April Art Crush: Chad Schoonmaker
My art crush for April is a wonderful artist and SUCH a fun Insta friend: Chad Schoonmaker! Chad is so talented, extremely cool, and the first man-art-crush on the blog... Hooray!
Chad is an artist and photographer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He loves rye whiskey, music, his faith, and any challenge or endeavor. He has a beautiful family- including the most precious child- and a great art business. His paintings are mostly abstracts, and are inspired by so many things: trips to the antique village, morning coffee over Instagram, and music of all types, just to name a few.
Ummm, check out Sam Schoonmaker.... and the painting he's hanging out with! What studs!
Chad's paintings are so peaceful, but so vibrant and thoughtful. How does he do it!? I love everything he does.
(Answer: talent)
Chad sells originals and prints, but he also loves to work closely with clients on commissions and custom projects. He does ship, and he is so easy to work with! (Below-- my very own print!)
website: cscreates.com
Stay fancy, everyone!
xx
March Art Crush: Kate Lewis!
(My March Art Crust was actually supposed to be my February Crush... but with website updates, here we are!)
Kate Lewis: extremely cool, extremely talented, and extremely awesome to work with. I have a major art crush on her! After emailing with her a few times, I found that she's an alumni of the college I went to as well. (Go Blue Hose!)
Kate Lewis is an artist of many facets living in Chicago. She is raising three children alongside her entrepreneurial husband, and paints from her home studio in the city. She loves running and doing yoga when she can, and of course, making GORGEOUS art.
Kate always knew she was an artist. She's had a "studio" since late elementary school! At first, it was a table in the corner of a room. By high school, it had become an entire room in her parent’s house. (I can relate to taking over my parents' house with art... My brother's old room was the taken-over space in question..)
Naturally, she majored in art in college even though she had no idea how to make money in that field. "I look back on that decision and I am amazed and lucky that my parents supported my pursuit of art. I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without their encouragement from childhood through adulthood." Everyone who can relate to that quote is so lucky.. I know I can and I couldn't be more thankful.
Kate uses a number of media- canvas, paper, oil sticks, markers, paint.. pastels, watercolor... she does everything! Her subjects range, but florals and interiors are a repeating theme that I cannot get enough of. Her colors are vibrant and her style is so whimsical! I have yet to see a piece that I don't love every part of.
Her website is www.katelewisart.com-- she is constantly bringing new things to the table and bringing joy on her instagram, as well! (@katelewisart) I have two pieces off being framed right now that I CANNOT WAIT to hang. So much love!
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Random Notes of Kindness 2015
Introduction:
At some point during the craziness of holiday season (all of the orders, giveaways, sales papers, catalogues, fundraisers, and on, and on, and on..), I had a thought.
What if I created a campaign to give back to the people on social media that always make my day without asking for anything in return? What if I did something small that could make a big difference in someone's day, and take away some of the distance between humans that is inherent in social media/internet communication?
{In no way, shape, or form am I knocking social media and the internet... it is making my dream possible! So much support, love, and idea sharing can come from the interwebs. I just want to give something back without asking for anything in return!}
I put an idea together in my head and ran it by Heather and Caroline of @GrahamandCo, and we decided to try it out! It is so simple, but we think it can turn into something pretty special.
Random Notes of Kindness:
Snail mail. It's charming, it's so fun to receive, and it almost never comes. (Unless its a bill, an advertisement, or maybe a catalogue. Meh.) Christmas card season is great, but then it's over, and mail becomes pretty boring again. Our concept is to change that just slightly.
During the rest of the month of January, @GrahamandCo and I will be collecting addresses from followers and friends who submit them to randomnotesofkindness2015@gmail.com.
We are going to compile the addresses and randomly throughout the year, we will send the participants a little something in the mail. Who knows what (or when!) it will be! Maybe a Valentine, maybe a handmade card, maybe candy.. The possiblities are endless.
As of now, we are not limiting the participants. We love each and every one of the people who support us everyday!
We will be using #randomnotesofkindness2015 for the year of goodies and fun, and we would love for you to use the hashtag when you receive your mail!
See you in the mailbox.
xx
January Art Crush: Linda Meadows!
My January Art Crust is so fabulous: Linda Meadows!
Linda is a Los Angeles artist and resident, and she graduated from Yale with a Bachelor in Fine Arts. (YALE.) She also has a masters of fine arts in painting from Indiana University.
FAB. U. LOUS. (And she speaks French.)
Linda's paintings are so dainty and delicate, but so strong. Most of her subject matter comes from her love of France and French culture- she spent a summer painting in Paris once! (Um, dream for any artist, probably?)
I am personally obsessed with almost every single one!
(Pictured above: Linda! I love seeing the artist behind the artwork.)
Linda has exhibited all over California and her work is featured in private collections all over the world, including the US, Canada, England, and France. (and one day, I plan on having one in this little apartment of mine!)
Here are a few more pictures of her amazing artwork:
If you would like to contact Linda Meadows for purchasing information you can do so here: lindameadows@earthlink.net
xx
December Art Crush: Evelyn Henson!
First, I cannot CANNOT believe it is December already... but with December comes a new Art Crush, so hooray!
Evelyn Henson is fabulous. She is queen of the happy flowers, she makes supremely sassy prints, she blogs, and she has a {very} successful art business. I'm obsessed with her work!
Evelyn (who I have recently been wanting to call "Ev," even though I don't know her nearly well enough to give her a nickname! Weird? or no?) grew up in Columbus, GA as a very creatively driven child.
She loved perfecting her handwriting, DIY-ing birthday cards, or using class projects to show off her latest pattern design- She has always loved to create (totally relateable.. I was that girl in school too!). Some people associate things like Nintendo, Snood, or the Sims to their 90's childhood, but Evelyn's childhood was spent playing "designer" on Microsoft Paint. And who doesn't love Paint?
In college, Evelyn ended up majoring in Art History (with a double in Communication Studies). She knew she loved art, but it wasn't until the summer before her Senior year that she picked up painting and illustrating. Two of her college friends gave her a massive box of craft paints when they moved out, and she decided to try painting a bouquet for her mom. Literally, she has not put down the paint brush since...Well, maybe not literally, but pretty close.
Thanks to the encouragement of sweet friends, Evelyn listed a few items for sale on Etsy exactly one week after graduating. Since then, her work has grown and her business has grown into the extremely happy and bright aesthetic that anyone can see on her website (www.evelynhenson.com). She has a clear eye for color, a special style, and the ability to illustrate or hand-write anything beautifully. (For example, her mantra, below--)
She and I will be cohosting one or two classes near the beginning of 2015- our color palettes and outlook on painting is so similar, I had to team up with her for some fun workshops! Dates will be published soon. Visit the link below for Evelyn's website- browse, read, and enjoy!
www.evelynhenson.com
xx