I’ve written about her before, and I’ll do it again! I love, love, love the work of Australian artist Sandra Eterovic. Wood, and paint, and hinges in all the right places… so hilarious, and so beautifully made. Oh, and that shish-kabob lady on a stick? Yep, I need that.

December 1. Wow. We did it. An entire year full of unblocking projects! {If you missed the other projects, no problem, you can catch up right here.} I thought this was the perfect assignment to finish with… it’s from Toronto based artist Amanda Happé, the artist who painted the cover of Creative Block! This unblocking project sums up everything this year has been about for me… making lots of work, not being too precious about it, and sharing that work with others. Well, get ready, because we’re really going to share this one:

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#creativeunblock // december // by amanda happé, pg.113

“I challenge you to make something and leave it somewhere public — somewhere it might be found. Something not too grand or careful, but honest and perhaps lovely. When you’re creating it, think about one person happening upon it. Make them a message. If you enjoy this feeling of caring about something without feeling precious about it, do it again. And again.”

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Ok, how perfect is that for the holiday season!? When you leave your piece somewhere {exciting!}, post it to Instagram… I want to see where all of your special pieces have been left {I’ll do a big recap post in January}. Hashtag it #creativeUNblock, and as always, have fun!

*I’m in denial about this project being almost over, so instead I’ll spend this month acting like an artsy elf… yes, that might help.

Oh, these make me so happy… and kinda sad. Found photos starring gouachie ghosts by American artist Angela Deane. All of these pieces are from her “Ghost Photographs“ series. Angela refers to them as “ghosts of moments” – special events gone by which may or may not be remembered fully and or correctly – which is why they make me happy… and kinda sad. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go pore over old family photos and do my very best to remember what was happening and who the hell all of those people are!

{thanks to Carol for pointing me to Angela’s portfolio}

I don’t know how I did it, but somehow I managed to get American artist Esther Pearl Watson on the podcast. Actually I know exactly how I did it … I asked Martha Rich to ask her for me. Worked like a charm. I have been a huge fan of Esther’s for years, and finally met her a few weeks ago in New York. I was nervous and intimidated… until she opened her mouth. I quickly realized that she was hilarious, really nice, and actually a little bit shy herself. Esther’s story is amazing… she had a very unique childhood, to say the least, and it fuels much of her current work. Anyway, I’ll stop typing so you can start listening. Hit play right up there under “Looking for the Swimming Hole at Dinosaur State Park”, or you can subscribe on iTunes. First up, a few of my favorite pieces from her painting portfolio. Esther refers to them as memory paintings, and I called them “postcards from childhood”:

Amazing. Instead of sunny, perfect childhood memories, Esther illustrates the darker side… you know, things like “Before the Landlord Finds Us” {you’ll have to listen to find out why there are so many UFOs in her paintings}. Part of the reason I think she’s such a creative genius is because of the way she recognizes / embraces her experiences, good and bad, and turns them into creative projects. Speaking of which, she found an old diary in a dirty roadside gas station bathroom… and yep, she turned THAT into art too. Enter “Tammy Pierce”:

Creative. Genius. Since that day, years ago in a gas station bathroom, Tammy Pierce has become her own woman. {ps. the real owner of the diary was not named Tammy Pierce… it’s a name that Esther made up from various names found in her husband’s high school year book… and btw, her husband is Mark Todd – another insanely talented artist / illustrator / teacher}. Here’s a little taste of Tammy’s world today:

Oh Tammy. So many bad decisions. And there you have it… I beat the art history books and got Esther’s story now! It was such a thrill to meet her in person, and I’m over the moon that she said yes to the podcast. I hope you loved it as much as I did! Thanks to Esther for sharing her hilarious, creative stories; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and of course, thanks to you for listening {AND thanks to everyone that’s given a rating on iTunes… ART FOR YOUR EAR is slowly moving up, row by row, in the “What’s Hot in Art” section because of you guys!}

Other people/things we talked about:

Mark Todd  /  Ashley Mistriel  /  Martha Rich  /  Alice Neel  /  ArtCenter College of Design, LA  

ps. I mentioned my brother, playing a hand mirror as a guitar in my “bossy older sister” air band… and should have mentioned that he wrote, played, and recorded the music for this podcast! Another creative genius. Thanks Cam, you’re the best  xo. 

Has it started snowing where you are? We got the first sugar dusting so I’m already in desperate need of some dappled sunlight shining through flowers… thank goodness for these gorgeous ink and acrylic abstracts by Florida based artist Carlos Ramirez. Sigh. So lovely. Speaking of lovely, I found this video of Carlos painting in his sun-filled studio. Captivating, and strangely relaxing, to watch him transform a blank canvas, layer by layer, into these nature-inspired beauties {I might also be jealous that he’s wearing flip flops}… take a look:

Polka-dots, stripes, and a bunch of moody girls… yep, I love them all! These oil painting portraits are the work of Russian-Dutch, now New Jersey based, painter Larissa Eremeeva. So simple, yet so rich at the same time. Sigh. Gorgeous.

{via Saatchi Art}

Oh. My. I love this so much. The work of Brooklyn based artist Lourdes Sanchez {who I just wrote about a few weeks ago}, hand-in-hand with the best-selling book, “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is the creative brainchild of art director Helen Yentus {fyi – she has designed so many beautiful books, including the now very famous cover for Eat, Pray, Love}. For this project Helen dug through Lourdes’ extensive painting archives and chose 250 pieces. She then made 250 totally unique covers for “Big Magic”. Sigh. Magical, indeed. Lourdes emailed to tell me about this fantastic collaboration, but instead of blowing her own horn, she wrote this:

“I just want to really stress that it was Helen Yentus’ vision – then rolling up her sleeves and figuring out how to make it happen – that brought this to life. My artwork being on the covers was one section of a much larger circle, {it was all work that I had done over the years, that Helen dug up from my archives} and I feel the star of  this particular story is Helen. But, it’s also interesting to me that the work of three people: a writer, an art director, and a painter – who have all been honing their craft for awhile – came together for a moment in time.“

Wonderful. On every level. These special one-of-a-kind pieces can be found here.

Now these are some serious landscapes that I would happily get lost in. These mixed media pieces, that celebrate every season so beautifully, are the work of American artist Sophia Heymans. I love them, and here’s why… first of all, they’re BIG {most are at least 5 or 6 feet if not bigger}; secondly these landscapes truly incorporate the landscape. Her materials list reads as follows: acrylic, moss, paper mâché, string, twine, prairie grass seeds, dried dill, oil on canvas. What? Amazing! And finally, perhaps the biggest feat of all… those crisp, snowy scenes are actually making me not dread the Canadian winter ahead.

ps. “Prairie Burn” is my favorite… love ♥

I have loved the work of American artist Jessica Brilli for years. I’ve written about her a few times, and I’m sure there are many more posts to come. She has a love of all things vintage, as do I. The other thing we have in common… curating. Yep, we’re going to talk about a very exciting show {that kinda makes me want to cry} which will open later this month, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Ok, you can listen right up there under that lovely couple, or you can subscribe on iTunes. First up, a few pieces from her “Static” series, the work I posted about way back in 2012:

So good. But alas, she “got tired of painting typewriters”, and so she turned her attention to vintage, suburban landscapes. I follow her on Facebook, and she often posts work in progress. I find it fascinating to watch her work develop that way. Here is one of my favorite progressions:

She is also concerned with the topic of health care and care for the elderly, this is an acute issue for many families and professional medical care for elderly relatives is an important social issue.

Ah! A peek behind the painted curtain. That piece is one of the images that was inspired by the set of slides she bought at a garage sale {such a cool story!}. Here are a few more from that “Slide Show” series:

… and those are the slides! I also asked for a tiny peek at her studio, and look, a vintage radio… surprise, surprise! Of course, I had to ask her about her motel paintings. The image below is one of my favorite pieces of hers. It whisks me right back to family road trips:

Love. Speaking of love… “Jealously Curated | East Coast Edition”. What!? Yes, Jess and a bunch of other artists have put this beautiful show together, that opens November 23rd in Cambridge MA. The theme… everyone in the show has been written about on my site! How crazy amazing is that? And yes, I got a little teary-eyed when they emailed to ask me if I’d be ok with it. Ok with it? Um, YES. Here is a peek at the fantastic artists whose work will be included:

Gah! So, so good! I wish I could go to the par-tay {Jess said the opening party was in November, but it’s actually on December 3rd}. If you can go, please do… and then send me photos! Alright, that’s that. There was a quick mention of a Big Salad with the Seinfeld crew in the speed round, and then we said goodbye. Thanks so much to Jessica, for EVERYTHING, and thank you so much to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

{Links to artists above: Anna Jensen / Jenny Brown / Airco Caravan / Erin Fitzpatrick / Jeremy Miranda / Leah Giberson / Taliah Lempert / Zin Helena Song / Jessica Brilli}

Oil paint on glass… and a few on canvas… but mainly on glass. This is the stunning/sultry work of Beirut born, London based artist Ilona Szalay. I already thought these pieces were gorgeous, and then I found these exhibition photos which made me truly realize how beautiful paintings on glass can be {some are even lit from behind with lights}:

Oh my. Love.