A gold skirt, simple portraits, and one very festive sweater. This lovely, day-in-the-life subject matter, by American artist Christina Renfer Vogel, is exactly the kind of work that makes me jealous. Oh, and her hat, of course… I’m jealous of her fantastic, cozy fur hat!

{ps. I want that gold skirt, titled ‘Event’, in a fancy frame on my wall… it’s 36″ x 36″! Gorgeous.}

Yes, I really like portraits, but portraits without faces… LOVE! The crisp, clean jackets, married perfectly with the distorted pulled paint… sigh… so beautiful! These very well dressed, mysterious men are the work of French artist Carole Brémaud – and even though I don’t know what any of these fellas actually look like, I am in fact, completely smitten.

Ok, I’m jealous of anyone that can concentrate long enough to make something this unbelievably detailed! These amazing pieces are from a series, titled Black & Blue, by Melbourne based artist Lucas Grogan. Is anyone else getting a hand cramp just looking at these! So many tiny blue lines!

{ps. this work is ink, watercolor & acrylic on mat board and averages about 32x24cm}

Oh, I love a good sketchbook! I think it’s so amazing to be given a sneak peek into the process, and thoughts in an artist’s mind. Unfortunately, this is all I’ve been able to find out about artist/illustrator Dadu Shin… “I like making pictures, looking at pictures, thinking about pictures and eating ice cream.” All good things, of course! I tried to find out a little more info for you, but alas, nothing. However, in all of my searching I did find these little gems on Dadu’s fashion illustration blog {named i don’t like clothes}:

Well, I DO like clothes… especially that eyeball dress. Love, in fact.

Ok, American artist Lynda Benglis isn’t exactly an emerging artist {you can tell because of her very established/accomplished career that started in the 1960s, her very full Wikipedia page, and this series of images by LIFE Magazine!}, but when I saw these amazing photographs, I just had to post them. The colors are absolutely stunning, the result is beautiful, and come on… wouldn’t you want a chance to pour huge buckets of neon paint onto a concrete floor? Yep, me too!

{via candy ping pong}

Cupcakes, tea, peppermint sticks, ribbon candy, and even a few little birds. Yep, this looks like an amazing tea party… and I want an invitation, please! American artist Isadora Fidler Stowe creates these little paintings, that on first glance seem like closeups of larger pieces. Even though they are individual pieces, they all feel connected… it’s as though that ribbon is winding it’s way through each lovely painting, entangling a peppermint stick, a cupcake, or even a bird that happens to cross it’s path.

ps. I don’t have to mention her amazing color choices, right? Right, of course, you can see that for yourself!

Yep, it’s true… every week curate1k, founded by Boston based curator Norah Guignon, finds $1000 worth of art for you. A $400 piece here, a $300 piece there, and maybe even a bunch for under $50! All you have to do is find something you love, and click on it. You’ll be directly linked to the gallery site that’s selling it {you know, places like Little Paper Planes, Enormous Tiny Art, Etsy, and so on!} Easy, right? Right. And, as if that wasn’t good enough, Norah’s putting together a few “$100 week Gift Guides” heading into the holidays for him, her, and even the artsy kid in your life! YES – I want art in my stocking this year!

{1. The Good Machinery 2.Britt Bass 3. Marlene Vergara 4. Kelly Lynn Jones 5. Olivia Jeffries 6. Anthony Zinonos}

I am a huge fan of Swedish artist Camilla Engman, and so of course, I’m a huge fan of her little sidekick… her dog Morran! Morran has been a huge part of Camilla’s life, and career… have you seen Camilla’s Suitcase Series book? Morran is a major feature! I found out about an hour ago that Morran passed away a few days ago. I don’t know Camilla, or Morran, but I’m crying as I write this. I have two little dogs myself, one of which we almost lost just over a year ago, and the sadness was overwhelming. And so today, I want to share this amazing project that Camilla started in the fall – a book filled with art… Morran art to be exact! She has asked people from all over the world to contribute pieces {these are just a few of my favorites}, and the results are fantastic! It’s going to be a lovely book.

Camilla, I’m sending you lots of love, and Morran… may you run for hours on rainbows xo

{1. Kirsten Houthooft 2. Alicja Nikodem 3. Lien Geeroms 4. Sara Olmos 5. Emmanuelle Eschembrenner 6. Suana Verelst 7. Darja Charapova 8. Marta Monteiro 9. Petra Wester Norgren 10. Christine Roussey}

Yesterday was all about cardboard crystals, but today… hello paper mache rocks! Malin Gabriella Nordin has a portfolio full of all sorts of amazing mixed media work {as you can see}, but oh, how I love those little paper mache rocks!

{via Booooooom}

San Francisco based artist, Alison Kendall Swearingen, is a trained marine biologist and science illustrator… hence these gorgeous paintings of birds on wood panel. I love them all, but my favorite is the final piece above, titled “Swarm”. These paintings would have been enough for this jealous post, but while looking around her portfolio I found two of her older pieces, and I had to show them…

Fantastic, yes? You can definitely see the marine biologist in her coming through!

{via in the make}