Oh, my goodness. These stunning oil paintings are the work of London based painter Amy Judd. Delicate, mysterious, and oh so feminine. This is a description of her work from the gallery that represents her, the Hicks Gallery:

“Amy Judd’s paintings are a collection of sensitive silent moments; some full of whimsical intrigue, others more surreal and seductive. These paintings draw inspiration from the enchanting and imaginative relationship between women and nature found in traditional mythologies and folklores.”

Sigh. Lovely.

A project for today! Listen to this…

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NWMA), the world’s only major museum solely dedicated to celebrating great women artists, has announced a new social media campaign for this March’s Women’s History Month. If you ask someone to name five artists, they will likely name prominent male artists, but how many people can list five women artists? To increase awareness the museum will launch the campaign “Can you name five women artists?” March 1 on its website and blog as well as on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Using the hashtag #5womenartists, the campaign will encourage NMWA’s online community to help address the gender imbalance in the presentation of art both in the United States and internationally.

Oh, I am so in… mind you, I could name 500 women artists that I love, but I’ll play by the rules. Here are 5 of my {many} favorite artists, who also happen to be women:

Alright yes, that was 6, but I had to make sure that the mysterious and talented Vivian Maier was in there too! Ok, now it’s your turn – jump on those social media channels and name #5womenartists whose work you love {contemporary or historical} and help make it really easy for people to be able to name five women artists ♥

{click on the artwork above to see more of their work}

Oh my word. Giant, juicy paint strokes on the wall? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This is the work of American artist Donald Martiny… how, you ask? Polymer and dispersed pigment on aluminum. Stunning.

Ah, beautiful little sandwiches of paper, paint and found images! Today I’m talking to Austin based artist Xochi Solis. We’ve worked on a few projects together but we’ve only communicated through email, so I was very excited to hear her voice and get to know her a little better. It worked! You’ll notice throughout the post I’ve put the titles of each piece… thanks to a little tidbit I learned during the speed round. Oh, the speed round… such a wonderful source of information. Alright, you can listen right up there under “she sings hymns out of tune”, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Let’s kick things off with a few of my favorite pieces of Xochi’s:

Her work makes me want to make things. I want to find paper, flip through old books, squeeze out a few tubes of gouache and get stackin’! I was so thrilled to have Xochi as one of the artists in my book, Collage. In that book I gave all 30 artists the same starting image to do with whatever they pleased. It was a photo of my dad and uncle as kids so it was really fun for my whole family to see the amazing artwork that came back. Here’s a peek:

Love! Can you see where Dad and Uncle Bill are? And as mentioned, Xochi sweetly packed up her original piece {above} and sent it to me! It’s hanging in my living room as we speak… and so is the other piece shown right beside that photo of my dad and uncle. I had no self control so I made a collage for the book too.

Now, we also talked about her work going from paper to walls… in the form of giant installations:

Beautiful! Up next, her love of hands! Yep, she loves hands and elbows in her work. See if you can find them in these next three pieces:

Where’s Waldo… but more hand-ish. Now what kind of an artist interviewer would I be if I didn’t ask the question, “What’s your favorite color?”. Well, she had a complex answer! Sort of a peony pink/orange and an avocado/citron green. Here they are in action:

And I looooved her story about finding that green paper, hence the title of this episode! So, somehow in the excitement of talking about paper and tacos, I forgot to mention the piece she did for my Spring 2016 collection at Land of Nod. It’s so gorgeous, and surprise surprise, also includes her favorite colors:

Isn’t that lovely? My favorite thing about working on that Nod collection is having accomplished contemporary artists make gorgeous work that could hang in a nursery… or in the middle of your living room. Love.

Alright, that’s that! Thanks to Xochi for talking to me… I wish we could have shared a few tacos and margaritas {next time}; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode – and don’t forget, I’ll be drawing one name this Monday, February 29th for a $50 gift card to be used toward art at saatchiart.com… just sign up for my ‘art for your inbox’ email if you’d like to be entered;  AND huge thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Yessssssss. It’s amazing that a bit of skillfully applied ink and watercolor on paper could make me want to go night swimming… in February. Ok, maybe a quick flight to St.Thomas first. This is the simple and fantastic work of American artist/illustrator Ian Dingman. Happy weekend, indeed.

Modern fairytales? Kind of. These gorgeous paintings are the work of El Salvador based artist Luis Cornejo. I wrote about him in 2014 but his combination of Mickey Mouse hands and lovely portraits keeps me coming back for more!

Yes, I have a thing for still life paintings… especially when they’re filled with vibrant colors and strange flowers! These whimsical oil paintings are the lovely work of Australian painter Helen McCullagh. Gorgeous. And now I want to spend a sunny afternoon painting while eating oranges and watermelon.

Ahhh, is it July yet? If you live somewhere cold, brace yourself because the work of New York based painter Samantha French will make you want to jump into the closest pool! A few episodes ago I called Sam out for blatantly ignoring my invitation to come on the podcast… so we definitely cover that. We’re also talking about living/working in New York, really big canvases, and where her love of painting water began. You can listen right underneath that gorgeous swimmer, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Ok, let’s get things started with a bunch of my favorites:

Sigh. See? Don’t you want to go swimming right now? Her work is absolutely beautiful, but seeing it online doesn’t do it justice. We talked about how big most of her work is, so I wanted to include these photos to help you understand the scale {and also to give you a peek into her New York studio}:

Ah-mazing! If you ever get a chance to see one of her shows in person… GO. You really do feel like you’re in a pool right along with all of her subjects.

Next, a few photos from the movies! Yep, these are the photos Sam took in the middle of a theater when two of her pieces were used on the set of Sleeping With Other People, starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie:

That photo directly above is a self-portrait of Sam, so technically she was in the movie too! Pretty cool. Speaking of cool, Sam’s partner, Aaron Hauck, is an amazing painter as well. Since this is a post about Sam, I thought I’d show one of his paintings that happens to be of Sam… “Sam checking her phone”, 2015:

Love! So much talent in one house. And with that I will say thanks so much to Sam for saying yes {turns out I need to check my inbox more carefully}; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode {and giving away a $50 gift card at the end of this month… sign up for my weekly email to be entered}; and a huge thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

• “Weekend Brunch with Samantha French” post 
• Wayne White episode
• MCAD
• Jennifer Davis
• Martha Rich

When I come across a work description that includes “porcupine quills”, I stop. These are the absolutely gorgeous paintings of New York based artist Alan Reid. Those faces, those soft colors, and yes… those quills! Amazing.

{Images, and installation views, via Lisa Cooley, NY}

Tiny paper houses, clearly made with love, by Barcelona based artist Mar Cerdà. She illustrates children’s books for several publishing houses, but it’s her paper dioramas that grabbed me… painted tiles, little framed artworks, and windows lit from behind! Oh, and those final three are housed inside tuna cans from Portugal. So good.