Gonzo cartoonist Ralph Steadman was recently profiled by Holly Williams in The Independent:
Ralph Steadman is best known as a gonzo cartoonist, the sparring partner of Hunter S. Thompson who provided the suitably weird illustrations for Thompson's whacked-out and wasted writings. The British artist's inky sketches, both jagged and loopy, perfectly captured the hallucinations and paranoia of Thompson's drug-fuelled classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, while his acerbic political caricatures have graced the pages of Punch, Private Eye, The New York Times and Rolling Stone. Less well known is his proclivity for drawing dogs. (read full article)
Artist and mom, Kristin Loffer Theiss brings her modern sensibility and her MFA degree from The School of Visual Arts in NYC to the world of children. The result; her klt:works blog, Etsy shop, and websitewhich feature her works inspired by the unedited creativity children tempered by the eye of an artist trained in form, function, line, texture, and color.
I especially like Kristin's dog plush toys and t-shirts made from silkscreen prints of her free-motion thread drawings. And, of course, her model, muse, and son, Sayer is a doll.
Thanks, Trish Holbrook Meyler for letting me know about klt:works.
P.S. Kristin's blog is really a treasure of visual inspiration for any artist or beauty lover. Highly recommend.
P.P.S. Yes, the plush toys are for kids, but I think they would be fun for dogs too. I know one little dog who would delight in tearing these works of art to shreds.
I owe you all an apology, especially those who like Japanese-contemporary-dog-art-live-drawing-to-Tom-Waits exhibitions. I love them. But in the flurry of Christmas gift guides, I missed telling you about Seitaro Kuroda's Mad Dog Show at the hpgrp gallery in NYC last October.
Kuroda did a weekend-long live drawing session exploring the idea that dogs might not be that into domestication by humans, and perhaps they are mad about this. How would we know, since we are too busy obsessing over their cuteness. Kuroda produced dozens of Mad Dog drawings as he listened to the soulful songs of one of my favorite singers, Tom Waits, "whose music has been compared by the artist to barking dog."
This event sounds like perfection to me. If they had a tasty cheese platter, fresh-baked baguettes and a Shiraz served in crystal stemware, it I would consider it Nirvana, because dogs were welcome too.
So, since I can't undo letting this dog art news slip through the cracks, I am attempting to recreate it for you. First, click on the YouTube video of Tom Waits singing Ol' 55…
…then scroll down and enjoy the Mad Dogs and the photos of Kuroda at work. You might also want to pour yourself a glass of wine and snuggle up with your dog and ask him if he's mad.
