Cool Stuff: Team Zoila!

Did any of you guys watch Flipping Out this season?

Remember that portrait the lovable (if slightly sadistic) hot mess Jeff Lewis commissioned of his feisty Nicaraguan housekeeper, Zoila -- without telling the artist that the portrait in question was a gift for the person she was painting? And that he then gave to poor Zoila in lieu of the one measly weekend off that she requested for her birthday?

The resulting portrait -- while kinda cool in an arty sort of way -- was unflattering in the extreme, and Zoila was understandably hurt. Umm, nice move there, Jeff.

Anyway, Bravo has decided to auction off the offending painting, with the proceeds earmarked for Miss Zoila's own bad self. (That's Zoila busting a move with my other Flipping Out favorite, executive assistant Jenni Pulos, swiped off of Jenni's Facebook -- because, yes, I am Facebook friends with the divine Ms. Pulos. Well, me and 913 other people. Is that cool or sad and pathetic? I can't decide.)

The auction started a little while ago with an opening bid of $500, and is already up to $2,550. Bidding ends on Tuesday, August 19.

So what are you waiting for? C'mon -- don't just do it for Zoila. Do it for put-upon reality TV minions everywhere.

(Via Scented Glossy Magazines -- which, by the way, just published a kickass interview with way-too-good-for-that-job former Jeff Lewis houseboy Chris Keslar.)

Etsy Find of the Day: Phunk Lab Custom Digital Portraits

Such a fun idea: Etsy seller Phunk Lab (aka Australian digital artist Fleur Northcote) will turn a regular snapshot into a personalized art piece that's printed on canvas and ready to hang.

For example:

This ...

... becomes this.

Though Phunk Lab specializes in "lovers' portraits," I think this deadpan, old-fashioned-style family portrait (a custom job for one of her customers) is kinda genius, too.

Just email Northcote a digital photo, and pick your background (newspaper, French poetry, or handwriting) and colors. In addition to a stretched canvas, you can also receive your portrait as a rolled canvas or a digital file that you can print yourself. Prices range from $55 for digital art only, $114 to $139 for a stretched canvas, and $89 to $199 for a rolled canvas (shipping included).

Find out more right here.

Etsy Find of the Day: John Clark's Portraits of Women

These portraits, drawn with Sharpies on old book pages by Ann Arbor, Michigan artist and Etsy seller John Clark, remind me of that Nails song 88 Lines About 44 Women. (Uh-oh, am I showing my age again?)

The images are deeply penetrating, the imagined stories behind them perhaps a little sad, the succinct titles -- formed from words on the page that have been left exposed -- telling but elusive. I can't stop thinking about them. Top: No Man is Worth That Much; above: I Wanted to Get Away

Clockwise: My Empty Bed, He Loved Her, Close the Door, and Without a Word

Clockwise: That Last Night, I Saw It in Your Face, Another Story, and It Was Very Hot

There are dozens more, all equally compelling. Prints are just $10 each; originals, $70 to $100. Clark will do custom portraits as well.

(Discovered Via Holly Becker's "A Few Good (Etsy) Men" slideshow over at the Domino site.)

The Artful Home: Vintage Oil Portrait

I'm so beguiled by this century-old oil portrait on wood, available at the Paris Hotel Boutique.

Who was this beautiful woman? Who painted her so lovingly? What was she thinking of as she gazed off into the distance? I love the muted colors and the aged appearance of the painting, too.

The 11.5-by-15-inch portrait is $150 right here -- and while you're there, check out the other original portraits in the Paris Hotel Boutique Gallery.