Oh, so pretty! Little bits and pieces of sunny childhood memories brought lovingly to you by American painter Lisa Golightly. Now, some of  you might know her as Kiki & Polly, as both her portfolio site, and Etsy shop, go by that name. Why? Here is Lisa’s very sweet explanation: “The name, in fact, is inspired by my daughter’s love of a bird she named Kiki, and for her imaginary friend Polly. Polly no longer visits our house as she once did, but I try to keep the spirit of childhood, wonder and imagination with me in my Portland, Oregon studio.” That makes me want to cry! Am I alone here? Anyone?

{…want two more reasons to be jealous of Lisa? One of her pieces was featured in Martha Stewart’s Holiday Issue (p.54), AND she was also selected to have a table at the Martha Stewart Holiday Craft Sale coming up on December 4th in New York! Congratulations Lisa, and good luck xo}

If LA based artist Alika Cooper asked me to hop in an RV so that we could go on a cross-country road trip to visit her very blond cousin who lives in a trailer park with a pink chair in her front yard… I would totally say yes.

I wrote about Canadian artist Kate O’Connor {almost two years ago} because I was totally jealous of her hilarious embroidered hankies… I had no idea about these little gems! Tiny gouachey socks, surrendering milk jugs, and a cushion fort on pastel paper? Yep. I’m totally jealous… again.

Blah. I’m sick. I need to be cozy, eat soup and sleep… but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a little bit jealous this weekend. Check out these five artists, and call me in the morning: 1) Kate Pugsley 2) Langdon Graves 3) Jenny Meilihove 4) Steve MacDonald 5) Anila Rubiku

Last Hallowe’en I put together an online show called Masked. This year, just to shake things up a bit, I decided to search my past posts for the word “scared”… and this is what came up! Ooooh, scary indeed. Have a great, and spoooooky Hallowe’en weekend everyone! See ya Monday.

And hey, while we’re here, why not do a quick search for “creepy” too:

ps. if that little girl knocks on your door this Sunday, don’t answer it.

{Scared: 1) Maurizio Anzeri 2) Katinka Lampe 3) Lynn Whipple 4) Kael Kasabian 5) Carmen Calvo // Creepy: 1) Tamara Muller 2) Foliage 3) Mark Ryden}

This ain’t no regular library. Nope, this library is actually a series titled Every Book Ever, by Mary Alyssa Block. It consists of over 70 books whose covers she’s meticulously recreated onto the appropriate sized pieces of found wood. Love, love, love! Granted, with this collection of books I might never be able to identify a bird in California, and there’s a very good chance that I’ll over-water my cactus… but hey, that’s the price I’m willing to pay for beautiful art!

{via Junkculture}

ps. I think I’ve found the perfect place to stack these books ~ the house that jealousy built of course! pop over to sfgirlbybay and have a look at my latest room… the library!

Boys in cardigans, holding pigeons. Yep… I’m jealous. I love these drawings {the added colour is oil paint} by Canadian artist Genevieve Dionne. And I’m even more impressed because she didn’t even need a pencil! All of these pieces are done with a very hot little wood burning tool leaving no room for error. I don’t know about you, but I need a little room for error! I’d hate to see what might happen to that boy’s pigeon with a wood burning tool in my hand! Ouch.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so what better time to write about a collection of work featuring a whole bunch of pink, and a whole bunch of, well, breasts! Don’t be shy ladies. Check early, check often xo

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Ok, kicking things off by getting straight to the point, thanks to Team Macho:

Beautiful embroidery work {in a variety of cup sizes} by Jenny Hart:

“Mounds” by Margaux Lange… yep, those are Barbie boobs!

Charmaine Olivia… Deer heads and doilies!

Peregrine Honig‘s Little Red Riding Hood showing off her bikini tan. Love, love, love!

Emily Barletta manages to make diseased cells look beautiful with her amazing crochet/bead work:

Lovely pink ladies by Tina Berning:

…and of course, a post about breast cancer wouldn’t be complete without at least of few pink ribbons. Pen drawings by Leigh Wells:

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For more information on early detection, treatment, or to make a donation, please visit your national site. Oh, and don’t forget to Think Pink! xx

US… www.nationalbreastcancer.org //  Canada… www.cbcf.org //  Australia… www.nbcf.org.au //  UK… www.wearitpink.co.uk

If a drawing a day keeps the doctor away, then I’m pretty sure that Berlin based artist Tina Berning will never even get the sniffles! This is the third time I’ve written about her… and I didn’t even mean to! I was pulling some work together for another post and thought I’d quickly pop by her online “drawing a day” diary… and ended up being there for over an hour. Her work is amazing and always leaves me feeling inspired… with just a small case of “crushed-soul syndrome”. Hm, maybe I should give my doctor a quick call.

I’m not sure how to begin writing about the beautiful and powerful work of New York based artist Ain Cocke. Maybe I’ll let him do it…

“Gender theorists and historians have posited that the first half of the 20th century was the end of a period where male intimacy was allowed without the burden of specific identities like “homosexual,” which imposed restrictions on behavior between men as much as clarified and codified it.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself! I love how he’s taken these images of soldiers, and blended them with flowery, almost Rococo detailing. If the backgrounds were different, say a manly Navy boat, or a bloody battlefield, homosexuality wouldn’t even be inferred, but swap those out for lush gardens and some rosy cheeks and suddenly the closeness of the men seems sexual. Amazing really. Ah, the power of gold leaf and ceramic flowers!

{via Booooooom}