Vinyl Art By Daniel Edlen

Jimi Hendrix

Daniel Edlen came up with the idea of painting vinyl records (remember those?) as a teenager around 1992. "My dad had turned me onto The Beatles on vinyl, and my mom volunteered at the library handling used book and record donations. I got first pick of the records, which didn't sell well. Amassing duplicates of my favorite albums, the idea hit me after a high school art project I did using white pencil on black paper. I did about 6 of them and lost interest."

John Lennon

In 2006, some friends suggested that his vinyl art might make good holiday gifts. Though Daniel had been sculpting people out of clay for years, he never lost his painting skills. So, he began selling his vinyl art for a living. He uses "only white acrylic paint, dabbing it on with small brushes which wear out very quickly. "

Tom Waits

"I know that the mere idea of portraits on vinyl might seem gimmicky or hokey and the pieces might not fit into typical art world categories, but it is the passion for music which motivates me." He's willing to do customized orders, and will even paint on a buyer's own record album. People are always curious about Daniel's work, and have asked all kinds of questions. Such as whether or not you can play the record after it has been painted. The answer: No. Unless you'd prefer scratches on your painting, it is highly discouraged. Visit his website to see more vinyl art HERE. His blog HERE. ~From his site with consent.

Jimi Hendrix on Vinyl by Daniel Edlen
(Time Lapse Painting)

Images posted with permission from Daniel Edlen.

Environmental Art by John Dahlsen

“Blue Rope” (Triptych) (Environmental Assemblage Art)

Environmental artist John Dahlsen has eyes the color of the bluest sea, and that's only fitting since it was the ocean that first inspired his craft. While searching for driftwood to make furniture at a remote beach in Australia, in the mid 1990's, he discovered "vast amounts of plastic ocean debris" Following his instincts, he started picking up the beach litter and hauled it home. What happened next is somewhat of a history in the making. John's history, that is. And, an inspirational one it is. His is the story of the creative, artistic mind. One we are all capable of tuning into,if we only try.

6 Driftwood Totems 2009 (Environmental Driftwood Art )

John took the beach litter and organized them into groups according to their material and their color. There were ropes and strings, all kinds of plastics (yellow and blue and red in color) and plastic coke bottles, and even thongs (flip flops.) These were the materials he would later use to create his abstract environmental art. He likens these found objects to a "giant painters pallete." "I later had the notion of making assemblages of each of these objects once sorted, this occurred to me as a natural extension of the process I was undergoing in the studio. This whole new palette of colour and shape revealing itself to me immediately affected me; I had never seen such hues and forms before which enabled me to make new environmental art."

Blue River (Recycled Plastic Bag Art)

"As I worked with these objects, I became even more fascinated by the way they had been modified and weathered by the ocean and nature's elements. My challenge as an artist was to take these found objects, which might on first meeting have no apparent dialogue, and to work with them until they spoke and told their story, which included those underlying environmental messages inherent in the use of this kind of medium. " Read more of the artist's statement of his works HERE. And, visit his website to see more incredible environmental art HERE. ~From the artist's website with consent.

Images posted with permission from John Dahlsen.

Fabric and Paper Art Quilts by Terri Stegmiller

She Dreams in Color (Fabric Art Quilt)

Terri Stegmiller is one busy lady. Not only is she the assistant publisher of Fibre & Stitch, an online mixed media zine, but she lives with her husband and FIVE cats: Abby, Zoey, Junie, Patty and Lucy. (Two are indoor cats, the other three prefer the outdoors.) Her son left the nest within the last couple of years. They live outside the city limits in North Dakota, on a 10-acre plot where she tends to her flower gardens every chance she gets. Oh, did I mention she also creates art quilts? Yes, she does, and she does it beautifully as you can see for yourself. "I think I'm possessed with art. When I'm not in the studio working on something, then my mind is working, thinking, or dreaming about new ideas. I feel so lucky to be able to do what I love and with the technologies of today I can connect with other like-minded artists." Terri has worked with one type of craft or another for most of her life, and only started quilting around 1994. And, she considers herself blessed as her husband is very supportive of her love for creating art.

Blue-Mers (Paper Art Quilt)

She began with traditional quilts in larger sizes for beds. "I decided these took too long and my interest in them faded, so I started creating wall-sized quilts. When the traditional patterns became boring for me, I starting paying more attention to art quilting and would spend many hours on the Internet looking at the great art that a lot of quilters were creating. I knew that was the direction I wanted to go. I wanted to create my own designs and not follow any rules." Her favorite subjects or themes are flowers, cats, and the female face. "I like fun and whimsy in my quilts, therefore the subject matter isn’t created to resemble real life. I enjoy working in a small format and art quilts are perfect for me. My quilts rarely reach sizes over 36 inches tall or wide."

Winter Wonderland (Fabric Art Quilt)

Most of her quilts, whether paper quilts or textile quilts, are made in the typical manner as most quilts—three layers making up the quilt sandwich. "I like to use up scraps as much as possible when creating my quilts, but I don’t make it a rule. The techniques I use when quilting vary, but the technique I use most is fused, raw-edge appliqué, which is then free-motion quilted. I love texture and some of my pieces are heavily quilted with more surface texture and interest added with other mediums, such as paint. I love lots of color and most of my quilts reflect this." Terri also teaches online classes, like this one HERE. You can visit her blog HERE to learn more about her craft. And, her website HERE and her Etsy site HERE.

Images used with permission from Terri Stegmiller.

Designer Hand Knits for Pets and their People by Vanessa Sam

A self-proclaimed "obsessive-compulsive perfectionist", whose passion for knitting started when she was a mere 1st-grader, Vanessa Sam lives in the San Francisco Bay area (California) with her husband (they just celebrated their three year anniversary), and miniature schnauzer Bach. Bach is her star model, and has been with them for ten years. He's very dedicated to their business, and loves the free clothes! He's lucky that he lives with the designer.

Bach modeling "The Backpacker" (a cat/dog turtle neck sweater)

You'll have to visit their Etsy site to see his adorable face.

(Not that his butt isn't cute enough!)

Vanessa inherited her knitting "gene" from her mother who was obsessed with knitting pretty baby dresses while she was pregnant with her. Vanessa's first project was a vest for her teddy bear; her second project was a vest for her little brother. And, she's been "hooked" ever since. "Recently my mom revealed that the reason she taught me to knit at the age of six was to stop me from bothering her while she was knitting. I find that hilarious. But I am so grateful that she did teach me; this hobby has stayed with me for 20+ years and not only do my husband and dog benefit from the hobby, it has now become my business. By the time I was a teenager, my mom moved on to quilting. But there are lots of baby photos of me wearing her knitted dresses and cardigans, they're really cute!"

The Hipster cat/dog turtleneck sweater

Vanessa is a healthcare finance consultant by day, an obsessed knitter by night, and a photographer by weekend. Every item is knitted with love. And, she even customizes her knits according to variations in size. She also created a custom design for a buyer who wanted to recreate a toddler sweater that her mom knitted for her and her twin sister when they were kids. The result is the "Hello, My Name Is...." sweater. The buyer ordered matching dog sweaters for her corgi and her pug. Vanessa makes a human version of this sweater for toddlers, too.

She doesn't have kids yet (the two legged kind) but if she ever does, her shop will explode with knitted baby items! But, don't worry all you dog and cat lovers, she'll continue to knit adorable and "designer" outfits for your loved ones. And, yes, for most of us the weather is getting warm, but winter is just around the corner. So, visit Vanessa's Etsy site to see her designer hand knits for Pets and their People HERE. And, see her photography HERE.

Images posted with consent from Vanessa Sam.