vol. 25
I first was introduced to Jessica Rose, the beauty and brains behind vol25, last March via Indie Fixx’s Free Your Soul art project. Imagine my giddiness when I saw that she was the next contributor here at the BSP! Jessica, a self-taught artist, was a quarter of a century old when she opened the door to her Etsy shop. This journey was likened to a new volume in her life and vol25 was born.
It is easy to see the inspiration in her work. Her art combines whimsy and beauty with color and love. Looking for a Valentine’s gift? Surprise your beloved with a customized ‘do all things with love’ print. I don’t even celebrate Valentine’s Day and I’m tempted to break my own rules with this one. While perusing her shop, I envisioned room after room in my house decorated with her prints. My daughter’s room needs ‘love who you are’ and I will hang ‘i will be grateful for this day’ next to my front door, just to remind myself. Or maybe I’ll head over to her Zazzle shop and pick up a tshirt/coffee mug/keychain trifecta. Having this much sweet art at my fingertips is promising, indeed.
………………
Miss Krista is a mother, a lover and a big believer in the power of a cupcake. she loves double entendres but is not a fan of the high-five. she blogs about the corners of her heart at my life as i see it.
I have a Marcus Glenn in our guest room, where I keep all my clothes and get ready each morning… it reminds me of my dreams, the power of music, and the yearning that we all have to reach higher than we think possible.
My favorite piece of art is our Loss Cat painting with the music video stills of AHA in the background. It is a special edition. It is the first piece of art my husband and I bought together, and it has always hung directly above our record player. It reminds me of being carefree and takes me back to when we used to have regular “dance parties for two” in our first home.
It’s definitely the water color my youngest child did in kindergarten. It reminds me of colorful leaves of fall on a windy day. I smile everything I look at it.
My husband did a painting of our cat whole passed away suddenly last year. It hangs above our fireplace and it’s my favorite piece of his!
I have a print of Monet’s Garden at Vetheuil in my bedroom – and a copy in my office at work – which speaks to me because despite the impossibility of having ever been there, I feel like I have been there. I somehow identify with the child in the painting. And it reminds me of good times spent among wildflowers by the sea.
I have a wooden carving from Jamaica of a man and a woman wrapped around a tree together. It is beautiful and reminds me of “love” everytime I look at it. Thanks for the chance!
Aw man! I have to pick just one??? That’s a hard one. Okay okay…I would have to pick one of most recent purchases I have an unusual attachment to. In a dusty town in AZ, where my friends have a home that’s a mecca of art and creativity, I stumbled upon an antique shop that was filled to the brim with treasures. There I found a small ceramic bust of Abraham Lincoln. Perhaps it reminded me of my Dad who loves presidential history, or maybe I have a thing for neck beards but whatever it is, ol’ Abe fits right in with the random object fun of our home.
an art print of an original painting by my friend kelly clark. it’s of a chickadee with 3 halos of light around her inquisitive, wise face — to me those 3 halos stand for 3 friends who have circled my heart and soul this year in orbits of safety, love, and compassion. it’s been a difficult season for me and to be orbited by such grace and humanity is one of the things that has saved me.
I would say that the Memory Lane photo that I have speaks the loudest. I gave it to my husband for our anniversary a couple of years ago. You had to provide the company a list of 15 memories to them and they turned that list into a piece of art/drawing complete with logos from the place we got married, cars we’ve owned, exerpts/memories from trips we’ve taken. It is awesome!
the peice of art that speaks to me most is one that i just received yesterday. at a gorn-up girls slumber party – my lovliest of lovely friends made me a picture frams with words of love all around and teeny tiny drawings. in the middle is a place for a photo of my pregnant self (a photo shoot was created – haven’t see the results yet!). it’s basically both a love letter to the baby brewin’ in my belly and a memory of a much enjoyed weekend with the most amazing women ever. but let it be noted that we are a converse family. in fact, my husband, toddler son, and i all have matching kelly green converse. we’re nerds and we love it!
Shhhhhhhhh if I share – then I would be calling myself an artist……..however there is a picture I took in Estes Park of an elk bugeling in the Morraine River, the trees are yellow, orange and red, the grass is still green and the sky is blue with snow on the tips of the mountains in the background. Brings back wonderful memories everytime I walk by.
Usually that is the most recent piece I have created. Why? Because I create based on the wanderings of my soul, so when I create a piece I find it to speak not only to me, but also of me.
I have a print of rolling hills w/vineyards and oaks. It reminds me of my favorite stretch of California road.
My best piece of art is one my younger sister sketched for me while I was pregnant with my daughter. The picture is a lovely image of a baby sitting on a pelvis. It is only about 5×7 and done in black ink. The baby is gorgeous and the lettering underneath says “light”.. for my daughter, Aurora.
A painting that my husband bought when we were dating. We were at a little gallery, and he kept asking me if I liked it, was I sure I liked it, etc. I couldn’t figure out why my opinion was quite that important–after all, it wasn’t going in *my* house. Turns out he wanted to make sure I liked it because he was planning to propose!
I have a print of Renoir’s Dance at Bougival that I took from my mother. I use to stare at the picture for hours when I was younger. I love the colors and movement. I always wondered what he was saying to her. She always looked so disinterested in the dance to me and he always looked like he was flirting and egging her on. I always thought that at any moment she would give in to his teasing and start enjoying herself. The beginning of love?
I have a piece of art that is an abstract representation of Christ. It is a chair with a white sheet behind a chair that is knocked down that has a red sheet over it and represents the verse in Isaiah 1:18.
My mother-in-law did 4 wax dies and has given me and my husband one, his brother and sister each one, and kept one for herself and I love the thought of them being a thread between our family.
I have two lemon prints that are in my kitchen right by the door. It is a reminder that life is full of lemons and to be a sweet lemon and not a sour lemon. It is amazing how many people forget to be kind on a daily basis. So my lemons are my little way of saying to myself be kind to someone today you never know how that might effect them!
A photo I took of horseshoes hanging on a fence. The ranch in Colorado where it was taken is one of my favorite places in the world and playing horseshoes with my Grandpa is one of my fondest memories of my last trip there.
My best friend painted the katubah for my wedding. not only is the piece itself exquisite and unique – but to have our vows written therein with jaunty calligraphic script – ever before us. It would be hard to love something more.
My hubby and I bought some artwork together shortly after we got married. When I look at it, it reminds me of being a newlywed.
My hubby framed our wedding vows in a frame along with a picture of us at our wedding reciting our vows. It was his first anniversary gift to me and I cherish it deeply.
I have an antique wooden buddha that I picked up at this great little magical shop. He is more of a Tibetan looking buddha and has the best face. He is a real presence in the house and I love him.
My sister had her friend (an artist) paint a picture for me that featured one of my favorite song lyrics. It was such a thoughtful gift, and beautiful too! It’s in my library now, and I’d like to think it inspires me when writing. :)
A poster of NY :)
Our favorite is a fish sculpture that we picked out together when we were dating. It was our first holiday season together and we found it in a small store when he took me home to meet his parents.
The piece of art in my house I love the most is a frame picture of sand with pieces of seaglass washing up on the shore. I live in NYC right now, but I am from Rhode Island and always miss the beach! I like having this picture in my bedroom to remind me of home!
A beautiful piece by our artist friend Jess titled “999″ in which he used 999 horizontal strokes to create a landscape of colors. I look at that painting and adore its complexity and simplicity. It is amazing!
My favorite piece is a print that my parents handed down to me.. an air balloon ride to the city in the sky.. I was lucky enough to be able to meet the artist in his beachside studio a few years ago..
It is Coltraine’s music! It is hard to say but it just touches all my cells and brings warmth and love inside :-)
a multimedia piece that my fiance made for me the first year we were dating. I’m a big fan of Disney so he incorporated Alice into the piece. It’s Alice looking fearful of these monsters he created. He makes his own stamps of these monsters. It’s so hard describe, but the point is, it is such a cool combination of his and my tastes!
An aeriel photograph of our local inlet, the beach where we spend every weekend with the family during the summer, the bay where my dad’s taken us fishing since we were little girls.
A photograph from my mother and father’s wedding. I suppose you could consider this a piece of art. The two figures are enveloped by a cheesy, star-splattered backsplash, almost as though a disco ball was spinning above their heads as the photo was taken. Aside from the deliciously tacky development of the photograph, there is a certain light in my mother’s eyes. It speaks to a joy that has long since been gone but I still find that this one image, this picture of love, is something substantial to strive toward.
Oooh I just bought a print by Vol 25 and I love it. If I win I could start a collection. :) My favourite piece of art – that is hard because my husband and I collect and I love everything on our walls (and in storage!) I think I would have to pick a Fred Ross print that belonged to my grandmother of a woman playing the lute. She looks blissful and lost in the music.
I have a beautiful owl and jungle batik that I bought in a market when I lived in the Gambia, in West Africa. The craftsmanship is astounding, and whenever I see it, I’m reminded of one of the most beautiful places in the world, and the incredible times I had there :)
Right now the piece of art that speaks to me is the Thanksgiving craft we did as a family this past Thanksgiving. It’s a family tree with our hands for leaves, and on each “leaf” we listed what we are thankful for. I love looking at it!
I have a poster called Friday Night in SoHo by Michael Bishop that I love. I love the combination of bold and soft colors and the way that I can look at it and see different things every time I look at it. The scene looks like such a peaceful night, and it makes me feel relaxed and happy when I look at it.
Hanging in my living room is a big, raw oil painting on canvas of an oversized man’s head. Yeah, it’s more than creepy, but it was done by my tutorial partner in my senior art studio course in undergrad as a reaction to feed back I had given the artist. He hated the result and I loved it, so I bought it from him for $50 and it became the first piece of art in my “collection.” it speaks to me as an important reminder of the collaborative process of art and as a sign of how much both I and the artist have grown since that time (now six years ago).
a print of a beach scene on nantucket where my husband and i went on our honeymoon.
a print in my room of a tree, symbolizing growth and peace speaks to me the most and thats what drew me in when I first bought it.
My husband’s uncle is an amazing artist and he recently gave us a sculpture that is a cello wrapping in canvas that he painted. It is beautiful, cool and most importantly- sentimental as his uncle is battling brain cancer right now.