A few neat new items in our boutique!

Check out these new tin boxes that we just got in today! Really, these are must have for organized hoarders (like me) of small cool items and fans of cool graphic design. :-) Really nicely made and printed with such fun, silly colorful artwork. They are fun to touch and hold and open AND close! We have four different designs in the large boxes and six different designs in the smaller size.

The small "pocket" boxes are an exact replica of a 1920's cigarette case and retail for the very reasonable price of $6.00 each! The bigger boxes are an exact replica of a 1920's tin cigar box including a riveted bracket to hold the top open, for the measly peasly sum of $15.00!

Also in today are these simply beautiful greeting cards from Hope for Women, who offer fair trade eco friendly products made exclusively by women.

The card series is called "Portraits of El Salvador" and are all handmade by women whose homes in El Salvador’s highland cloud forest were destroyed by a devastating earthquake and mudslides. Each card features a cool little printed drawing of a lovely lady with some fabulous hairdos made entirely of REAL little dried flowers and grasses!

There are over a dozen different flower types available and every single card is unique and one of a kind! They reflect the style and creativity of the individual artisan who selected each flower, frond and sprig of greenery and placed them just so. I truly love them all and also think they would also look fantastic in little frames as hanging on your walls! The blank cards with envelopes are sold for $5.50 each, it truly is hard just to choose one favorite style... get a few for yourself and stash some away for a card you can be proud to give. Great as a Mother's Day or anyday card! So special and good for the world too!

Jellycat plush from England, just in time for Spring!

 

As cute as these lil fellas are, their cuteness is NOTHING compared to their softness and sweet floppiness! Be sure to give them a little love next time you come in and feel for yourself... :-)

We just got in a restock on the Hobbes-esque tiger and stumpy legged donkey and a few new friends arrived too!! The long legged giraffe is one of Rosemary's favorites for hugging and loving as well as the tiny lambey. Lambey is just the right size for her little nine-month old sized hand to get a good strangle neck grip on and carry him all around with her all day long. Oh yes! We also got in lovely chocolate bunnies who would make a great springtime gift!

We put Rosemary on top of the big pile of Jellycat plush as we were working on pricing them and she squealed with joy! You can't miss her sincere sweet smile as she looks into the face of a new little lion friend! She really seems to be loving plush toys of all kinds more and more, she has a death strangle grip on her lil lambey's neck right now... :-)

If you've never seen them before, the Jellycat line of plush toys from England is really wonderful. Really great quality, designs and reasonable pricing! Check out the Jellycat site... we carry a nice selection of their wonderful cutie pies! Only our favorites!

The Super Punch Tarot opening!

The Sun by Stephanie Buscema;
Gouache and cel vinyl on watercolor paper

 

 

Please join us for the opening of our newest exhibition The Super Punch Tarot this Saturday, March 5, 2011 from 7-10pm!

Looking for a truly great lil owner-operated place to eat or sip some wine before or after you stop by the opening tomorrow?  We've got a treat for you! Hidden in a crappy strip mall only 5 minutes away from us is BASH Wine Cafe -- they specialize in yumminess and you will love it! We highly recommend that you check them out (and tell them we sent you... :-) I went to elementary school with one of the owner-chefs!

The Super Punch Tarot
On exhibit: March 5 - April 23, 2011
Link to Show Flyer

Artwork is available for online purchase now!

Curated by Super Punch blogman John Struan! Check out his daily blog at http://superpunch.blogspot.com

Artwork by an international group of super punchy artists including: Aaron Miller; Adam Koford; Bethalynne Bajema; Brent Engstrom; Brent Nolasco; Brigid Ashwood; Britt Wilson; Casey Weldon; Cormac McEvoy; Dan Goodsell; Dave Perillo; Dean Reeves; E.G. Gauger; Eric Wirjanata; Franco Brambilla; Geoffrey Trapp; Geoffrey Trapp; Heather Hudson; J. Shea; Jason Chalker; Jerrod Maruyama; Jerrod Maruyama; Joe Alterio; Justin Van Genderen; Kat Brunnegraff; Ken Turner; M.S. Corley; Mario Graciotti; Meghan Murphy; Melita Curphy; Mindy Lee; Nancy Dorsner; Roman Laney; Rosemary Travale; San Smith; Santiago Matias Caruso; Squink!; Steam Crow; Stephanie Buscema; Sven Ruthner; The Beast Brothers and MORE!

Message from John Straun: "For the third anniversary of my pop art website Super Punch, I invited my favorite artists to create a work of art. Asking them to create Tarot cards seemed like a a good way to unify the creations, while allowing the artists' disparate styles to shine. The resulting artwork includes sculptures, paintings, and digital work, and ranges from the kawaii to the macabre, and funny to faithful. Please, enjoy the show."

Paper Blossoms Pop-Up Book = Lovely and Amazing

 

We just got in a lovely pop up book of flower bouquets! The arrangements are totally intricate and colorful. Just *pop* open this book and viola instant table centerpiece that doesn't wilt or stink! I think this is such a creative and sweet idea. My mom sent one to my Grandmother recently and she just loved it... :-)

From the Chronicle Books website:

Paper Blossoms: A Book of Beautiful Bouquets for Your Table

By Ray Marshall

Featuring five amazing pop-up bouquets, Paper Blossoms brings floral cheer to any room. Display any of the bouquets—a garland of roses, a tropical arrangement, a lotus watergarden, a springtime bouquet, or a vase of lilies—as a beautiful centerpiece or room accent. A triumph of pop-up artistry and a sure conversation-starter, these bouquets burst forth with color, joy, and lasting beauty.

Check out Holly's Hooters!

Individually hand sculpted & glazed in South Florida by the hands of Holly Schaefer. Each Hooter is one of a kind and durably created in high fired clay. Each one is so totally different and cute, its really hard to choose!

So much art, so little room...

 

I wanted to share with you all an amazing find that my friend Sarah J. sent to me. It is beautiful, fun little drawings for the price of a hamburger at Chili's... lol - not that we eat hamburgers at Chili's... no offense if YOU do though... :-)

Artist and comic stripper Dustin Harbin came up with what I think is an ingenious plan... to take over the wall space of citizens, one quarter size sheet of paper at a time. He asks that you send him just a few words of direction, nothing too esoteric and he quickly sends you some actual real live artwork! I immediately ordered 5 pieces and received them within one week. They were all amazing and magical.

The one posted above is called "Bear and Bird Tea Party" and was my favorite of the bunch. They are just SO civilized. I'm not going to to reveal which are my other four pieces, go and check them out yourself on Dharb's Flickr page and see if you can guess...

Get your very own personal and special DHARB art at his Big Cartel shop ASAP!

Before his head explodes from the wackiness you guys send him.

There is SO MUCH fantastic artwork available on danet (and here at our gallery) at really affordable prices. There is no stinkin' excuse for you not to start collecting art to spice up your life and home.

...that is unless you LIKE crappy Dali prints in your living room. Or worse BLANK WALLS?! :-o

Be There Be Square... so commands the honorable T square!

Artist, friend and general all-round genius Todd Nolan usually sends out a brilliantly worded email to his fans every time was have to honor of his work gracing our walls... this time was no exception and his words simply sing... I couldn't say it better myself, so I didn't! Thank you Todd for making what would have been a dry boring Amanda post into something truly squaretastic! -Amanda

"I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around

But I couldn't take the punishment, and had to settle down

Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair

You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care

Because I can tell what's going on

It's hip to be square."

       -Huey Lewis, Harmonica Player for Thin Lizzy (true fact)

Cool cats are out, beatniks are blase'.....L7 is where its at. 4 cornered and loving it. So, strap down the urge to get out and go wild, get yerself a shine and a shave and go mild, mild, mild!

For this Saturday night at the Bear and Bird Gallery in Lauderhill, circle gets the square in an all out grudge match of equally sided proportions! We've got ourselves a locals only group art show that may very well, impact history in a way that could only be described as a swift kick square in the nuts. Bigger, badder and brighter than Times Square with whores and more fired up than Tianamen Square on College Night, the Bear and Bird's "Be There Be Square" opening will astound, confound, repulse and convulse you right back into your corner.

Artists from around the block, were given one simple rule in designing their masterpieces....your creation must be equal on all four sides. That's right motherfuckers, this baby's gotta be square.

And yours truly, Todd Nolan will be squaring it up with the lot of them when "You get the bees, and I'll grab the honey" is unveiled to the general public.

The opening reception will be 4 equally fantastic hours of hobnobbing and globetrotting, from 6-10, this SATURDAY night.....so don't miss it, nerds.
Or as they say in mathematically geometric social circles......
Be There and Be Square.

Yours truly,
T Square (aka Todd Nolan)

4 days left of Small Stuff 4 - Special Savings!

Title: How I Wonder what your at!;
Artist: A. Pants; Cut paper art!

Happy New Year all!
With less than a week left of our annual Small Stuff show and tons of great artwork still available, I decided to do something we've never done before! Small Stuff art is all on sale! That's right! 25% OFF the purchase price of all Small Stuff art that is still available! The artists will not be taking a hit for the discount, they will still be paid their full commission based on the full price - I am just offering this as a thanks for your support in 2010 and to encourage you to collect art! It's the best. :-) Support independent artists!

25% OFF All Small Stuff Art

At checkout online enter the online Discount Code: 25offsmallstuff (or) print out this post and bring it in to the store!

Don't dilly dally, go and check out available Small Stuff artwork in our online shop while it lasts!  

The online shop shows only available artwork (and only until the show ends!), to see the whole show you can check out our Flickr archive.

New Bear and Bird artwork by Allison Reimold!

I just received the finely detailed and totally killer piece that I commissioned Allison Reimold to create for us! She was awesome to work with and I was so happy that she was willing to share her fabulous talent! The original piece is graphite on watercolor paper.

This new "Bear and Bird" artwork will used for the upcoming Bear and Bird t-shirt for 2011. I'm thinking waterbased black ink on heathered gray super soft shirts... goal is to have them DONE by early March. :-)

I think my favorite part of this piece is the bear's claws and the girl's expression.

At right you can also check out the sketch version of this piece. It is It is always interesting to see the process before the finished piece.

Allison is currently based in Los Angeles, California. We have a few of her original graphite pieces available in our current Small Stuff exhibition, only up for another week!

Natali Martinez illustrations break through the 3rd dimension into the ipad universe!

One of my fave locals>gone to NYC artists Natali Martinez did this cool thing! You may recognize her work from the 2010 Bear and Bird business card! ♥ and at the TOP of this blog page! 

Illustrations by the inimitable and adorable Natali Martinez! :-) ...now all I need is an ipad! lol When are those new ones coming out again?

<--- Frida's World ipad Book