I am a sucker for portraits, and these large-scale beauties are no exception! This is the work of Montreal based painter Janet Werner. If any of these women look strangely familiar, this might be why:

[Janet’s] work focuses on the fictional portrait as a vehicle to explore notions of subjectivity and desire. Her paintings operate within and against the genre of conventional portraiture, taking found images of anonymous figures in popular culture and imbuing them with fictional personalities.

LOVE. Happy Monday.

This is the absolutely awe-inspiring work of Madrid born, New York based painter Antonio Santin. Yes, PAINTER. These ‘rugs’ are in fact oil paintings. Figurative oil paintings… except that the figures are all hidden:

“The rug series evolved from his ongoing interest in the opacity of fabric as a device to obscure the body with abstract patterns and textures. Each of these works brings the background into the foreground while a discernible figure hovers beneath the surface.”

Crazy. Beautiful. Happy Friday.

Oh boy, she’s at it again … and now she’s doing it every single day! Yep, the last time I wrote about Canadian artist Andrea Soos, she was painting on the side while running an art workshop business. Well, a few months ago, she made THE BIG JUMP and has officially become a full-time artist. And she is on FIRE. Dots, arcs, dripping color… Andrea is ridiculously prolific and, from what I can tell via her Instagram feed, most likely covered in paint.

ps. Her work sells fast, but you can find both canvas and paper pieces on her site.

Ooh, those lines, color palettes, and sneaky caught-on-camera points of view! This is the work of American painter Mychaelyn Michalec, and this is why (and how) she does what she does:

My work depicts ultramodern scenes of domestic life. Creating large scale paintings (some 7 feet tall), I use family life as a reference. Documenting life covertly,  I use my phone’s camera to capture our relationships with each other and daily life. Social media has idealized family life, but I try to depict moments of both simultaneous disconnect and connection.

Wildflowers, mushrooms, butterflies, acrylic, ink, and vellum on canvas. Loooooooove. This is the work of Los Angeles based artist Sage Vaughn. I saw his work in person this week while I was in San Francisco, and loved it immediately. I actually gasped out loud when I came face to face with one of his canvases… and THEN I saw this:

WHAT. A huge, beautiful, drippy, wheatpaste flower-covered mural complete with forest critters? Oh, yes! Sage installed this beauty at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park, thanks to the Facebook Artist-in-Residence program (aka @fbairprogram). I love everything about it – the scale, the detail, and the fact FB employees get to eat lunch surrounded by this weird meadow every single day. So. Good. Happy Monday.

Third time lucky! Yep, this is the third time I’ve had New York based artist Trey Speegle on the podcast. We’ve covered his childhood, 80’s in New York and everything in between… but today we’re talking about Andy Warhol! Trey’s new studio/gallery, Gallery 52, has a show up right now, for one more week, filled with all things Warhol… and so is this episode! Also, I could listen to Trey’s story alllll day long… wind him up and let him go! You can listen right up there under Andy’s purple cow, or subscribe on iTunes.

So, let’s not waste any time … here’s just some of the bits ‘n pieces of ‘Warhol Ephemera’ that are part of this wonderful time capsule / show:

Isn’t that crazy? And that’s just the tip of the Warhol iceberg. Thank goodness Trey is a collector, stashing away hundreds of paint-by-number kits for his own work, and also saving all of these amazing pieces of art history.

Speaking of which, here are a few of the photographs he mentioned. After we talked, Trey went through them a little more carefully and look what he found:

Himself! Well, those top two strips are photos of Trey taken by Andy at a party, and the contact sheet below features the shirt Trey designed, being worn by John Sex.

Next, his beautiful new space in upstate New York. Introducing Gallery 52…

How fantastic is THAT? If you find yourself in Jeffersonville NY, stop in and say hello… and then buy some stuff!

Oooh, and I have to show you these… Trey’s flowers, on repeat:

LOVE! Not only do I love that he has used this image over and over in different ways {very Warholian}, I also love how generous Trey is about creativity. He has so many great ideas around getting unstuck and just playing. He even offers his images for people to play with {the folder above for example}.

And finally, I know you want to see this guy:

Ha! Terrifyingly awesome… the clown cookie jar! Thanks so much to Trey for telling me all of his stories, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode {and I’ll see you next week at The Other Art Fair in LA!}; and as always, thank YOU for listening. There won’t be an episode next weekend, but I’ll be back the week after that. See you then.

Other links:

1. Martha Rich
2. Ashley Longshore, Episode No. 135
3. Trey’s Coloring Book + {gift packs etc}
4. Trey, Episode No.4
5. Trey, Episode No.80

There’s no time to be shy … that’s for sure! It’s also the mantra that has made Montreal based, Kazakhstan born artist Ola Volo a full time artist. Now, we’ve known each other for a while as friends, but honestly I don’t know all of her behind-the-scenes stories. Thank goodness I have a podcast to take my friendships to new levels! You can listen right up there under Ola in her spray paint mask, or subscribe on iTunes.

Let’s start with a key ingredient in all of Ola’s work… her love of cultural patterns and icons:

So gorgeous! Ola has totally embraced all of the cultures she grew up with – Russian, Polish, Kazakh and Canadian – to create her own visual language… a language that allows her to tell all sorts of stories!

So, how did she become a mural artist? This was the very first one. The project that made her google “what is mural”:

Um, I think she figured it out! This was the wall at Hootsuite in Vancouver that started the crazy mural ball rolling for her. Well, that and Ola’s fake it till ya make it attitude.

Oooh, and here’s the Starbucks in New York that basically got transformed into “Ola’s World”:

How cool is that? If you happen to be in New York pop in … 21st & 5th Ave. Yep, 5th Avenue, baby!

Oh yes, and also cool… a collaboration with Louis Vuitton:

So great, right!? Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of that fabulous LV party she went to in Toronto, but we can use our imaginations.

Next up, her solo show that just happened in Vancouver, titled “King Queen Lovers Fool”. This time she was working mainly on canvas, not just walls:

Okay, she had to get one wall in there. Fair enough!

And finally, proof that Ola is doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing:

Love. Thank you so much to Ola for this amazing, warm, and super fun chat; Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thank YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Thrive {ps. they’re accepting new members}
2. Emily Carr University of Art + Design
3. Bitch Magazine
4. Skylight Books {my book event in LA on Oct 27th}

“I think this installation is going to be one of my weirdest.” ~ Martha Rich

Ha! And that’s just one of the reasons to love her. Yep, Philadelphia based artist Martha Rich has hung whole bunch {220 to be exact} of her hilarious, powerful, random, kinda weird speech bubbles for her latest show. “Nude Neighbor” opens tomorrow night, October 13th from 6-9 pm, at Showboat Gallery in Los Angeles. These hand-cut / hand-painted beauties – from “foxy” and “fly”, to “i can’t watch another mopey white guy movie” – are priced $25 and up! Cash and carry, first come, first serve… ie., get down there at 6pm SHARP! Oh, and one more reason to love Martha … a portion of sales will go to the Downtown Women’s Shelter. Happy Friday.

Oil paint and ink drawing on canvas. True story. Sigh. What a stunning combination … and a combination that, I will admit, made me do more than a few double-takes! Also, those icebergs? So, so, beautiful. This is the work of Austrian artist Julia Faber, and this is an excerpt about her work written by Susanne Neuburger, and translated by Lauren Cooke:

“Sustained by the intensity and impeccability of hyperrealistic painting, Julia Faber’s work often takes us into a grotesque and surreal world. However, perfection and discipline, pushing the limits of norms and taboos, are also Faber’s main theme, unless mythology or other historical hints play a vital role. These references are always balanced with the present, as generally a combination of old and new provides a kind of bracket for Faber’s work. This also includes the important element of drawing counteracting her often dense oil painting, as well as an archive of texts and documents which are not only important research material but also integrated into her works.” 

Oooh,  “JARDINES, CACTUS Y FLORES”. Gorgeous! I’ve written about her paintings before {women facing away from the viewer}, but this is the most recent work of Spanish artist Alejandra Atarés. Those tiles, the flowers, and my goodness… those electric color palettes! These are just a few paintings destined for her soon-to-open show at Victor Lope Gallery in Barcelona tomorrow… Wednesday, October 10th at 7pm. Also, a few shots so you can see the scale of these botanical beauties {and a lovely bio shot of Alejandra by Santiago Garcés}:

Stunning.