Rainbows n’ mountains painted onto photographs by Austin based artist Alexandra Valenti. LOVE.

That is all.

{i found the final image in this post on the pinterest board of inspired to share – thanks colleen!}

1000 posts. WHAT?! Now that’s a lot of jealousy… the good kind, that is! And, by “the good kind”, I mean the kind that punches you in the creative gut, and instead of stopping you in your tracks, inspires you to get back into the studio so that you can work your artsy butt off! To put it bluntly.

I have to admit, I’m really proud of hitting 1000 posts, and so I want to celebrate! But before we do, I want to thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart, for showing up every day and reading/being jealous too! Now… how to celebrate? I reached out to a few of the lovely people that I’ve met over the past three years, and they all generously donated a little something for me to give to you. I have to be honest, I wish I could enter! But I can’t… right? Right : ( Ok, so all you have to do is leave a comment below, and on Thursday September 13th, at 12pm PST I’m going to draw one winner. Yep, one winner who will get all of these prints:

Whoa! I hope you have a lot of frames, and a lot of blank wall space! Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, I got an email from one of my readers who offered to throw in one of her very cute messenger bags:

A gnome on a wiener dog? How could I not take Amy up on her lovely offer! So there you have it. Leave a comment below, and I’ll let you know who won on Thursday… and with that, here’s to 1000 more posts!

{Huge thanks, and big hugs, to 1. Victoria Smith 2. Tali Yalonetzki 3. Hollie Chastain 4. Lisa Golightly 5.  Leah Giberson 6. Jennifer Davis 7. Alyson Fox 8. Amy Fancher} xo!

Whoa. Lovely, and kinda weird…. my favorite combo! These portraits are the work of American artist Serena Cole. I was in Minneapolis in June, and I wish I was still there because Serena has a show opening at SooVAC on September 15th. If you’re there… go!

Well hello sweetness! I found these gouachie little gems on Buy Some Damn Art today. They are the work of American artist Jane Schmidt, and I think they are just the loveliest things ever! Candy-hued backgrounds, strange vintage bits n’ pieces, and oh my… that pig with his Paris snow globe… ♥

I thought this was perfect for the last day of the long weekend! This is a pretty funny/very relatable drawing project by Barcelona based artist Soledad Penadés. It’s titled “Summer Struggle”, due to Soledad’s seasonal attempt to clear out her closet. Let’s just say, she has a hard time saying goodbye to the old friends stashed away in there… oh, just to be clear, I’m talking about the clothes that she loves. She doesn’t have actual friends living in her closet… I hope. Anyway, she has documented all of these beloved bits and pieces in a lovely visual journal that you can find right here.

ps. I have those shoes too, and I will never throw them out. Ever.

My goodness ~ so many childhood memories come rushing back to me when I look at these paintings by Canadian artist Janet Hill…. my fancy ruffle blouse saved for picture day at school, prancing around in my mom’s high heels, and making pickles in my grandmother’s kitchen. Sigh… good times.

{via Artsy Forager on Pinterest}

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.

A polka-dot horse, color-coded hounds, and a big pink bull… yep, this is my kind o’ farm. These large scale oil paintings are the work of American artist, and newly graduated MFA student, Russ Noto … sigh… he had me at PINK.

Sigh. Love. I have written about Canadian painter Holly Farrell so many times. She paints everyday objects like chairs, bowls, bars of soap, and yes… shoes! Holly’s work is going to be featured in my book {YAY!}, and when I was going through her portfolio looking for my favorite pieces the other day, I found myself gathering up a whole bunch of her shoes… and voila, today’s post was born! ♥

I absolutely love mundane subject matter, and so obviously I love these beautiful, washy, everyday things by Chinese artist Guo Hongwei. He layers/dilutes watercolor paint on paper, creating this blurred effect,  in order to “mimic the way memories get eroded, replaced and deleted.” Yep, another perfect addition to my “beautifully boring” list!