Whoa. It was a crazy week after getting home last Sunday, but the recap from GIRL CRUSH Minneapolis is finally ready!

Oh my word. I loved every second of my weekend in Minnesota, with American painter Jennifer Davis. Amazing conversations, delicious food, and lots of art! {psst… see that little birdie? That’s a Jen Davis original, that she raffled off first thing in the morning… no, I didn’t win. Damn.}

Our workshop/tea party was generously hosted by Soo Visual Arts Center – it’s a beautiful space, and we were lucky enough to be submerged, I mean surrounded, by the work of New York artist Samantha French. Gorgeous! After  filling up with coffee and breakfast pastries donated by Common Roots Cafe, we spent the morning getting to know each other, talking insecurities, motivation, and while we were at it, we tried to figure out why blank sketchbooks are so scary {still working on it, but at least now we’ve got a plan!} Oh, and then Jen pulled out a bunch of her original paintings, and passed them around so we could hold them in our hot little hands!

Yes. We got to hold these {and a whole bunch more!}. They are stunning in person. Stunning! {ps. that little black cat is a portrait of Jennifer’s cat, Nudge… I’m not sure who that little dog is though!}

Ok, so after a morning of artist-block bashing exercises, it was time to eat! Again. Lunch was donated by Chow Girls Killer Catering {thank you!!!}. It was oh so delicious, and oh so nutritious… which was good, because then we ate these:

Gah! So good! Honestly, I lost count of how many of these bad boys I ate! {Amy, from Chow Girls, picked these treats up for us from Sweets Bakeshop ~ thanks Amy!}. Now, everyone knows that once you’re full of sugar, you need a latte! So that’s what we did… we walked over to the back room at Common Roots Cafe, grabbed a fancy coffee, and got out the art supplies:

Fun!!! Paint, glue, bits n’ pieces of vintage paper, and of course Plywerk panels. The folks at Plywerk rocked my world when they donated another batch of panels for this workshop! They had just finished sponsoring GIRL CRUSH Portland two weeks earlier, and then they swooped in to help with Minneapolis. Amazing, yes!? Oh, and speaking of amazing, check this out:

1. A vintage image that Jen found in a pile of stuff  2. The sketch she did during the workshop … and then five days later, from that inspiration / sketch, she finished this final painting:

Yep. That’s why I have a girl crush on her! I think it’s also safe to say, that I might just have a girl crush on everyone that attended – here’s a peek at the work that came out of our afternoon:

Fantastic – You all make me jealous! xo

YAY! So, that was the last GIRL CRUSH workshop for the summer… Philly, with Shauna Alterio is sold out, and coming up in October. If you’re in Austin, there are still a few spots for GIRL CRUSH Austin with Alyson Fox in April 2013! It’s going to be amazing… you should come!

{…more thanks… photography: Katie Parr, and Carolyn Payne (exec director at SooVAC!) // gift bags goodies: Vandalia Street Press, Paper Darts, Hang It, The People’s Jewelry, Urbanimal, Walker Shop at Walker Art Center – thank you all so much! xo}

I just got back from a fantastically fun weekend in Minneapolis, for GIRL CRUSH with the lovely Jennifer Davis {recap post coming soon!}. Jen had a long list of amazing artists from Minnesota that she wanted me to see, and am I ever glad she showed me! One of my favorites was St.Paul based artist Julie Buffalohead. Wolves, unicorns, and raccoons in tutus… um, how could I not love her work!

So simple, almost child-like… yet really hard to make look good! Simon Degroot’s compositions, color choices, and use of simple little shapes… yep, they’re kinda killing me. I can’t do this, but boy oh boy, I sure wish I could.

{Thanks to Ashley Hamilton for sending me a link to Simon’s work}

Ah yes, I do love a simple collage on found paper. I sure hope you love a simple post on an art blog, because I know nothing about Emidio Bernardone… except that I love his simple collages. Oh, and he lives in Milan. The end.

I ♥ Portland! Wow… what a lovely city. Tree-lined streets, beautiful old homes, and the location of the latest GIRL CRUSH workshop & tea party!

Sigh ~ we had such an amazing day in the gorgeous home of painter Lisa Golightly. It was literally the perfect setting for an artsy tea party. Our group was made up of all kinds of people… artists, a poet, an actress, an art/design student, an advertising art director, and a couple of “crafty mamas” {… but that’s a story for another day}. After a few scrumptious breakfast pastries, delivered by Elephants Deli, and more than a couple of cups filled with Stumptown coffee, we spent the morning talking uplifting inspirations, crushing insecurities, and everything in between.

… and after all of that talking, listening, laughing, and cursing {yes, it’s true… the occasional bit of non-teaparty-esque language may have been dropped when referring to our always annoying inner critics}, we needed a little sustenance to help us make it through the artsy afternoon that lay ahead:

YUM! After an insanely delicious lunch from Elephants {note: fig & goat cheese tartlets might just be the best thing ever invented}, we moved on to these! Chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet cupcakes decorated with tiny sugar-coated rose petals & mint leaves! Thanks so much to Cupcake Jones for delivering these little bites of heaven to our doorstep!

Ok… sugar? Check. More coffee? Check. Time to head downstairs and make stuff:

I have seen so much of Lisa’s work, but never in person. Let me tell you… it’s fantastic! What an inspiring space to roll up our sleeves and get creative:

So much fun! The folks at Plywerk donated a whole box of gorgeous bamboo panels for us to use for our collages. Paint, bits of found paper, and a few gold animals… ahh, now that’s an afternoon well spent!

I could have worked on these forever! But alas, somehow this lovely day in Portland had come to an end. Thanks so much to everyone that came {Melissa, Laura, Jessica, Autumn, Monica, and Cait}, and thanks so much to Lisa for hosting… I loved every second of this amazing day! xo

{photos: Jessica and Autumn somehow managed to snap all of these photos during our very full day – thanks for sending them my way, girls!}

Ok. Yes. More faceless portraits. Clearly I can’t control myself, but hey, the heart wants what the heart wants… and my heart wants people with rainbow-hued embroidery on their faces, and vintage photos that have been snipped to bits and put back together into amazing kaleidoscope-ish configurations. London based artist Julie Cockburn, and her amazing portfolio, have everything my heart is looking for… and then some!

Pyramids, flowers, and salad fixin’s… yep, I have a thing for missing faces, and clearly I’m not alone! Buenos Aires based artist/designer Larissa Haily Aguado has a portfolio full of collages featuring people with various objects instead of heads. Hm, what does she do with all of the legs, you ask? Voila…

Love.

I find all sorts of amazing bits & pieces in my travels around the internet. I usually post them to my “random lovely things” board on Pinterest, but today I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you… a lovely/random way to kick off the weekend, yes? I didn’t fully realize {ok, I had a hunch}, that I seem to have a thing for neons & neutrals…

… ahhh, finished off with an amazing piece by Banksy. Ok, everything in this post makes me want to make stuff… good thing it’s the weekend! See you on Monday : )

{1. inaluxe 2. Emma Dajska 3. Jack Potter 4. Feathers {I can’t find the artist? Help!}  5. Shaun Kardinal 6. Ritsuko Ozeki 7. Chris Henley 8. Keith P. Rein 9. Leah Durant 10. Banksy}

Ya know, you think you know someone… and then they show you these?! I wrote about the paintings of American artist Mark Bradley Shoup at least three years ago. Since then, we’ve become friends, and we’re even working on a few projects together {including an art show in February 2013 in Chattanooga, GIRL CRUSH Chattanooga, and hopefully a chance for me to speak at the University while I’m there!}

Anyway, Mark is known for his muted color palettes, and mundane/beautiful Americana landscapes, which I absolutely love. We started talking about collage the other day, and he said “Oh, I do a bit of collage work – I’ll send a few over”… and this is what showed up in my inbox. Um… LOVE!!! Geesh, I wonder what else he’s hiding from me? I’ll have to raid his studio when I’m there in February!

LOVE!!! A friend pointed me to the portfolio of LA based photographer Jen Gotch… and I have basically just shown you everything in her ‘personal’ section! Well, that was the first half… here’s the second half:

Sweet jiminy… I love it all! She also has some gorgeous prints for sale… oh, ok, I’ll show you a few of my favorite shots from that section of her site too!

Gah. So good! Ok, I’ll stop now.