Ok, I’ve written about Australian artist Laura McKellar at least four times, and yep, I’m still jealous of her work. Today however, I’m also jealous/inspired by her generous spirit. She is auctioning off the above artwork {as well as a photograph by Nikki Toole} in an effort to help those affected by the flooding in Queensland. The auction will “raise money for the Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal. All of the money raised will be donated. The auction will finish 9am Monday January 24th.” Please help if you can ~ Thank you!

{Oh, and speaking of good causes, yesterday I received my very own “green bag lady” cloth shopping bag in the mail, courtesy of the very sweet Teresa Van Hatten-Granath. It’s soo cute, and until the end of today you can get yourself an anniversary freebie bag… Yep! Just click here}

Merry Christmas ♥

Christmas always makes me feel lovey, mushy and thankful. This year I feel very lovey, mushy and thankful… and it’s all because of you! Thank you so much for making The Jealous Curator what it is. I never thought I would “meet” so many amazing people through a simple, little blog – but I absolutely have! Lovely emails, postcards from exhibitions all over the world, and amazing opportunities have shown up on my doorstep and I have you to thank! I also want to say a special thank you to a few artists who, completely unnecessarily, sent me some of their work during 2010 {shown above}. It was like getting Christmas presents all year-round… who wouldn’t feel lovey, mushy and thankful after that?!

Have a lovely holiday with your friends & family! Oh, and don’t forget to pop in next week to visit with my insanely amazing holiday guests! They’re fabulous, and they’re jealous… what a combo!

{1) Aris Moore 2) Lillianna Pereira 3) Justin Richel 4) Tali Yalonetzki}

Ok, so eleven days ago I wrote about an artist named Shaun Kardinal, an American artist who adds embroidery to found images… later that day I  found this ridiculously fantastic work by Stacey Page, an American artist who, as you can plainly see, also adds embroidery to found images {same technique, but very different results}. Now, not wanting to become totally predictable in what makes me jealous, I tried to space them out as much as I could.  For eleven long days these beautifully bizarre faces have been staring at me from my drafts folder, and I can no longer control myself! Call me predictable if you must, but the heart wants what the heart wants… and clearly my heart wants some embroidery thread applied to a vintage photograph.

{Oh, and did I mention that two weeks before the Shaun Kardinal post, I wrote about London based artist Maurizio Anzeri. Guess what kind of work he does…}

These handmade pages by American artist Samantha Cotterill {aka mummysam} make me want to dust off the old sewing machine and roll out the bobbin thread… except that I haven’t even thought about sewing since I was forced to make a pair of Bermuda shorts in ninth grade Home Ec. Hm, maybe I’ll just covet these instead. Yes… much better plan.

{Now that I have you in a sewing kind of mood, come on over to sfgirlbybay and see the newest addition to ‘the house that jealousy built‘…}

Blah. I’m sick. I need to be cozy, eat soup and sleep… but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a little bit jealous this weekend. Check out these five artists, and call me in the morning: 1) Kate Pugsley 2) Langdon Graves 3) Jenny Meilihove 4) Steve MacDonald 5) Anila Rubiku

Embroidery and vintage postcards… Oh, Shaun Kardinal, what are you doing to me? No self-respecting person should be this jealous on a Friday morning.

{via Junkculture… via Booooooom}

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so what better time to write about a collection of work featuring a whole bunch of pink, and a whole bunch of, well, breasts! Don’t be shy ladies. Check early, check often xo

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Ok, kicking things off by getting straight to the point, thanks to Team Macho:

Beautiful embroidery work {in a variety of cup sizes} by Jenny Hart:

“Mounds” by Margaux Lange… yep, those are Barbie boobs!

Charmaine Olivia… Deer heads and doilies!

Peregrine Honig’s Little Red Riding Hood showing off her bikini tan. Love, love, love!

Emily Barletta manages to make diseased cells look beautiful with her amazing crochet/bead work:

Lovely pink ladies by Tina Berning:

…and of course, a post about breast cancer wouldn’t be complete without at least of few pink ribbons. Pen drawings by Leigh Wells:

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For more information on early detection, treatment, or to make a donation, please visit your national site. Oh, and don’t forget to Think Pink! xx

US… www.nationalbreastcancer.org //  Canada… www.cbcf.org //  Australia… www.nbcf.org.au //  UK… www.wearitpink.co.uk

Italian born, London based artist Maurizio Anzeri transforms found photographs of perfectly cute kids into spooky, tribal, baboon-ish looking creatures using only a needle and thread. I’m totally in awe… and just a little bit scared.

{via The Art Monitor}

I wrote about American artist Lillianna Pereira last spring, but somehow, in all of the excitement of having a new artist crush, I must have missed these little gems! Or perhaps I blocked them out. You see, I tried using embroidery rings as an art surface during my undergrad. It did not go well. Really, really not well… but clearly they didn’t cause any trouble for Lillianna! Hmm, maybe if I had one of these lovely pieces hanging on my wall, I could move on? Yes, I definitely think that would help {hint, hint}.

Brian Downey is a curator at The Arts Company in Nashville. Not only does he have an amazing eye for art, he’s also ridiculously nice. We ‘met’ when he made a comment {a ridiculously nice comment, of course} on one of my posts about a year ago. Just so you know, whenever someone makes a comment, nice or not, I go and check out their site, and that’s how I found Brian’s very inspiring blog – Art, Design and Home. It was so inspiring in fact, that I ended up stealing writing about a bunch of his featured artists {don’t worry, I gave him credit… I promise!} Anyway, here is yet another fantastic artist that Brian discovered before I did:

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I’m jealous of Emily Eibel

I’m jealous of Emily Eibel.  As someone who took every studio art class I possibly could in college, I was constantly creating—pottery, sculpture, printmaking, even jewelry.  I’m not sure any of it was that good, and I can tell you with utmost certainty…it was nothing that anyone would ever be jealous of.  I was practically laughed out of my “Drawing I” class, so I have an enormous appreciation for someone who can put pencil to paper and create something that makes me take note and say, “Wow!”  Emily Eibel is one of those artists.  Not only does Emily create unique and quirky illustrations, she takes the process one step further by creating amazing, hand-stitched illustrations, and I have to say… I am in love.

These embroidered creations are sometimes disturbing, but always engaging.  These little gems would speak to anyone with a love of craft, which is one of the reasons I love them so much. Some of the most amazing works of art are the ones that combine fine art and craft, and Emily does this to perfection.  Her work is a more contemporary version of Miriam Schapiro’s “femmages” of the late 70’s, but with a simple style and a distinctly darker point of view.  I have only recently discovered Emily’s work, but I know I will be a fan for life.  How could I not?  She has quite a way with a needle and thread.  If only I had taken that darn embroidery class in college.

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Yes. My thought exactly! Why, oh why, have I never learned to embroider?! Thanks for stopping by Brian… and for being so ridiculously nice ; )

ps. Brian’s latest show, Inspired ~ featuring Julianna Swaney and Jonn Welles Bartlett, is on now until September 25th