new from mincing mockingbird

matt adrian of mincing mockingbird has been making all sorts of new goods, and we love having a little bit of everything he does in the shop. he's recently started working with greenbox art to reproduce his paintings on stretched canvases.

and he just revamped his own process, creating this new wings on wood series. with these he is printing directly onto the wood surface, and all can be displayed on a table or hung.

one of our hands-down favorite calendars for 2015 is "a year of troubled birds," featuring illustrations of matt's paintings paired with speech bubbles for the birds.

 

if you want something a little less, ahem, snarky, the classic calendar is lovely and has a write-on grid for scheduling.

 

new oopsy daisy stetched art canvas'

have just come in. don't forget, they are on the 15th bday list!

mincing mockingbird...

may be my new favorite artist at o'suz.
these images don't really do the work justice
but will at least give you a hint into their coolness.

art panels can hang or sit without assistance.
they make great gifts for the lover of birds and owls.

mm also prints up some card packs...

and this book, which contains many of his paintings.

this is the ultimate gift for the nature/critter lover on your list.

nikki mcclure

oh the joy it brings me to share with you, a teeny bit in advance, what is coming to o'suz this tuesday. yes, new nikki posters, and as always, she does not disappoint. they are amazing. we are so excited, the frames we use to hang them at o'suz have already been purchased. we are wasting no time getting these lovlies up:

and as always we have lots of other nikki faves in the shop:

this accordian style postcard collection is stunning
and while mailing them is generous, framing them is also an option!

this keepsake card box is cool all by itself,
not to mention the cards within...

april"love it" boy girl party, starring susie ghahremani!

if you don't already know who susie ghahremani is, this is your lucky day. if you do know susie, and or her amazing website: boygirlparty.com, maybe you will learn a tidbit you did not know because...drumroll.... she accepted our invite to be our "love it" artist for april!!!!! interview to follow, but not before we shower her with some april showers of adoration (and well wishes, she broke her shoulder last week!) no shortage of props here. she is a superstar in our eyes, plain and simple. before we were selling her goods, we were buying them on her retail site. we still do actually, when we can't get our piggy little hands on them at o'suz. her prints are my weakness lately as i am obsessed with collecting art. i have 2 prints in red's bathroom

and 2 in his room.

let me tell you, i am not alone in my love of susie's talent. jessica, who works at o'suz and does at least half the blog tending, may need an intervention, ha. i'll let her tell you in her own words.

jessica here to share my boygirlparty obsession. as suzannah suggested, an intervention might be appropriate right about now. as i was collecting all of my boygirlparty goods to photograph, i realized that i have something in every single room of my house, from an owlie necklace to magnets to notepads to stationery to prints. it's just that it's all so painfully adorable, and i mean that in the best possible way. i love susie's subject matter, which is predominantly various kinds of animals, including my two favorite animals: hedgehogs and dogs. i love her style as well, that her little creatures are often depicted in various forms of human activity, like cooking, getting down with some tunes, or talking on the telephone. i hope one day i will be able to own one of her original paintings, or at least get to see one of her shows, which always seem to be amazingly installed. here are two of my favorite boygirlparty possessions:


that's right, it's boston terrier time. on the left is a print of one of susie's paintings, and on the right is my beloved one of a kind pouch. the pouch has its own little story. a few years ago i came across a boston terrier boygirlparty pouch on flickr and, um, kind of flipped out, because i couldn't imagine a more perfect combination of two great loves: boston terriers AND boygirlparty. i immediately emailed susie to see if there was any way i could get one because i knew i NEEDED this little delight, and she told me that she didn't have any at the time but she might make more in the future, which led to my stalking of her shop. then, in december 2007, one went up for sale, and i missed it. it was devastation station. i emailed her again, and told everyone at o'suz how sad i was to have missed out again. unbeknownst to me, suzannah had already commissioned a boston pouch from susie for christmas, and everyone but me was in on the scheming. i almost died of excitement when i opened it at our party -- it was all too perfect! so now i have my pouch, and i love it so much because it reminds me of this dude, mick aka mister puppy (1994-2008), whose lovely countenance you see here being held up on my fridge with boygirlparty ipop magnets that we sell in the shop:


we have tons of magnets in the shop, including a new series of cats, dogs, forest animals, and hedgies. i am trying to resist, really. but these few things really only scratch the surface of my boygirlparty collection. here is my assortment of notepads and recipe cards from susie (and yes, i do use them):


yes, that's a squirrel playing the guitar. these come straight from susie herself, and they always go quickly whenever we get them. in the past couple of years, susie has been partnering with companies like chronicle books and madison park greetings, which brings her work to an even larger audience. here are a few of the goodies we have in the shop, some of which are brand new:


the owl journal is so snazzy, it's also illustrated on the inside! aaron and i love love love the mini notes, because, yes, that is a kitty napping while all wound up in the telephone cord on a card that says "call me!" a lot of susie's work features not only her imagery but her handwriting as well, which is just amazing, simple and sweet. we also just got a whole new series of cards like the ones on the right, for various occasions from birthdays to anniversaries to new babies.


susie also does a lot of book illustration, and one of our favorites is this baby book for adoptive families for chronicle. isn't that the sweetest cover ever?

while we aren't able to carry the prints in the shop, that doesn't stop suzannah and me from being cuckoo about them. here are a few of mine:


hedgehog playing piano. nothing more need be said. now that we've gushed about our love for boygirlparty and susie herself, please keep reading to learn about how she ended up working as an artist and what inspires her to keep keeping on. thanks so much, susie, for taking the time to answer our questions!

what was your first job and how did you end up painting and creating paper goods?

My first longterm job was at a mom&pop art supply and framing shop outside Chicago, IL. I took the job for the employee discount, of course! The second question is a little harder for me to answer, I've always painted - as far back as I can remember, and I also have some pretty early memories of making paper goods. "Susie Cards and Gifts" circa 1985 was alarmingly on par with what I do these days... I guess I took painting & paper professionally around graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002 as a natural progression of what I had been working on the time, which was album artwork and t-shirt designs for my band, and making zines.


what is your favorite piece/group/series in your work?

The musical animals series is my favorite to work on, but I'm most proud of my polka dot owls paintings that appeared on the covers of various Chronicle Books projects -- I just know I put every ounce of my energy into those. I was very proud of my installation and exhibition "The Wild Life" from the fall as well..



who or what inspires you?

I love to mix colors and often rely on memory and nostalgia for inspiration...I'll be mixing paint and unsure of what to make next and suddenly a certain blue will remind me of something I've known... a pair of socks or a plastic swing.. it could become the basis for new work.
Also, animals and nature consistently amaze me and influence my work. Any hike, climb, swim or David Attenborough series does the trick. And my pets, I love my cat and finches.

what three websites do you visit daily?

90% of the time I'm usually wikipedia'ing or googling something like Tiny Tim or the grammar rules for "addictive/addicting". I recently joined Twitter and like to check in on there, especially when I feel confined! (Working at home can make you pretty unsocialized.) I love Flickr, too.

describe your ideal sunday.

Sleeping in, tofu scramble for breakfast - my most coveted breakfast favorite, but sadly rarely available here in San Diego! Then, a bike ride with my fiance where no cars go (cars are scary to me when on bike) Possibly stumbling upon a garage sale with incredible mid century finds. a picnic in the shade with plenty of opportunities to birdwatch and/or see wildlife, a nap, a crossword puzzle, a funny movie. Simple, cozy. I'm lucky to say this accurately describes most of my Sundays!

what do you see outside your studio windows?

Bougainvillea, a bamboo fence, and a lemon tree that refuses to cooperate. A perfectly clear typically San Diego sunny day.

march love it...alena hennessy

here we are in march, and that makes me think of brisk, sunny days and freshening up for spring. alena hennessy has just the thing for the changing of the seasons, from new art for your walls, soft cotton scarves, and beautiful printed tshirts. best of all, we recently got a nice big box of new goodies from our favorite asheville peep!

about a year and a half ago i kept seeing alena's work on various websites, and i was completely smitten with her scarves and the imagery printed on them. eventually i ordered a couple with the intention of only keeping one (haha), and there was no turning back after that. then i was lucky enough to meet alena at the new york gift fair last february, and we placed our first order for the store. since then alena's work has been flying out the door!


alena creates beautiful paintings whose imagery centers around flora and fauna. she then transforms the paintings into prints, and we have this lovely owl in the shop right now. (you know how we love our owlies -- look at his little feet!)


alena also uses many motifs from her work on various textiles: scarves, tshirts, and bags. the scarf above is suzannah's new favorite, she snagged it right away. it has a little bit of a thicker rib than the others and is super soft and cozy. it's the perfect weight for spring and is also a great way to add a little flair to your daily ensemble. they're super long, so you can wrap away in all sorts of ways. also exciting is the fact that alena works really hard to make sure her production is eco-friendly. nearly all of her fabric goods are printed locally with earth friendly inks on organic materials - yay!


we also love alena's tshirts -- this is a new purple burnout tee that is beyond soft. the bright colors make me so excited for spring tshirt weather!


one last thing, and then i promise i'll let alena tell you the rest! at this past gift show alena introduced a new series of eco tote bags, and we got this sweet tree bag in the shop. great for everyday use or for shopping!

we're so excited to have more alena in the shop, and we're thrilled to have her here on the blog as well. still, the computer screen does not do justice to the yummy softness of her textiles or the vibrancy of her prints, so come visit her goodies soon! thanks, alena! xoxo, jessica

what was your first job and how did you end up painting? by extension, what attracted you to using textiles in your work?

my first job was working as an after school arts teacher in a small private school down the road from my house. as far as painting, that is something i have always done, since i was little. well i guess it was drawing at first, and then i got into painting once i was older. i love art and design that can also be functional, and i love the feeling of soft fabrics, and the idea of adding just a simple motif to that piece, so that is what initially inspired my attraction to textiles.


what is your favorite piece/group/series in your work?

oh that's hard! it changes monthly probably. i usually am most attracted to what i am working on currently. right now i am working on a new series of paintings inspired by my trip to india (so think long tail feathers, bold colors, elephants, sleeping cows!) but i like my most recent organic scarves i came up with. i like the baby rib cotton that's so thick, along with the designs.

who or what inspires you?

nature and animals inspire me. simple lines and classic narratives, like zen mythologies, and color color color. my sweet little town of asheville and all the dear people that live here also inspire me very much. i love having four seasons.


what three websites do you visit daily?

my own to fill orders, facebook (its so addictive, i hate to admit it!), and well nothing else daily really because time is a limited resource these days it seems.

describe your ideal sunday.

sleeping in as much as i can stand it, going out to eat to sunny point cafe for some huevos rancheros, going to the park and spending some time with friends.


what do you see outside your studio windows?

trees and blue sky!