Tag Archives: zazzle

January 28, 2014 · 2:01 pm

To Cuba and Back/A New Year of Art

Apple of my Odd Eye’s artists just took a week off from our cold and hectic lives in Toronto for a week of relaxation and inspiration in Cuba. We’ve returned revitalized and ready to tackle the upcoming spring art show season. The next few months will be busy with craft show applications, printing, events page updates, and creating. First, we’d like to show you what Cuba brought us.

Cuba is beautiful. There’s no doubting it. While I haven’t focused on photography for a while (especially since we started Apple of my Odd Eye), Cuba made me remember how it feels to be trigger-happy:

: The resort (near Holguin, Cuba)

: The Cuban market

: Tamara, who cleaned our room, made blanket animals (and, once, blanket people) for us everyday.

: Hermit crab

: Sarah contemplating whether to kiss a sea cucumber

: Devin on the beach

We were astounded by the beauty of the country, but what was even more impressive was the skill of the craftspeople. For six pesos (between six and seven Canadian dollars), you can buy a beautiful cat mask, a pipe, or a wooden axe. For not much more, we saw detailed sculptures of dragons, paintings of the ocean, sensuous portraiture, terrifying skulls, and intricate jewelry. We bought as much as we could fit in our suitcases (some of which is pictured below).

Our treasure trove of Cuban market goods

While in Cuba, I also made myself try my hand at using oil pastels again. The result? I have a lot of respect for people who can use them effectively. This is all I managed:

Sarah’s attempt at drawing a flower in oil pastel

Now that we’re back, we’re excited about spring (and not just because it’s so much warmer). We’ve updated some of our display items in anticipation of a great season:

New Apple of my Odd Eye display

We look forward to 2014 and all the opportunities it offers for artistic growth and success. Now that we’re back, we’ll be working hard to bring creative content to you here on our site and at our Zazzle store.

– Sarah Y. Varnam, artist and co-founder of Apple of my Odd Eye

The Artistic Process, Post One

Hello, all.

I don’t know about you, but to me, one of the most satisfying things as an artist is taking an old piece (or, in this case, two old pieces) that wasn’t quite working and making something new and infinitely better out of it.

Cloud cut-out

I like to think that’s what happened with the piece(s) I worked on today. I chopped up an old painting of a skull done on a piece of cardboard sketchbook backing (I like to use whatever I can as “canvases”) that had never quite worked, added it to a neat background that I’d never been able to find a subject for, added some details to tie the two together, and there it was, a quirky little piece about accepting the mad, scary world, Alice-in-Wonderland style.

“Love this Mad World” detail (faces)

“Love this Mad World” detail (mouth)

I still might trim this on the right edge. We’ll see.

These kinds of victories tell me that I’m still improving as an artist and haven’t become complacent. They also tell me that I haven’t given up–I’m still determined, mad as it is, to continue painting. As we’ve been setting up the online shop to supplement the in-person shows we’ve been doing and working on promoting Apple of my Odd Eye, I’ve been exhausted by the amount of work involved (especially as this isn’t the only project we’re working on–check out geekcollateral.com if you’re curious about what I mean!) and definitely had moments when I wondered if I was losing my mind. Sometimes I’m still sure that I am. Knowing me, I’ll have to just go wandering after it, down the rabbit hole.

– Sarah Y. Varnam, Apple of my Odd Eye Artist

Apple of my Odd Eye’s Zazzle Store–posters, necklaces, iPhones cases, cards . . .

Apple of my Odd Eye is excited to announce that we now have a Zazzle store! We’re currently selling posters, necklaces, iPhone cases, and cards. Check it out and let us know what you think: http://www.zazzle.ca/appleofmyoddeye.

“Reach” – Sarah Y. Varnam

“Cat” – Devin P.L. Edwards

“World” – Devin P.L. Edwards

“Jelly Skull” – Sarah Y. Varnam

Tag Archives: zazzle

To Cuba and Back/A New Year of Art

The Artistic Process, Post One

Apple of my Odd Eye’s Zazzle Store–posters, necklaces, iPhones cases, cards . . .

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