Lizzy House: Miracle Fish

Miracle Fish, by Lizzy House.
15% of the sale of this print goes to Farm Sanctuary.

Lizzy House is a printmaker, textile designer, and illustrator. Armed with a BFA in Printmaking, she travels the world in search of inspiration.

A born go-getter, Lizzy was the youngest designer in the textile industry when she began four years ago. She is thrilled to be working with The Working Proof.

When she isn't printing or designing fabric, or sleeping on an airplane, she is probably planning a party or writing a list. If neither of those is underway, she is probably tying a bow on something and/or someone.



About the print:
The original Miracle Fish artwork was created as a monotype, and was printed using nearly 400 paper fish that were cut out by hand. The idea behind the piece is that we each count. No matter what, someone cut each of us out, and whether we are in the background or the forefront, we individually matter. Sometimes we get lost, but no matter what, the value of the fact that you ARE, and that you somehow CAME TO BE, matters. Find yourself and make it count.

This is a digital print on acid free, Neenah uncoated matte 100lb cover paper that is 80% recycled. It was digitally signed by the artist and was numbered by The Working Proof.

PURCHASE $30!

Process image.

What has inspired you recently?
I've actually been very inspired by the idea of creating strictly from what you already possess. Whether it be an idea that you have already had, or materials that you have saved up...I really like the idea of being forced to dig deeper within very limited constraints.

Why did you choose to pair Farm Sanctuary with your print?
I chose to pair my print with Farm Sanctuary, because I believe that we as human beings have an obligation and a stewardship to the animals on this earth. By factory farming to feed our ever-increasing appetite, and our crazy need to have the same hamburger everywhere on the planet, we are extorting the lives of these animals. I choose to support humane growers in their efforts to protect the lives of these animals, as well as their charge to educate the public and future growers.



How have you seen art transform the world around you?
I just moved, and I felt like I was hanging out in a random place until I took the time to get the art work that I have collected onto my walls. It's my home now!

If you could pick one artist to mentor you, who would it be?
Charley Harper. I have seen time and time again that independent of one another (obviously) we come to the same conclusions, which leads me to believe that he and I process things in a similar way. I think that not only would we have a good understanding of one another, but I would love to learn to refine and simplify my work as impressively as he does.

Who are some artists you think people should know about?
I try to stick with myself to stay fresh, but it brings me great joy to see the work of: Bombo!, Dan Stiles, Jon Klassen, and many more.

Mark Alsweiler: The Big Sky

The Big Sky, by Mark Alsweiler.
15% of the sale of this print goes to Transportation Alternatives.

Mark Alsweiler is a New Zealand artist who gained a Bachelor of Arts in 2005, majoring in graphic design. He is currently living and working in Sydney, Australia. Some things he likes to do with his days are: painting, graphic design, skateboarding, snowboarding, listening to music, trawling junk shops, consuming food and looking forward to exploring the rest of the world more.



About the print:
I think that when I first painted this drawing, I was really wishing I owned an old motorbike and could play the guitar.

This is a digital print on acid free, Neenah uncoated matte 100lb cover paper that is 80% recycled. It was digitally signed by the artist and was numbered by The Working Proof.

PURCHASE $30!

What has inspired you recently?
Neil Young's tunes.

Why did you choose to pair Transportation Alternatives with your print?
I chose to pair my print with Transportation Alternatives, because I am all for steps that help to create a cleaner environment.



How have you seen art transform the world around you?
It can put a smile on someone's dial.

If you could pick one artist to mentor you, who would it be?
Pretty hard question! Working alongside Basquiat would be pretty cool. I like how he seemed to have a very spontaneous and free approach to making a painting. It would be cool to have seen him in action.

Who are some artists you think people should know about?
Michael Swaney, Robin Cameron, Jeremy Blincoe and Cam O'Connell.

tracciamenti: Dress #30

Dress #30, by tracciamenti.
15% of the sale of this print goes to Teach For America.

tracciamenti is the screen name of a 47-year old artist who lives in Italy. She is an architect by training, but hasn't worked as an architect since she was 20. In her twenties and thirties, she lived in Venice, where she attended university and worked as a graphic designer and as a freelance tableware designer for several Italian companies. For a short period, she also worked as a fashion designer in Milano, interrupting her studies briefly. She has studied and worked in several foreign cities (New York City, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, and in Guatemala). In 2003, she moved to a city in the north of Italy, where she teaches at a public school.

Visual work silently accompanies tracciamenti's life, but recently she has reduced the number of exhibitions and public activities that she participates in, communicating mainly through the web. She believes more in mutual exchange than in the value of shopping, although even she knows that a perfect world is not possible, and continues to sell her artwork on occasion.



About the print:
I made this artwork in 2009 after reading some lines in a magazine about decorations on haute couture dresses. They are made using the labor of young women living in far eastern countries, whose very small hands are able to make incredibly complicated embroidering. Dress #30 is a completely digital drawing and consists of a vector illustration that was then elaborated upon in Photoshop.

This is a digital print on acid free, Neenah uncoated matte 100lb cover paper that is 80% recycled. It was digitally signed by the artist and was numbered by The Working Proof.

PURCHASE $30!

What is the typical process behind your work?
I don't have any rules about making sketches of my final pieces. Sometimes I help myself with some words and color notes, other times I'll do a quick drawing in my Moleskine. In the case of Dress #30, there was no process piece - after reading an article in the newspaper about far eastern workers employed in the fashion business, I imagined the artwork as it is.

What has inspired you recently?
In the last two years, I have mainly worked with dresses as a subject, but have avoided using fashion as a reference. I always try to express something directly from my personal condition or am inspired by what I see and read. I often use pieces of poems and sentences that I take from essays – I can hardly imagine my visual works separated from the importance of words.

The dresses in my artworks are intended as a structure and a vehicle for different kinds of verity, even if this important concept (verity) sounds so big and distant when compared to my drawings! The final goal is to make people think about something that is not directly connected with dresses themselves - rather with peculiar aspects of the human condition. Sadly, most people consider my artworks as merely decorative and fashionable research, while in reality they are exactly the opposite.

Why did you choose to pair Teach For America with your print?
Pairing my work with a charity gives a different and better meaning to the use we make of money. At the same time, it turns attention to more important themes that we should never forget.



How have you seen art transform the world around you?
I don't trust so much in the word "art" as we use it in recent times. I think that nowadays substance and quality have been substituted for quantity. Making something pleasant is very easy, but in most cases, we have lost the capacity to produce artworks so high in quality that they can challenge the passing of time and deeply transform the world.

If you could pick one artist to mentor you, who would it be?
For very different reasons I would have liked Francis Bacon or Andy Wahrol to have been my mentoring artists, even if this is just a crazy, intellectual fantasy.

Who are some artists you think people should know about?
As you can imagine, my inspirations are not constant but change frequently over time, following my goals and circumstances. Everyday I browse many different works of art through the web, of famous and unknown artists. In general, I feel attracted by artistic works that provoke an intellectual and moral conflict in myself, and that don't represent a merely aesthetic inspiration. But this can be hard to transmit to others, because it is a strictly personal feeling.

In the last few years, I have particularly appreciated the work of Miranda July and the early productions of Richard Prince, but I often study and follow the work of masters which are pretty far from my personal style - for example, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, and Christian Boltansky. In general, I must say that any artistic activity should be accompanied by a constant and critical form of study and investigation, not only in the art field.

Featured Charity: 826 National

This week, support 826 National. For each print sold that supports this charity, we will donate 20%, instead of the usual 15%. See the prints here.

Lisa Solomon - Pilot Wheel Doily Wall Decals

About 826 National:
826 National is a network of nine nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping students, ages 6-18, with expository and creative writing.

Our mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

Each chapter offers after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, and in-schools programs — all free of charge — for children, classes, and schools with particular interests or particular needs.

826 is especially committed to supporting teachers, offering services and resources for English language learners, and publishing student work. All locations offer unique retail experiences as well.

Ben Javens - Untitled

Laura Berger - Slip