I’m sorry if this offends any vegetarians {or people who hate baked goods} but I couldn’t control myself… “Fat Tats”, is a series by Manila born, Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Monica Ramos, and I love every unhealthy tat she’s got going! Watercolor tattoos of fatty food. Hilarious and beautiful. Excellent combo. Ok, now who’s up for a slice of pie?

{Monica is the featured artist on Buy Some Damn Art this week. Girls hugging llamas, friends frying eggs on the sidewalk, and a bit of skinny dipping. Yep, you might want to get over there! Happy weekend!}

I wrote about Vivian and John way back in 2009. Their story is about an undiscovered, photographic gold mine. They never knew each other, but now they’ll forever be connected… A few years ago, John Maloof went to an auction house across the street from his home. For $380, he bought thousands and thousands of undeveloped negatives that had been abandoned in a storage locker by an American woman named Vivian Maier. John started developing the negatives, and EUREKA!!!… he truly did find a gold mine. This is just a minute fraction of what he found:

Vivian’s photographs are stunning, beautifully composed, intimate glimpses into American life in the 1950s and 60s. What’s not intimate though is the knowledge about who Vivian actually was. She died only days before John tried reaching out to her. He had so many questions – who was she? Why did this unbelievably talented woman never show her work to anyone? But now, thanks to a beautiful documentary that is currently in production, a few of those questions have been answered… and they’re a bit strange. A sneak peek at  Finding Vivian Maier …

We wish we knew you, Vivian {her self-portraits could be a post all on their own}:

Love.

This is the work of American artist Lori Larusso. Prints? No. Paintings? Kinda. They are acrylic paintings, but I might be tempted to call them sculptures. See some of those shadows? Yep, these are actually paintings on intricately cut panels {all around the 4′ mark}. Gorgeous! And besides the beautifully mundane domestic subject matter {which I am obsessed with!}, in perfectly chosen colors, I think what I love most is that fact that they’re a bit of a mind trick… by cutting the panels, Lori gives so much dimension to these totally flat, partially dissected spaces. Ah-mazing.

So, I was working on my art roundup post for the lovely Emily Henderson {which is up today btw}, with a plan to feature “houses”. Now, because I’ve written about Hagar van Heummen, an artist based in Amsterdam, a couple of times, I knew she had some great houses in her portfolio. But when I got to her site, I found all of this amazing new work! Houses, yes, but those plants! I love these pieces oh so much… and the icing on the cake … they’re crazy affordable! {originals range from $150 – $570, and her prints are only $30… I got the bottom most piece! Can’t wait to frame it.}

I’ve written about UK based artist Anthony Zinonos a couple of times, but that was way back in 2009… clearly, it’s time for a new post.  As you probably know, I am a ridiculously huge fan of collage, especially found image collage. A scrap of perfectly chosen paper, a few strategic snips from a stack of old magazines, and voila, you have an entirely new story being told on a field of canary yellow! Anthony’s work is so simple, and so clever. Oh, and not only is his work simple and clever, but he always has the best titles – that last piece {on the field of canary yellow!} is called … “justGOtalkTOher” … ha! ♥

ps. So I think you know that I’m working on a couple of books with Chronicle Books {it’s killing me not to tell you what they’re about… soon though!}. The first one is almost finished, and I’m knee-deep into the second, which just so happens to have a wonderful foreword written by one Mr. Anthony Zinonos! YAY!

I love this. I love it so much, that instead of me fumbling to describe it, I’m going to copy and paste the description of this lovely project, titled Mapping Manhattan, by native New Yorker, Becky Cooper. Ready?

“Armed with hundreds of blank maps she had painstakingly printed by hand, Becky Cooper walked Manhattan from end to end. Along her journey she met police officers, homeless people, fashion models, and senior citizens who had lived in Manhattan all their lives. She asked the strangers to “map their Manhattan” and to mail the personalized maps back to her. Soon, her P.O. box was filled with a cartography of intimate narratives: past loves, lost homes, childhood memories, comical moments, and surprising confessions. A beautifully illustrated, PostSecret-style tribute to New York, Mapping Manhattan includes 75 maps from both anonymous mapmakers and notable New Yorkers, including Man on Wire aerialist Philippe Petit, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, Tony award-winning actor Harvey Fierstein, and many more.”

So, so, so good! Here are a few of my favorites:

Awww! Isn’t that last one so sweet? ♥  You want to make one now, don’t you? No problem! You can download the map right here! Now all you have to do is draw/paint/write your love {or hate} story with Manhattan, and send it to mapyourmemories@gmail.com. Happy mapping, and happy weekend to you

{ps. If you want to buy this book, you can find it in bookstores everywhere, or online at: ABRAMS, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Oh, and there’s a great article about it in The New York Times}

What?! Yes! $50!!! Or how about some paint-by-number plates? Yep, he’s got those too…

Gorgeous! And if that’s not fabulous enough, you can buy one of these original “paint cans” from his most recent solo show…

Love! And if you want something in which the paint is actually out of the can, how about one of these original paint-by-number collages…

So good, right?! And there’s plenty more where that came from. Go and have a look… and then let me know what you got so that I can be jealous of you too!

ps. THIS JUST IN!!! Trey just emailed me and said that he’d like to offer you guys 20% OFF on the site, until May 20th! Yay! Thanks Trey! Use this code at checkout: Friends520

Netherlands based artist John Breed is the man behind this beautifully bizarre installation, titled “Shoe Salon Breuninger”. Yep, you’re looking at 145 fabulous shoes on 145 perfect, rainbow-hued legs. Need I say more? Ok, maybe just one more little thing:

Gah! Golden legs! {“Medusa’s Shoes”, an Installation at Grassi Museum, Leipzig}

{via Colossal}

Look what I got! An original Martha Rich vanilla cake with gooey chocolate icing. Yum! Only a slice though … I am 40 now … I can’t get away with having a whole cake like back in the good old days {Thanks Martha – I absolutely love it! And thank you so much to my parents who commissioned it! xo}

And with that, I’m off to play hooky for the day – see you tomorrow!

This is the work of Boulder, Colorado based artist Chinn Wang … she screenprints on wood, and in the case of her “heraldry” series, they come in the form of a few crazy amazing family crest type things {and, of course, a couple of big blue bears to guard her own personal crest, titled “CW”} . Oh yes, and then there are these beauties:

Those owls! Pink Deer! Snap, Crackle AND Pop? Yep, it’s the whole gang! Love.