Sunday, November 27, 2011

"Velvet Tiki" - Velvet Paintings by Juanita


Come by Emerson Space Case to see the fabulous and fascinating works of Juanita, the velvet painting queen!  In this series, Juanita explores the glorious kitsch of tiki aesthetics, paired with Day of the Dead imagery.  Also displayed are Juanita's marvelous painted velvet coats and pillows.

Juanita's paintings have graced the walls of Voodoo Doughnut (three locations!), Laughing Planet, and Portland Mayor Sam Adams.  She has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Oregon Art Beat, and "Black Velvet Masterpieces," a book of velvet paintings.

Living in Portland Oregon, Juanita loves to paint on black velvet. She keeps busy with commissions and has shows of her paintings throughout the West. She now paints on velvet coats, pillows, jewelry and paintings.  For commissions, contact her via her website.

As a sidenote:  Did you know that Portland was once home to an entire velvet painting museum (where several of Juanita's paintings were once displayed)?  Those of us who had the privelege of visiting Velveteria will never forget.





















Thursday, November 10, 2011

Li'l Orphan Art: A Showcase of Found Objects

If you haven't seen it, you missed it, because this blog post is late (sorry!), but in October we had a fine little showing of found art.  Those lovely and ugly things you can't resist at thrift stores, flea markets, and estate sales.  We gathered things from our friends and put them all together in a tribute to the sincerity of orphaned art.

Big thanks to our contributors:
Chelsea Appel
Kristen Bilous
The Emerson House
Kendra Hadlock
Lettie Jane Rennekamp
Ilan Schraer
Swoops
Kevin Witmer
Benjamin Parrish & Amber Smythe


The show was curated by our resident owl sous-chef, Percival May.










(these chickens have real feathers attached!)


(all the way from Denmark)








Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Highlights from BEST SUMMER EVER

This post is quite belated, but here it is!  Lettie Jane Rennekamp and Amelia Pillow's BEST SUMMER EVER events were officially a success at Emerson Space Case.

Here are some photos to prove it.

First, here are some shots of Lettie's fantastic colorful paintings and exquisite hand-lettering which adorned our windows for the duration of the project.











And a bike wash in the hot hot sun of summer.  Perfect.




A bake sale as well, though it was more of a bake-share than a sale.  Lovely treats and joke-telling abounded.