Curio: Dawn Dudek's Filmscapes

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here with your weekly art break.

Reading the opening to Nathaniel's interview with Kirsten Dunst ("one half expects her to flicker when one meets her, as if she's being projected still", lovely!) reminded me of this painting by Dawn Dudek.

M escapes to dream.

2007, acrylic on canvas

Dawn creates magical split-frame paintings that go beyond merely imitating the atmosphere of a film; her paintings capture feeling of watching a moment at 24 frames per second. Her subjects range from more obscure films to the (slightly) more commercial. One of the fun things about looking at her work is figuring out what film inspired each painting. Some I recognized immediately, others took longer, and for many, I needed help. But not knowing doesn't detract from the experience at all. A selection of some of my favorites, below.

Cleo wears her new hat on Tuesday.

2007, acrylic on canvas

Su waiting for Chow

2006, acrylic on canvas

William in pursuit

2007, acrylic on canvas

El Paso

2010, acrylic on canvas

The twilight of Cathy Whitaker

2006, acrylic on canvas

Curio: Rich Pellegrino's Portraits

"Marty McFly" gouache
on hardboard, 5 x 7

Alexa here with your weekly art appreciation.

Nathaniel shared a link to this artist's work with me and I just had to blog it. Rich Pellegrino is a painter, RISD graduate, and child of the 80s. He paints in watercolor, acrylic, or gouache, straight out of the tube, creating richly textured portraits that are almost musical. ("I want a brush stroke to sound like a distorted A chord. You know -- something loud and visceral.")

It's not surprising that many of his subjects are musicians, but he's also inspired by film (especially the work of Guillermo Del Toro, who he calls a master of color and light).

Here is a selection of some of his colorful film characters. You can buy prints at his shop, too!

"Jack" (from The Darjeeling Limited) and "Audrey"

"Willy Wonka" and "Sobchak"

(Both from Gallery 1988 Crazy4Cult Group Show)

"Rosario Dawson/Zooey Dechanel"

Curio: My Holiday Wish List

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here with your weekly arts and crafts.

Every year I dutifully make up a wish list for Christmas, filled with things that I need (cozy socks, a blogging muumuu). But here is a wishlist of things to satisfy my filmic flights of fancy this year. In fact, I may have already bought one of these for myself. Merry shopping everyone!

Inception spinning top totem. Available here.

A nerdy filmstrip tote...

or button...

...or better still, some reel-to-reel projector hand towels.

And finally, something for me to wear during our balmy Chicago winter.

Curio: Christmas Greetings

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here with your weekly arts and crafts.

The hubby and I had a very predictable night last week, sitting on the couch, crying during It's a Wonderful Life. (My excuse is I'm still recovering from an appendectomy, making me all soft around the edges. He has no excuse.) Aside from this obvious picture, the holidays are really all about the movies, what with all the award contenders in the theaters, or terrible weather keeping you inside to catch up on that Netflix queue. So there is nothing more appropriate than sending some of these film-themed greetings to share the film love this season. Here's a selection to cover (almost) all the film lovers in your life. Happy envelope licking!

Something for the cult fans out there: a Wiseau Christmas.

A Precious Christmas (maybe a year too late).

A movie lover's 12 days of Christmas, including nine ladies leading, seven samurai swinging, and five golden Oscars. (Click to enlarge.)

Something for the traditionalist.

Finally, Alex Kittle is offering a sweet pack of badass holiday cards, including these inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Hebrew Hammer, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Buy 'em all here.