I don’t even know what to write… this has been hush-hush for so long… but finally, I can tell you all of the ins & outs of my book that has just been released by Chronicle Books {available in stores all over the world?!!} Let’s start with the title. It’s called CREATIVE BLOCK, and here’s what it looks like (an instagram taken with my very old phone, but you get the idea):

*The cover was designed by Dinah Fried at Chronicle, and then painted by Toronto based artist Amanda Happé. I love it so much and am proud to have had such talented people working on this project.

SO, WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT:

I came up with the idea for CREATIVE BLOCK for myself, just as much as for all of you. I wanted to make something beautiful – a contemporary art book filled not only with inspiring images, but also inspiring words, advice, and tips to help amateurs and professionals alike, find their way through those days when the ideas just won’t come. Because everyone who dabbles in something creative feels that way at some point – right? Right. I wanted to write this book to show you that if you’re feeling this way you’re not alone either. I’ve written hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of posts about successful, working artists who seem to have this whole “creative thing” figured out. But surely they have blocks from time to time? How do they get through them? Where do they find fresh inspiration? How do they handle negative feedback? Does it stop them in their tracks? Now, these full time artists don’t have the luxury of not finishing, or giving up on a project – not when they’ve got a gallery or art buyer waiting on them! So how do they push themselves through those moments when the ideas just aren’t there? Or when the ideas are there, but their hands or materials will not cooperate.

THE ARTISTS:

Finally! I’m thrilled to reveal the list of 50 amazingly open, honest, witty, thoughtful, funny, talented artists that allowed me to interview them about their own creative blocks, insecurities, and inner-critics. Not only did they give us a candid view into their creative process, but each of them wrote a “creative unblock exercise” to help shake us out of our own blocks. Amazing? YES!

Gah! Almost 300 pages of stunning contemporary artwork, insightful advice, and creative-unblocking tips. It’s soooo good, all thanks to that amazing list of people who have been such a huge inspiration to me. I’ll hope, actually I know, they’ll inspire you too!

WHEN & WHERE:

The book is now on shelves, all over the world, as of March 2014, and online via GREAT.LY, Chronicle Books, and all of the other usual suspects. Check the side bar for upcoming book signing events! See you there!

ps. Thank you so much to Jerry Saltz, Brené Brown, and Faythe Levine for writing endorsements that will appear on the back cover – I love that you love it!

Oh, yes! Flat, graphic collages with a definite design-quality to them… you might even describe them as “architectural”. Hm. Perhaps that’s because they are the work of French architect Alexandre Ciancio. AND perhaps that’s why I want to pack up my things and move right into one of these ideal little worlds. I pick that pink world with the fancy kiss… minus the baby running away.

{thanks to Pauline for sending me a link to this work}

Embroidery and photographs… yep, my favorite art recipe! This series is titled Berlin, and is the work of American artist Diane Meyer – it shows the former path of the Berlin Wall. Oh, if only that wall had actually been made of soft, colorful thread:

“This aspect of the sewing emphasizes the unnatural boundaries created by the wall itself. The sewing, which is soft, provides a literal contrast to the concrete of the wall and a metaphorical contrast to its symbolism.” ~ Diane Meyer

Lovely. But, we can’t stop there. I wasn’t quite finished snooping around in her portfolio, and look what I found from another series, titled Time Spent That Might Otherwise Be Forgotten:

Ahh… so much nostalgia! You can never go wrong with a bunch of cross-stitching, some Christmas sweaters, and a little old school Donald Duck. Love, love, LOVE!

{via The Design Ark}

It was that jumpy girl in the meadow that sealed the deal when UGallery asked me to be one of their guest curators… then I found the coral nail polish it ALL came together! I chose just over 30 pieces for my little collection, and these are a few of my faves… cactus and a giant watermelon? Yep, these really are GOOD THINGS. You can find the full collection right here…

{ps. all of it’s for sale…fyi, in case you’re in the market for a giant watermelon}

1) Valerie Chiang 2) Nicole Newsted 3) Mark Yaggie 4) Nicole Newsted 5) Bryan Jerabek

A polka-dot horse? Annnnd, I’m in. This is a peek into the portfolio of French photographer Anaïs Kugel, aka Julie Cerise. These are a few pieces from her dreamy “stories” series, léa and coralie … I wonder if I could convince her to rename it léa, coralie, and danielle because I really want to ride a polka-dot horse, with a fish-bone braid in my ginger-hued hair, while wearing leopard flats and a bowtie necklace. Sigh.

{I discovered her work on twin-niwt, a fabulous blog featuring all things ‘twin’}

Ok, before the love, I have to start by saying that tumblr ain’t my favorite thing in the world. It just seems to be a giant sea of images that rarely link back to the artist who made the work. That drives me nuts!

Anywho, I digress.

When Sandrine Kerfante sent me a link to her beautiful site, twin-niwt I started letting go of my tumblr rage, because I was seeing double… and I liked it! Sandrine has collected such a gorgeous group of everything twin-like. ♥ ♥ These are just a few of my favorites {I was tempted to copy and paste everything she had on there, but… well, that would be crazy, right?}

1) Sonia Szóstak 2) unknown  3) unknown via fromthewings 4) Ariko Inaoka 5) Anne Malmberg 6) Budi Cc-line 7) Kristina Petrosiute 8 ) unknown  9) Clayton Cubitt 10) Julie Cerise {*thanks to sandrine, and everyone else that jumped in to fill in the blanks on a few of these!}

Oh boy. Where to start? This is so romantic, and so artistic… and soooo romantic! Ok, on their first date, while out for a walk in West Virginia, Photographer Nick Olson and designer Lilah Horwitz sat and watched the sun set from a hilltop. Yes, that’s already romantic… but wait… it gets even better! While chatting on that hill, they thought it would be amazing to have a house made out of windows so that you wouldn’t have to watch the sun set through one small square…. so a year later, and a lot of time spent at garage sales and flea markets, they built a cabin of windows in the same spot where they had that very first date. Told ya… love, love, love – on so many levels!

There’s a very sweet film about this artsy couple by half cut Tea – have a look:

{via Colossal}

I honestly don’t know what I love more… the beautifully complex wire sculptures of Asian American artist Ruth Asawa, or the photographs of Ruth with her beautifully complex wire sculptures. Sigh… it’s all just so stunning. Sadly, Ruth passed away, at the age of 87 in her San Francisco home on Monday night. I found this lovely statement about her, from the curator of American art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco {Timothy Burgard}:

“Ruth Asawa will be remembered for the extraordinary wire sculptures that so beautifully interweave nature and culture… [she was] a pioneering post-World War II modernist whose works have transcended the multiple barriers she faced as an Asian American woman artist working with traditional ‘craft’ materials and techniques. She lived to see all of these confining categories challenged and redefined.”

Rest in peace, Ruth ♥

Oh, you guys. This is gonna be good!

So, just to refresh your memory: I’ve been asked, by the lovely Emily Henderson, to curate a show in LA at The Fig House, a new event space that Emily is designing/styling. I received zillions {literally} of submissions and I want to thank you all so much for that! Now, I’d like to say that made my job easier, but it really just made everything a whole lot harder… there was sooooooo much fantastic work to choose from, and I had the tricky task of getting it down to TEN ARTISTS! Impossible? It felt like it a few times. Well, after much back and forth, I’ve got a truly amazing group lined up. Yes, there was really great work by lots of people, but this came down to finding pieces that will work well together, and work well in the space that Emily is creating {art deco meets the 80’s. For real, people.}.

Here is a little taste of what will be on the walls when The Fig House opens this fall:

YAY – I love it all! As soon as I know the exact date of the opening party, I’ll let you know. See you soon, LA!

{1.(and right *) Stephanie Vovas 2. Kai Samuels Davis 3. Jaime Derringer 4.Ellen Heck 5. Clare Elsaesser 6.(and left *) Emily Rickard 7. Max Wanger 8. Nike Schroeder 9. Amy Wilson Faville 10. Zoe Pawlak}

You know how I feel about Polaroids, right? And, you probably also know how I feel about geometrics… not to mention found image collage. Ok then, check these out:

Oh! So good. Canadian artist/curator/all-round creative guy Randy Grskovic is the man behind these lovely gems, which are an exercise in exploring memories whose documentation has been lost {ie., your mom threw out a bunch of your childhood photos when you left for college – why would she do that?!}.

Now, what I love even more than these images is that Randy didn’t stop here. I’ve often talked about how much I admire artists who continue to push themselves and evolve their work – well, have a look at part II in this “Found Photographs” series:

Are. You. Kidding?! ♥

{ps. Randy has an indigogo project happening right now, titled “100 Patrons” – it’s all about the artist/patron relationship, and making affordable art accessible to all. He’s half way to his goal with 17 days left. Pop over there and help if you can.}