Blog

Pod Piece

Jennifer Talbot — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:50:55 +0000

I have just started on a new commission for a client with a very modern sensibility and style. This is an in- process image of the piece the infancy stage.

Felt Bird House Cottage

Jennifer Talbot — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:53:06 +0000

I am just finishing up a Raggedy Ann inspired room for a client and thought I would share the little bird house cottage. I love how the shingles on the roof turned out! The size is about 6 x6 inches and it's constructed from all wool felt.

Come so far

Jennifer Talbot — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:12:39 +0000

I was in the process of cleaning off the desktop on my computer and came across this picture of my booth at the NY ENK Children's Club Show. Wow, have a learned a lot since then..and man have I come so far. NY was an expensive lesson. A necessary, expensive lesson, inorder for me to grow and move in my current creative direction. It was necessary for me to fail miserably and find a way to dust myself off and start again. October will be 2 years from the trade show debacle, which shed light on my creativity and how I was undermining it by making the t-shirts. That there was so much more response in the inventive room decor products, which I didn't take as a serious money maker. Now allowing myself to think of room decor has lead me back to working in 3-dimensional form within a space. Stimulating, new creative challenge very time and for the first time I see a potential to actually make an income.

Birds, birds and more birds

Jennifer Talbot — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:48:28 +0000

I have been having a blast making steel wire bird cages with flowers, leaves and with a hand sewn bird inside! Great alternative to the classic mobile for nursery decor. I would love to make a whole ceiling littered with different size, shape and color of birds.

These a images I took of the bird mobile I made for my girl friend, installed in the room.

Auction Log: Lucky Plush Productions

Jennifer Talbot — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:24:49 +0000

Sorry, I have been away from my blog as of late. I have been feeling every blah, blah about it and I even missed blogging about my one year anniversary!

I am part of a silent auction and fundraiser for my friend Julia Rhodes (and Artistic Director of the company) this Saturday, March 14th at the Riverside Art Center from 7 to 10 p.m. The night will celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the dance company, Lucky Plush Production, with wine, cheese and performance from the company. I am donating my time to create a custom piece for the highest bidder.

These are images of the auciton table piece I made!

Knitted Lights

Jennifer Talbot — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:44:59 +0000

I came across these knitted lights from a really great blog called Visual Notes, designed by german designers Ivot and Ivol. As you can tell from my earlier post, I am on this knitted kick! Using knitting in the high-end design world is a very interesting juxtaposition between high craft and low craft. Although the term "craft" no longer has the home-spun-by-grandma connotations it once had.... thankfully.

Wool Blanket Pendant Lights

Jennifer Talbot — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:13:04 +0000

I have seen several uses for recycled, reused, and repurposed wool blankets, socks, and sweaters, but none as clever as these pendant lights. The collection is called Woollight Collection, which in itself is a witty play on words; from I believe a Germany design team. (tip via Bloesem.)

The recycled wool blankets were dipped in some kind of solution or stiffening agent to hold the shape of the individual shade style. Very smart and quirky, great for a kids room!

CS Interiors Feature

Jennifer Talbot — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:43:30 +0000

I was recently featured in the winter issue of Chicago Social quarterly home magazine, CS Interiors. Big thanks for Lindsey and Meghan from CS Interiors, for a great feature on my custom work. It was a pleasure to work with both of them!

Installation Art: Falling Garden

Jennifer Talbot — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:20:53 +0000

I came across this work from a Swiss installation artist via Labor of Heart blog. The piece is called "Falling Garden", created from bits of flowers, paper, and plastic to appear as though the elements are frozen in a free fall. I love how light and delicate the piece appears. As if you plucked a handful of daisies and tossed them up into the air.

Elizabeth Schuppe: Long Live Abstract Painting

Jennifer Talbot — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:51:33 +0000

In my early art years I followed in the footsteps of my parents as a watercolor painter. Unbelievably I even had my paintings in a gallery at age 18. I moved to Chicago in 1991 to attend SAIC, but watercolor painting was frowned upon and oil painting was considered the classic standard medium. Naturally, I turned to oil painting and learned my chops in technique.

Painting was instant gratification. I would work with rapid abstract brush strokes. I could crank out three new painting in a days work. As I was exposed to the multi-disciplinary offering of SAIC, I began to branch out wanting something more that I felt abstract painting did not achieve... meaning.

Conceptual art was highly prevalent in the art world of the 1990's, which crept into my art education. During each critique, we sought out the "meaning" of the work, attempting to find it in the layers of abstracted form. In the early 1990’s, you would often hear the mantra echo the halls of SAIC, "painting is dead".

Well painting is not dead! There is always room in the art world for great abstract painting, like the work of artist Elizabeth Schuppe. I love her eye for color!