andrew will soon have a website and blog, but you can contact him for prints via email: amhhavefun@yahoo.com

Kota Ezawa

Kota Ezawa is a German artist living and working in San Francisco. He often recreates famous media moments in his flattened idealized style reminiscent of Alex Katz. I love his work and the way he reduces subjects into these color / fill shapes. Prints for sale at Haines Gallery, San Francisco.

Supersteady / Paolo Lim

Lim is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, and sometime drummer who lives and works in Australia. See more of his great work here.

Steven Harrington

New from Steven Harrington, one of my favorite graphic artists: A new traveling art show called "Our Mountain" begins at the end of this month. The show will open in Paris at the Lazy Dog Gallery on June 5th and will travel through Paris, Milan, Berlin and Barcelona. Along with the show, Steven is releasing his first solo book and will also release some custom shaped and designed limited-edition-element-series-skateboard-decks, a paper toy, 10 new prints and some other surprises. You can check the tour dates, SH book info, day-by-day photo blog of the tour and 'in-progress' shots here.

MOMO

Street artist MOMO makes these limited edition screenprints for Paper Monster, one of my favorite online galleries. MOMO has moved all over the country, tagging freight trains and urban landscapes alike, but now lives in NY where he has participated in a few shows and exhibitions. His interest in line, "implied tragicomedy," color and materials makes his work an intersection between graffiti artists and gallery artists. Top picture shows his street art and the middle piece is painted on wood with bits of adhesive paper and acrylic. See more prints here.

Andrew Holder

I love these 4 and 5-color screenprints from California artist Holder. The lower print, called Mountain Town, is really well done-- great colors and great style. The deer print seems completely different to me, but I love the mix of a screened photo and painted backgrounds. See his website.

Joe McLaren's BEER

If it wasn't snowing in Chicago every other day, I could almost believe that sitting in backyard with a beer is just around the corner. Never the less, it's a great time to buy BEER, a new small book from London artist Joe McLaren, featured here before, whose illustrations I love for their folky retro woodcut look. Buy BEER on Joe's site.

Kate Bingaman-Burt

Kate Bingaman-Burt makes her painfully mundane purchases irresistible artworks-- starting in 2002, Kate decided to photograph all of her purchases and in turn create a brand out of the process. She is currently hand drawing all of her credit card statements until they are paid off. She also makes a drawing of something she purchases each day and makes other work that fits into her brand of mocking her own relationship with her purchases. I think we can all relate to this. You can visit Kate's shop, her site, or purchase through 20x200

IN STUDIO: Drew Beckmeyer

I've featured the very talented Drew Beckmeyer before. I love his work. You've maybe seen his art at Tiny Showcase, or more recently in last Sunday's New York Times. Today, I'm very happy to have an IN STUDIO visit with him. You can see more on his site. Thanks Drew!

MC: Can you talk about your process a bit? Do you screenprint a lot of your work?
DB: I’ll usually think on an idea for a bit, then do a super tiny and loose thumbnail. Then I’ll think on it a little more and draw it out as vague and light as possible on some paper I prepared (and by prepared, I mean I rubbed dr. pepper into it). From there, its pretty self explanatory. I draw with gouache, ink, pens, pencils, and frequently I collage older drawings or colored paper in. On account that I don’t do any real comps or color comps or anything like that, there is a significant amount of time spent staring at it and thinking. I kind of like working it out at the time, on the real thing… visually at least. The idea and what im trying to say stays pretty consistent from start to finish.
I rarely ever screenprint my actual gallery or illustration work, just cause the time it takes to set all that up requires more forethought in terms of composition than I am usually willing to give up. I do end up screenprinting quite a bit though, just usually on books and other sellable things.

MC: Are you working on anything now?
DB: Right now I’m gearing up for a show at Tinlark Gallery in May, writing a post apocalyptic internment camp story that may end up being a comic, and fielding various freelance illustration jobs.


MC:What would be a dream project for you
DB: In terms of dream jobs, I kind of feel like I’m getting to do exactly what I want to be doing right now. I just want to get better at it and maybe start making a little bit of money.

MC: Who would you love to work with?
DB: Anyone who gets what I’m going for, David Hockney, and the ghost of William Blake.