Ok, I have to say, I love this idea! Ez, over at Creature Comforts created this little project because of a Twitter conversation that popped up over the weekend. It all started because of this post written by Jess Constable.

Here’s what it’s about, in a nutshell: in this blog-world of ours, reality doesn’t always shine through. Blogs are brands, and the bloggers behind those brands want to put their best foot forward, right? Fair enough. Readers come for interesting content, beautiful images, and to walk away feeling inspired… but sometimes that means “real life” doesn’t make much of an appearance. And to be perfectly honest, I find it exhausting, and intimidating, sometimes – how do these people all have perfect homes, and perfect shoes, and perfect art projects!!! The truth is, no one is perfect… so, that’s what today is all about. A whole group of amazing bloggers {a full list can be found on Creature Comforts} are opening up, and sharing the “things I’m afraid to tell you”. I don’t share very much personal information on this site, so I thought today might be the day… here we go {gulp}:

Yep, I have a beautiful, hilarious, creative five year old boy {whose middle name is West, because we moved west to start our family}. I don’t write about him, because this is an art blog, and I assume all of you are coming here to read about art… however, I’ve always felt weird that I’ve never mentioned him, because being his mother is the most important, fulfilling, wonderful thing that I have ever done in my entire life.

I’m an artist, which you all know, but I’m very nervous about showing my own work. Like, “feel kinda sick & get kinda sweaty” nervous. I have shown it a little bit more in the past year or so {mainly because I’ve been pushed by some very lovely/convincing bloggers… Erin and Kate, I’m talking to you!}. I love my work… until I know that someone else is going to see it, and then I start second guessing every element in every piece. I don’t feel like my art is where I want it to be at this stage in my life, and that drives me crazy.

As much as I wish that I spent all day jealously curating {and getting paid for it!}, I don’t. I am a graphic designer, so I spend most of my day working away on client projects. Some are fantastic, creative, and a joy to work on… and some, well, they pay the bills! My dream is to have “The Jealous Curator” become my day-job, and I’m insanely jealous of the bloggers out there who have managed to do that… but until that day, I’ll be over here making logos bigger ; )

Phew, ok, those are the three biggies! I could tell you about my insanely messy closet, or the fact that I can’t keep a manicure looking good for longer than one day… but perhaps that’s more than you actually want to know! Thanks for reading… and if you have a blog, you should give this a shot. It’s quite cathartic!

{Thanks for getting this going Ez! xo}

I can manage a paper crane, but that’s where my folding skills end! I’m in awe of LA based artist/graphic designer Eva Black and her huge installation of paper triangles, titled quite appropriately Folded.

“I began the piece by collecting paper, using all found paper – paper that was given to me, paper I had collected over time, paper from old artworks, paper bags, or paper I bought from old bookstores. The piece has about 3,500 triangles and is about 12 x 13′.

It’s fascinating working with a medium in which a new tactile experience is explored. A medium that is often regarded as common, but has also created strong connections with its viewers. Each has a story to tell, from old maps to smaller paper remnants. These have been taken from their discarded state and folded three-dimensionally to further their transformation. A transformation that finds order in its details. A transformation into something beautiful.”

She’s also a very talented graphic designer – look at the show cards she designed for Folded… Gah! So gorgeous!

Oh my. French artist Stephane Dauthuille uses layers of lines and pattern to create these gorgeously ornate images. Orange legs, an orange “jupe”, and graphite details that I could look at all day long! However, there is something to be said for what’s under all of those layers:

Seriously, I cannot decide whichI love more… Stephane’s girls in clothes, or, well, not so much.

There are a lot of fun perks that come with having a blog, and this is definitely one of them! Jack Cards {via Sarah Bryden-Brown of Blogstar} asked a few bloggers to design a card for them. I jumped on the chance, as did Melanie from Inward Facing Girl, and Amy from Old Sweet Song.

For my card, I used one of my mixed media pieces {and then added a pink birthday hat}, and voila… a birthday card! We held a contest for people to come up with a message for the inside of the card, and there were sooo many amazing entries! Here’s the winning message:

Ha! I love it! As it happens, the chosen message was written by design blogger, Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay.com!!! Yep, she’s a style maven AND the queen of one-liners! I think it’s a pretty hilarious/weird addition to an already pretty hilarious/weird image.

All three of our cards go on sale today {mine // Melanie’s // Amy’s}…YAY! Thanks Jack, and thanks to Sarah for inviting us to be part of this!

Stitched portraits, CMYK experiments, bold typography! Whoa… the graphic designer, and the artsy embroidery-lover, in me are both madly in love! London based designer/artist Evelin Kasikov blends these two disciplines perfectly! She has been commissioned to do works for WIRED, The New York Times, Kate Spade and many others. Yep, madly in love, and totally jealous! Oh, and you have to see her artist profile for the Kate Spade project:

Madly. In. Love.

Oh, I do love a good Polaroid, and this project, titled Present Company, is full of them! In order to have a genuine interaction with someone she might otherwise never know, Washington DC based photographer Amber Byrne Mahoney walks up to complete strangers, asks to take their photo, and then has them answer one of two questions… “if you could ask a perfect stranger anything in the world, what would it be?” or “what is one thing you’d like people to know about you?” Their images, and answers, are below:

Love! Now, for a little behind the scenes… the reason Amber started this project was because of a chance encounter with a man, named Tyrone, shown in the final photo. It’s a lovely story filled with good will, guitars, and a whole bunch of warm fuzzies! You have to go and read this story!

And on that note, I’ll wish you all a happy weekend… see you on Monday!

ps. If you’d like to participate in ‘Present Company’, you can learn more here.

Smashed cars, flower arrangements, and large fields of beautifully chosen colors. Seriously, how can I not love these collages {magazine clippings on panel} by American artist Matthew Cusick. They are all from his Happy Endings series, and they do in fact, make me very happy. The end.

{via Escape Into Life}

There are a lot of “365 days of…” projects out there right now, and, yes, this is one of them! A really good one! It’s called The Aldas Project: 366 Drawings for Good {Aldus is the Hungarian word for “blessing”}, and it was created by Philadelphia based artist Kristy Modarelli, beginning on January 1, 2012. Here’s what it’s all about:

The idea for this project is two-fold – a personal challenge to create an original drawing every day, for a year; and to raise money for three of Kristy’s favorite non-profit organizations: 826 National, The Schoerke Foundation, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Each original drawing, made of archival materials, will be sold for $100, with $25 going to the buyer’s choice of the three charities.

Good intentions, and gorgeous, geometric drawings… a lovely combination!

{via Inspired to Share}

When I was in San Francisco, for GIRL CRUSH with Lisa Congdon, I also had a chance to visit with the crew at Chronicle Books. I’d met one of their editors {the lovely Kate Woodrow to be exact!} in January at Alt Summit. She came to my panel on the first day, and the next day I went to hear her speak… on a panel that just happened to be called, From Blog to Book. Can you guess where I’m going with this?

Yep, it’s true… The Jealous Curator is going from blog to book! Seriously. I am working on a book that will be published by Chronicle?! I have to tell you, this is at the very top of my life list, and I am beyond thrilled that I get to cross it off! I can’t believe that I’m going to be along side all of these gorgeous art books on Chronicle’s shelves – I own half of them, and have written about the others. I can’t tell you exactly what my book is about just yet, but as we move the process, I’ll tell you as much as I can {ooh, mysterious!}

I just wanted to take a second to say thank you to Chronicle for believing in me, and even more so… thanks to all of you for actually reading every day. If someone had told me this was going to happen, three years ago when I started my blog, I wouldn’t have believed it. I feel very, very blessed.

Ok… I guess I better start writing! Wish me luck!

{1. Little Paper Planes 2. Obsessive Consumption 3. Stencil 201 4. The Exquisite Book 5. Paper Cutting 6. 100 GIRLS ON CHEAP PAPER}

Ok, I’m hoping these celestial-looking works, from a series titled Stellar, don’t give any of you an art-induced seizure… but, I just loved them so much, I had to take that risk! These are the work of New York based photographer Ignacio Torres. They are glittery, beautiful, and kinda bizarre… ah, my favorite combo! Here’s Ignacio’s description:

This project began from the theory that humans are made of cosmic matter as a result of a stars death. I created imagery that showcased this cosmic birth through the use of dust and reflective confetti to create galaxies. The models organic bodily expressions as they are frozen in time between the particles suggest their celestial creation. In addition, space and time is heightened by the use of three-dimensional animated gifs. Their movement serves as a visual metaphor to the spatial link we share with stars as well as their separateness through time.