Thank you so much to everyone that entered this lovely / potty-mouthed giveaway! I love that it drew attention to the fight against cancer… if you know someone fighting now, just give them a hug {so much better them telling them to cheer up or calm down!}. Ok, so the winner of the pink 13″x19″ CALM THE F*CK DOWN” print is… TESS DILLENBERGER! Congratulations, I’ll be in touch to get your address. Thanks so much to Rose {aka Rose Lemonade} for fighting the fight, making great art, and doing this giveaway with me xo

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Seems fitting for the end of the week, no? These watercolor paintings are the work of Canadian artist Rose Currie {aka Rose Lemonade}. They are from her “Wallflower” series, and when I first saw them I thought they were hilarious… until Rose told me what they’re actually about. A few years ago Rose came face to face with cancer. She spent over a year in the hospital, away from her family and three small sons. It was a terrible time for her, and her recovery has been very taxing as well. She basically put her whole life, including art, on the back-burner while she concentrated on her fight… thankfully a fight that she seems to be winning. However, when people found out she was going to survive the general response was, “Oh, well then why so down in the dumps? You should cheer up!”  No energy, her life upside down, years lost… yes she was grateful that she’d gotten through the worst of it, but was apparently not in the mood to “cheer the fuck up”. I’m happy to report that she’s feeling much better, and in the process we got these fantastic paintings!

In fact, one of you will get an 13″x19″ print to help you “CALM THE FUCK DOWN”. Yep, I have that very direct message made of pink blossoms to give away! Leave a comment below and I’ll draw one name on Monday May 23rd at noon PST. If you can’t wait that long, you can also buy these very affordable prints from Rose’s shop.

Fancy hair, intricate patterns, and a whole bunch of very dreamy landscapes. These are the gorgeous reverse portraits {self, and others} of Barcelona based artist Alejandra Atarés. I love all of the pieces in this series – yes, editing this post was extremely difficult – but I have to say, that first piece {lavender hair & hot pink jacket complete with bits of shiny glass} is killing me. In a good way. LOVE.

VICTORY! It took until episode 50 but I finally convinced peer pressured Irish artist Lola Donoghue into doing the podcast! She was a tough nut to crack, but I eventually wore her down. I so badly wanted to have her on for three reasons… 1. I love her work   2. She is one of the coolest/sweetest people I’ve ever met   3. Her story is ridiculously inspiring. Oh, and 4. Best. Accent. Ever. You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Here are a few of Lola’s gorgeous abstract paintings to get us started:

Sigh. Beautiful. Her mark making is so free, and don’t even get me started on her color palette.

I made sure to bring up her home studio, mainly so I could show as many photos as possible of her gorgeous space. Canvases stacked everywhere, and a view of the Irish countryside:

Oh my goodness. I want to spend an afternoon {or a month} in there! Next up, Lola talked about what a difference this made for her sales. She resisted doing this but thought she’d give it a try… she decided to show her work in room settings so people could understand the scale, and how her work might look in their home. It worked. A lot!

So smart {she has these for sale as prints on her site, and I have quite a few in my online gallery as well… and if you want an original you have to move fast! They sell before she even finishes them sometimes. Visit her site and sign up for her newsletter to be kept up to date on available originals}. And finally, the speed round… always delivering an interesting gem or two… who just bought four of Lola’s paintings? Yep, Sia:

Um yeah, I can see why they might have a fondness for each other. Perhaps one of Lola’s paintings will end up in the background of Sia’s next music video… you never know!

Thank you so, so much to Lola. When I say she didn’t want to do this, I mean she REALLY didn’t want to do this. Well, she had absolutely no reason to be nervous, in fact, I think we should all celebrate with some cider and cheese! Thanks also to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and of course, thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Marvel’s Jessica Jones
2. Sia

Oh. Tina Berning. I wrote about this fabulous Berlin based artist years ago… um, why haven’t I written again!? Well, I am fixing that right now. She creates beautiful illustrations for magazines etc, but her “diary” is what I can’t get enough of. It is filled, and I mean FILLED, with so many beautiful things. Found paper, inky lines, lovely women, strange groups of people that I want to know more about… and I just noticed a bit of embroidery! Sigh. So beautiful. Happy Friday.

This explosion of nostalgia and color is screaming at the sticker-collecting, rainbow-loving twelve year old in me. The absolutely gorgeous figures and stunning compositions are in a mature conversation with the art-loving curator in me. This is the work of Brooklyn based artist Erik Jones, and this is a description from his latest show, “Twenty Sixteen”:

“Jones challenges viewers to see beauty in his chaotic, mixed-media works that merge nude subjects with nonrepresentational, abstract elements. Describing the human figures in his compositions as “aesthetic anchors,” they are the calming foreground upon which bursts of color, stenciled shapes and custom-made stickers create surreal landscapes. Using multiple mediums, such as watercolor, acrylic, colored pencils, wax pastels and oil paint, Jones’ portraits are technically complex and express a heightened sense of realism.”

And also rainbows, unicorns, and orcas! Sorry, that was the twelve-year old again  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

{Just missed this show… damn. “Twenty Sixteen” was at Jonathan LeVine in New York and just came down at the end of April}

Oh. My. Beautiful, sad, perfect, destroyed… all of that. This is the work of Toronto based artist Brian Donnelly. He has a solo show coming up later this week in Portland at Stephanie Chefas Projects. The show is titled “Nothing Lasts Forever” – appropriate – and this was a chunk of text that I found on the gallery’s site describing Brian’s process:

“Donnelly is well known for his aggressive approach to portraiture that involves defacing meticulously executed figures through the use of turpentine, hand sanitizer, and other materials. The resulting work is a study in deterioration, fortified by the philosophy that to take away from something can be just as provocative as to add to it.”

Agreed. I think I’d put the word “brave” in there somewhere too. I’m not sure I’d be able to pour turpentine over a perfect painting… although I bet it would be fun!

When I emailed Toronto based artist/designer Amanda Happé to ask if she’d do the podcast, she wrote me back and said “Oooh, sounds scary – so yes!”  You gotta love that. Amanda does work that speaks to the designer in me. Perfect lines, beautiful text, gorgeous palettes… sort of not surprising to learn that she’s a graphic designer by day. She has such a refreshing/smart way of looking at creativity so I was thrilled to finally talk to her. You can listen right up there under all of that GRATITUDE, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

The first thing we talked about was, of course, her text-based paintings that I love oh so much:

Ah! I already loved them but then to find out that she doesn’t plan them on the computer first {kinda what you’d expect a graphic designer to do}, it’s all done with old school tools like pencils, erasers, and compasses! Love. Oh, speaking of love, I forgot to mention that the piece directly above, “YOU ARE LOVED”, was a custom piece that Amanda made for one of my Land of Nod collections. Love. Again.

Alright, next… yes, Amanda was the artist that I chose to paint the cover of my first book, Creative Block! And what I didn’t realize for the longest time, until I held the book in my hands and really looked at it, she hand painted the “Creative Block” letters!? Look:

So good! What a steady hand she must have. That’s me at the opening of my show at the Bedford Gallery in late 2014. This is when I saw the original painting {that she later gave me as gift!?} for the first time. And yes, I cried a tiny bit. Oh, and I had to show visual proof of this… the Korean version of Creative Block:

Ha! I’m going to send one to Amanda, and I’m going to give one away today too… leave a comment below and I’ll draw one name before the next podcast goes up. Good luck!

Now, these are the “doodles” she mentioned. Her marker drawings that she does just to stay loose and to keep making when the big ideas are simmering in the background. Yeah, except that now Chronicle has asked her to make a book with these!? Hello amazing surprise project!

See, just goes to show that doing a little something every day really can get you somewhere! Ok, I also had to show you this too… so the building her studio is in was going to be sold and all 5 artists working there would be kicked out… so Amanda bought the building and now manages it. Um, ah-mazing! Here’s a little peek at “Three of Wands” {a tarot card reference}:

This is going to be my first stop for a visit next time I’m in Toronto! And finally, I had to include Amanda’s bio photo… her amazing pink/yellow door in her old apartment:

Let’s hope whoever lives there now kept it that way. Thank you so much to Amanda for doing this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thank YOU for listening… there will be more art for your ear next weekend {and don’t forget to leave a comment if you want a chance at that Korean version of CB!}

Other links:

1. Bruce Mau Design
2. TAXI Advertising & Design
3. Martha Rich
4. “Home Movies” TV show

Oh. Yes! Painting, drawing, and collage coming together to create the weirdest, most wonderful treetops. This is the work of Brooklyn based artist Lauren Matsumoto… sigh… I’m not really sure what else to say other than roller skates, and cameras, and birds, oh my! ♥ Happy Friday.

{Thanks to Uprise Art for pointing me to Lauren’s work}

Work like this makes me wish I could build stuff. These are the colorful, abstract constructions of American artist Joey Slaughter. What do they mean? What are they all about? Here’s his description:

“My paintings and constructions investigate the “look” of digital information as it is transmitted around us, providing an overabundance of stimuli and therefore, distractions. I create abstract works that references conversations, usually a direct communication between two people. I wonder how a simple conversation is absorbed between people, how they’re connected, and what the conversational wavelengths would look like. The main idea is to create abstractions from conversations if you could see sound waves from analogue and digital devices passing through and around people. I imagine it to be very chaotic, yet beautiful.”

Now I wish I knew what my conversations looked like AND that I could build stuff.

{via Fresh Paint Magazine}

Lol’s meet beautifully painted classics. Yes. These are paintings! Everything – from the lace collars, to the romantic landscapes – and then of course there’s the perfect lettering… I rly cant even. This is a sneak peek of the latest work from American painter Shawn Huckins. I wrote about him yearrrrrrs ago, but with this amazing new show, titled “Everything is Hilarious and Nothing is Real”, about to open on May 5th at Modernism Inc in San Francisco, clearly I had to write again. If you want to see the full reveal of these big, perfect beauties up close and personal, you really should. The show runs from May 5 to June 25, 2016 and the opening reception is May 5th from 5:30- 8pm.

Good luck, Shawn! L8R