Designer: Mika Mäkinen

Reblogged from Deviner Art:

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Really love the work of Mika Mäkinen (Art Director at the Great Apes Ltd) – At times feeling both digital and handcrafted textured (absolutely love the creased paper in “Lake”), and with a feel of both graphic design and illustration through fantastic, quirky collages and textures, and considered colour, compositions and typography. Especially love the surreal mixture of collaged photography (from modern to quite vintage-looking images) and digitised images. Definitely worth checking out his portfolio here.

tools of the trade

verge 爱’s you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Making his blog debut, verge speaks to you of 爱.

Ai (愛) is used as a verb (e.g., Wo ai ni, “I love you”) or as a noun, especially in aiqing (愛情), “love” or “romance.” airen (愛人) originally “lover,” or more literally, “love person” is the dominant word for “spouse.”

The center of the traditional chinese character for love (愛) is heart (心), the simplified character 爱 is made only from the surrounding character, meaning “accept,” “feel,” or “perceive.”

Verge is happy to live in Alabama, Australia, California, Florida, Italy, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Virginia, and Washington State.

Verge also likes to hang around here:
etsy | society6 | RedBubble | Flickr

birds of the Pacific NW

Here’s an etsy treasury I put together with the work of Portland artists.

DJ Passive Aggressive #3

(click to enlarge)

grid gesture

5 3/4 inches square, 1 3/4 inches deep
acrylic on wood box frame
available on etsy 

the art of Taurus Burns

Taurus Burns is a ninja of a painter; quietly slaying canvases all day with efficiency and style.  I had the good fortune of meeting Burns years ago in his studio at 555.  His paintings have a studied color and light while maintaining a certain fluidity and ease.

Some of his work feels like perfectly rendered snapshots of Detroit, including a series of over 200 such cityscapes.  Other pieces have more apparent layers of symbols and parables which he rewrites with compassion and sharp wit.

Treat yourself to more beautiful work at paintdetroit.com.

hot-wheeling robot love

Sometimes a life-sized piano-grilled toy robot wants to share its love so badly it is willing to risk piloting a child’s tricycle in order to bring it to you.

Despite what you may assume from that innocent face, this robot has been around the block.  I added the piano key smile in honor of the musical mayhem of Portland’s own Solovox and a round of his flyers.  Stumptown Underground included Hot-Wheeling Robot Love in their 8th issue “Everybody do the Robot”, and good: a gallery asked him to announce their first robot_love exhibit.

This is the kind of brilliance that’s possible with two Art Directors; one that designs beautiful promotions for the best talent in town, and one who is seven years old.

Prints, stretched canvas, device skins and shirts on Society6

Shirts and stickers on RedBubble

Iron transfers on etsy

hungry eyeball

If you’d like to keep an eye on the art here in Portland Oregon, Greg P. of Hungry Eyeball has done some of the leg work for you.  Shows populate an art events calendar next to a selection of local artists and a list of Portland Galleries.

You’ll find a particular appetite on this “visual art buffet”; one that prefers aerosol over oil, and a humourous character over a stuffy still life.  There’s still a full meal here with enough variety to satisfy.  So grab a plate and head down the line, you may find a new favorite.

HungryEyeball.com | flickr | facebook

the art of Carl Oxley III

Do you remember that one time you made it backstage and met the singer/dj/flutist who was socially disappointing?  Or that writer who was better on paper?  Sometimes the art that we love is made by folks we wouldn’t like if we knew them.  Sometimes bright, heartfelt, awesome, positive work comes from people who could be described the same way.  Carl Oxley III is one such artist.  He is the Happiness Company, and he’s a nice guy.

Detroit doesn’t enjoy the same kind of prestige as its big city counter-parts on those other coasts, but it does have a creative community working together with respect and a lot of heart.  Oxley has collaborated with the city’s finest, exhibited in the full range of the cities venues, and left his mark on more than a few corners around town.  In his own words; “I believe art should be accessible to everyone. It is extremely important to me that the people who enjoy my work the most, can afford to take home the piece they love.”

Carl Oxley III just wants to see you smile.  You can check out his gallery at popartmonkey.com, buy some art on his etsy, and look over his virtual shoulder via his facebook fan page.