Yep. An old feather factory turned into a gallery, and several artist studios {psst… that are for rent!}. The Active Space is in Bushwick Brooklyn, and looks like this:

Oh, it’s like a huge blank canvas! I desperately want an artist to paint a giant feather mural all over the exterior… wouldn’t that be cool!? Maybe in gold!!! Anyway, this post is about them {not my feathery mural ideas} so let me get back to the point! It’s a space with one large showing gallery, and several individual artist studios {free heat included in the rent – you can’t beat that!}. Here is a layout of the space, two examples of the rooms, and some jealousy-inducing work from a few of the ‘Active Space‘ artists:

{1. Lauren Clay 2. Sebastian Vallejo 3. Matt Nichols }

They are having a grand re-opening this Friday night, February 24th from 7 – 10pm, and you should go!  They’ll be featuring the work of street artist Criminy Johnson:

Have an amazing time on Friday night… and tell them about my gold feather mural idea! Thanks ; )

Portraits by British artist Ben Hughes. I’m really not sure what to say about these fantastic, life-sized, half illustrated – half realistic, simple, yet detailed portraits… all I can seem to muster is a jaw-dropped, whoa ♥ {Oh boy… it’s that ginger-moustached man with his floppy sunflower, and piercing blue eyes… van Gogh meets Tin Tin, no?}

{Where did I find this amazing work? Well, Ben just happens to be the brother of the very talented Seattle based artist Tif Fussell – aka the crafting goddess, Dottie Angel. Seriously. The talent in this family is insane – insane I tell you! Happy weekend, see you on Monday!}

Ok, if you have ever worked with acrylic paint you know how fun/satisfying it is to peel the hardened paint off of  your palette. During my BFA I saved a whole bunch of this strange, plastic, skin-like stuff… but alas, I never made anything with it. Well, Seattle based artist Margie Livingston did. She created this fantastic work, that she describes as “both a three-dimensional painting and a sculpture made of paint.” That’s right these sculptures, or paintings, or sculptures, were created using only acrylic paint… layers and layers and layers and layers of hardened acrylic paint. So jealous.

{via Artsy Forager}

I’ve just started an exciting new collaboration {that I’ll tell you about very soon!}, and it has required me to dig through all of my old posts. It felt like flipping through an old year book – full of really good looking friends! Enter the work of Canadian artist Eric Cator. I wrote about his paintings a loooooong time ago, so it is definitely time to show more of his fantastic work. Aah, the compositions, the color choices, that lonely police officer… yep, this work should be voted “Most likely to make me jealous!”

Birds, boxes, bold type, and bright pink paint. Yep, it’s love. I found Toronto based artist Amanda Happé on Design*Sponge, by accident actually. I was looking for inspiring living room photographs {I might be doing a little redecorating soon!} and Amanda’s Toronto apartment was featured in their ‘Sneak Peek’ section. The first shot featured a credenza, and the top-most painting in this post. I instantly forgot about the living room and was in search of that painting, and hopefully more like it… and I was in luck! It was, in fact, one of her own pieces! I found it, along with all of this other stunning work on her portfolio site. So. Good.

ps. The final image is obviously a detail, but I desperately want to frame it and put it in my soon-to-be redecorated living room! ♥

Oooh, fire! Beautiful, candy-hued flames engulfing equally beautiful, candy-hued houses {both drawings, and found imagery}. Oh my word, I absolutely love this work by artist/designer Jennifer  Mehigan. She is a graphic designer who is currently working towards her BFA in Art Education at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, Australia. Now, not that I would ever want her to ever switch majors, but she may want to consider a career in Arson Forensics.

{via Art Hound}

Draw! Get it? Draw your guns, but also it’s a drawing… No? Ok, sorry, I’ll stop.

I found this fantastic cowboy-inspired work, by American artist Will Shea, on Mammoth & Co a few days ago. I loved all of it instantly, but have officially added that black, white, and red showdown to my art wish list… y’all. Ok, really, I’m done now.

A gold skirt, simple portraits, and one very festive sweater. This lovely, day-in-the-life subject matter, by American artist Christina Renfer Vogel, is exactly the kind of work that makes me jealous. Oh, and her hat, of course… I’m jealous of her fantastic, cozy fur hat!

{ps. I want that gold skirt, titled ‘Event’, in a fancy frame on my wall… it’s 36″ x 36″! Gorgeous.}

Yes, I really like portraits, but portraits without faces… LOVE! The crisp, clean jackets, married perfectly with the distorted pulled paint… sigh… so beautiful! These very well dressed, mysterious men are the work of French artist Carole Brémaud - and even though I don’t know what any of these fellas actually look like, I am in fact, completely smitten.

Ok, I’m jealous of anyone that can concentrate long enough to make something this unbelievably detailed! These amazing pieces are from a series, titled Black & Blue, by Melbourne based artist Lucas Grogan. Is anyone else getting a hand cramp just looking at these! So many tiny blue lines!

{ps. this work is ink, watercolor & acrylic on mat board and averages about 32×24cm}