Caitlin McCormack's Creepy Crochets

I've been following Caitlin McCormack on Twitter for quite some time now, but I realized that I haven't posted about her awesome work here on my blog. Caitlyn is a Philadelphia-based artist known for her intricate skeleton sculptures of different animals pinned to black backgrounds or encased in glass specimen jars. They're not real skeletons, of course. The 27-year-old University of the Arts graduate crochets them from glue soaked string.

Her grandfather was a skilled bird-carver and her grandmother a talented crocheter. She started making the sculptures as a way to cope the loss of her grandparents, who died within months of each other.

"The act of stiffening intricately crocheted cotton string with glue produces material that is structurally similar to delicate bone tissue,"she says. "The string implemented in this process can be viewed as the basic cellular unit of fabrication, and by utilizing media and practices inherited from my deceased relatives, I aim to generate emblems of my diminishing bloodline, embodied by each organism's skeletal remains."

Caitlin's Mnemosyne is currently on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia. The exhibit opened on October 23 and runs through December 12, 2015, so you've got plenty of time to check it out if you happen to be in (or near) the City of Brotherly Love.

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Hand-Painted Movie Posters by Tony Stella

In the 70s and 80s movie theaters in Manila were usually standalone buildings with nice seats and red curtains. To sell tickets, cinemas needed to advertise their offerings. But they did not have the original posters, or the means to print alternatives. So they made their own, commissioning local artists to hand-paint them. I really miss those hand-painted posters and billboards, which conveyed an artistry that was a form of visual hyperbole. But hand-made objects always have a way of returning. In this digital age, people will always look for things made by hand. I recently stumbled across the work of Tony Stella, whose genuinely cool movie posters have caught the eye of film enthusiasts and art lovers worldwide. He likes to work in watercolor and ink wash but sometimes he will make an oil painting, depending on the film. Tony's very active on social media, and his Tumblr blog contains a massive collection of illustrated movie posters that are often better than the original. ...

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Some people like to ruin their coffee with things like milk and sugar, others want their coffee black. But Australian artist Mark Poulier seems to be enjoying his morning brew with a lot of ink and a little imagination. Mark specializes in drawing architecture, but recently, he's been experimenting with coffee cup art. I really like his Leaning Tower of Coffee Cups. Intricately detailed, stacked and leaned properly — the paper cups look just like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. To see more awesomeness from Mark, be sure to check him out on Instagram . [h/t: Foodiggity ]

Japanese artist En Iwamura creates adorable ceramic sculptures

Kyoto-born artist En Iwamura is showing his latest ceramic creations in a special show on August 31 at the Ross+Kramer Gallery in East Hampton, New York. En's sculpted objects, which he describes as three-dimensional clay doodling, exudes nothing but good vibes with their quirky, playful style. He consciously uses childhood influences such as manga and anime, and draws inspiration from both American and Japanese historical and pop-cultural references along with his own life experiences. Born in 1988, En completed both his BFA and MFA in craft from Kanazawa College of Art and Craft in 2011 and 2013, respectively. His works have been shown in New York City, Seattle, Kansas City, Durham, NC, Japan, Canada, China and more. Thanks for the tip, Rachel.

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