Showing posts with label Cara Carmina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cara Carmina. Show all posts
1 com

*Smart Design Mart:
Cara Carmina and Jackie Bassett

As you can see, the drawing at the entrance has evolved from the first evening of the *SDM. When my children, husband and I crowded into a full elevator, I was concerned about the number of people that might already be there. My son tends to kick it into high gear when there are TOYZ, and I knew that there were a fair number of custom toys to set him off. Fortunately, the second floor of 160 St. Viateur East, is a good-sized open venue that can accommodate a lot of people.

The other two featured artists of this year's *Smart Design Mart 2010 are Cara Carmina and Jackie Bassett. Pssst...Double click to enlarge photos.


Frida Kahlo Dolls
Featured Artists
Cara Carmina

I found out about *SDM through Norma Andreu, the creative force behind Cara Carmina.In addition to creating her one-of-a-kind Frida Kahlo dolls, which are sold in museums and high-end shops throughout the city, this Mexico City native also makes beautiful cards.

Cards by Cara Carmina
I had contacted her via Facebook to see if she had a line of Christmas cards, and I was in luck. The problem is that the cards are so nice that I knew I would have difficulty parting with them. Norma's aware of that, so on the reverse side of the card's envelope she has added some embellishment so that the envelope can also be used as matting, and you can frame the picture. This in itself would make a nice inexpensive gift.

At *SDM, Norma is displaying mostly cards, and just a few of her dolls, but I highly recommend that you visit her Etsy or her FlickR page to get a better idea of her work. You can also see a previous review of her work here.

Featured Artist
Jackie Bassett

Girl on Map of Wisconsin
Pressed Flowers
Displaying alongside Cara Carmina was Jackie Bassett. She specializes in cards and pictures with rich-coloured hand-picked pressed flowers. This Nepean, Ontario native also uses vintage maps and old encyclopedia pages as a background for photographs, she then reduces the image to create beautiful detailed cards. I chose the picture below set against a vintage map of Wisconsin from 1945. You will be drawn to the colour alone of Jackie's work. I know I was. For a better idea of her work visit her Etsy page.

Related posts:
*Smart Design Mart: Feature Jack Dylan
Cara Carmina's Magic Dolls



.
Read more »
4 com

Cara Carmina's Magical Dolls

A Mexico City native and the creative force behind Cara Carmina, Norma Andreu is showing her magical dolls at Artistri, 5319 Park Avenue, Montreal. As soon as I walked into the shop, I found myself wide-eyed in front of the display. When I think of dolls, for some reason antiques always come to mind, but these are modern and funky, and definitely worth a trip to Artistri to see.

The Dream Whisperers (left) are inspired from the Guatemalan quitapenas dolls. Before you go to sleep at night, you tell the quitapenas your troubles, then put the tiny doll under your pillow, and your troubles will magically disappear. The dream whisperer is the more ambitious version. You whisper your dream to the doll before you go to sleep, and in the morning your dream should come true.

My favourite collection was the Frida Kahlo (right) and Remedios Varo-inspired dolls (left). I learned from Norma that Spanish-Mexican painter Remedios Varo was a friend of Kahlo.The Frida dolls all have a quote from the artist embroidered on the stomach

Click on the pictures to enlarge.


The third collection is entitled No One's Children. These dolls have no parents and are waiting to be adopted.

Norma Andreu's dolls and other découpage work can be purchased at Artistrithe Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, la Librairie de Verdun, Perfide, or directly from her shop on her blog. Check out the prices. I found they were reasonable for the amount of work she has done.

You can join Norma Andreu on her Facebook page. 

Read more »