It is Day Two of Etsy Week! For those of you who may not have visited yesterday, an explanation of what Etsy Week is begins the Day One post.
For this second day I bring you the work of two more Etsy artists whose shops are listed in my ‘favorite sellers’ section.
(In The Dreaming, any guesses why I like the name of this one?)
Our first Etsy artist featured today is Jennifer Gordon. Her shop, Stiletto Heights, features page after page of brilliant mixed media creations.
Original art pieces, limited edition prints, open run prints, jewelry, and cards…Stiletto Heights has a wide variety of avenues by which you can own a piece of Jennifer’s creative work.
Jennifer Gordon is a writer and artist with a theatrical background. In addition to the lovely work featured on her etsy shop site, she has published an Indy comic entitled Stiletto Heights, issues of which can be found in her shop, and she publishes a Sunday web comic called Petite Heights. She is indeed a Renaissance Woman.
Jennifer uses magazine illustrations, old letters and postcards, paint, and any number of other bits of ephemera to create pieces of art that appear to have stories to tell.
The text describing the above image notes:
“…this piece is based on the poet Celia Thaxter who lived on on the Isles of Shoales of the coast of NH, I visited the islands every summer as a child.”
We have all seen magazine images used for collage work. In fact it is probably safe to say that a large portion of us have, at one time or another, done this kind of collage work for some school project or craft exercise.
Jennifer Gordon takes this technique to a new level with her work.
(The Lighthouse Keeper’s Ghost)
Her work really does appear to tell a story. I am especially fond of these sepia toned images that engender feelings of nostalgia for a time long gone. Looking at the images and pondering their titles conjures up bits and pieces of story that make you want to hear the entire tale. I love how Gordon’s graphic design elements, like the lighthouse drawings in the above image, combine so perfectly with the photographic image to create a cohesive work of art.
(We Have Always Lived in the Castle)
I marvel at the mind that can approach a project with a certain inspiration, or take inspiration from the materials at hand, to create what feel like glimpses into a larger world. I am going to have to send Jennifer Gordan an email and see if she will allow me to interview her. I long to know what makes her tick.
Jennifer has a really nice command of color. Whether her pieces are of the antique, sepia tone variety or more rich and colorful, they each demonstrate an ability to use color to bring the entire image together. Her colors compliment each other and make for very exciting imagery.
(Like a Ghost in a Wishing Well)
I highly recommend that you check out the MANY other wonderful creations on the Stiletto Heights site. I find Jennifer Gordon’s work very inspirational and I hope you do as well. I also recommend that when you visit etsy sites that you scroll down on the right hand side until you find the artist’s sales statistics. It is there that you can click on their sales and see examples of much more of their work that may no longer be displayed in any other area on their site. Jennifer Gordon also has a blog site that you may be interested in visiting.
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(Fish Head Pop Up Card, front)
The second site that we are visiting on our tour of my Etsy Favorite Sellers file is the shop of Crankbunny.
Crankbunny is the work of animation director and artist Norma V Toraya. (If you are curious about the origin of the name, visit here.)
(Fish Head Pop Up Card, inside)
Norma Toraya’s work is fun with a capital “F”. I have long been a fan of the pop up book and when I stumbled across her site and saw these quirky pop up creations I became an instant fan.
(Keys to Ones Heart, front)
The intro to the Crankbunny Shop says it all”
“Welcome to my place for nostalgic novelty items like sewn paper puppets, popup cards, and other unique paper crafts. All of these make for fun personal pieces of art that you can actually play with! Although most of my work is animation – on the side I love to create and put together items are simple, vintage, and whimsical.”
(Keys to Ones Heart, inside)
The first work of hers that I noticed was the Keys to Ones Heart card. Isn’t it fantastic? I love how the key itself is separate and can be taken and inserted into the heart. Hearts and keys are part of a long list of symbolic images that I enjoy in works of art, stories, films, etc. It is not surprising that I was immediately drawn to this work.
(Red Blooming Pop Up Card, front)
The skill necessary to devise and execute these pieces is admirable to say the least. In addition to that craftsmanship, Norma Toraya is a skilled illustrator.
(Red Blooming Pop Up Card, inside)
Her drawings and use of color is excellent and as much as I love these pieces, and I do, I would love to see her create/illustrate children’s books. Her pieces have an interesting texture to them as well and they make me want to buy them just so that I can hold them and play with them.
Norma describes Zizzors:
“Zizzors are special Crankbunny scissors made out of paper that come with magical crafty powers!
I created these paper scissors as an ode of my own favorite pair of scissors which are far less amazing looking, but who’ve been with me for more than 10, 12 years. They cut all the puppets and popup cards you see in my Crankbunny etsy shop.”
(Zizzors Puppet, closed)
As you can see from the above image, they do indeed move…although they probably wouldn’t be the thing to use for your own creative projects. 🙂
(Ther She Blows, shadow puppet)
The art of puppetry is something I have admired since my youth and I was particularly drawn to this whimsical creation. Below you can see her in action.
(Ther She Blows, in action)
Makes you want to attend storytime, doesn’t it? Ahhhhh….marvelous! Please visit the Crankbunny etsy shop for more examples of Norma’s work and also check out her personal website to learn more about her and see more examples of her creativity at work.
I hope you enjoyed today’s featured artists. Remember that there is an Etsy Week Prize Pack up for grabs for one lucky person at the end of the week. All you need do to qualify is to participate via your comments in each of the 4 Etsy Week posts by Sunday, June 8th at 11:59 p.m. CST. Each day I will give a tease of one of the items to be included in the prize pack. There will be more items that won’t be shown until the end of the week.
Today’s sneak peek: A set of four cards with the image below from today’s first featured artist, Jennifer Gordon
Have a wonderful day visiting these two amazing artists at their respective sites!
Gorgeous as always. I especially love the last one, Night Flower. It’s so mysterious and lovely. Yet another wonderful post Carl. Thank you.
Ooh. I love Jennifer’s work. Off to go explore her site…
Two more wonderful artists to watch (and support)…I especially like the Lighthouse Keeper’s Ghost and “Ther She Blows, in action” – shadow puppets are so cool…
Pop-ups! Pop-ups! I love papercraft-engineering! 🙂
Incidentally, do you suppose that “We have always lived in the castle” is a reference to Shirley Jackson’s novel?…
I like Jennifer Gordon’s work, but I LOVE Norma’s pop-up art! I especially love the shadow puppet – AMAZING! I agree, I would love to see picture books illustrated by her.
I enjoyed both of these artists. Love the colors used by Jennifer and the pop up cards are really orginal!! I especially like the red pop up flower
Thank you for continuing to introduce us to fabulous art and artists!
Terri: thank you, I’ve certainly taken my cue from your contributions to the artistic community over the years. You and the rest of the gang at Endicott are my inspiration for this, no doubt about it!
Deslily: the cards really are original and fun, aren’t they? 🙂
Somer: Make sure to check out Norma’s other site, she has several other puppets, etc. over there and it is a really nicely designed site.
Rampant Bicycle: I assumed it was indeed a reference to that book, especially as she has a sold piece called The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Ken: I’m not sure I’ve been really familiar with shadow puppets before this…although I have to have seen them at some point…but I agree, very cool.
Melissa: Off you go!
Heather: I like that one as well…maybe you’ll win the cards with that image on it!
What fun images. I’m going to have to go check out the etsy store.
I really like the pop-ups.
Wonderful artists! I love the popups, and I haven’t done anything with shadow puppets in years.
Oh wow…I couldn’t agree with you more…Norma Toraya should definitely be illustrating children’s books! Her creations are fantastically fun, and yet so very classy!
Carl.. every time you do posts like these I anticipate and dread them at the same time. I look forward to seeing what new interesting things you have found for us, and I dread the “ooooh, I WANT” impulse that I get every time I check in! Today is no exception, I love the old-fashioned images, and the pop-up cards.. they’re all amazing!
Asara: I feel the same way you do, believe me. I could say I was sorry, but that would be insincere. You all must suffer as I do. 🙂
Debi: Classy is a good descriptive term for what I was trying to get at in describing Norma Toryana’s work. Her work really does have a very classy touch to it.
Nicole, Becky: every time I see the word “pop ups” I cannot help thinking of the character on Pushing Daisies, the private detective, who loves pop up books.
Carrie: Beware, one’s wallet has the potential of getting much lighter.
Sigh…Looks like I’m going to have some ‘splainin’ to do when my husband sees our next credit card bill. Ah, well, art should be incorporated into any budget. Right? (Okay, so maybe I’ll have to work on my logic beforehand.) Thanks, Carl, my credit card company will no doubt be sending you flowers or a fruit basket when this week is over.
Chelle: ooooo, fruit basket!!!
Both artists are just amazing! Wow! I really love “The Other Side of Yesterday” – what emotion!
I love Jennifer Gordon’s stuff. Love it.
Norma Toraya I think is clever and cute, I just don’t love it as much as Gordon’s 🙂
Wow-you fine the most beautiful things! I liked the puppets, but the collages stole my heart. I’m going to go check out her jewelry!
I like the pop-up work, particularly Red Blooming. The ladybug detail totally makes it for me.
Amazing! I love all of it. You know where my head and heart is it looking at all this stuff.
I have a feeling that this etsy week is going to cost me a lot of money in the long run.
Great artists once again. I LOVE shadow puppetry; there is just something so very magical about it in our high tech world.
Thanks for sharing all these amazing artists with us. I think my favourites are Keys to Ones Heart and the Zizzors Puppet.
I agree with Sarah’s comment, i’m fix’in to be MUCH poorer, but happy! ^_^
I had ran across Crankbunnies stuff before and found it highly amusing and well executed. I especially like the Zizzor’s puppet. I hadn’t seen Jennifer Gordon’s stuff. The sepia works are beautiful, but, i’m drawn to “Into the Dreaming” & “We’ve always lived in the castle”. It would be fabulous if you do get to interview her, i’m sure that she has fascinating insights on these works, and it’s always so much fun to pick apart somebody’s thought processes.
as always, thanks for sharing the beauty! Cheers, later – susan
I love Jennifer’s work! Just fabulous! Great idea for blog posts. 🙂
The Zizzors are great!!
They may just tempt me over to that store, although I’m poor as poor can be at the moment ;p
I love that she named one of her pieces after a Shirley Jackson story!
Chris: I do too, and that is one that I’ve read about lately and want to pick up.
Heidi: aren’t we all? If not the internet sure goes a long way towards making us poor.
Kailana: Thanks, so good to see you back online! 🙂
SG Taylor: You’ll be happy to know that Jennifer Gordon has graciously agreed to do an interview, so that, along with more examples of her work, will be coming up very soon.
Nymeth: The detail of the Zizzors illustration is just amazing, isn’t it?
Tasses: It is fun to see things done ‘old school’. The art and talent of doing things that are ‘low tech’ is very fascinating to me.
Sarah: Me too!!! 🙂
Cynthia: I am reminded of the same things, I really am. I am excited about the upcoming fundraiser and need to email you about that SOON!!!
Sprite: I agree, the ladybug detail is what made that card extra special to me as well.
Eva: Her collages are amazing. I hope to see her do some more detailed jewelry in the future as I think she could do some really cool stuff with this.
Fence: That is kind of why I’m trying to feature a wide variety of artists as we all have different tastes and it is fun to be exposed to new things.
Jenn: That one is great, isn’t it?
These artists are both incredible. I’ve always loved letter writing, so the first set of images really appeal to me for that aspect. Toraya’s art is just stunning and I want to own it all! The kinetics of it, the look of it, the colors…everything about it is just perfect. And I love all of the different stuff that she has done. I wish that someone would cast those scissors and make them into a real pair of scissors…wouldn’t that be cool? And that shadow puppet is incredible! Etsy week is going to be expennnnnsive….
Two more incredible artists. Thanks for shareing again!
Oh, this is one is even better, although personally I found the pop up cards far more interesting and eye catching than the collages, since I myself don’t like this form of collages, I like more extravagant and this is tame and legenat. Still done with skill.
PS: Usual question for Etsy week applies. How do you enter for the grand prize win?
I am a huge fan and lover of all things stilettoheights and have been since we met through a mutual friend. Endlessly I am inspired by her work and I am thankful for having her in my life. My collection is ever-growing and I am always waiting with baited breath to see what wonders she conjures up. Very nice of you for the recognition, thank you!
Thank you for sharing the second artist, I am always intrigued by something new!
I really like Jennifer Gordon’s use of colour and the many layers to each image. And the pop-up cards by Crankbunny are so fun. I can see myself getting some of those.
I love the feel of Jennifer Gordon’s pieces, but I am utterly in love with Crankbunny’s work. Totally awesome, and I daresay I will be spending some of my pennies in her shop soon…
This is really beautiful art. And like you said, the work of collages are common in magazines, but looking at this art makes me think of web page design.
How about putting the navigation tags at the bottom of each entry to encourage your readers to look at every Etsy art page. I’m sending your URL to all my artist friends.
On this one I think I put a link on almost all of each of the individual images. I think the ones I left off were already sold items and instead only linked to the ones that were currently on sale. Of course all these links will probably be useless as the items sell, etc. so it was a short lived solution anyway.
And thanks Jim, I really appreciate it. The point of me doing these artist profiles is to get the info out to others. I’ll be doing some artist interviews next week, one with Jennifer Gordon featured above, as part of a week long art scholarship fundraiser that I am joining with, so there should be some really fun, detailed interviews with previously featured artists here but with some new artwork. I look forward to sharing these with everyone.