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This year get your presents for people you know from artists you know.

I've decided that I would rather buy from artists I know.

They produce amazing work all year round so why not help out someone who doesn't have a huge marketing budget?

 

Here's the list.

(Currently in no particular order. It's actually fun to browse. I'll be adding to it regularly)

Dave Dorman
Get Star Wars prints here.
Dave is an illustration legend that I have had the good fortune to know since the mid-80s when we met sitting next to each other at Dragoncon. To say Dave has a body of work to choose from is silly. A collection of his work came out and it weighed 5 lbs. Any Star Wars fans in your house? How about Aliens? Batman? Indiana Jones? You'll find something for them here.

Peter Mohrbacher
Angelarium and Vandal High and his Patreon site.
Peter produces stunning images that often justify the use of the phrase "jaw-dropping".

Ania Morhbacher
Ania is one of my favorite artists ever. Her work is whimsical, imaginative, sweet, and immaculately executed. Great for adults, but kids will love her work too. Check out her website.

Ian Narcisi
Get his Music and check his Zazzle store.
Ian thinks big. Concept album big. Beautiful music to fill the home and heart.

© Bannister Todd

Richard Neal Miller
Check out his music. His band, Waiflike, has been described as "Mud-spattered yet melodic music about the miserable, the mainstream and the mutinous." On CDBaby they recommend you get Richard's music if you like David Bowie, The Beatles, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Melanie Bolen
Melanie will get you in shape and eating healthy. Check out her site.

Then check out Melanie's friends:
Megan's Etsy shop 
Tara's Etsy shop
Beth's Etsy shop 
Christina's Etsy shop 
Catherine and Sarah's Society 6 shop 
Lindsey's Etsy shop

Stuart Conover
Check out his work in anthologies.
Stuart has been writing for awhile now and you can find a lot of it in these anthologies. Spooky stuff for the horror buff you know.

Kathryn Ware
Her Etsy Shop
Kathryn has beautiful photographs on her Etsy site. These would make excellent gifts.

 

Kai Leakes
Buy her books
How can you not check out an author who was part of a Cyberfunk anthology?

Mike Kennedy - Magnetic Press.
Mike has put together a publishing company that produces some of the most beautiful comic book art you will ever lay your eyes on. The packaging and formats are always sublime and gorgeous.

(That's Mike and his lovely wife, Liz)

 

Dave Dorman's Wastedlands Omnibus

 

LRNZ's Golem

Peter Mohrbacher's Angelarium

Tony Sandoval's Doomboy

Patty Templeton
Get her first novel here. And lots of cool free stories on her website.
I'm going to let author Richard Kadrey tell you about her:

"Patty Templeton has a devilish imagination and a brimstone pen. You will leave her stories scorched." -Richard Kadrey, Bestselling author of the Sandman Slim series

 

Iris Compiet
Iris is a wild spirit and creates dazzling illustrations and paintings. Here is her Society6 site. She has also won the Hebban Fantasy Award for the Best Dutch Fantasy book two years in a row now for her books "Heksen Kind" and "Heksen Waan" with her co-creator, Martijn Adelmund.

Pearl there, (the octopus lady on the left) is currently on show at the Kosart Effects Studios - The Art of J. Anthony Kosar and for sale through this link http://www.kosartgallery.com/2015-maleficium-online-gallery.html

Jillian
Jillian and her store, Ritual. She makes fashion, music, and more. I love the clothes she makes and it is all part of a larger artistic aesthetic and lifestyle.

Patricia Smith
Patricia is an illustrator with her work at Studio Smugbug. Dynamic and colorful, her science fiction themed works are among the coolest.

© Patricia Smith

Nikki-Michelle
Nikki's new book, Bi-Satisfied, just came out in November. Not afraid to take on controversial topics, Nikki tells it like it is.

Stranger Comics
Stranger Comics is a whole mess of talented folks led by Sebastian Jones. Among their artists are Peter Bergting and Ashley A. Woods.

The Handcuffs
The Handcuffs = one of my favorite bands. Great music, great people.

Get their albums at Cd Baby.

 

© 2013 Charlie Athanas

Persimmon
Persimmon - Pamela Matiosian's fashion boutique in Wilmette, IL. Pam travels the world to find cool designer clothes, accessories, and other fun items for her store. You can both buy things online and visit her store (which has it's own expresso bar).

 

Comix Revolution
Comix Revolution has been my go-to comic book store for years. A beautiful, well-laid out store that not only carries comic books, but an assortment of cool literary books, magazines, toys and more.

Willow Dawson
Willow is another of my favorite artists. She has an elegantly simple style that is deceiving in it's brilliance. With a few strokes of a paintbrush she can evoke a wide range of emotions, movement, and textures.

 

© Willow Dawson

Forest Rogers
Forest Rogers. What to say about Forest Rogers? Mind-blowing. Phenomenal. Original. Haunting. I could go on and on. I LOVE her work. In person, you cannot believe how striking these sculptures are. Support this artist.

Do a google.com image search for "forest rogers". I'll wait. 

Amazing. Isn't it?

© Forest Rogers.

Elizabeth Leggett
Elizabeth Leggett is a Hugo Award winning illustrator whose work evokes powerful humanness even when the content of the piece is abstract.

 

© 2014 Elizabeth Leggett

Craig Elliott
You've seen Craig Elliott's work in many movies whether you realize it or not. He has worked primarily for Disney and Dreamworks, designing their animated films such as Hercules, Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, Treasure Planet, Shark Tale, Flushed Away, Bee Movie, and Enchanted, Monsters vs. Aliens, and The Princess and the Frog as well as other upcoming features. He paints women in a style that loves the figure and honors their personality and his color combinations are rich and sumptuous. I like it. AND he does jewelry.

© 2009 Craig Elliott

Lee Moyer
Lee Moyer is a illustrator, game maker, art director, and all around good egg whose artwork is stunningly influenced by classic illustration. His poster work is sublime. Plus, he is prolific as hell. His website is a wonderland of art worth journeying through.

© 2010 Lee Moyer

Douglas Klauba
Douglas Klauba is a painter that explores what I call neo-pulp. He produced an amazing piece for one of WildClaw Theatre's Deathscribe posters and was part of a group show at Hevanston gallery with Dave Dorman and Aaron Miller.

Tony Vick
My pal, Tony Vick, is an encyclopedia of musical knowledge. He is also in the bands Din and The Remember Knots. Din released an amazingly cool album that gets heavy rotation at my house.
Check it out here.

Forté Framing and Gallery
Jude Mire (author) and Jill Cooper (designer/artist) own Forté Framing and Gallery. So not only can you get cool artwork from artists on this site and at their gallery, you can have them frame those pieces you buy!

Brian Messiah
Brian Messiah and I met when we were both in the band, Vanishing Children. Brian's an amazing musician and he helped craft the Ralph the Punk tune, Hot Monkey Love. He has a new record out on CDBaby.

Natalie Slater
Natalie Slater is one of the coolest people I know. She's smart, she's beautiful, and she's funny. Add to that she has also written an amazingly fun vegan cookbook. If you are looking for the right gift for someone who is following the vegan path or who is curious to check it out, Natalie's book, Bake and Destroy: Good Food For Bad Vegans, should do the trick.

Plus, she has lots of fun vegan and Bake and Destroy shirts and mugs on this website.

 

Sidetracked Studio
Rory Coyne and Lauren Levato Coyne, along with Michele Mahon Jahelka opened Sidetracked Studio, a storefront studio of artists that also presents gallery exhibitions of visiting artists, workshops, and lectures. Located in Evanston, these two have created a great space with an excellent eye for contemporary art. Well worth visiting and checking out art for your holiday gift giving.

Raf Nieves
Raf has an online store, Raf Nieves Made This, filled with cool design-centric posters and art that are perfect for holiday gifts. Beautifully designed posters featuring Chicago suburbs are among these treasures (Berwyn never looked so good.)

Oh yeah, did I mention Raf is also a hella talented writer - check out Raf Writes.

Aaron B. Miller
Aaron is a painter of monsters, dragons, and Chicago streets. He was part of a show I curated at Hevanston Gallery that included Aaron, Dave Dorman, and Douglas Klauba.

Killer work by Aaron can be found here.

Samantha DeCarlo
Samantha DeCarlo works in a variety of mediums including some amazing work using Sharpies. Her imagery can be striking and in your face or restrained and subtle.
Here is her Society6 store.

 

Mike Libby
Mike is Insect Lab and produces intriguingly original work. I am the proud owner of one of his pieces. It made me feel like an Art Adult when I bought it.

Definitely do an image search in Google for "Mike Libby Insect Lab".

 

Donna Stoneham
Donna has just released her book, The Thriver's Edge: Seven Keys To Transform The Way You Live, Love, And Lead. We went to Trinity University in San Antonio together and it is exciting to see the publication of her book.

 

Ray Frenden
Ray is an artist I met at an artist forum out in the suburbs of Chicago run by Kevin Sandstrom. Ray has an electric style and is well respected within the art community for both his talents and his product reviews. He is a generous spirit and not only sells artwork, but the tools to create your own. Among other things, Ray has been intimately involved in the relaunch of MST3K.

Check out Ray's shop!

Peter Schmid - Atelier Zobel
Peter is a cutting edge jewelry designer in Germany who regularly travels the world showing and selling his stunning work at shows like SOFA. When Julienne and I first encountered Peter's work (through his beautiful and talented wife, Susan Barry) we learned a valuable lesson. Always try jewelry on. What might look too unusual or unwieldy in the display case can be transformed into a seamless piece of art on the body.

Visit Atelier Zobel.

 

Natasha Vineyard
Natasha is a mother, model, fitness trainer, roller derby star, and a designer. Her Etsy store, X-Fam Creations, is full of fun gift items for the holidays.

Check out X-FAM CREATIONS!

 

Clare Martin
Get some cool cozies from Clare's store.

Check out her Etsy shop

Jeff Busch
Jeff was one of the artists we had the privilege of showing at Hevanston Gallery.  His work ranges from elegant landscapes to the quirky and bizarre. I like it. 

His website is right here.

 

Gracie Hagen
Gracie is a contemporary photographer whose work is thought provoking and often poignant while delivering a strong message. She gained international recognition for her series, Illusions of the Body.

Check out her work.

 

Jody A. Lee
Jody has items both beautiful and funny in her Etsy shop. Her etsy shop represents her contemporary art and crafts inspired by a life by the water.

Check out her Etsy shop: A Studio by the Sea

Also check out her fine art.

Martin Atkins
Martin has what you need if you are into music collectibles and the perfect gift for that hard to buy for musicophile (Is that a word? I doubt it, but you know what I mean). His store has stuff from all over his career, which includes PiL, NIN, Ministry, Killing Joke, Pigface and more (like Invisible Records.)

Check out his store.

 

Bill Reinhold
Bill is another amazing comic book artist that I have known forever. He and his wife, Linda Lessman, are two of the nicest people on the planet. But enough about that - Bill has worked on every major title you can think of - Silver Surfer, Daredevil, Batman, Punisher, Earth X, etc.
Bill's the good looking guy in the middle of the pic, flanked by some doofus on the left and Alex Ross on the right.

eBay store - http://stores.ebay.com/Bill-Reinhold-Inner-View-Gallery
Comicartfans- address re-direct is http://www.hedrawscomics.com/
2DGalleries-  http://en.2dgalleries.com/browse/profile?id=1646

 

Joey Wester
You've probably seen Joey's paintings before. Her work is often adorning the sets of movies and tv shows. She is also a kickass drummer, among other things.

Check out her site here.

 

Rodney Dollar

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Tony Maldanado

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Nate Azark - 12 Line Studio

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Bob West - Thought Nozzle

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Elizabeth MacQuern

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Ingrid Kallick

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ingridkallick?ref=account-nav-dropdown

 


 

Stay tuned. Plenty more folks to add.

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