Sigh. Love. I have written about Canadian painter Holly Farrell so many times. She paints everyday objects like chairs, bowls, bars of soap, and yes… shoes! Holly’s work is going to be featured in my book {YAY!}, and when I was going through her portfolio looking for my favorite pieces the other day, I found myself gathering up a whole bunch of her shoes… and voila, today’s post was born! ♥

I wrote about American artist Stacey Page almost two years ago… well, clearly she’s been busy, and so clearly I have to write about her again! Portraits & embroidery? Yep, it gets me every single time. Gah!

I have a thing for found frames, color swatches and bold type… and now have a thing for California based artist Fred One Litch. Sigh… yep, I do love a giant A from time to time.

Ok. Yes. More faceless portraits. Clearly I can’t control myself, but hey, the heart wants what the heart wants… and my heart wants people with rainbow-hued embroidery on their faces, and vintage photos that have been snipped to bits and put back together into amazing kaleidoscope-ish configurations. London based artist Julie Cockburn, and her amazing portfolio, have everything my heart is looking for… and then some!

Um, Wes Anderson, if you’re reading this {insert pipedream here}, you should have an entire wall of these ship paintings in your next film… they’d be perfect, would they not?! Vintage looking work, in truly vintage frames, but these are recent pieces by American artist Mary Maguire. She clearly has a lot of talent… but wait until you hear what she did before painting. Ready?

Mary attended Rhode Island School of Design, worked at Alfred A. Knopf Publishing and Random House, followed by three years at Conde Nast Publications working on various publications including The New Yorker, Vogue and Conde Nast Traveler… inhale… she was then the Features Editor of Lauren magazine, a lifestyle magazine with designer Ralph Lauren, and then of course onto a position with The Muppets at the Jim Henson Company as Editorial Director. And then she started painting. Exhale.

Berlin based artist Nike Schroeder has me swooning over her series, Fundamental Reports. Her images are inspired by vintage photographs {usually from the 1940s & 50s} that she finds in thrift shops… and then, the embroidery begins! Anyone that can draw with thread is a-okay in my books {… and all of those loose strands – love!}. If you happen to be in Hamburg, you can pop by Urban Outfitters to see this work on display until July, 2012.

Oh, and also, there is this:

♥!

Not my usual kind of post {never fear, I’ll be jealous again in a few hours}, but I just wanted to show you what I found today… I don’t know about you, but when I’m feeling slightly uninspired, the best medicine is always a bit of a treasure hunt! There are three amazing thrift shops in my neighborhood, that rarely disappoint. I found a little yellow deer, and an aqua swan… yep, it was a ceramic gold mine! Feeling inspired… why, yes I am! And all for under five bucks! What do you do when you need a bit of a creative pick-me-up? Ceramic animals for you too?!

Vintage landscapes & big, bold numbers… yep, the graphic designer in me is completely smitten (♥) with the work of French artist/graphic designer Stéphane Massa-Bidal. Honestly, he had me at “5″

On Friday, I wrote about Mahmood Popal… well, this is the work of his lovely business partner/girlfriend that I mentioned in that post! Toronto based artist Danielle Hession has a portfolio full of beautiful work, but it was this series, titled Imaginary Friends, that got me. These collages make me want to eat cotton candy and pink cupcakes with my best friends… the ones you can see, and maybe a few that only I can see! Shhh…

I wrote about Toronto based artist Mahmood Popal way back in the summer of 2009. His lovely business partner/girlfriend just sent me a link to both of their portfolios {more on her in an upcoming post!}, and it turns out… I’m jealous again. Here are three major reasons to love the work of Mahmood Popal:

One…these little pink and aqua-clad men in his “A FEW GOOD MEN” series:

Two… “UNTITLED WHITE SERIES”:

And three: “VINTAGE PAPER SERIES”:

Yep… ♥ ♥ ♥