art

Inspiration: Elihu Vedder

Elihu Vedder's The Cup of Death

I often look to other artists for inspiration and came across the beautiful work of Elihu Vedder (1836-1923). Classified as a Symbolist painter, Elihu is best known for his illustrations for “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” (classic Persian poem). The Smithsonian has organized exhibits of his pieces–the latest was at the Phoenix Art Museum last year. Here’s an excerpt about him:

“From the moment of its publication, Elihu Vedder’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám achieved unparalleled success. Released in 1884, the first edition sold out in six days. Critics rushed to acclaim it as a masterwork of American art, and Vedder as the master American artist.”

Here’s more info from the Smithsonian Institute by Richard Murray here. Some of his pieces could be purchased at ArtRenewal.org.

Artwork: Cranes and Myspace Page

Cranes

Cranes is a slight experimentation into various patterns and textures with a single medium–pen–in a detailed tribal style. View Larger.

I finally got around to creating a Myspace page for Shaire Productions here. With all tasks, there’s always room for improvement, but it’s a start. =0)

Inspiration: The Crucible Dracul Fire Ballet

Last night, I attended the fire ballet of “Dracul: Prince of Darkness” event at The Crucible in West Oakland. The show was so breathtaking that I almost forgot it was a fundraiser. The exquisite movement of the dancers, artistry of set design and overall creativity was a great way to start off the new year. The video above seems to contain different content, but you get the overall gist. It was packed with vampires, swords, ballet, aerial dancers, fire performances, and best of all–a 12 ft. tall (or so) mechanical dragon that moved side to side and spat fire towards his opponent. More info here.

Artwork: Hawaiian Tiki Surfer Shirt

Posted by Sherrie Thai of ShaireProductions.com

Tiki Surfer Shirt

This shirt design is a slight remake of a piece I did over the summer. The inspiration of this were the grocery bag designs from Trader Joe’s (with their kitchy Tiki characters eating popsicles), Tiki culture, and Hawaiian surfers.

Photo: Red Maple Leaves


Red Maple Leaves
Originally uploaded by shaire productions

Taken in downtown San Francisco. This is part of my free Creative Commons Nature pack.

Feel free to download and use this as a background for commercial or noncommercial projects. If you decide to use it, please let me know how it goes by sending a link or an image. Click on the photo to download.

Inspiration: Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier

Ed Hardy

If you happen to hit the malls this season, you can’t miss the stylings of the now-infamous tattooist Don Ed Hardy and fashion designer Christian Audigier (formerly of Von Dutch and Affliction Clothing). I admire their artistic talents and marketing genius. Tattoo artwork has become part of mainstream culture in recent years and the partnership of Ed and Christian has elevated the style to star status. The products range from clothing to shoes, perfume, bags, jewelry, and other accessories.

Ed Hardy Dragon Scroll

One of the most impressive displays of Ed Hardy’s talent was at the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center in 2002–a 500 foot long dragon scroll painting–it was beautiful seeing it in person as it became a sensory experience, wrapping around itself like a dragon’s body.