Today, two art blogs, Habit of Art {Portland} and Art Hound {Brooklyn}, are joining forces on a collaborative six week artist interview series that features twelve well-known, independent artists from, well, obviously… Portland and Brooklyn. So, who’s on the list? Julia Rothman, Anthony Georgis, and Kate Bingaman-Burt just to name a few. I know. It’s gonna be good. Every Monday an artist from both cities will be interviewed, ultimately creating a dialogue between these two incredibly vibrant art communities. I myself have a few questions for this entire group. Things like, ‘Why are you trying to crush my soul with your talent? Why? What did I ever do to you?’ Yep, stuff like that.

{Images above are by 1) Julia Rothman 2) Anthony Georgis 3) Kate Bingaman-Burt}

OMG you guys. These chalk pastel portraits by Karin Bubas are so totally not random. They are the opposite of random… but honestly, I’m not sure what the word for that would be because that’s where my ‘Hills’ lingo runs out. OMG and random. That’s all I’ve got. Now, not that any of us really need to see more of Spencer and Heidi Pratt, well not that we’ll admit to anyway, I just had to show these drawings. I love ’em. I love ’em all.

{When you go to Karin’s portfolio site, be sure to check out her photo series called ‘Florence and George’. It’s not random either.}

Ok, please don’t judge me. I have a little thing about looking into people’s windows at night. Just to be clear, it’s not a ‘creepy peeping tom’ thing, it’s more of an ‘appreciation of interior design’ thing… you can get a really good view when it’s dark outside! Anywho, when I came across Todd Hido‘s photo series, titled Homes at Night, I knew I wasn’t alone. There is something so comforting about these images. It’s cold and dark outside, but inside this home it’s warm and safe… now,  if only I could see what kind of couch they picked.

Sigh. I love this. So sexy, so fun and oh, so beautiful.

PULP ART BOOK is a collaboration between supermodel Joni Harbeck and photographer Neil Krug. Apparently it all began with one photo of Joni lighting a cigarette, wearing nothing but a feather headdress {that she made herself no less}, shot with some very old Polaroid film. Over 200 pages later this gorgeous book is full to the brim with 1960s and 70s inspired images. Even though they didn’t set out to create narratives, they obviously ended up there. I really wish that the very bizarre B-movie {that these shots could easily be stills from} actually existed… maybe that will be their next project? Hint hint Joni and Neil!

I wrote about American photographer Anthony Georgis late last year. A few days later, I got an email from him with a head’s up on this very cool project, due out in January 2010. So I waited, somewhat patiently, until January rolled around… and now, at last, the very cool project:

30 days On The Road for Levis. Ok, so who’s not jealous of how Anthony got to spend half the summer? I don’t know if he went from east to west, west to east or just all over the place in a random criss-crossing of the US, but does it even really matter? No, not when the results are what he ended up coming home with… and I’ll bet he even got a free pair of jeans out of it.

Italian artist Moira Ricci is present in all of her photographs, much like another favourite photographer of mine, Cindy Sherman. The difference between the work of these two women is that Moira is not the main subject of the shot, but always a secondary character in the scene… oh and did I mention that some of the photos were taken before she was born? Yep. She has placed herself into photographs with her mother, essentially stepping back into her family memories as an observer. Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually do that?

{The series is titled, series 20.12.53 – 10.08.04, the dates of her mother’s life from birth to death.}

If you’re a fan of flickr you might already be jealous of Cari Wayman… although you probably know her as yyellowbird. She is a young photographer from the Chicago area who has made quite a name for herself online. Her work can be found on blogs and favorite lists all over the web, and until last spring that’s pretty much the only place you could see it. So what happened last spring you ask? Aritzia, a very hip & trendy clothing company, were the first to take her photographs offline when she was chosen as their featured artist for Spring 09. Just a wild guess, but I’m gonna say that was just the beginning of a long and successful career for Cari… I mean ‘yyellowbird’.

I truly love every piece of art that I write about, so it’s really hard to pick a ‘Top 10’… so I’m doing a ‘Top 15’. It has literally taken me hours to decide on only 15. Maybe I should do a ‘Top 100’ next year? Anyway, these are the chosen few {in no particular order}. Some of them have inspired my own artwork, others represent major milestones for The Jealous Curator, and the rest just make me really, really jealous.  Here’s to the year ahead… may it be filled with cheek-flushing inspiration & soul-crushing jealousy for all! Cheers and Happy 2010!

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Martha Rich (Sketchbook)

Trey Speegle

Alyson Fox

The Hot One Inch Action Show 2009

Margaret Kilgallen

Dave Barnes

Mikael Kennedy

Anthony Zinonos

Julien Pacaud

Diane Arbus

Tina Berning

Yellena James

Sarah Applebaum

Vivian Maier

Wendy Walgate

Bob Willoughby, ‘candid photographer of the stars’, died on December 18th at the age of 82. His work is amazing and will always be remembered, not only because of his stunning compositions and his obvious knack for capturing perfect moments, but also for the very unique glimpse into Hollywood that his photos revealed. At the time, during the early 50’s and 60’s, it was rare to see a Hollywood star doing anything other than posing perfectly still for a shot that would promote his or her big studio film. Bob went behind the scenes and captured some of the most famous faces of the time just being people… heading home at the end of the day, re-reading scripts, waiting for sets to be lit, and yes, even grocery shopping (although I’m pretty sure Audrey Hepburn was the only one that took a baby deer along for the ride.)

{I found this story via Peter Hay Halpert – Thanks Peter.}

And I ♥ YOU Anthony! … along with fries, making out at roller rinks, pinatas, and amusement parks. Ah, good times brought to you by the keen eye of Portland based photographer Anthony Georgis.