Ah! So cool… see, it pays to stalk, I mean follow, artists that you love on social media! These paintings are from the latest, vintage inspired, series by Massachusetts based painter Jessica Brilli – and because I follow her on Facebook and Instagram I have slowly watched this car, and its driveway, go from an under-painted sketch to the final piece. I love getting a glimpse into an artist’s process… it’s like a little peek behind the magic curtain!

Project No.3, given to us by American artist Kate Pugsley {p.175 in Creative Block}, is easily one of my favorite ways to get unstuck: Paint sheets of paper with a color palette that inspires you, chop that paper into abstract or representational shapes, and then move them around until you arrive at a composition that gets your creative fires burning! The day after I posted this project, I woke up and thought, “black!” … so I painted a bunch of watercolor paper black and started snipping. I loved every single second, and apparently so did lots of you! Here are just a few of my faves so far:

Oh. So many fabulous bits ‘n pieces… I hope you’re feeling as inspired and recharged by this as I am! There’s still a week to go until I put up the April project {Sat Apr 4th}, so grab your paints & scissors and start chopping!

Whoa. How’s this for a way to end the week!? These insanely colorful, dynamic, large-scale abstract paintings {synthetic polymer paint on canvas} by Canadian born, Melbourne based artist Noël Skrzypczak make my heart race! Love.

ps. It’s the last week for the March #creativeUNblock project… the April project will go up on Saturday April 4th.

Rich, seductive oil paintings reminiscent of Baroque and Rococo masters, beautifully modernized with flat pastel backgrounds and a perfect layer of organic ‘n abstract 23kt gold leaf. This gorgeous, large-scale work by New York based artist Angela Fraleigh makes me want to dust off all of my art history text books… and then cover them in gold!

{Thanks to Therese Tucker for sending me a link to Angela’s work}

Waves, mountains, horizons… simple, quiet, elegant work with an artist statement that is just as poetic:

“I believe all things are born of water, air, and dust. My works are meditations of the elements, faded with time and distance. Each piece tries to uncover an image that exists somewhere between reality and memory. Revealed are distant landscapes, a mountain on water, or the deep sky at night.”

These are the lovely words and works of New York based artist Katte Geneta. Sigh… so dreamy.

{Oil on birch. Originals available on Buy Some Damn Art}

WE MAKE CARPETS, a collective {Bob, Marcia and Stijn to be exact} based in Amsterdam, make carpets. Kinda. They’re not carpets that you can walk on, or sit on while doing a jigsaw puzzle, or lie on by the fire… ooh, yeah… don’t put that chocolate bar “carpet” by the fire! Mmmm, melty. No, they make art installations out of just about anything they can find – pasta, screws, straws, you name it. So detailed, so fun, and soooo time consuming! Fantastic. ps. I love those bandaids!

You know how they say “art feeds the soul”… well, these deliciously layered, sandwich-like collages could feed me forever! Ok, I’m pretty sure they’re not meant to look like sandwiches, but that’s what I see every time I look at these crazy layered mixed media pieces by Austin based artist Xochi Solis. See that beauty at the very top? That was the piece Xochi made for my book, Collage… and then she sent it to me! I was beyond thrilled to see one of her originals in person {so many layers of goodness!}, and it is now proudly displayed in my living room, not far from the kitchen. Oh dear, and now I want a tomato, avocado and rosebud bagel… hold the paint.

Gasp! Glass change purses, filled with quiet traces of mystery contents. They are part of an ongoing series by British artist Philippa Beveridge, titled Lost & Found. Here, in her words, is how this work came to be:

“[These] works deal with the concept of collective and individual identity through the everyday form of a purse: a belonging which is often lost, stolen or mislaid, full of sentimental value and charged with personal memories. I began to make this work during a three-month long artist’s residency in Northern France. I invited local residents to visit me at the studio and show me the contents of their purses.  Building on the theme of traces, I highlighted the objects and details found in the purses to forge histories and construct identities. The resulting imagery, trapped in the material, expresses notions of time, memories and sentiments which lean towards metaphorical interpretations in relation to one’s own past.”

Sigh… lovely.

Ok, those color palettes are killing me. Neon and navy? Gorgeous! These stunning, modern florals are the work of American artist Jen Garrido… and I want allllllll of them.

Vibrant, joyful, and oh so painstaking all at the same time! This is the work of Sydney based artist Liz Payne. I found her work on Instagram, which is where most of the work above comes from. Her final pieces are insane, but I also really love following along so that I can get a glimpse of her work in progress. Hand painting on fabric, relief printing on paper… and oh so many stitches, so many tiny beads, so much love.