One Of A Kind...

Tonight I met Lauren after work to check out the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart, a vast indoor art festival held yearly near the holidays as an opportunity for attendees to purchase unique, handmade gifts for their friends and family. Like the Merchandise Mart itself, the show is overwhelming in its scope, and Lauren and I lacked the energy to see the entire thing this year, much as Mom and I had thrown in the towel without finishing it last year. Truly, one can only see so much art and handicrafts before reaching visual saturation.

One artist with whom I was particularly impressed was, of all things, a photographer. Most of the time, at art shows, whenever I see photography I think to myself, "I could do that, why spend my money on it?" It has been ages since I have seen some work with a truly unique concept, which is why I'm sharing this link to the work of Audrey Heller. You must click on it and go check it out. Out of respect for the fact that she makes her livelihood from selling her photographic works, I'm not going to steal any images from her site and reproduce them here. Just go check it out, trust me, it's pretty fantastic.

I was taken with several of her photos, but the price of her prints was a little outside of my budget, even with the early Christmas money I had burning a hole in my pocket. I was about to walk away with just a fond memory of her whimsical, slightly surrealist works, when Lauren suggested I pick up a copy of the artist's book, Overlooked Undertakings. I had originally passed over the book since real estate is at a premium on my bookshelves here in the city, and I thought I would be better able to enjoy Ms. Heller's art if it were hanging on my walls in plain sight. Lauren skillfully pointed out that as I had flipped through the loose prints for sale in bins, nearly each one had given me a laugh, or at least brought a smile to my face, so it would make sense to buy the book and have all of her photos at my fingertips. Her logic was hard to ignore.

When I got home, I googled Ms. Heller, and discovered that she also has an Etsy shop where she sells much smaller prints at a more economical rate. I couldn't resist, so I snapped up three of her culinary-themed prints: "Challenging Conditions," "Fish Out Of Water," and "Cloven." I might not have anywhere to hang them in my kitchen now, but they'll be ready and waiting for the day that I can afford my own place. I might have blown through my Christmas money in the first week of December, but it was well-worth every penny!