Valentines Day, the day hopeless romantics adore and the loveless abhor. A day to celebrate love, to test the gift giving prowess of beaus, to sell countless and disposable cards, candy and flowers. A day to wallow in self pity or loudly profess that you neither need or desire love in your life. Love it or hate it, not one of us is allowed to completely ignore it's passage. This Valentines Day, why not focus on Friday the 13th instead and win yourself a little something both beautiful and a little macabre.
Win this set of one Death's Head Moth magnet and numbered 6/66 ACEO of 'Drawn' made by Diana Crites of PaynesGrey.
Win this set of one Death's Head Moth magnet and numbered 6/66 ACEO of 'Drawn' made by Diana Crites of PaynesGrey.I have had the fortune of meeting many wonderful artists in the last few years and few of them have been as lovely and talented as Diana. She has an eye for finding the beauty in the odd making her work surreal and memorable. I have discovered through her blog that we also have more than a couple of things in common and her words are as compelling to read as her art is to see.
Here's a bit of bio for you: Diana Crites is a fine artist with a special interest in the dreadful. She has shown in California and throughout the Portland area, including the inaugural exhibition at Pi-Rem Gallery in the Pearl and has been a featured artist at Intown Works III at the historic Old Church in downtown. Her paintings are held in private collections in throughout the United States, Paris, and British Columbia. She also keeps a blog at http://amutedpalette.blogspot.com
Now The Rules:
-Visit http://paynesgrey.etsy.com, and peruse her amazing art.
-Pick your favorite item from her shop and then come back here to this blog post, and leave a comment telling us about what you liked.
-If you are not a blog user, make sure to leave your name and email so you may be contacted should you win.
Want more chances to win...read on
-For an additional entry, tell us a love story or anti-love story as a comment, whichever is your bag.
-For an additional entry, tweet this giveaway, then leave a comment to let us know you've done so.
-Finally, for an additional two entries, blog about this giveaway on your own blog (complete with links and pictures), and come back and leave a comment telling us you've done so.
-This contest is open to residents of the US only.
-Contest ends on Friday, February 13th (I know, ironic huh?). Winner will be announced the following Monday.
Ooh, good choice! I love this giveaway because it's like Halloween in February. Kind of like Christmas in July. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite piece in her shop is her Delve painting. It's fantastic.
Just tweeted about the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWhile I really liked a number of the pieces of art; Harriet stood out because I had such a visceral reaction. I was 'comfortable' with the Bear, Resolve...and I like the dark implications of the childhood piece (childhood being such a precarious space). But those two I could 'relate' to.....
ReplyDeleteHarriet however, was deeply troubling (for one thing I am afraid of fire ~ having drug my mother from a burning house when I was a child). It wss my piece because so much is actually going on within the art; plus in art ~ the reaction is the thing!
Bev
I am so proud to have a wonderful piece of Diana's original art in my personal collection. She really is an amazing person, and if you do not follow her blog - you should!
ReplyDeleteI was burned at a wedding when I was 4 years old, with the monogrammed matchbooks at each table. That is where I discovered my love for lidocaine. :)
Harriet has always held a special place in my heart. I retweeted the giveaway, too. Everyone should have some of Diana's art in their lives.
I love all the drawings and the new magnets are wonderful. If I had to choose only one, it would be the b'rer rabbit and b'rer (something else). Well done, Di.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this painting: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8813448
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the thought that's gone into the composition. The triangular layout that still seems weighted to the right, the way that the brown background created a warm backdrop to the cold blue gray, and how the white birdy really pops as the focal point. It's well done.
Also, you've been blogged:
ReplyDeletehttp://battlemaidenart.blogspot.com/2009/02/another-great-giveaway.html
Also, tweeted. Good luck with the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI love the irony in Resolve. What a wonderful artist! Thank you so much for introducing her to me.
ReplyDeleteTweet Tweet!
ReplyDeleteI've got my eye on the OOAK The Thumbsuckers Fate Custom Set
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20202276
Our family comes from a long-line of thumbsuckers, so I appreciate this macabre twist on the habit.
shel704 at aol dot com
Tweeted:
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/auntiethesis/status/1177528309
shel704 at aol dot com
I suppose this might not be your standard tale of love & betrayal but it's all I can think of now after having seen the PaynesGrey site and "The Thumbsucker's Fate"...
ReplyDeleteMy best friend was 8 months pregnant and called me upset because her husband had come home drunk the previous evening. She begged him to sleep in the bathroom but he insisted on coming to bed. True to her fear, he proceeded to get sick all over her and their bed. As we talked , I wasn't aware that my 5 year old son was listening to our conversation.
Fast forward to the next evening. My friend invited our family over for dinner. My son was sitting on her couch engaged in his favorite habit, sucking his thumb. My friend's husband began teasing him about starting school with his thumb in his mouth and being a baby. My son turned to him and said "I suck my thumb but at least I don't throw up in my bed".
shel704 at aol dot com
It's hard for me to choose a favorite, but I'll have to go with Haunted. It just reached out and grabbed me.
ReplyDeleteJust blogged about the giveaway. Such a good one.
ReplyDeletehttp://jewelstreetdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/02/you-may-want-to-read-thisif-youre-fast.html
I'd have to say The Thumbsuckers Fate custom set is my fave....love the moth's, but since that is the prize I thought I'd go with another.
ReplyDeletecontact: tiltcreations@gmail.com or convo me at tiltcreations.etsy.com
I just tweeted it...and is it just me, or does that always sound kinda naughty?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is her Childhood painting.
ReplyDeleteNeat giveaway! Thank you for introducing me to PaynesGrey's art. My favorite item in her shop is the Death's Head Moth Magnet, so I really hope I win. ;D
ReplyDeleteYay, and I just tweeted her giveaway at http://twitter.com/aquariann
ReplyDeleteI love "Harriet." What original and cool art. I shall be tweeting this.
ReplyDeleteDmedtrans @ blomand.net
Wonderful giveaway! I love the Harriet ACEO in the shop! Some seriously wonderful drawings!
ReplyDeleteI love the melancholy of the "Want" print. I've been in the position of the rabbit more times than I'd like to admit.
ReplyDeleteboldnessbe(at)gmail(dot)com
Loving "de Laughin' Place". "Haunted" made me giggle. I dont know if that was the intent though :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to this amazing artist! Her work gives me the same "uh oh" feeling that I would get as a child reading Edward Gorey's books that looked like they were for children but really were not. Dark & disturbing with the knowledge that even worse, unimaginable fates were lurking just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked "Delve" & "The Thumbsuckers fate", but am going with the seemingly innocent "Childhood" as my favorite.
Big thank you to everyone who's entered, and for all the kind words. I really appreciate it all.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to leave my own story of love gone wrong. I have so many! But this one is already typed out and family friendly (unlike the majority of the rest). This one has to do with a dolt, a hidden agenda, a portrait, and an early death. Click me.
Looking very forward to choosing a winner and sending off my dark Valentine. Thanks again!
My personal favorite is "Drawn". It's always reminded me of the struggle between exercising personal gratification and what's really right. Being a parent has only served to heighten the meaning.
ReplyDeleteI got a kick out of Childhood -- an original oil painting, framed.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great giveaway.
tskrush(at)cox(dot)net
i love teh childhood painting. great artist!
ReplyDeleteI like the Boston Terrier Oil painting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
Wow, Her Art is so stunning and surreal. I was amazed at some of the drawings. I really love the one called Haunted:)
ReplyDeletecyclona66@aol.com
My favorite Love story is not my own but my grandparents. I think it is the sweetest thing that they have been together for over 60 years. My grandpa was in World WarII and my grandma likes to show us the letters that he sent to her while he was gone.They never fight and he likes to tease her (in the good way) He even smacks her on the butt..too cute:)
ReplyDeletecyclona66@aol.com
The Resolve Bear is my favorite, I think the amazing color palette and the circus-ish feel - I also love the idea of succeeding despite ridiculous circumstances.
ReplyDeleteGreat contest, and wonderful artwork, thanks!
Wow, what a great giveaway! My fave is the Thumbsuckers Fate.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20202276
very cool work I love the Mawnin' -- an original ink drawing, framed
ReplyDeletecon5459(at)gmail(dot)com
Oh, thank you for pointing out paynesgrey's charming work! Her muted fire is just right for my mothish style...
ReplyDeleteI adore the OOAK piece "The Thumbsucker's Fate Custom Set," as the framing work is quite cunning, and I do so love grim folk tales. The cross-hatch work is stunning, and the piece has a very attractive dark cabaret feel.
Must I choose just one favorite? Her "Want" (11x14 limited edition fine art print) also speaks volumes to me. Topically, I have been engaged in rabbit rescue for years, and currently have two loved lapine companions (her use of the lapine word "tharn" in the item description caught my attention right away!). Thematically, I am ever guilty of shying away from just what it is I desire most.
The giveaway has been duly tweeted here: http://twitter.com/nullalux/status/1185445542.
I have blogged about the giveaway on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=3223880, which is also syndicated in many other venues, including LiveJournal (http://syndicated.livejournal.com/nullaluxfbnotes/).
Here is my love story:
Song of You
The helical banner of your hair,
corrugation of your brow, tiny
spines of your eyelashes,
prayer of your ear, unpolished
rough of your cheek,
splash of your mouth, blue
pulse beneath your jaw,
vault of your shoulder, long
hours of your arm-joints,
scallops of your fingertips,
casket of your chest, knick-knack
rhyme of your ribs,
pearls of your vertebrae, halfway
hunter beneath your belly,
hermitage of your inner hip, heavy
coin of your kneecap, old
fisherman of your ankle tendon,
deleterious stamp of your sole,
the capers of your toes,
brine-soaked and spread:
this is the terrain,
without sight or map, I tread.
My favorite of Diana's (and it is a hard choice) is her Boston Terrier Chain Gang Sculpture, which sold way to quickly and I never even had a chance. Other than that I love "Delve".
ReplyDeleteMy love story is way too long to leave as a comment, but it is a good one :)
wow there's nothing like wishing my paycheck was bigger...loved drawn and haunted but my favourite was definitely snip snip, its so beautiful even with the dark edge to it, and oh my the craftsmanship, I am totally in awe, if it was me my lazy ass still wouldn't have finished it, or my clumsiness would have smudged coffee all over it almost finished...
ReplyDeleteoh no i just read the rule only open to us oh well....still fantastic work and will tweet it too
ReplyDeletei love the Drawn ACEO.
ReplyDeleteit's beautiful.
-kate
jaded_anthem@yahoo.com
hmm, love story/anti-love story, i think i'll go with an anti-love/revenge/that's what you get you b*****d story
ReplyDeletewell, i dated a guy awhile ago. horrible times. he manipulated me into thinking i was worthless, and into saying and doing things i didn't really want to do. he was constantly comparing me to other girls and talking about how pretty they were. we eventually broke up, after i woke up from my stupidity.
he contacted me somewhat recently and told me he got paid back tenfold for what he'd done to me. i laughed hysterically in my head as he then proceeded to tell me he'd been engaged to a girl for quite awhile, only to have her dump him on his birthday.
oh, revenge is sweet, especially when i had nothing to do with it.
-kate
jaded_anthem@yahoo.com
Oh I have always loved the original "Delve"....one day when I win the lotto...or some such similar happenstance, I shall buy it. :))
ReplyDeleteMy fav is want!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13214253
freebloggiveaway at gmail dot com
My love story -
ReplyDeleteI met my husband while I was dating someone. Fell in love, left that other someone, got married, bought a house, got a dog. Classic boy meets girl :)
tweeted
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/BlogGiveaways/statuses/1180043992
freebloggiveaway at gmail dot com
blogged
ReplyDeletehttp://freebloggiveaways.com/2009/02/05/very-vicious-valentine-giveaway/
freebloggiveaway at gmail dot com
just blogged about it!
ReplyDeletehttp://k8lynr.blogspot.com/
-kate
jaded_anthem@yahoo.com
Yay, please sign me up for two more entries because I blogged about it!!
ReplyDeletehttp://aquariann-art.blogspot.com/
I wrote a little about my own love story in the blog, does that count for another? My first date with my boyfriend was actually on Valentine's Day two years ago ... and it took me about a week after to admit he swept me off my feet and agree to being his girlfriend. I can be very stubborn. ;D
I love "Delve." The clockwork appeals to the steampunk in me, whereas the adorable cuckoo adds a sense of whimsy to the otherwise dark image, and really draws the viewer in.
ReplyDeleteI fell totally in love with "Delve." I might be moderately biased, since I'm also a Diana, but I still find her work insanely appealing. It has a bit of a Tim Burton feel to it. Gorgeous though.
ReplyDeleteI just tweeted this too!