Big thanks to Olivier and Marc for reaching out and highlighting some Sweet Ride art in the new issue of Steel magazine! BEAUTIFUL publication. I could thumb through it all day if I didn’t have to draw so much. Cheers!

As many of you probably know by now, I’m a pretty big fan of Scott Tuma, whose music has filled the Koelle family headquarters for years. If you’ve ever spent any decent amount of time at our house or studio, the chances are you heard Mr. Tuma’s music playing in the background, perhaps softly, perhaps loudly. The thing is, the beauty (and I don’t use that word lightly–real, tangible, audible, heart-aching beauty you can almost touch with the tips of your fingers through the air in the room) of much of Scott’s music is that even when it’s turned up loud on the stereo, it’s still as soft as the freshly made bed sheets you covered yourself under as a child with a warm-to-the-touch see-the-lava-red-color-of-blood-through-your-fingertips-pressed flashlight to light and warm the self-made gravity-laden cavern tent in the night with the lights out in your room, in your bed.

Last year I had the joy of creating the artwork / limited art edition for his last solo record Dandelion (Digitalis) and I’m so happy to have created all new artwork for this essential vinyl / cassette reissue of Not For Nobody (originally released in 2008 on CD also by Digitalis) presented by the always wonderful Immune Recordings.

I created as part of the reissue a very limited art edition book, bound by hand, featuring 16 pages of new drawing and collage artwork inspired by Scott’s own kaleidoscopic photographs of his surroundings–ravens, weather vanes, church steeples, barren branches.

Each hand-bound book (measuring 8.25×8″ folded) is printed full-color on thick card stock and individually signed and numbered in a limited edition of only 44 copies.

These limited art edition LPs will likely go fast. Pre-orders available now at Immune! $44 shipped in the US.

Been buried in Revelation App work, so a post is long overdue!

So, wow, I’m so excited to share this…!

Four of my History of Redemption illustrations were selected to appear in FRESH Volume 3! a whopping 352-page anthology of contemporary illustration from artists around the world, created by the designers of Slanted magazine, of the German Agency MAGMA Brand Design. You can order the book direct from Germany at the link above, or if you’re feeling a little less international, you can order from Amazon. There are also two other massive volumes, featuring both 3D-object and public art, forming a trilogy box set (w0w!)

It is quite the collection of international work, just beautifully designed and printed, and I’m very happy and honored to rub shoulders with such great artists from around the globe. Thanks, Slanted!

Some shots of my pieces followed by a few favorites in the book (lookit that fat 2-page spread, woo!)

Chapter 4 coming this Friday! @RevelationApp available now in the App Store!

The Book of Revelation. Stay tuned.  Follow @RevelationApp.

Meanwhile:

. . . for neglecting the blog for so long. Suffice it to say we’ve been working nonstop, me on a ridiculously insane graphic novel, and Annie on whatever awesomeness she sets her mind to, and Narshall on saving the world, oh, AND the laptop was dead for a good long while (thanks, lousy off-brand charger) so that kind of put a pause on Annie’s usually frequent posts here.

But hoo-ray, the laptop is back in action and we never stopped actioning, so there are plenty of things to catch up on. First off, there’s a show tonight at Art & Light, and there shall be tons of beautiful new gems from the heart and hand of Annie. Sneak peek here…

This weekend is Greenville Open Studios 2010, joy!  Annie and I are getting our studio and gallery all nice and pretty for the public, along with Jason Waggoner here at White Whale Studios. Things are crazy busy but we’re so excited to all be in Open Studios this year!

Check out the Facebook Event page HERE

I’ll have a ton of brand new prints from the History of Redemption book illustrations, some of which are shown here (and they look awesome! I’m so pleased with them). More sneak peeks at Dribbble too.

Annie will be showcasing a ton of beautiful pieces as well, all lovely little gems…

Oh, and we’re taking credit card payments now.  Yep, making it reeeeal easy for you.

If you’re mobile device savvy, be sure to visit www.greenvilleopenstudios.com on your smarty-phone for your oh-so-helpful Open Studios guide this year!  Sweet.

Come out to visit us and all the other amazing artists around Greenville!  It’s going to be an awesome weekend.

Finally, we have documented the Solo Andata Ritual Edition of One, an utterly unique hand-made box set created in honor of the inaugural release from Desire Path Recordings.

Beautifully photographed by my good friend and Desire Path collaborator Aaron Greene, the Ritual Edition of One includes:

- The Ritual 12″ LP Art Edition, featuring Ritual etching number 1 of 50, signed and numbered by C. Koelle
- 12″ LP featuring totally unique and singular blood-red marbled vinyl LP
- The original one-of-a-kind cover artwork painting, drawn in white chalk and China marker on a 12″x12″x1″ black-painted wood panel, signed and dated on back by C. Koelle
- A unique laser-etched CD-R containing nearly 40 minutes of exclusive, unreleased live recordings from Solo Andata
- All contents lovingly swaddled in white gauze and housed in a completely custom hand-made black wooden box with sliding lid
- $600 including shipping and insurance anywhere in the world SOLD

Although the Edition of One is spoken for, the Limited Art Edition, including a signed and numbered etching, is still available exclusively at Desire Path Recordings.  But if you want one, don’t wait because there are only 49 for the world, and once they’re gone, they’re gone for good!

Well, the reason it’s been so quiet around here is because our Macbook charger died and so Annie hasn’t really set foot on the internet lately, except for the occasional email check on my computer here at the studio. Still waiting on a replacement charger. Rest assured, Annie will be back to posting again soon.

Meanwhile, earlier this year I was honored to be approached by a brand new record label, Desire Path Recordings, about doing art direction, design, and limited edition artwork for exclusively vinyl-only releases.  Uh… yeah?  Dream job.

So after all this time, the 12″ vinyl LP is finally ready for the world.  Ritual is Solo Andata’s third full-length offering and the inaugural release for Desire Path Recordings.

I created a Limited Art Edition (akin to the Scott Tuma Dandelion LP from earlier this year) that includes a hand-drawn, hand-inked etching strictly limited to 49 copies (images below the cover art).  If you want one of the etchings, don’t wait because once they’re gone, they’re gone.  An ultra-deluxe Edition of One box set will also be available for purchase very soon, pictures coming soon…!

Sure, the “dark ambient” genre may likely not be your cup of tea (sorry mom and mom-in-law and fellow now-worried church members), but man, I’m really pleased with how the whole release turned out:  seriously stunning sounds (essential headphone listening!) and art I’m really happy with… (Textura’s review complimented “a cover illustration that distills the material’s essence into a single image.”)  It’s always such a pleasure when music, art, and design go together like cold weather, coffee, and a pipe.  Yum.

Thank you Michael, Paul, Kane, Aaron, Annie, and Marshall.

More pictures to come VERY soon…!

He turned 3 about a week and a half ago. He is creative and imaginative, he tells me about rabbits sleeping in nests in a tree on a mountain, about his rock band consisting completely of trumpets and horns, he loves to help me cook. I love you a million, Marshall Koelle.

So, Indie Craft Parade was amazing, thousands of people came and gathered all the pretty things, pretty things that I didn’t get to see. I loved talking to people about my paintings, but oi! I wished so badly to be wandering around to see the overflowing tables and booths. One booth I did see was that of Involution Design, felted jewelry. I pined for the long necklaces, but could only score a few of these amazing beads. Still figuring out the very bestest thing to do with them.

More of the Parade on Erin’s blog.

Two online magazines I have been clicking through, food, Sweet Paul (beautiful!), house, Rue.

I should be posting photos, shouldn’t I? Photos of some of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever arranged for a wedding, photos of the brilliantly successful Indie Craft Parade, photos of my son’s 3rd birthday party, photos of the fragile black swallowtail butterfly that emerged from the chrysalis I’ve kept on my window sill. Alas in nearly every instance I was completely caught up in the thrill of the moment and I just couldn’t bear to remove myself behind the lens of a camera. I had to be close enough to breath in every second of each beautiful happening. And there was always some other snapping cameras at most events for me to glean from.

Above, the art of Katherine Streeter, from her etsy shop.

A wedding of flowers to do this weekend, next week Indie Craft Parade! Oi!

Today watched my weekly batch of little boys for a kid-watch swap I do with another mom from church. . . we made these little boats inspired by the Jonah story and prop a smart teacher did for the kids in Sunday School this Sunday. . . I wish my own audience had been entertained for longer by them, I think I could have made them all day! Here are some directions to fold your own. Its fun to cut out sharks and schools of fish to lay around on the floor. . . if you actually have the time, I did consider an ark of animals, but my paper wasn’t quite big enough.

Watercolors brought out after a long repose. He seems to have more patience with them now. I love how he gravitated towards my own favorite colors and put them in little swatches. I watch him walk to the fridge and touch the papers, “look at all my colors, i painted them” he says over and over.

Below, he received a homemade card from his Poppi with flaps over pictures to lift. He asked to make “doors” too, so we did, it was so fun! And hurrah, he got to use his favorite adhesive, tape! I drew monsters and spiders for him to hide under his scribbled doors, howling and cringing in fear for his little boy humor. Thought- speaking of little paper doors, I think my husband should design advent calenders, I couldn’t help but remember the beautiful ones from my childhood sent over from “grandparents’ in Switzerland ever year.

The world is a beautiful place, especially where people are very poor. Interesting.

By Steve McCurry, always good at what he does.

and more, beautiful Russians, and more beautiful Russians, old Russians. Both from wonderful TeenAngster

Here’s to hoping these are around when Marshall is a bit older and reading Kipling stories. . .  I don’t suppose these lovely paper puppets would withstand the ferocious impulses of a toddler. Animal Poetry by Furze Chan.

Farmers Market flowers for the kid show, I forgot to include this one. The marigolds were so stinky at first, but they were so perfect I had to get them anyways. And look at that Cock’s Comb! Actually it should be called Cock’s Brain I think, it was a bunch that had grown together.

Made by Joel, a blog by an amazingly creative dad, such great ideas, I feel shamed that I do not spend so much time figuring out fun stuff for my kid to do. . . clicked on it first at I Made it So.

and Freunde von Freunden, a German sort of site like The Selby, thank you Emma for posting the link.

KID ART SHOW @ White Whale Studios & Gallery from Chris Koelle on Vimeo.

The kid show. I am terribly exhausted, but, it was the best show I have ever hung. The walls of this old house have never been so refreshed I think.  What a night, downpour of rain that made a river through the walk, Dan swooping in like a hero, the clouds peeling pack with my prayers, and many more adoring art fans than I anticipated. I wish the world could have seen these pieces, especially the titles, I’ll post some more about that tomorrow. I am now the owner of Jude’s “the bluish shine” and Helena’s elegant wire face, should it not be in the MOMA?