Whoa. I want to go to there. I am in love with the explosion of color in these magical, mountainous landscapes by Minneapolis based artist Melissa Loop… but wait… she’s no ‘one trick pony’! Melissa does beautiful things using only one color too:

Ahhh, blue tropics. I want to go to there too… Melissa did: “This series is based on the photos, mis-memory, and fantasy around my research trip to the French Polynesia.” ♥

Oh. My. Found wood and colorful, intricately painted lines? Yes, please! I absolutely love this series of work by American painter Jason Middlebrook. After moving from Brooklyn to Hudson New York, now out of the city and into nature, Jason started painting on chunks of discarded wood – adding contemporary design to the already gorgeous work that Mother Nature provided… a perfect collaboration.

{via My Modern Met}

Graphite and watercolor. Oh, and paper. That’s it. These mixed media drawings are the gorgeous work of Colombian artist Johan Barrios. Perfectly drawn portraits, on washy/loose fields of paint… I’d like to write more, but instead I’m just going to stare at these in awe. {Drawings!?}

TV sets, rainbows, old toys and cassette tapes… sigh… these mixed media paintings by Seattle based artist Amy Spassov are whisking me right back to my pre-teen days! And, because my sister and I had rosebud bedding for our entire childhood/adolescence, Amy’s rose-covered backgrounds are ridiculously comforting and familiar to me… I totally just aged myself, didn’t I?

*All of these pieces are from her most recent series, titled “Inside Out”.

Episode no.4 … I’m starting to get the hang of this whole podcast thing! Today I’m talking to New York based artist Trey Speegle … and yes, that’s him with First Lady Michelle Obama. That’s just how Trey rolls. Everything we talk about in this episode is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re chatting. Most of it won’t make sense unless you listen, so just click ‘play’ right up there {see, just under Trey & Michelle}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Ok. Here we go…

Trey’s paint-by-number work.… and paintball-by-number™, of course! These pieces are the title pieces from a few of his solo exhibitions {and that’s his trusty little dog, Lamont}. Oh, and look down there… it’s Andy Warhol’s gravestone that Trey accidentally designed:

And if you want to see the grave right this very minute, Trey told me that there is an Andy Warhol grave-cam. He wasn’t kidding. And, look what else he pointed me to! The photo above was taken with Trey’s camera at a party in New York, Hallowe’en 1988… Trey is second from the left on the bottom, and Keith Haring {yes, THAT Keith Haring} is second from the right. Crazy.

And then of course, there was the whole discussion about my invite onto the boat in Miami, but we’re both a little concerned about sharks. This is the photo we were talking about:

And finally, the most gorgeous #tbt photo I’ve ever seen… Trey, in drag for Hallowe’en, on a rooftop in New York:

Ah-mazing. Such a beautiful photo {look at those legs!}. Thanks so much to Trey for always being so fun! He’s a busy man, so I was very honored that he took the time to do this with me. Thanks to Saatchi Art for sponsoring the first four episodes of ART FOR YOUR EAR, and thank YOU for listening! There will be a new episode up next Saturday.

These paintings by American artist Seth Smith are like beautifully painted, circular reminders of every hot summer road trip that my family ever took. First question from the sweltering backseat… does the motel have a pool!? Fingers crossed that the answer was YES. Perhaps that’s why I love these four pieces so much… four paintings, four pools! {I’m going to assume that the “Pacific Motel” has a pool!}

Happy weekend!

Painted leaves… not paintings of painted leaves… painted leaves! Sigh. So pretty. These are part of a personal series by Brazilian artist/pattern designer Gabee Meyer. Now, it’s not enough that she hand painted them with repeating stripes and triangles, but she also put them all together into one big leafy, pattern… I’d expect nothing less from a pattern designer actually! {here it is, plus a few more of my faves because I can’t not share. Also, wiener dog.}:

Love.

Bark. Well, acrylic bark… on canvas! These gorgeous, barky paintings {paintings!?} are the work of Melbourne based artist Jodi Wiley. I posted a photo of some very pretty tree bark on Instagram two weeks ago, and thankfully one of you wrote, “reminds me of @jodiwileyart”… click click click… gasp! Aaaand then I wrote this post. ♥

I wrote about UK based painter Sarah Ball, and her series of mugshot portraits, two years ago. Well, she’s currently working on a huge new body of work, titled “Immigrants”, that is equally lovely, very emotional, and beautifully painted. These are just a few of my favorites… all of these ladies happen to be Romanian, but each portrait in this series tells it’s own story. Are they excited? Terrified? Both, perhaps. Sarah is still working on pieces in this series for an extensive exhibition that will open this August in Cornwall at Millennium Gallery. If you’re there this summer… GO.

You might think that painter Horace Panter is American given this fabulous ode to Americana… but no, he’s British. If his name sounds familiar to you, then I’m guessing you’re a fan of The Specials. Yep, in the decades following his fine arts education, he traveled the world with his band {remember, A Message to You Rudy… yep, that’s them!}. From 1998 – 2008 he was the “Head of Art” in a high school, and in 2009 he decided it was time to focus on his own work again – thank goodness because that drunk clown is calling my name!

{Thanks to Rania for pointing me to Horace’s work… here is a great interview she did with him.}