_Paint Pens in Purses_female urban art collective

Featured Artist ||| Chloe Edwards (Bowling Green, KY)

This week’s featured artist is Chloe Edwards. She holds the title as the youngest artist to be featured on Paint Pens in Purses. As I am about to turn thirty, the mantra that age doesn’t matter, is sounding better and better. However, I mention her age because this young lady, who is only nineteen years old, is extremely productive! She has a wide array of prints, a style of her own, and great characters. 

She is inspired by the anatomy of animals, horns, and fur. She incorporates vivid colors and line patterns with watercolor to create a cartoon and dream like quality to her creations.

Her future projects include some large scale collage pieces, involving wheat pasting, and a portrait watercolor series. Chloe Lee Edwards was born in Bakersfield CA, and was raised across the country, from Maryland to Bowling Green, KY. To see more of her work check out her website and her online store

 Article written by: Shayna Yasuhara


Oakland Internet Cat Film Festival ||| Oakland, CA ||| This Saturday 5.11.13

The Great Wall of Oakland is collaborating with the Walker Art Center to bring the Internet Cat Video Festival to Oakland! On Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 3-10pm, an estimated 5,000+ cat-lovers and friends will be celebrating felines and exploring the low-art of Internet cat videos together, in real-time, as we transform West Grand between Telegraph and Broadway into a cat-lovers wonderland. Proceeds benefit the East Bay SPCA!

Paint Pens in Purses will have an activity table - come by and draw cool cats with your favorite female art collective!

Hurry & get your tickets here before they are sold out!


The Third Mind: An Art Show Featuring 5 Bay Area Collectives @ Big Umbrella Studios, San Francisco (THIS FRIDAY)

The theory of the Third Mind suggests that an unexpected and visionary ‘other mind’ emerges as a result of collaboration. In the spirit of collaboration  On Friday, May 10, from 7-11 pm, we invite you to contribute to the Third Mind. The show will also be previewed on Thursday, May 9, from 5-11pm, during the Divisadero Art Walk.

The collective included are: Arc Gallery & StudiosBig Umbrella StudiosPaint Pens in PursesRock Paper Scissors CollectiveThree Point Nine Art Collective

The Paint Pens in Purses artists to include: Crystal GonzalezShayna WhyDenise LawsLauren NapolitanoKelly Rose Dancer,Angeline KingYtaelena Lopez & Shayna Yasuhara

Big Umbrella Studios will also host a variety of collaborative activities and projects during the show. Individuals can creatively engage with others through Exquisite Corpse, a Surrealist parlor game favored by Andre Breton and Marcel Duchamp. 

Be sure to RSVP here


Featured Artist ||| Ytaelena Lopez (San Francisco) 

When I hear about people who claim they have the ability to see energies and auras; I imagine it would be something like seeing Ytaelena Lopez’s work. It is like her line work can literally capture the connection between people; a sort of visual E.S.P. Ytaelena’s artwork is personal and captivating. The images collected here are part of the Wildlines series of work. For other projects from this versatile artist please visit her website
 
Paint Pens in Purses is very pleased to announce Ytaelena Lopez’s work would be shown at Big Umbrella Studios’ May show entitled, “Third Mind”, a collection of Bay Area art collectives. She was chosen as one of seven artists to represent Paint Pens in Purses. The opening reception is next Friday, May 10th. Please RSVP here for entry.
 
Artist Statement: 
My work uses science and mass media as metaphor for our emotions about the inner chaos of our world. I aim to reflect the isolation of those who may be ignored or shy but still want to be seen. The beauty is there, waiting for be discovered, but we don’t see it because we cannot shed our prejudices.
Art is a way to connect with the world as an intelectual exercise. My journalistic background allows me to explore even the most obnoxious situations and discover an untold history or astonishing image.  Sometimes I get my epiphanies from the kitsch, because that’s where the wisdom of the street is. I use my artistic practice to shape our perception about reality, using the objects of our desires to focus the attention in what is relevant, but we would prefer not to be aware of.  That is why I feel attracted to conceptual ambiguities, aesthetic paradoxes and dark irony.


Paint Pens in Purses newest featured artist is Shantell Martin; an artist who is not afraid to draw big and live thoughtfully. You can read her bio here and follow her latest events on Tumblr.

From London to Tokyo to New York, internationally acclaimed visual artist Shantell Martin is expanding conventional definitions of drawing and animation to transform visual experience in the design, fashion and music industries. Her dazzling light projections have been featured in iconic spots such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the megaclubs of Tokyo and Russia, and on the enormous screens at Shibuya and Harajuku crossings in Tokyo. Martin has quickly infiltrated popular culture stateside — she’s been cast as herself on quintessential New York show Gossip Girl, interviewed on CNN, appeared on an NBC morning show, and deemed a muse of super-hip design blog, PSFK. She was named by French Glamour as New York’s “coolest it girl” in 2011, and her hand-illustrated bedroom walls graced the cover of the New York Times home section in May 2012.

Martin has collaborated with celebrity photographers and brands alike; her notable work includes a project with celebrity photographer Nigel Barker, where she created digital sets for a 10 page Tatler Asia editorial with supermodel Christina Garcia. Martin’s latest brand collaborations include transforming the New York custom denim store 3×1 into a Martin inspired wonderland, a screening in Dell’s 2011 experiential pop up workspace, and package design for luxury fragrance brands, to name a few. In February 2012, she was one of four artists commissioned by Nike iD to make a piece of work and a limited edition shoe to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Nike Cortez. She also creates murals in a range of contexts – from the private homes of celebrities to the faces of models and friends.


The Mission Spring Open Studio - Highlights

Over the weekend I went to check out The Mission Wide Open Studios. This event, which is organized by the Mission Artist United group, is quite an endeavor. With approximately ten major art studio buildings, each made up of lots of stairs and rooms, and easily over a hundred artists on the participation list, it’s hard to be sure you’ve seen it all. 

I took the challenge and came back with a handful of postcards, and a list of a few of my favorites, to share with you nice people. From top left to right: Liz Hickok’s jello city series, Denise Laws’ hair collages, Meredith Hudson of Clandestine Press, large-scale paintings by Kellen Breen, the intricate & surreal worlds of Michael Kerbow, drawings by Sarah Newton, painting and taxidermy by Michael McConnell of ArtFarmSF, and paintings by Paul Morin.