Ok, I’m writing a romantic plot line in my head as we speak! Yep, I would happily curl up with any of these paintings by Polish artist Jarek Puczel… or perhaps it would be better just to hang them on my wall. Narrative, simple, bold … oh, and those negative space pink kisses are killing me {killing me!!!… are you sensing the drama?}

{via Escape Into Life}

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}

Um, Wes Anderson, if you’re reading this {insert pipedream here}, you should have an entire wall of these ship paintings in your next film… they’d be perfect, would they not?! Vintage looking work, in truly vintage frames, but these are recent pieces by American artist Mary Maguire. She clearly has a lot of talent… but wait until you hear what she did before painting. Ready?

Mary attended Rhode Island School of Design, worked at Alfred A. Knopf Publishing and Random House, followed by three years at Conde Nast Publications working on various publications including The New Yorker, Vogue and Conde Nast Traveler… inhale… she was then the Features Editor of Lauren magazine, a lifestyle magazine with designer Ralph Lauren, and then of course onto a position with The Muppets at the Jim Henson Company as Editorial Director. And then she started painting. Exhale.

Ahh, the work of Seattle based, German-born, artist Anne Siems… so beautiful, so so strange. This is actually her work from a few years ago {here’s her more recent work}, but the closeups of these paintings on panel were just too amazing not to show. There is an entire world happening in each of these pieces… lovely lambs, tiny flowers, and a strange little man riding… um,  is that a dog?

These stunning {yet simple} abstract oil landscapes, by Toronto based artist Yangyang Pan, make me want to rake up a giant pile of neon leaves, get a running start, and jump right in! The composition, the colors, and the fact that they’re at least 4 feet wide … sigh. Where’s my rake?

{…prints available in her Etsy shop}

So, someone {I won’t name names} was recently teasing me about the amount of “breast-related-art” that I show… well, this post is for you nameless friend! These paintings are definitely some of the tamest work in the portfolio of  Montreal based artist Eliza Griffiths, but they have just the right amount of “boob” for me! Add a neon coral car, and a tiny dog in the driver seat and I’m totally sold!

I just spent the entire weekend in tea party mode {GIRL CRUSH Seattle with Tif Fussell was amazing… post/photos coming soon!}, so these drawings of delicate, girly, vintage clothes are exactly what I feel like looking at today. Canadian born, Portland based artist Anja Verdugo has a huge photography collection of vintage clothing, but it’s this handful of lovely drawings she’s done that make me want to spend the day treasure hunting in my local thrift shop… after all, there are many more tea parties in my future, and I need to be prepared, right?!

I’m off to Seattle this weekend for GIRL CRUSH {with the lovely Tif Fussell}, so I thought it only fitting to leave you with another girl that I have a crush on… New York based artist Jenny Morgan has grabbed my heart with these hauntingly beautiful portraits. I wish I knew more about them, but alas, I can’t find anything anywhere. Oh well, we’ll just have to enjoy them for their gorgeous detail, their stunning color palettes, and their slightly {or majorly} disturbing beauty… and those hands! I love those hands!!!

{via Booooooom}

Yep, it’s my birthday… the last one in my 30’s – um, when did that happen?! Anywho, I have always loved my birthday, and today is no exception! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite images from my “random lovely things” pinboard … because, quite frankly, most of them sort of scream birthday! Ok, here we go:

Thanks for being part of my special day… I’m going to spend the rest of the day riding my new pink bike with my lovely husband, and eating chocolate cake. A lot. See you tomorrow!

{1. Glass bubblegum paperweights 2. Painting by Amanda Blake 3. NOW mirror by Doug Aitken 4. Neon/neutral party decor 5. Donut Queen! 6. Donut painting by Emily Eveleth 7. Mixed media cake by Martha Rich 8. YOU LOOK GREAT mirror by Jade Rude 9. Mixed media photograph by Unknown … to me anyway}

Ahhh, these paintings make me want to exhale. So simple. So quiet. So lovely. They are the work of American artist/illustrator Elizabeth Mayville. As much as I love these buildings, and simple still life pieces, it was actually a couple of slightly bizarre portraits that roped me into Elizabeth’s portfolio:

Yep. Ladies with birds on their heads. Love.