Ok. A few days ago, I saw these shoes on Pinterest, which of course sent me on a mad hunt to find more from this artist… and boy oh boy,  did I! This is the work of French designer/artist Emilie Faif. Aren’t these paintings on clothing lovely? Well, they’re  just the tip of the iceberg! Her portfolio is full of crazy installations and soft sculpture. After you stare at these for a few minutes, you have to go check them out!

Oh my. This is the lovely work of Washington State based artist Stasia Burrington. Washy drawings covered in flowers… flowers that happen to be hand-cut from quilt fabric, which are then glued on, resembling tattoos, gardens, or scars. Gorgeous! Oh, and I couldn’t finish this post without showing my favorite image from the “drawing” section of her portfolio:

Sigh ♥

When I was in Chattanooga last week, I was invited by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, to visit the studios of some of the BFA students. Here’s what I found:

Love! I spent about 6 hours with them, and what impressed me most was how open they were – so interested in experimenting, playing around, and finding their own way. When I did my undergrad that was not encouraged – it felt very competitive, and quite frankly pretty negative – the critiques were rarely positive and seemed like a chance to bash each other, rather than encourage each other. These art students were so excited, and supportive – it was a joy to be around! And their studios, in an old carriage house on the University property, are filled with painted floors, twinkle lights, and art supplies on the floor, shelves, walls, couches, and table tops. Made me wish I was a student again… well, as long as I got to be in this program! I found these two things up on the walls of the studio, which I think summed up their refreshing attitude perfectly:

So awesome… GO UTC!

I wrote about Seonna Hong in 2009… and when I saw this new series, clearly, I had to write about her again! I absolutely love the way her work has evolved – still totally recognizable as hers, but these lovely pieces {on paint chips!} are so much looser, and less controlled. Don’t get me wrong, I love her older paintings too, but I’m always so impressed with artists that can push themselves out of their comfort zone, while still being true to their style. Love.

Hey, San Francisco … any plans for tonight? No? Great! Go to this! This show opens tonight at Mirus Gallery {6pm – 10pm} and features 14 women* making art about women. It is quite appropriately titled, “The Looking Glass: Refraction through the Female Gaze”. These are a few of my favorite images, but there are plenty more where this came from. Ok, go have fun tonight!

{*Artists in the show: Kimberly Brooks, Sandra Chevrier, Naja Conrad-Hansen, Mercedes Helnwein, Alexandra Levasseur, Jen Mann, Sari Maxfield, Alyssa Monks, Jennifer Nehrbass, Casey O’Connell, Claire Pestaille, Rachel Walker, Janelle Wisehart and Christine Wu // Work shown above 1) Claire Pestaille  2) Mercedes Helnwein  3) Alexandra Levasseur}

Tonight is finally the opening night for my latest curation, “Beautifully Boring” at Tanner Hill Gallery in Chattanooga (YAY!). In honor of that, I wanted to share a very new discovery… well, very new to me anyway! This is the wonderfully mundane work of Romanian born, Amsterdam based artist Veron Urdarianu. I spent all day yesterday with Mark Bradley Shoup, one of the artists in the show tonight, and he shared this work with me. Given how much I love every single piece in “Beautifully Boring”, he thought I might just LOVE these paintings {yes, paintings! I was quite sure they were done with layered paper}. Well, he was right. I do love them. Very, very much!

Ok, I’m off to check out the gallery one last time before opening night! If you’re in the state of Tennessee, I hope to see you tonight! ; )

{ps. I couldn’t find a site for Veron, so I’ve just linked you to the Google results for him… Sorry! Hopefully you can still find more info there if you want it!}

“Paradise” - a lovely, magical, pastel-hued series by British artist/illustrator Katherine Tromans. These were “the outcome of [her] final degree project… that explored the theme of paradise, interpreting different people’s descriptions of their own individual paradise, and then transforming them into otherworldly landscapes.” Sigh. Otherworldly, indeed! Ok. so I realize that final detail is a bit pixelized, but I really wanted to make sure you saw that tiny blue village, perfectly perched on that pink grass, only inches away from glass-like cliffs. Oh, and those pastel trees on the far right… Love! {ps. That final drawing looks like pelvic bones, right? I wonder what that particular friend’s description of paradise was? Curious.}

{via Fine Line Magazine}

Well, I’m off {literally on a plane right this very moment} to Tennessee! It’s going to be an amazing trip. Here’s how the next few days fold out:

Wednesday:

* Finally meet Mark Bradley Shoup! : Atlanta airport

* Start installing Beautifully Boring at Tanner Hill Gallery

Thursday:

* 10 am EST : Airing of interview with NPR affilate, WUTC ~ wutc.org

* 10am ~ 4ish : Tours of the Art & Design students’ studios ~ University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

* 5:30pm : Lecture at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Friday:

* Hang out with Leah Giberson and Samantha French… wishing Holly Farrell was with us too!

* 5:30 – 8pm : Opening of Beautifully Boring at Tanner Hill Gallery (Curatorial Talk ~ 6pm)

Oh, and one more crazy perk to this trip?! I get to meet an artist that I have loved for AGES… Chattanooga based artist Hollie Chastain will be swinging by the opening as well. Here are a few of my favorite collages by Hollie:

Sigh. I feel like I might to get wrapped up in a cozy diamond blanket when all of this excitement is over! Stay tuned – I’ll have photos of everything very, very soon!

Ooh la la! Lovely little french storefronts, pulled out of their environments, dropped against color-blocked backgrounds, and painted oh so sweetly by Johnny Bull. As far as I can tell from his blog posts, he was actually living in France while he did this work. Here is that post, from 2011:

I love ‘em, those French and their cheeky shops. The chocolatier Joël Durand has a shop that just reeks of class and, er, chocolate; you’d think he was part of a huge chain with all his specially printed boxes and tissue paper. There’s a universe of difference in attitude between us when it comes to service; don’t ask me why, it’s a bit more of a vocation with them. I’d feel quite happy going to work at the Folie Du Pain… How couldn’t anyone? What a beautiful place. Full of attitude and all of it friendly.

I’m sure you all know of American artist/knitta Magda Sayeg, the queen of knit-bombing, {I showed this bus in 2009, and I’ve seen her work featured all over the place} but today I saw this video for the very first time:

I don’t know how to knit, but watching this on a Sunday afternoon made me want to make stuff. Colorful, happy stuff. Right now!!! I love it when I feel like that. So, ok, off I go to make stuff. See you there?