Sigh. Beautiful. This is the work of Milan based photographer Luca Tombolini. These limited edition, large-scale {39.4″ x 52.4″} photographs were taken in Croatia, and… well, I’ll let Love It Gallery explain the rest:

“These photographs were shot on Pag Island, Croatia.  During WWII, this island was the Slana concentration camp.  To honour what happened on Pag Island, both our gallery and the photographer will donate profit from the sales of his Pag island “Memoria” series to organizations supporting victims of the Slana concentration camp and their families.” ~ Love It Gallery

Sigh. Beautiful.

Oh. My. This is the gorgeous, dreamy, feminine, wonderfully weird work of Boston based self-portrait photographer, Alicia Savage. All of these images are from her series, titled Destinations:

“Destinations” is an on-going series of self-portraits inspired by the decision to explore on ones own. Over the past few years I have often felt compelled to travel alone, trusting in the direction of my curiosities and finding inspiration in the experiences that follow.

Beautiful. And now I want to travel alone. With really pretty dresses.

{via Hi-Fructose Magazine}

I could literally spend hours looking through the Instagram feed of Seattle based artist Cheyenne Randall… ok, I just did. I cannot get enough! He adds the most beautifully hand-drawn tattoos to some of pop culture’s favorite icons… from Twiggy to Marilyn to Elvis. I was going to stop there, but I’m a child of the 80’s so clearly I also had to include these:

Yes. Oh, yes.

{You can buy his work as prints, originals, and apparel right here.}

Wow. We’re already at episode no.3 of ART FOR YOUR EAR! Today I’m talking to LA based photographer, the very sweet and lovely, Stephanie Vovas… I’m pushing her out of her comfort zone with this whole podcast thing, but it’s payback… you’ll see/hear why! 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 the gorgeous pregnant lady in a fur coat}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Ready? Go!

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The brilliant, visionary, art loving Managing Director of Land of Nod, Michelle Kohanzo pushed Stephanie right out of her comfort zone for this amazing project:

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… and, we both have a thing for Johnny Depp in Blow. This could be a Stephanie Vovas shot, no?!

And that’s it! Thanks so much to Xanadu Stephanie for putting her nerves aside to do this with me! Doesn’t she have the cutest voice and the best laugh? Episode no.4 will be up next Saturday… see you then.

ps. Here is some proof that I got “Vovas’d”. I pushed myself waaaay out of my comfort zone to do this shoot with Stephanie – I can’t even believe this is me to be totally honest. I’m also out of my comfort zone posting these, but it seems only fair given how nervous she was to do the podcast! Now we’re tied.

Oh boy.

I love pretty much any piece of art that features houses, apartments, or buildings of any kind – so when these collages by Chicago based artist Krista Svalbonas found their way into my inbox I knew I had to share them. They are part of her “Migrants” series:

“Ideas of home and dislocation have always been compelling to me as the child of parents who arrived in the United States as refugees. Born in Latvia and Lithuania, my parents spent many years after the end of the Second World War in displaced-persons camps in Germany before they were allowed to emigrate to the United States. My family’s displacement is part of a long history of uprooted peoples for whom the idea of “home” is contingent, in flux, without permanent definition and undermined by political agendas beyond their control. Perhaps as a result, I am fascinated by the language of spatial relationships and by the impact of architectural form and structure on the psychology of the human environment.”

Lovely, thoughtful, so good.

{Thanks to Jeanne Heifetz for sending me a link to Krista’s work}

It’s Friday, and I think all of us could use a little glitter, a few diamonds, and a pink unicorn – am I right? Kiev, Ukraine based photographer/collage artist Tasya Kudryk collaborated with fashion designer Lesia Paramonova on these pieces – these magical, pastel-hued, dreamy pieces. Ahhh, the twelve year old girl in me is so happy right now.

ps. Be sure to pop back over here this weekend – I’ll be posting the March #creativeUNblock project!

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Oh. Yes. This is the lovely work of Italian artist/illustrator Daniela Tieni. First, I found the work at the top of this post, which I loved immediately… and then I started digging around in her portfolio and found those altered Polaroids! Sigh… it’s all so dreamy, kind of mysterious, and clearly, the perfect amount of ‘weird’.

{via Brown Paper Bag}

Gasp! Vintage images that have been found, copied, mirrored, and folded into beautiful installations by American artist Nicole Crock. Both of these stunning pieces are from her series titled Tessellate… I think my heart might be tessellating a little bit.

I’m so excited to finally tell you guys about this! Last April, The Land of Nod asked me to collaborate with them on a series of “Jealous Curator” art collections for nurseries & kids rooms… um, OK! I immediately reached out to ten artists who I thought would be perfect for the Spring collection. I chose them as a curator, but I also had my mom hat firmly on! You see, when my son was a baby, I had a really hard time finding cool art for his room – art that he would like, but also something that I wanted to look at while rocking him in the middle of the night, and during diaper changes, and when we were lying on the floor pretending to be [insert any farm animal here].  That’s what this collection is all about. I chose fun, fresh, candy-hued pieces that your little ones will love, but that can also transition smoothly into the “grown-up” areas of your home… you know, art that you’d be happy to hang in the living room when your baby turns seven and decides to cover his walls in Minecraft posters. Trust me, it happens.

I’ve had to keep this collaboration top secret until the Spring 2015 collection was finally released, and at long last, it’s here! I’m beyond thrilled with this grouping, and so honored to have been able to work with these ten incredibly talented artists. Watercolors, embroidery, paintings and photographs… I love each of them on their own, but also kinda crazy love how they work together! Here’s more info on the full collection {snatched from the LoN site}:

And a closer view of each one {links at the bottom}:

Ahhh, I love them all so, so much. {ps. there are only 100 of each piece!} Thank you to The Land of Nod for bringing me into the family, and thank you to the artists… you’re all insanely talented, kind, and really fun to work with!

1. Sarah Gee  2. Stephanie K Clark  3. Trey Speegle  4. Cassia Beck  5. Aimee Bee Brooks  6. Alice Ferrow  7. Valerie Chiang  8. Joël Penkman  9. Alicia Bock  10. Melissa Ryder

Ok, this might be the longest post ever, but this show is just so gorgeous, I had to show you everything! I was thrilled when the Bedford Gallery asked me to curate a show in their lovely space… and after almost a year of planning, it finally opened on December 7th! The Bedford gave me carte blanche, so I decided to bring my book, Creative Block, to life! We have work from 20 of the 50 artists, unblocking stations set up so that people can try a few exercises from the book, and some of my most favorite pull-quotes are on the wall in vinyl lettering. Have a look, and I’ll see you at the bottom of this gigantic recap…

Ahhhh! So exciting! Six of the artists came to the opening from as far as Chicago and New York… it was an amazing night! So many friends, collectors, art enthusiasts, kids, and even a chihuahua {sorry, no photo of him!}. The days following the opening were action packed too. I did an indepth walkthrough with the 60+ docents that volunteer at the gallery {so many amazing people!}, and artist Trey Speegle was still in town so he stopped by to chat about his work, the book, etc. I also went to a sound studio and recorded the voiceover for the show! You know when you can rent the headset at a gallery to get the details on each piece… yep, I got to record that! Later that night we had Q&A event at the gallery… it was a packed house!

And finally, the badges. I designed these as section headers in the creative talk that I give, and so when Carrie Lederer, the gallery director, asked if I wanted to make anything for their gift shop I said, “YES. Actual, embroidered creative scout badges!” and she made it happen! Originally they were only available at the Bedford, but, I’ve arranged to have them in my online gallery too {$17.50 for the set}, so now anyone anywhere in the world can have them! They’re the merit badges you earn as a creative person. None of us are alone when it comes to asshole-ish inner critics, or being burnt by criticism, or the fact that we love making stuff. We’re all in one giant, supportive, amazing creative club… so put those badges on, and wear them with pride!

Well, there you have it. The show is still up until February 1, so if you find yourself in the Bay Area over the next couple of months you should totally go! Thanks again to the Bedford… Carrie, Eric, Christine… you guys are amazing, and I loved every second of my time with you! xo

ps. Thanks to WCTV for doing this interview/peek inside the show with me!