I seriously don’t know how I missed this, and I feel bad because if I had known I would have shared much sooner about the great wife of artist Matte Stephens — her name is Vivienne Strauss. I mean I knew of her, but I had no clue that she is also an artist who has not 1 but 3 Etsy shops! Yes three! Oh the many sides of Vivienne Strauss…

The first etsy shop is called The Other Side of Vivienne where her paintings are sold, then there’s a shop called The Double Sided Vivienne with original collages, and finally the third featuring vintage patterns called Modern Design 901.

I stumbled upon her paintings when I was looking at Matte’s fun owl head costume and noticed a comment there from his wife, and I followed the comment straight to her Flickr photostream where I discovered this whole WORLD of lively art by Viv herself. Then I located her shops and can clearly see her eye is for retro quirky characters that range from Josephine Baker to ladies with poodles and oh-so-posh lifestyles.

I’m quite pleased to have found Vivienne and to know that Matte and Viv are a couple of really cool who do what they love, are in love, and making people happy with their art. But you know what they say… behind every good man is a GREAT woman so I should have known than Vivienne must be some kind of wonderful because look at the mega-successful Matte. Three cheers for artistic couples!

(images from vivienne strauss)

13 Responses to “The Many Sides of Vivienne Strauss”

1 sarah jane and bentley commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Love it!!

sarah jane and bentleys last blog post: Vintage Market Sale at Etsy….
2 Rikkianne commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm

What a dream! I love her collages.

Rikkiannes last blog post: Supermarket Monday…
3 Matte Stephens commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Vivienne is my whole world We have only spent 2 nights apart in 6 years.When we first met I knew that she was the girl for me. I lived in a really bad artists studio at the time that you were not supposed to live in. On our first date we sat in a canoe that was in the building and talked until the wee hours of the morning.She looked like she was out of a 1920’s movie and was so fun to be around. I can only hope people are as lucky as I was finding someone to spend there life with. I’m so glad you posted her artwork she will be so thrilled!!!
4 Carrie commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:50 pm

so fantastic!! i’m a huge fan of Matte’s and have always loved the prints he does that feature her, she really comes alive in his work. i’m thrilled to know that Viv herself is just as creative. they really are a dream duo and i’m happy that they are fellow Pacific Northwesterners now
Carries last blog post: happy halloween!
5 Vivienne Strauss commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:05 pm

Wow!!! I am totally blown away!! Matte has been completely supportive of my art. He’s mistaken though, our first date was at my house where I drank red wine and ate olives. He was a really shy guy back then and completely terrified of me. Our personalities are less extreme now so we’ve been a real complement to one another. Thank you for the great post!

Vivienne Strausss last blog post: Veronica Likes Pink
6 315thomas commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm

wow, great stuff!

315thomass last blog post: new website launch!
7 Matte Stephens commented:
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm

That wasn’t our first date We met at an art opening and some friends of mine thought we would make a good couple. I didn’t like going to openings and usually didn’t say anything to anyone the whole time. Vivienne just came over and talked and talked The next thing I knew my friends wanted me to go with them to her house and have a snack before we went out but I ended up staying and talking with her .Then I called her after that and we had our first date
8 natalie. commented:
November 4th, 2008 at 1:10 am

those collages are to die for!
9 Suse RevoluzZza commented:
November 4th, 2008 at 4:27 am

Awww, these paintings are amazing! Thanks for sharing!

Suse RevoluzZzas last blog post: RevoluzZza goes Nationalgalerie
10 bussbuss commented:
November 4th, 2008 at 5:58 pm

what a rare, adorable, inspiring couple! i love that their work has such a similar vintage 50s/60s vibe, yet is still distinct.
11 shoppingsmycardio commented:
November 4th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

i am SO, SO, SO glad you have featured vivienne’s lovely artwork. her style is so delightful and fun - i’d collect it for the interiors alone (her subjects live in some fabulous homes!), but the characters and the piece names really seal the deal.

i’m lucky to have one of her pieces hanging in my home right now, and it brings me cheer every time i look at it. i can’t wait until i have a few more!

(and, by the way, that little comment convo between vivienne & matte might be the cutest thing i’ve ever seen.)

shoppingsmycardios last blog post: what i want today: diana kane jewelry
12 JaneG commented:
November 5th, 2008 at 9:20 am

hahaha those comments just put that cherry on the top!

JaneGs last blog post: Love Project
13 Michael Billington commented:
November 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

I found Vivienne through flickr and have become a huge fan of her retro-collages. She uses 1950s magazines to create the most beautiful works and I particularly like her lingerie and old camera sets. We have done a few trades and so have a few of each other’s works in our collections. Keep on Viv!

Michael Billingtons last blog post: 4

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