Birds, little feet, and bits of gold… oh, so lovely. These pieces, by Montreal based artist Dominique Fortin, are mixed media on wood, and are all part of a series titled “Entre ciel et terre” {“Between Heaven and Earth”}. I have to say, they make me feel a little bit sad, but I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I never had my very own peacock on a gold leash? Yes, I think I might have liked that.

I’m not sure how she does this {photoshop, watercolor, both?} but I like it! Berlin based artist Jennis Li Cheng Tien has a portfolio full of installations, interventions, and sculpture… and then there are these three pieces. Ghostly images married perfectly with the most cheerful color palette a girl could hope for. Gorgeous.

When I was in San Francisco for GIRL CRUSH, Lisa Congdon took us on a little gallery tour in the Mission, which ended at the very inspiring Gallery Hijinks. It’s a great gallery that manages to hang amazing show after amazing show. Well, this might be your chance to be in one of those amazing shows! They’ve put out a call for submissions and the deadline is June 1st… so quick like a bunny, and get your stuff in! Here is absolutely everything you need to know:

Gallery Hijinks is proud to announce its first juried exhibition, “Visions of Yore”. Along with the gallery director, Tanya Gayer, Gallery Hijinks has invited guest juror Emily Lakin of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to be a part of the selection process. The exhibition will occur July 7th, 2012, and include live performance and artists lectures during the month, as well as an auction at the close of the exhibition.

Submissions are open to a range of work including sculpture, painting, printmaking, sound, video, installation, and mixed media work. The exhibiting artists should demonstrate the  quality of their work and relevance to the exhibition concept. The exhibition is open to all artists aged 18 and over. Artists must be willing to take on personal responsibility for their artwork if unsold after the exhibition closes. Entries should be completed within 2 years prior to the deadline. The exhibit is open to the public.

Visions of Yore:

Katharine Harmon, the author of The Map as Art, notes that to ‘orientate’ is to, “hop back and forth between landscape and time, geography and emotion, knowledge and behavior. Associations often happen with this idea of orienting because of memory springing from these categories.” To translate memory is to recall the sensory and time sensitive elements of a memory.

Memories coexist with time and space neither in the present or past, nor in one location at one time, but in fact exist and apply aspects from different places and people at all times. The process of remembering takes place in such an instant that memories only have concrete form by way of specific documentation.

Gallery Hijinks seeks works that  come from our beliefs of memory. At times memory cannot be pinned down, but only felt as a means of consciousness vying for a state of attention. Cues encountered in everyday life evoke past recollections without effort, while sometimes we deliberately try to piece together the past. Artists are encouraged to submit work in homage to memory and how it is recognized in regards to the visual and formulated.

Exhibition Details:
Deadline for submissions: June 1st, 2012
Submission Fee: $20
Artists accepted for the exhibition will be notified by June 4th. Works must be delivered to Gallery Hijinks no later than June 27th, 2012.

To submit please visit:
http://www.galleryhijinks.com/about/juried-exhibition

Yep, it’s my birthday… the last one in my 30’s – um, when did that happen?! Anywho, I have always loved my birthday, and today is no exception! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite images from my “random lovely things” pinboard … because, quite frankly, most of them sort of scream birthday! Ok, here we go:

Thanks for being part of my special day… I’m going to spend the rest of the day riding my new pink bike with my lovely husband, and eating chocolate cake. A lot. See you tomorrow!

{1. Glass bubblegum paperweights 2. Painting by Amanda Blake 3. NOW mirror by Doug Aitken 4. Neon/neutral party decor 5. Donut Queen! 6. Donut painting by Emily Eveleth 7. Mixed media cake by Martha Rich 8. YOU LOOK GREAT mirror by Jade Rude 9. Mixed media photograph by Unknown … to me anyway}

Ahhh, these paintings make me want to exhale. So simple. So quiet. So lovely. They are the work of American artist/illustrator Elizabeth Mayville. As much as I love these buildings, and simple still life pieces, it was actually a couple of slightly bizarre portraits that roped me into Elizabeth’s portfolio:

Yep. Ladies with birds on their heads. Love.

How do you know when someone is your friend? When they find something like this, and immediately send you the link {thank you Victoria!} These amazing painted animal masks on photographic portraits are the work of French artist Charlotte Caron. They were featured on Trendland yesterday, {so I’m sorry if you’ve already seen them}, but I couldn’t control myself – I had to post them too… it was that petite deer in her cream cable-knit sweater that got me!

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:

♥!

Pink. Black. White. Enough said.

…ok, wait… I have to say more! Not only are these gorgeous mixed media pieces {acrylic, graphite, pastel, and spraypaint on canvas}, by Argentina born-Brooklyn based artist Fede Saenz, a stunning yet simple palette of pink, black, and white, they are also really, really BIG! They’re all approximately 48″ x 68″… and I’m pretty sure that I heard one of them say it wanted to come home with me. For real.

Oh my word… I love this piece, titled Necklace, by Australian artist Kate Tucker. I have boxes of found bits and pieces, and I wish that they were hanging on a wall looking like this, rather than sitting in a dusty box in my studio! Gor.ge.ous. {I had to include that final photo so you could see the scale!}. And… if you’re not quite jealous enough, then have a look at these lovely, inky, gouachey, mixed media pieces that were also part of this show:

Sigh.

Gah!! Yep, I want to live in a teeny tiny house so that I can invite Sabine over for a teeny tiny cup of tea on a little bitty table… I call dibs on the chair though:

{via Luna}