These feel like a dream… or maybe a beautiful nightmare. This monochrome meets neon work is by UK based artist Layla Holzer. She describes herself as a storyteller, and by the look of these stunning narrative pieces, I’d have to completely agree.

Must find scissors immediately. Gah! The portfolio of Belgian collage artist Sammy Slabbinck is full, and I mean FULL, of bizarre scenes that have been brought to life through clever cuts and precise pasting… but, clearly, something about those surreal soups and sleepy mountain girls were speaking to me. Loudly ♥

{via Saatchi Art}

American artist Maurice Sapiro has a huge portfolio filled mostly with landscapes that look like they were painted by one of the French masters in my art history books… but his portraits… oh, his portraits. These hauntingly beautiful oil paintings also feel like they just came from those same pages, but with a modern twist. Those pops of yellow and electric orangie-pink, perhaps? So inspiring, and I thought this was also a nice little hit of inspiration for a Tuesday morning:

“I have been painting for over 60 years, and still enjoying every moment at the easel. ~ Maurice Sapiro”

Ah-mazing. Makes me want to spend a day at the easel.

A paper doll… made from porcelain. So. Much. Love. This is the work of Barcelona based artist/illustrator Sonia Pulido. All of her work, but especially the ceramic pieces, are so whimsical, feminine, with a little touch of weird {my favorite!}. That final piece, titled “The Weights”, is killing me. So gorgeous.

{some of Sonia’s pieces are available in her shop, UHALLA!}

Oh, washi tape… I love it so much, so when Sara Barnes of Speckled Canary {she was the woman behind the Collage Scrap Exchange that I wrote about last year} asked if I wanted to take part in this creative challenge, called “Mapping Memories”, I said ‘YES’! She has teamed up with a Canadian shop called Omiyage that are alllll about washi tape, and here’s what they want you to do. Create pieces of art, based on personal memories, completely out of pretty, cut or torn, washi tape! Ok, if you want to draw here or there, or add a tiny found image you can, but try to collage the whole thing out of tape!  Here’s the deal:

“Memories are a powerful thing. Sometimes, they’re so clear that we can recall how something looked, smelled, or even tasted. Speckled Canary’s latest project celebrates this phenomena and invites you to recollect memories with washi tape!

Lovely. If you want to play along, just sign up by August 16th. It’s $15 for a starter kit of washi tape, but if you already have your own stash {that would be me!} it’s $3. At the end of all of this, there will be a big interactive map of everyone’s memories from around the world, including yours… oh, and there will even be some prizes from Omiyage and Speckled Canary! Can. Not. Wait. Have fun exploring all of your colorful memories! All details re: submitting your work etc can be found at Speckled Canary. *All images above from Omiyage’s blog.

Oh, I love the work of Chattanooga, TN based artist Mark Bradley-Shoup. Not only is his work fantastic, but so is he. So kind, so smart, and a fabulous teacher/lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I love this episode because it’s so full of great advice! Listen right up there under the abandoned gas station, or subscribe on iTunes. As you’re listening, you can look at the work that Mark and I talked about, in the order that we talked about it. Oh, and at the beginning, when he mentions me having a shaved head and 5 o’clock shadow, it’s because I use my husband’s skype account, and so it’s his bio photo that shows up… apparently it’s quite strange to hear my voice and see that face! Anyway let’s take a look at a bunch of Mark’s work – from architectural paintings, to abstract, to collage:

Gorgeous. And so talented… what a range of work! Up next, a couple of shots from the “beautifully boring” show that I curated in Chattanooga in February of 2013. In the photo below: Samantha French, Me, Mark, Leah Giberson, and in front of us, Angela Usrey the gallery director {we missed you Holly Farrell!}

Ah, that was such a fun week in Tennessee! Below are a few images of Mark’s pages in “Collage”:

… and some studio shots {these are actually from his old studio, but they give a sense of his process… notice the HUGE mound of tape!}

We also talked about his most recent exhibition in Nashville at the David Lusk Gallery. Here are a few installations shots:

And finally, making Mark’s dream come true! He has always {since his teens} wanted to design a skateboard, surfboard, snowboard – I think his architectural pieces, or his collages would be amazing on any and all of those surfaces. After all, if Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst can do it, why not Mark Bradley-Shoup!

If you do such things, reach out and let me know… let’s make this happen! Ok, thank you so much to Mark for putting up with my time zone issues, to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next Saturday.

I wrote about UK based artist Pippa Young‘s paintings last year… and those bonnets made a lasting impression on me I guess, because today as I was scrolling through Pinterest {as you do first thing in the morning over coffee} I saw these lovely little interventions. I knew immediately that they had to be Pippa’s work… those bonnets again! Sigh. And now I want to finish my coffee and rush off to the thrift shop to look for old images to paint on. Gorgeous.

You guys, this is crazy  {I’m not very good at keeping secrets, and I’ve managed to keep this one since last winter… #miracle}. I’ve curated shows for galleries, created online collections, and now I’ve curated an art-inspired clothing collection. What?! Yes. So, so crazy. Last winter, Montreal based fashion house Art-A-Porter reached out and asked if I would curate an exhibition, that instead of hanging on a wall, would be displayed on clothing. Originally I said no, I was too busy {and nervous that there were no walls involved} … but I couldn’t control myself… it just sounded too fun! And so they gave me a huge folder of artists to choose from and off we went. This lovely, limited edition collection is the result, and I’m so proud of it! Here is my “curatorial statement”, and then a peek at some of the artwork/pieces:

From collage, to painting, to mixed media – the work of Joe Webb, Monica Trastoy, J.D Doria, Niki Hare, and Erin Case is very different, yet all of the individual pieces come together beautifully, creating one unified collection that is dreamy, modern, black and white – with just the perfect pop of vintage-inspired color. I chose these pieces because, well, each one is stunning on it’s own, but when brought together the combination of organic shapes and geometric lines was something I couldn’t resist – amazing on a gallery wall, and even more exciting when you can actually take this exhibition off of the wall, and wear it.

Gah! I love it all! And there is so much more to the collection… see it all right here. Thank you so much to AAP for giving me this bizarre and wonderful opportunity to curate on something other than a wall, and thank you so much to all of the amazing artists who are involved… it was an honor working with your art!

{Artists in order of images above: Monica Trastoy // Joe Webb // JD Doria // Erin Case // Niki Hare}

*A great article about AAP and this idea of wearable art came out yesterday. Read it here.

Felt collages? Love! And those color palettes? Love… again! This is the work of Colombian artist/pattern designer Ximena Escobar, and these pieces are from her series, titled “Blooming”. She posts some pretty fantastic work to her Facebook page as well, that you can see right here.

Lions and tigers and ladies, oh my … and some crossed fingers that I love but couldn’t fit into my clever little Oz throwback. Anywho, I absolutely love this ceramic work by Scottish born, Toronto based artist/illustrator Jen Collins. Her portfolio is filled with lovely drawings as well, but it’s these beautiful breakables that are calling my name… especially those ladies… I have a thing for portraits, and when they’re ceramic, even more so!

{via Kate Singleton on Pinterest … her ceramics board is amazing!}