These arrived in my inbox the other day. Yep, I love this “job”! Chilean artist, Pascuala Lira made my heart skip a beat with her lovely compositions, gorgeous color choices, and yes, I kinda love that lady behind the couch! Blue-soled shoes? Amazing. These pieces are from her painting portfolio, and I thought I had my post… and then I discovered her “lumber” portfolio:

Gor.Ge.Ous. On that note, have a happy weekend! I’m going to spend mine looking for scrap wood.

I wrote about American artist Stacey Page almost two years ago… well, clearly she’s been busy, and so clearly I have to write about her again! Portraits & embroidery? Yep, it gets me every single time. Gah!

Sigh. Pink negative space, with little glimpses of nature peeking through… or is it sitting on top? Hm. Well, either way, I absolutely love this work by Sydney based artist Chris Thompson.

{via but does it float}

Ah, lovely collages by American artist Mary Virginia Carmack. My favorite part… those little white keyline drawings on top of the lovely collages. Gor. Ge. Ous.

I have an art show coming up in October, so I spent Friday and Saturday working on my own artwork… weird, I know. It felt amazing to get back into the studio, and then it felt, well, not so amazing. Here’s why {and I’m curious if any of you ever feel the same}:

1. I feel unbelievably guilty taking time away from my family to work on my art. Here’s the strange part though. I don’t feel guilty any other time. I can exercise, work on design projects, or go off for an afternoon of jealous curating… no problem. A day at the studio on the other hand… gut-wrenching GUILT. Seriously, what is that about?

2. I love making stuff. It brings me pure joy – until it’s for a show. Then I panic. I stop having fun, and start worrying about everything. Is this work good enough for a gallery? Will anyone like it? Will I like it?  It’s exhausting. Why can’t I just relax, and enjoy making stuff {you know, the stuff that brings me the aforementioned joy}?

3. I feel so much more comfortable writing about other people’s art. Half way through my studio day, I thought, “Boy, I wish I had my computer with me so I could just do next week’s posts instead.”

Any advice? I’ll take whatever you’ve got. Thank you!

{16 hours later: Thank you all so much for your thoughtful, helpful comments! I’m feeling a lot better, and have completely exhaled. I’m going to stop thinking so much, and just have fun. Whatever comes out of that will be the pieces for the show. Done. THANK YOU! xo}

I found the mixed media/printmaking work of German artist Micosh Holland on Saatchi Online just NOW… so glad it wasn’t LATER. See what I did there? Ok, nevermind… just enjoy the work. And what’s not to enjoy – an upside down ham, a few very mod living spaces, and a hit of neon pink. Love!

Whoa ~I’m feeling dizzy from the jealousy overload. Ok so, this is the third time that I’ve written about Italian artist TRACCIAMENTI. I love all of her work, but her dress series… well, it kinda kills me. That first one with the rainbow? Neon yellow on black? And that final one above???… LOVE! Oh dear, I might have to sit down for a minute.

{Happy weekend to you all… and if you live in Vancouver, I hope I’ll see you at Gather Pop-up in Gastown!}

Yes, I need someone to massage my head too… I am totally overwhelmed by how much I love these book cover collages by American artist Hollie Chastain. I wrote about her ages ago, but when I came across a few of these new pieces, clearly I had no choice but to write another post! LOVE ♥

{ps. I am so thrilled to say that Hollie is one of the artists that will be featured in my book, and you better believe that these book covers will be in there… YAY!}

I have a thing for found frames, color swatches and bold type… and now have a thing for California based artist Fred One Litch. Sigh… yep, I do love a giant A from time to time.

Ooh, a flash from the past! I love vintage imagery, especially old packaging & advertising. Clearly, American artist Dennis Bredow does too. Found images that have been cropped and mounted to wood panel, with just the right amount of  acrylic paint. And, for obvious reasons, I think this one might be my favorite:

Ha! Remember that ad? Well, I’ve got my brush and pen… still waiting for the money to start rolling in… any day now!