I just got back from a few days of camping, and I’m thinking that instead of a tent, I should have stayed in one of these… except, of course, that they don’t actually exist. How did Swiss architect/artist Philipp Schaerer create this work? Well, “They are not a photograph; instead, they were newly designed and constructed from scratch by means of image synthesis and digital image editing.” Yeah, I still have no idea how you’d go about doing that. I do, however, know that I love them… and they all look more comfortable than a tent!

I met the lovely Megan Biram at Alt Summit last January. She is an an entrepreneur, artist, blogger, and self-described social media / Internet junkie. Her blog, MIMI+MEG, is filled with all sorts of inspiring bits & pieces of fashion, art, and interior design. In pretty much every one of her posts there is something that I want. Badly. Oh, and speaking of wanting something badly, check out the fantastic drawings that Megan is jealous of - gorgeous!
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I am jealous of Spanish artist Joan Saló. Her untitled series using pen on canvas is stunning, breathtaking, and leaves me wondering ‘How long did that take her!?!’

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Yes, I want to know too… how many hours did those take! They truly are stunning. Thanks Megan!

ps. I’m away until Monday night, but will be back with a new post on Tuesday morning – see you then xo

Oh, that lovely pine cone. My mother is an artist, and I clearly remember her teaching me how to draw a pine cone. She said hold it upside down, and then draw it as a series of shapes instead. So I did… but it did not look like this. Clearly Israeli artist/illustrator Gabriella Barouch has a few of her own tricks for creating gorgeous pine cones… and birds, and folded hands, and deer-headed ladies!

Ok, I am seriously considering buying a plane ticket to LA for the sole purpose of getting my picture taken by the amazingly talented Stephanie Vovas… granted, I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t pull off the vintage vixen look, but I sure would try my hardest {pout, hair tossel, repeat…} Her entire portfolio is filled with fabulous shot after fabulous shot, and if you’re in LA, or have already bought your plane ticket, she’ll be having a solo show this November at Edgar Varela Fine Arts.

Wouldn’t you love to open your cupboards to find these? They look like a bunch of beautifully bizarre dreams that came to life on an unsuspecting collection of ceramics. Yes, it’s safe to say that I want to fill my kitchen with the work of Portland based artist Michelle Summers… and then have all of you over for a soup/tea party.

{via A plate a day.}

American artist Jenny Hart is best known for her embroidery work {which I am totally jealous of, and have already written about}, but I just saw these drawings and I had to write about them too. The series is titled Study Hall – yep, these are hand-drawings {that look a whole lot like hand-stitching} of students and teachers from her high school year book. Jenny and I are only one year apart so I can totally relate to the big hair and bad sweaters… as a matter of fact, I had both. I said had.

{This series was shown last year at Domy Books, Austin.}

Flowers. Oh, so many flowers…

Flowers in place of faces.

Flowers all alone in a quiet forest.

German photographer Amira Fritz grew up with parents who ran a plant nursery & flower shop {clearly}, and so large floral arrangements have become her choice of subject matter, as a reminder of home. I love both of these series so much {Alle von Denen & Spaziergang im Käferwald }, and could not decide which images to show. They’re all so lovely, eerie, and sort of sad in a strange way – a perfect combination as far as I’m concerned.

Kelly Lynn Jones is an artist and curator living in Oakland, California. She received her MFA in May 2010 from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and has shown her work all over the US, and UK… so, obviously, I’m totally jealous! Her own work is fabulous, and if that’s not enough, she just happens to run a little online gallery you may have heard of called Little Paper Planes… yeah, I know! And wait til you see who she’s jealous of – it’s a fascinating story:

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I am jealous of Bas Jan Ader

I think I am really just fascinated by his whole persona. Bas Jan Ader appears to be nothing but a myth, even though he was an artist living in the 1970’s whose life was cut tragically short as he searched for the miraculous.  We all have moments where we want to believe in the romantic ideas of the sublime.  We listen to pop songs about love on the radio and let ourselves get swept away in what could be our life, even though those are calculated songs, not reality.  He framed all of his works within a conceptual lens though the underlining themes are still universal in the simplistic ways of showing emotion and longing for the past and future.  Underneath the guise of generalized images of the romantic tragic hero, was an artist/person who had his own personal tragedies and experiences though through art translated the personal into generic cultural references.  Ader was successful where he could take the vernacular within Pop culture and transcend the commoditization of the romantic notion into something that felt real yet not personal.  He essentially became a “persona” or “myth” of the romantic by carrying out the actions that portrayed his ideal.

I often romanticize what life should be like, what an artist’s life should be like and am often stuck in some state of nostalgia; longing for something I have never actually experienced.  So when I view Ader’s work, I empathize with how he may of felt.  He was so successful in portraying this “persona”, that I wonder where he as “Bas Jan Ader” fit into the scenario.  Was he really and actually the tragic hero?  Did he begin to believe the myth he was creating or was this actually he all along?  In his final piece, In Search of the Miraculous in 1975, he left those questions with the answers deep into the vast Atlantic Ocean.  So we will never know.

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Thanks so much Kelly. What a lovely, thoughtful post.

I think it’s safe to say that American artist Seth Clark likes houses almost as much as I do. The layering, the detail, the stories behind each home… whatever they might be. Personally, I want to know what’s happening inside that pretty pink window.

I just wrote about American artist Beth Hoeckel in December… but these collages seemed absolutely perfect for a mid-summer post! Sundresses, midnight swims, mountain hikes, and of course, what would summer be without picnic treats that go straight to your hips… literally.