You’ve probably seen the work of Toronto based artist Jen Mann before. Her work has been featured, well, everywhere. I have always loved her work, and I’m sure you can see why. Sigh. Beautiful, strange, feminine, and mysterious. And so much pink. Stunning. And speaking of stunning, I just had to show you the scale of that first piece:

Ok. Now I love it even more.

Oooh! Now this is my kind o’ porcelain collection!  These gorgeous plates are the work of Belgian artist Jan De Vliegher {who happens to live in one of my most favorite cities in Europe – Bruges, Belgium}. The moment I saw his work I was totally in love with the simple subject-matter, the loose brush strokes – that strangely provide so much detail, AND the scale. Oh, the scale:

LOVE!!!

{via Beautiful Decay}

Ok, there is soooo much I want to tell you … but I’m only allowed to give you a few little tidbits today. So, let me catch you up on what’s going on at the moment. The book is set to be released in the Spring of 2014. All of the writing/editing is completely finished, and the final manuscript is now in the hands of the lovely folks at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. Pretty much everything is ready to go to print… except the cover. The amazing design team is working with one of my favorite artists {who happens to be featured in the book}, Toronto based painter/designer Amanda Happé:

Gratitude? Yes. My world is filled with gratitude right now! Note: Just to be clear, this painting is NOT the cover… but it’s similar in it’s Amanda Happé-ness. I just saw her preliminary sketches a few days ago, and they ROCK! I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a talented artist doing a custom piece for this project. When this is over, I’m totally going to buy that painting and hang it in my living room. I will then sit underneath it while I hold my book. Yes. That is exactly what I will do.

Ok. This info about the front cover was the first little tidbit. Now, flip it over… you will never believe the amazing group of people who reviewed the book, and then wrote endorsement blurbs that will appear on the back. Ready?

Holy SHIT. I’m sorry for the cursing, but I feel it’s necessary. I still cannot believe these people took time out of their busy lives to read the book, let alone sit down to write the nicest reviews EVER. I was really nervous to reach out to all of them, but I fueled up on caffeine, gave myself a pep talk, and sent out the emails. And they all said yes, immediately. CRAZY.

Jerry frickin’ Saltz? {Yes, that is now how I refer to him at all times, because am still in disbelief that he said ‘yes’!}. I have to tell you, writing to the Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine is terrifying. What if he wrote me back and criticized me!? Um, hello, art school nightmare! Well he didn’t, thank goodness. He was hilarious, open, and generous {ok, he dished it out a tiny bit, but I totally handled it. Must have been the caffeine.}

Brené Brown. For real. Have you seen her TED Talk on shame and vulnerability? So, so good. And maybe you’d like to see what she and Oprah chatted about. Yes. Oprah. Without giving away too much, this book talks a lot about the insecurities that artists face every day – so who better to review the book than someone with a PhD in vulnerability, right?

And then there’s Faythe Levine. She is sort of a creative hero of mine. She owns an art gallery, is an artist herself, and she directs amazing documentaries that take a beautiful look at art in America {If you haven’t seen Handmade Nation, or Sign Painters… well, you should!}. I am thrilled to have an amazing working artist review a book about amazing working artists. It just makes sense.

Now, the final bit for the back cover. My bio photo. Ugh. I tried to use my Polaroid over the face shot that I use for most things, but my editor {the amazing Kate Woodrow}, wouldn’t let me do that. So, I called this guy:

Jeff Topham is an amazing photographer, writer, and film maker. I actually wrote about one of his film projects, Liberia ’77, in 2010. If you ever have a chance to watch it, please do. It’s ah-mazing. Anywho, not only is Jeff all of these things, he’s also one of my childhood friends, so when I had to do the dreaded “head shot” I knew he was my man. I call the photo above “You better not make me look like an idiot, or I’ll tell your mom what you did at that party in 10th grade.” Well, we had a few stops and starts, but he got the shot:

Yes! Done. I will now use this shot forever. Thanks Jeff! xo {ps. I won’t tell your mom anything!}

Ok, so that’s all I can tell you so far… basically now you know what’s happening on the front and back, and as Spring 2014 approaches I’ll let you know what’s going on the inside of this fantastic cover! Thank you again to Amanda, Jerry, Brené, Faythe, Jeff, Kate and all of the other crazy amazing people at Chronicle… not to mention the 50 contemporary artists featured in the book! You’ve all made my dream a reality.

{If you’re still reading, thanks for paying attention all the way through this very long post. This book has been a huge part of my life for the past year and a half and I just have to tell you about it, whether you want to know or not! Ok. I’m done now. Happy weekend!}

I want to live here. Yep, right here, smack-dab in the middle of the weird & beautiful world of  Portland based artist Souther Salazar. These are all 5″x5″ drawings… well, drawings that happen to be created using watercolor paint, and just a touch of collage thrown in for good measure. If I did live here I’d always remember that guy this way. Plus, I’d have a tiny pet goat, a dinosaur that lived next door, and i would totally help my neighbor find his dog  ♥

{…thanks to Frances Marin for pointing me to Souther’s work}

Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Gabriella Cetrulo draws and paints… and occasionally she does both on white, circular ceramics that you can hang on your wall! LOVE! Now, normally I would not be a fan of having a pigeon on my head, but Gabriella actually makes it look like a pretty good thing! Speaking of good things, I hope we all have a weekend that looks a little somethin’ like this:

We all scream for ice cream! YAY! See ya on Monday.

{Thanks so much to my very sweet friend Amber Mahoney for sending me a link to Gabriella’s work}

Oh my, I’m seeing double – and I like it! This is a series, titled “Splitting Image”, by Melbourne based artist Bronwen Vaughan Evans. I just wrote about a printmaker on Tuesday and thought I might be working on a bit of a theme for the week…  until I read that these are gesso and oil paintings on board. HUH?! Amazing. Also amazing – Bronwen’s description of this show, and how she hung it {in two separate locations at the same time!}:

“This body of work explores the notion that our experience is mirrored elsewhere by other unknown persons. The works allude to the fleeting realisation that, in certain moments, we share a connection with strangers who are having a similar experience. Thus the show suggests a twinning of sorts and references the concept of a doppelganger.

The show consists of 30 pairs of paintings. While the paintings in each pair are essentially identical, the individual works do differ slightly. The pairs were split and exhibited in geographically separate locations. The two shows opened simultaneously, and the audience was made aware of the fact that there was another almost identical exhibition happening elsewhere, thereby actualising the feeling of mirrored experience.

The geographical splitting of the works also references the idea that while two people might be looking at exactly the same image, their perception of that image will differ, and one can never fully know the vision of the other.”

Oooh, so pretty! Line drawings partially covered in thick oil paint masquerading as flowers! This is the work of Toronto based artist Judith Geher, and I am completely in love with each one of these paintings. And guess what… they’re BIG! Most of her work seems to range between 48″x48″ to 60″x60″… sigh. Gorgeous.

{ps. There’s a really good interview with Judith on Frankie Magazine’s blog if you’d like to know a bit more about her}

Whoa. Watercolor dots on paper. Just dots.

These gorgeous, and very clever, portraits are the work of New York based artist Nathan Manire. When you see them from far away {go on, get up from your computer and take about 10 steps back} they suddenly have shading, depth and detail… but up close they are just a bunch of lovely, washy dots. Just dots {that I completely love on their own too!}

Ok. Fine. Planking is kinda over. You know what’s not kinda over… these amazing pieces by Colombia based artist Aníbal Vallejo! Now, these are from 2011 so he made these gorgeous pieces {industrial embroidery and acrylic on canvas} smack dab in the middle of the meme. All five of these pieces are from a series titled “Ten variations about planking after Freud”. You can go and check out his site for the other five. Oh, and while you’re there have a look at everything he makes: paintings, drawings, embroidery… but alas, nothing to do with the Harlem Shake, or Grumpy Cat. Hm, maybe one meme per artist is enough.

{Thanks to Valentina Espinosa Muskus for this one! She commented on one of my Instagram shots, and suggested that I look up Aníbal’s work – you were right Valentina – I love it!}

I have a recurring dream, probably at least two or three times a year, in which I discover a dark little shop filled with the most insane collection of objects. Hm. Maybe American artist Kirstin Lamb has that same dream?! Looking at her paintings is kinda like discovering the weirdest antique shop in the world… or like finding a box way, way, waaaaay back in your grandmother’s closet that no one was ever meant to find. Ah, yes, these are pretty much my crazy dreams… brought to life with gouache!

{ps. a bunch of her originals are for sale at Darger HQ, and I found one print available at Little Paper Planes}