Heads up! 50% OFF, 24 hours only!

Hi friends! Just thought I'd tip you off on Jeff's crazy once-annual, 24 hour only, 50% off sale.  He's offering half off EVERYTHING... original paintings, limited edition prints, t-shirts, wallets, stickers - you name it.  This is a great chance to stock up on unique Christmas presents and birthday gifts, at ridiculously good prices.  Buy 'em now, and stash 'em away for later!

xoxo,

Blogging on borrowed time...

First, a quick overview of the current situation...

WHO:       Me.
WHAT:     Blogging when I should be using my time wisely and catching up on my work.
WHEN:     Late Sunday night.
WHERE:    Jeff's art studio.
WHY:       'Cuz it's way more fun than doing my actual work.
HOW:       Because my mom's visiting, and taking care of the kids.   P A R T Y !

Ok, so this guy...

Obviously I like him, but sometimes something happens that makes me think - yeah, I really like him.

You know how artist bios are these really brief little stale statements like... 

I'm so-and-so and I've been painting for blah blah blah, in the style of _________.  I trained at such-and-such, graduated in _______.  I'm amazing and innovative and I won this and that...  

No?  You're not familiar?  They're the lamest blurbs ever written and after reading them, I just want my 30 seconds back.  They're the stale saltine cracker of bios.

Except this one, written by that craisin air-jumper up there recently:

STUDIOS ARTIST HIGHLIGHT

"Batch" - Mixed Media on Wood

"Survival" - Mixed Media on Canvas

Jeff Claassen

website: http://www.jeffclaassen.com
Facebook
Instagram

Jeff lives on strict diet of cereal and Thai iced tea with an occasional chocolate donut. Despite his poor dietary choices he has been pumping out colorfully bold paintings since before you had an email address and carried a phone in your pocket. His obsessive painting efforts have earned him the title "Best Artist In SLO County" by SLO New Times Readers for 2010-2013. These accolades haven't gotten to his head or inflated his ego. Just kidding, he totally thinks he's a rockstar. When not painting or making digital doodles on the iPad he can be found walking around town with his family taking way too many photos with his phone camera, riding his watermelon colored bicycle, or laying on his couch reading a book when he should be doing house chores like replacing the leaky skylight.

Isn't that refreshing?  He's my favorite.  :)

Let's KICKSTART this thing!

Jeff launched his KICKSTARTER campaign today! 

I can't even begin to tell you how much hard work and planning (and absurdly late nights) he's already put into this project. The idea is to piece together a giant painting, one little square at a time- like a puzzle!  He's got 30 days to meet his funding goal to make this happen, and pledges start at just $1! In the end the final size of this painting will be determined by YOU.  I love that!  He's offering really fun rewards, including pieces of the puzzle and exclusive merchandise just for backers.  Click here to check it out, and be sure to watch the video above for a quick overview of his PUZZLE PAINTING idea. He's already off to a great start, and I'm so excited to see HOW BIG THIS PAINTING WILL GET.

LET'S MAKE IT HUGE!  :D

Jeff's feeding my pillow addiction...

I've already ordered the black + white one for our couch.  

Which one would you pick?

Happily Ever After...

Just in time for Valentine's Day... ♥

*Click here to purchase*

A Cute Little Christmas Show...

I'm SO excited about Jeff's little Christmas show tonight!!!  I don't think we've hosted an art show in about a year and a half.  Hmmm... is it a coincidence that we have an almost 18 month old?  

ANYWAY, YES!!!  ART SHOW!!!  TONIGHT!!!

A lot of people have asked me what's up with the gallery since we officially closed for regular business hours, and the truth is- Jeff's a painter, not a retail clerk.  When one began to outweigh the other, he simply shut the doors, got back to basics, and began to paint again.  I'm so happy that he did, because he's much easier to live with when he's being true to himself (and his inner artsy fartsy-ness).  No more shop hours- just painting full-time, keeping other galleries stocked with his work, private commissions, and online sales.  Much better.  But of course, a part of him misses the social aspect, and the stress of hosting events... so this little, low-key, show is perfect.  

If you're around tonight, definitely come say hello, eat some cookies, enjoy some music, and take a peek at Jeffrey's latest work.  Plus, it's officially too late to order anything online to get in time for Christmas, so if you need a gift- this is a really fun way to shop.  He has both prints and originals in big and stocking stuffer sizes.  I'm especially in love with his new sparkly pieces.  Yes,  S P A R K L E  A R T.  It's kind of amazing.  He's also been experimenting with gold foil crowns on octopi, and marbled backgrounds.  Please note: By "experimenting", I mean: 90% making huge messes, 10% making great artwork.  ♥

SEE YOU TONIGHT!

JEFF'S CRAZY HALF OFF SALE!

As a thank you to all of you for your continued support I am offering HALF OFF on all items in my etsy shop. Yes, all items!

The shop was down to 99 items yesterday so I relisted a bunch of stuff and also added 18 totally brand new items that have never been seen before in the shop. Here is the newest of the newbies.

“King Octopi”

8″ x 8″ – limited edition print of 50, signed and numbered on the back.

$80, plus shipping

To order, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/115804803/print-king-octopi-8×8-limited-edition-of

King Octopi is my newest painting so I’m pretty stoked on it. The original is out of my hands and is available to purchase at Lumen Gallery.

Happy shopping!

- Jeff

Self Portrait Challenge...

Jeff had a fun idea over the weekend, to do self portraits.  Because I'm a pill, and I often resist his ideas- just for the sake of resisting; my immediate response to this challenge was an emphatic "No".  But I do like a challenge, and it's good to break out of our comfort zones and ruts sometimes- so here's what I came up with late Saturday night...

Elliott, Bruno, and I.

This was actually a great idea, Sahnzy.  And fun too.  I'm excited for next weekend's challenge.

♥

Elliott Immortalized As Public Art...

Our little monster has been immortalized on San Luis Obispo property (legally) 

by Stenzskull as part of the city’s “Box Art Project”.

I sent Stenzskull the above three photos as source material. His idea for his box was portraits of people confined within the parameters of the box. A baby seemed fitting. Especially ours since he has an obsession with crawling in boxes. He’ll even remove drawers from the dresser, drop them on the ground and then sit in it. Yeah, he’s a weirdo.

The finished product is so awesome! I’m tempted to say “epic”, which has become quite overused among the cool kids lately, so I’ll resist the temptation. Coral and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I mean, our son is painted on a freaking electrical box! It’s pretty sweet, if you ask me.

A huge thanks and shout out to our good friend and fellow artist, Stenzskull, for his amazing work. Thanks, homie!

If you want to see this in person the box is on the corner of Santa Rosa and Mill St in San Luis Obispo, CA.

Thanks for looking!

- Jeff

Before + After DIY chair makeover...

Hello friends...  See that chair up there?  

Here's the backstory; I've been parking my butt on it for nearly 3 decades.  

My mom found it at a teacher's estate sale a long, long time ago along with a matching desk.  The desk/chair set lived in my room as a kid, and it's where I did homework, listened to Joni Mitchell for the first time, wrote and edited a zine, cried into my journal, and ate meals with my head buried in a book during my parent's fancy dinner parties.  

Quick!  Look away for a sec, mom...  

I also secretly carved my name into both pieces.  

Somewhere along the line the desk went rogue, but thankfully my mother had the foresight to load this chair into a Matson container and haul it over the ocean with her when she moved to California.  I still use this chair just about every day.  I love it.   

Needless to say, the chair deserved a little facelift.  The white paint had some pretty well-worn indigo stains from years of my denim-clad posterior sitting in it.  SO...

Step 1: A fresh coat of ivory paint (but only on top, b/c those distressed legs are where it's at).

Step 2: Squiggly branches with dark brown paint.

Step 3: Emerald green + golden brown leaves - 1 quick stroke w/ sideways brush that ends in a point.

Step 4: Messy pink abstract flowers - stamping motion in center w/ swirly edges.

Step 5: Stamp red paint just in center of flowers.  Use dry brush.

Now I love my favorite chair even more!  ♥

Time + Papercuts = Mind blowing art madness

This time-lapse is  I N C R E D I B L E .

I had no idea that this was the backstory of laser-cuts.  Crazy!  I've made enough stencils to have a healthy respect for the cutting process.  Our friend Dan, AKA Stenzskull has made some insanely detailed, multi-layer stencils... 

Fremont Theatre, Painting by Stenzskull

and I've been a big fan of Rob Ryan's Papercuts Collective for a few years...

But getting a sneak peek at the madness that is this San Francisco city map by UK/Paris design studio: Familles Sumerbelle is intense.  They've even made a WORLD MAP version!

LOVE!

Not your traditional tattoo...

One of the Ambiance girls just had this tattoo done, based on the Lily Collection by Isabella Fiore.  Phew!  Talk about devotion to a brand... 

{Tattoo by Niko Raterman, Traditional Tattoo}

Cracking the virtual whip...

Pascal and I are working on a fun Summer project.

It's a surprise for someone special- but to keep myself motivated and accountable, I'm sharing this little snippet with you now.  

I don't know about you, but I'm much more likely to follow through with something when I've involved other people in it.  

Feel free to bug me about it ask about my progress frequently.  ♥

Billboard Valentines...

Jeff and I noticed this declaration of love on a local billboard a few days ago, as we were driving by.  

And the reply as we turned around...

Today he indulged me in a little trek through highway-adjacent farmland, so I could snag these shots to share with you.  Have you seen it?  I'd so much rather see this on a billboard than commercial coercion.  

It made me think of Steve Powers' "A Love Letter For You" series in Philadelphia- which I love oh so much and have been mildly obsessed with for a couple of years.  

Some of my favorites from that project:

I would looove to see something similar to these around SLO.  What do you think?  ♥

Home Reference... Free People headquarters!

I can't tell you how amazed I am by this space.  It's the Free People headquarters in Philadelphia, and it completely blows my mind.  Ok, it's not technically a "home", but this space is just oozing with home inspiration.  Can you imagine coming to work here everyday?  Inspiration overload!  My goodness, it's no wonder their collections are gigantic each season.  I'd be pumping out the goods in a workplace like this too!  

This photo made me think of an experience I had many years ago...  

In an art class, in intermediate school, we were asked to sketch our "dream home".  I drew this building:

I guess it doesn't look like much, but it's a GIGANTIC former sugar processing facility which overlooks Nawiliwili Harbor and Kalapaki Beach.  In the next photo you can really get a sense of the scale of this building, as it sits perched on a hill above a full-sized cruise ship.  Like I said, gigantic.

I'd been enamored with this building since I was a very little girl.  It has sat empty and unused since long before I ever set eyes upon it- fuel and fodder for a little girls' imagination to run wild with ideas.  I imagined a great big wall around my great big home on the hill, an indoor arena for my horses, skylights, and an indoor park...   The possibilities (and the square footage, it seemed) were endless.  My teacher, however, thought it very strange and asked that I choose between a second attempt at the assignment, or failing it entirely.  I attempted a weak argument; something about the clarification of a dream home vs. a dream house...  in the end, I reluctantly sketched a quick little square with a triangle roof because that's what she wanted.  But the truth is, this bulk sugar mill- far past its glory, was the dream.  I still feel its influence in my design preferences, and its spirit in the spaces that inspire me.

James is obsessed with the big, green Victorian on Pacific St. that overlooks Emerson Park.

What was your dream home as a kid?  What it is now?

the view from here...

I couldn't ask for a better one,  :)

custom portraits...

Oh my gosh, how cute are these?!

I love them so much! Patricia at Memi The Rainbow, is a very talented artist from Italy- currently living and studying in Paris. She did these super sweet drawings of Pascal and I together for the blog. The best part is that she illustrated both Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer versions! She's amazing.

Visit her blog for wonderful Paris insights, great DIY's, and lovely artist profiles. Then promptly head over to her etsy shop for adorable hand-cut stamps and other teensy accoutrements that you simply cannot live without. ♥