In 2001, I attended Design Ranch in Boerne, Texas at the beautiful Guadalupe River Ranch. I believe 2001 was the second year that the Austin Chapter of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) put on this event. It is a great retreat into the wilderness where you can explore your artistic talents without computers or cell phones! Boerne, Texas is about 35 minutes Northwest of San Antonio in the middle of nowhere, but it is full of life. The drive from San Antonio will get you ready for fun and relaxation. If you are ever in that neck of the woods, be sure to visit The Alamo!

In one of the Design Ranch workshops, we made pinhole cameras. A pinhole camera is made without a glass lens, usually out of a box or a can. You can learn how to make a pinhole camera too on the Kodak website or learn more about them on Wikipedia.

I thought I would share some of my pinhole photos below. I love the lighting and perspective that the photos have.

Elizabeth McGrath, the beautiful and unique artist and singer based in California, has put out some Easter goodies to feast your eyes on. Her work is strange and delicate … pretty and scary at the same time. I love the mix of sculpture, painting, photography, sewing, shadow boxes and taxidermy-like treatment. Pretty, pastel colored girly things with ribbons and bows met uncomfortable and ferocious dead things with blood and guts. She has been nicknamed “Bloodbath McGrath.” 

Check out the online store to see all the Easter goods. Here are a few…  

If you want to put McGrath’s style into a category or art movement, she would fall into “lowbrow” or “pop-surrealism,” which I believe has been quietly spreading from its origins in Los Angeles into the mainstream for sometime. This type of artwork always has a sense of humor or sharp wit about it, which is what I love.  

Although it may take awhile for art critics to accept this type of art as “fine art,” some collectors are already showing support. Many of the artists are self-taught and are influenced by tattooing, comics, punk rock, surf culture, horror movies and hot-rods. One of the first artists to be considered “lowbrow” may be Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, who created the hot-rod character called Rat Fink in the 1950’s out of his hatred for Mickey Mouse. 

The most interesting part of this art movement is the attitude of the artists themselves. They don’t seem to care too much about explaining the concepts for their work and view it more as entertainment and satire. Most recently, the lowbrow movement has been called “nobrow” or “newbrow” suggesting more acceptance and/or giving the artists more credit for their intellect.

There are dedicated Lowbrow galleries in Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, San Francisco, some parts of Ohio and internationally in Rome, Italy and Melbourne, Australia. If you love any of the work in this movement, I suggest buying it. However, I never suggest buying art that you do not love.

For several years, I have been trying to come up with a way be creative and help other people in the process. I recently stumbled upon Rosa Loves, a company that is doing exactly that!

Rosa Loves designs and produces limited edition, hand-numbered t-shirts to raise money for a specific person, family or community. The t-shirts are printed with a design depicting the story of those in need on the outside and the actual written story is printed on the inside, over your heart. Sixty percent of the sales go directly to the cause. Once the money needed has been raised, the t-shirt stops printing. 

 

Rosa Loves was developed by Mike Fretto, a graphic designer and Chris Lewis, a software developer. These guys, along with 2 other friends work their full time jobs while working on Rosa Loves. The company is currently working to get their non-profit status. 

Now you can be cool and fashionable while helping others. What a good and simple concept!