Redd Klay | Michael Cole @ One of a Kind Chicago
Day one at the One of a Kind Show is over, and we're starting Day 2 today at 11AM. It's been a great show so far! Thanks to all of you who visited our booth yesterday (and bought up all sorts of stationery goods!)... we hope you had a blast walking the show and finding new artists & designers to love and support.
Speaking of which, we certainly love finding new work at the show every year... often in the booth next door! Across the aisle from us this year is Tennessee-based mixed-media artist, Michael Cole, of Redd Klay :: A Collection of Fine Southern Artists. Michael uses found objects (including lots of letterpress type!), in combination with collage painting and hand-lettering applications, to make these beautiful art constructions ::
Michael's booth is #7054... just across the aisle from OrangeBeautiful's booth - so come and visit both of us!
images c/o Redd Klay.
This is really an art! Love woods, so I love these works. It is so unique and very creative.
AL :: Josh and I actually took home one of those very pieces that you're "hating to" criticize. Honestly, I didn't really even think twice about the "Cole" signature at the bottom - and too tell you the truth, I kinda feel like it's necessary to balance out the negative space of the piece (yes, I have an art degree ;)
In a lot of ways, this is the beauty and uniqueness of individual artists... they can do whatever they like, and you either like or you don't. Personally, I like it.
And, on top of everything, having met Michael (the artist) - and having spent four days working our booth just across the aisle from him - I'm extra-happy that his name is right there on the piece... it'll be a reminder of what a nice experience it was to meet him and his wife, Joanie, that I can look at every day.
I love the link to Redd Klay -- I really liked this artists work, especially the Words From Above (http://www.reddklay.com/html/WordsFROMabove.html), but both my husband and I agreed that on those works the size of the author's signature ("Cole") was a major turnoff and interfered with the artwork.
I hate to be critical, but (1) I wanted to point it out, bc it was otherwise something I might have wanted, and (2) was wondering what anyone else's thoughts were on how artists sign their work -- the desire for the artist to be recognized / whether it adds to or interferes with the art itself, etc.
Thanks for the links for OrangeBeautiful and ReddKlay - fabulous!
I really enjoy this new and artistic use of an old functional toolset. I've used both wood and polymer type in my work and would love to have one of these in my design studio as an homage to the history of print.
The pieces are very pretty though as a printer, I always feel a bit sad to see wood type used in this way. Wood type isn't easy to come by and even flawed/incomplete sets are welcome finds for printers.