Alias Arts

When I think of knitting I don’t think of unicorns stabbing teddy bears and rabbits with carrots sticking out of them, but obviously someone does. A friend let me know about these disturbing little creations after she saw the roadkill toys. I couldn’t find out who created them either, so I’ll just link to the Flickr page here. It’s called Knitting for Psychos.

Knitted cat with insides outside.. along with knitted blood.

Cute knitted bunny with giant carrot hanging out of it.

Knitted pink unicorn killing a cute little teddy bear.

I have previously mentioned Jafabrit’s knitted poo too, which I thought was funny.. and a great idea for an exhibition invite.

Also, here’s some disturbing videos advertising the Roadkill plush toys in the UK. I found myself feeling guilty for laughing at them. I promise I won’t mention the death of cute little furry creatures again for at least a few months!

My warped sense of humor makes me think these plush toys would be great gifts for kids or PETA members. I’m an animal lover and I try to limit my meat consumption, but I also like to have a laugh. Life really isn’t as serious as some of us make it out to be.

The road kill toys come with their own plastic bodybag, and some have an “I Love RoadKill” bumper sticker, death certificates and toe tags.

Twitch (Raccoon) Plush Toy

Grind (Rabbit) Plush Toy

Splodge (Hedgehog) Plush Toy

If there was a koala or kangaroo road kill toy available I might consider buying one. The dead animals above can be bought for £25.00 from a British company here.

This is for those that think I don’t mention “good art” enough. I’m assuming good art means old art that looks like something and bad art is all the “contemporary crap” on Art News Blog. Personally I favor expressive painting but I really do love most forms of art from most movements.

For example, how could you not like this little beauty below?

It’s Raphael’s The Woman with a Veil painting (la velata or la donna velata) from 1516. It will be showing at the Portland Art Museum this October 24 through to January. The painting will be on loan from the Medici collection of the Palatine Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy and was made possible by the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture.

Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. director Brian Ferriso said “This is truly a major highlight in the Museum’s more than 115-year history. It is a significant coup for our institution, city, and region, and an extraordinary opportunity for the public to see, experience, and learn from a painting that captures fully the ideals of the High Renaissance. Given its historical and cultural significance, this masterpiece has rarely left Italy. Unless you travel to Florence, you would not have the opportunity to view this masterwork..”

This weekend is the last chance to take the HWAT art trail in 2009, visiting artist studios around Norfolk and Suffolk in the UK. Artists will open their studio doors on the 11th-12th of July from 11 am to 6 pm.

Here’s a blurb from the HWAT website.. “The Harleston & Waveney Art Trail Collective is a diverse and lively community of professional artists who live and work in the beautiful Waveney Valley, all within reach of Harleston, a small market town on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Harleston & Waveney Art Trail has taken place every summer since 2005.”

Artists participating this year include..

Nicola Slattery
Clive Davies
Jayne Wurr
Dom Theobold
David Rock
David Page
Dianna McKenna
Bazil Leith
Jazz Green
Jane German
Noelle Francis
Nell Close
Derek Nice
Cork Brick Gallery
Dinny Turner
Mary Spicer
Ian Scott
Christopher Parr / Rebecca Lyne
Dee Nickerson
Val Lindsell
Nick Holmes
Mark Goldsworthy
Alan Frewin
Rosemary Elliott
Frank Beanland

Find out more about the Harleston and Waveney Art Trail at their website here.

Thanks to everyone that entered the studio slash office chair giveaway. I invited my good friend around, filled him with coffee and chocolate biscuits, then asked him to pick a winner.

The winner he chose was Corrine (Jafabrit) and she chose the Topstar Sitness 5 Fitness Stool. Here’s why she chose the chair..

The topstar in lime green because it looks like a work of art, because it rocks, because it looks goofy, because it would fit in my studio, because I LOVE it, because I WANT one, because I want to hear my husband say, “what the hell is that”, and I can say smugly, “why darling it is my ergonomic stool” humph!


I would have liked to give everyone a chair but I don’t think CSN Office Furniture would have been open to the idea of giving away 60+ chairs!

I did the grocery shopping today and found some Vincent van Gogh cheese! I wonder what the Dutchman would think of that? There was also a Rembrandt cheese, but I thought I would taste Vincent first before I try Remmie. I will buy the Rembrandt cheese next as Vincent was quite tasty. The only thing missing was a glass of red.

Update: Thanks for entering the chair giveaway everyone. Entries have closed and my friend just chose the winner.

I’m sitting at my computer on an office chair that almost has historical significance and is falling apart as I write, but I’m not eligible to enter the Art News Blog office chair giveaway!

The kind people at CSN Office Furniture will send one of the chairs below to the winner, but you have to be based in the USA or Canada.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post saying which chair you would like and why. The winner will be chosen by my good friend that knows nothing about my blog, art, or office chairs. Make sure your comment has a link to your website or an email address so that I can contact you if you win. My friend is coming around to choose a winner on Tuesday, the 7th of July.

Topstar – Sitness 5 Ergonomic Fitness Stool – I chose this chair because it was very RED and thought it would look good in my messy studio.

Office Star – Backless Stool with Saddle Seat and Adjustable Seat – I thought the saddle seat would be good for whizzing around the studio mixing paints and painting, but also wondered if it would make me walk like a cowboy too.

Safco Products – Black Vinyl Precision Drafting Chair – I figured designers, illustrators and architects might like the drafting chair.

Safco Products – Task Master Work Trolly with Lift Ring Height Adjustment – The work trolly chair isn’t the prettiest chair I chose, but I think it would be the most useful in an artist’s studio.

Only one of your comments will be eligible though, so don’t post a hundred comments thinking that it will improve your chances. And remember that you MUST be located in the United States or Canada. Find more Office Furniture, computer desks and chairs at CSN Office Furniture.

Here’s another artist’s studio. This is the workspace of American artist Garric Simonsen. If you like Cy Twombly or Willem de Kooning you’ll enjoy browsing through Garric’s work on his website.

See Garric’s paintings and works on paper at his Website Here.
See more Art Studio photos.

Here’s an interesting quote from Robert Genn’s latest newsletter called “Transartistic meditation,” which is something like Transcendental Meditation.

“Studies of “flow” and “the zone” have been done using all stripes of artists. This is where the artist gets into a relaxed, intuitive state somewhere deep down in the lizard brain and the good stuff rains down like ripe pomegranates. Tired of rotten apples, I was curious about these concepts as well.” Robert Genn

I have never been able to figure why artists would want to waste their time meditating as they drink from the same pond while they have their tools in their hand. It may be an active form of meditation, especially if you’re an expressionist of any kind, but you’re forced to hang out in places that zen monks would be comfortable in. Personally, I think it’s why so many artists suffer from depression or are just downright wacky; as they can’t handle being in that space. You have to look at yourself naked in silence, which is why television, radio, and any other distractions are so popular with society.

Art crime is big business with an estimated $6 billion in losses annually! Here’s a list of the FBI’s Top 10 art crimes at the moment..

Iraqi Looted and Stolen Artifacts – The significant Statue of Entemena was recovered in 2006 but there are still many pieces missing.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft – Thieves stole as much as $300 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in 1990 with paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Manet being among them.

Theft of Caravaggio’s Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco – Back in 1969 thieves stole Caravaggio’s Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco from the Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo, Italy.

Theft of the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius – In 1995 the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius violin worth $3 million was stolen from the violinist Erica Morini’s New York City apartment.

The Van Gogh Museum Robbery – Two paintings by Vincent van Gogh called “View of the Sea at Scheveningen” and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen” were stolen from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002 and have never been recovered, even though the two thieves were caught.

Theft of Cezanne’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise – Paul Cezanne’s View of Auvers-sur-Oise was taken from the the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England in 1999.

Theft of the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Murals, Panels 3-A and 3-B – Two Maxfield Parrish panels were cut from their frames in West Hollywood, California in 2002.

Theft from the Museu Chacara do Céu – In 2006 four paintings were stolen from the Museu Chacara do Céu, Rio de Janeiro. They included work by Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso.

Theft of Van Mieris’s A Cavalier – A self portrait by the Dutch Master Frans Van Mieris was stolen from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2007. It was taken in broad daylight, while the museum was open.

Theft from E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich – The E.G. Bührle Collection in Zurich, Switzerland had 4 works stolen in 2008, with two important painting by Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas still missing.

The FBI top ten list has changed a little from back in 2005.