Okay, first of all, LOOK… there are two little legs dangling out from under the ART FOR YOUR EAR bubble. Yep, that seems exactly right for an episode with LA based artist Esther Pearl Watson {there’s always something a little bit weird ‘n wonderful going on in her world}. So, I’ll cut to the chase. Both Esther and I have been feeling a little lost creatively lately, so we’ve got a new segment called, “Hey Mojo, Where’d Ya Go?”. Can you relate? I bet you can. We follow that with a weird art history trivia quiz, then we’ve given you some links to a couple of guilty pleasures we’ve been turning to, and I’ve kicked off the episode with a bunch of projects you can do at home. Listen right up there under the current state of Esther’s dining room table, and an example of one of her recent empty landscapes {that’ll make sense in a minute}, or you can subscribe right here.

Alright, first up, Esther’s pandemic recipe book!

How hilarious/gross is that!? You can find this, and a bunch of other fun stuff, in her shop.

Okay, we didn’t talk about this specifically, but Esther always paints narratives from her own life. A lot of those stories are from her childhood in Texas, but she manages to sneak in current stuff too… like, “Be Nice to Women”, for example:

Ha! Yep, that’s Martha! This is from a road trip that Esther, Martha and their friend Julie took to Texas in 2019. As you can imagine, any trip involving this crew is going to result in some pretty crazy scenarios… perfect material for new paintings? Clearly.

I wanted to include these pieces too… again, we didn’t talk about them specifically, but I love that Esther can be creative no matter what. In the project prompts I gave off the top, I suggested looking for materials that are already in your house. Well, look at this brown paper bag goodness that Esther made in 2018:

Love… and yes, her glittery pink flying saucers are always my favorite.

And finally, I thought I’d wrap things up with Esther working in isolation, and a positive message of hope on the back of a UFO:

Well now, ain’t that the truth! Thank you so much to Esther for adding me to her very long list of online calls she had to make on the day we recorded; thanks to Create! Magazine for supporting this episode; and of course, great big thanks to YOU for listening – there will be more ART FOR YOUR EAR next weekend.

Other links:

1. Esther on Instagram
2. Esther’s Global Pandemic Recipe Book
3. Vielmetter Gallery, LA
4. Webb Gallery, Texas
5. Create Magazine : Submission info {April 30th Deadline}
6. Jelle’s Marble Runs!
7. @thelesliejordan

Doesn’t this look like one of those “artists in their studio” photos that you’d find in an art history book … well, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly where this photo is headed. Today I’m interviewing TWO talented ‘n successful artists at the same time… two talented ‘n successful artists who also happen to be a married couple. Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson live together, make art together, have a daughter together, teach together, and yes, they even show their work together! In fact, they’ve got a show opening next Thursday, June 7th, at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles (Culver City). I’ve been lucky enough to get to know this hilarious, insightful, talented couple over the past few years, but this episode gave me a chance to ask ALL of my very important questions… like who made the first move!? Listen right up there under that super cute photo of Esther & Mark from 2002, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First, a zine. Now if I’d had this ahead of time, I wouldn’t have had to ask Mark about his childhood in Las Vegas:

Ok, now I have more questions.

Speaking of zines, I give you the BUTT BOOK:

Hilarious! This is one of many collaborative creative projects these two do when they get together with all of their amazing friends. Butts as a zine theme … pure gold.

So, I’ve interviewed Esther before – both on the podcast (Ep.28), and also for my new book about women artists. Her “memory” paintings are a beautiful, funny (and sometimes sad-ish) nod to her childhood:

Gah! I love them so much! She doesn’t have any sculpture in this upcoming show, but I couldn’t control myself … I had to put that tornado in.

Next … Mark’s records! Paintings, ceramics, googly eyes, and Lionel Richie:

Seriously … SO FUN!

I got to hang out in their home studio last time I was in LA, and it really is filled to the brim with fantastic stuff. Here’s a tiny peek:

Love! AND, that final piece above is finished and ready to hang in the new show… it’s the FOOL MOON painting Esther was talking about. Yet another serendipitous moment ♥

Ah yes, and here’s one more moment (brace yourself if you’re afraid of heights):

A post shared by Mark Todd (@mark_todd) on Nov 29, 2017 at 6:39pm PST

No. Just NO.

Almost finished, but clearly I have to show you Esther’s bulldog cowboy boots:

… and since Mark doesn’t have boots that are this cool, here he is with a dinosaur. Thanks so much to Mark & Esther for doing this with me! I’m counting down to hanging out with them when I’m in LA this fall! Speaking at Art Center, eating mac ‘n cheese, and hopefully painting a butt on something. Thank you to Saatchi Art and Thrive for supporting this episode, and of course, big thanks to you for listening. The final episode of season two will be up next weekend.

Other links:

1. Esther, Episode no.28
2. Esther on Instagram / Mark on Instagram / Lili on Instagram!
3. Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
4. Aaron Smith, Episode no.90
5. Martha Rich, Episode no.1 & Episode no.72
6. Fun Chicken (their online shop!)
7. Kolaj Fest, New Orleans
8. JUNE 7, 2018 … Their show at Vielmetter Gallery, Culver City CA

Ah, I love a good zine! I’ve written about New York based artist/illustrator Aimee Bee Brooks before, but when I saw this sweet little zine, titled “Color Theory”, well… here we are! I think the blue page is my favorite… or green… or maybe orange. Sigh. Did I mention I started a club in the sixth grade called “The Rainbow Girls”. Yeah, I totally did.

How amazing, and hilarious, is this beautiful little zine?! “Shoes over Bills” is a project by Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Hannah K. Lee that is filled to the brim with gorgeous illustration, lovely hand-lettering, and the kind of perspective every girl needs! Cozy moccasins over 10 boxes of ramen noodles? Um, no problem! The cell phone bills might be a bit trickier, but I’m sure we can work something out.

Not only does she have great taste in shoes, she also has a very impressive client list. It goes a little something like this: GQ, Lucky Peach, The New Yorker, Aritzia, PLANSPONSOR, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, New York Magazine. {Let’s hope this means less ramen, and more shoes, for Hannah!}

Susannah ~ Comment # 7
Morgan P. ~ Comment #84

Congratulations, both of you are now the proud owners of the first four issues of Fine Line Magazine! You are going to love them! {I’ll be in touch to arrange getting them to you} Thank you Fine Line, for giving away such a lovely gift, and thanks a bunch to everyone who entered… now that I know how much you guys love give-aways, I’ll have to do them more often! xo

Happy Hallowe’en! Yep, it’s the perfect day for giving treats, and boy oh boy, have I got a good one for you! The stunningly beautiful art magazine, Fine Line, is going to package up their first four issues into a neat little box set for two, that’s right, two lucky readers! All you have to do is “like” their Facebook page, and leave a comment here {so I can draw your name/know how to give you the good news!} I’ll do the draw on Thursday November 3rd, at noon Pacific time, and announce the two winners here {leave me your email too if you’d like!} Yep, that’s it… easier than dressing up and going door to door looking for treats, don’t ya think?

Oh, and here are a few of my favorite artists, that have been featured in these first four issues {ie. a little preview of the treat!}:

{Jesse Draxler // Javier Pinon // Hollie Chastain // Amira Fritz // Jonathan Zawada}

Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith are artists and curators – oh, and they’re also the co-creators of Fine Line, a brand new quarterly print magazine, based in Milwaukee, that just came out last week.  It’s ad and article free… in other words, it’s a whole bunch of big, beautiful, glossy, uninterrupted, art-filled pages. Um, yes, I’m jealous. If The Jealous Curator was a magazine, it would be this magazine. I love so many of the artists featured in the first issue, and have actually written about a handful of them. Sigh. Nice work ladies – it’s gorgeous.

{Artists featured above… cover ~ Christopher Gorski; Jeremy Daigneault; Sidney Pink; Blaise Pascal; Benedetta Falugi; Hollie Chastain; Van Morrison quote}

psst… you can buy issue 1 online right at this very moment. enjoy!

Is it weird that I’m totally jealous of the dolls who get to live in this house? No, I didn’t think so either. These super cool, damn I wish I’d thought of it, dollhouse interiors are by Georgia Smith, and were featured in the latest issue of frankie magazine. Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Georgia {i don’t even have a link for you}, so let me know if you have any info… oh, and if you could get me some of that amazing teeny-tiny wallpaper while you’re at it, that would be fantastic!

{via cream coloured ponies}

ps. continuing with the dollhouse theme… if you missed the post about Heather Benning a few weeks ago, you must go and take a look!

So, on the last day of my ode to magazines week, I’ve decided not to feature a magazine. I know… crazy! Instead I’m going to make day 5 all about the art that exists because of magazines. A little snip-snip of the scissors, a bit of glue, maybe a splash of paint, and voilà… these old LIFE magazines, sexy/glossy fashion magazines, and good old National Geographics are transformed into something entirely new. From one kind of art form, into another. Sigh. So, so inspiring. In fact, maybe I’ll go and grab my scissors right now! Oh, but I promise I won’t cut up any of the publications I featured this week… well, not yet anyway.

{1. One of the forefathers of pop culture collage, Richard Hamilton 2. Ciara Phelan 3. Chad Kouri 4. Natalie Perkins 5. Stina Persson 6. Joe Ryckebosch 7. Jesse Draxler 8. Abigail Reynolds… ok well, this final piece actually uses book pages, not magazine pages… but, hey, it’s my blog, so I’m putting it in anyway!}

I’m not sure how many Brooklynites I’ve written about {I’m gonna guess 53}, but if you want the real skinny on the art community there, then I suggest you pick up a copy of Working Class Magazine. Why? Well, I’ll let them tell you in their own words:

“Working Class represents a community of local artists in New York… writers, photographers, poets, illustrators, models, small business owners, actors, musicians. We all work and live in this big city, and know the struggles of things like bad tippers, overpriced rents, and disagreeable weather. Working Class taps the pulse of the underground art world, and discusses why we all stick around.”

Sigh. So cool. Ok, it’s official, I’m jealous... and thinking about moving to New York, despite the overpriced rent.

{Working Class is a quarterly zine available in print or online, so pick up a copy, or grab your laptop, and get yourself down to a hip little coffee shop… oh, and don’t forget to tip!}