I wrote about an architect/artist yesterday, and here we are again! Instead of giant, precise paper flowers, today is all about black and white buildings and some very precise, colorful embroidery. This is a new body of work by one of my favorite artists, Chilean artist María Aparicio Puentes. If you happen to be in Madrid between now and June 15th {lucky you!} you can pop in and see this gorgeous work in person {lucky you, again!}. Here’s the info:

Title: Geometrías compartidas: Barcelona – Santiago de Chile
Dates: May 20 – June 15 014
Where: Arte Lateral Santa Ana. – Plaza Santa Ana 12, Madrid Spain

ps. María happens to be one the artists featured in my second book, COLLAGE. You should see the piece that she made for it… so, so good!

Gasp! Gorgeous, delicate, GIGANTIC flowers… made entirely of paper! PAPER. This is the stunning work of San Francisco based architect/artist Tiffanie Turner… those happen to be her dress-covered legs in the first photo of the post, just to give you a sense of scale. Yep, these botanical beauties all range between 23″ to 36″ in diameter… a light pink dahlia that is three feet across? Yes. I am going to need that. All of these insanely amazing flowers are part of a show called “Heads” that is currently showing at Rare Device in San Francisco. The show is up until May 28th, so take a break from working in your real garden and go visit this ridiculously gorgeous paper garden… no weeding necessary! [Opening reception: May 9th from 6 – 8pm]

{ps. Each of these crazy paper blooms can take Tiffanie anywhere between 35 – 80 hours to complete… gasp! Again.}

*Top-most photo taken by Sarah Deragon, all other images were shot by Tiffanie.

It’s Friday… the perfect day to show you some GIANT CANDY! This amazing project is the work of Nicola Freeman, and was part of the degree show at the University of Wolverhampton. Granted, she graduated a few years ago, but when you find a giant candy necklace, and the biggest love hearts you’ve ever seen in your entire life, you just share ’em, right?! Now, just in case you were planning on eating her entire grad show, please don’t. They’re made of very un-eat-able plaster {and resin for the lollipop}, but boy oh boy, they sure look tasty from here. Sigh… so good. Ok, now, run out to the nearest candy shop and get yourself a weekend treat!

{There’s a great interview, that’s also a few years old, with Nicola on Makezine. I can’t find any information about what she’s doing now, so if you know, let me know!}

Whoa. This is the work of Chilean born, Berlin based artist Macarena Ruiz-Tagle. It’s acrylic on paper… I did not know that acrylic on paper {20″x30″} could look this mesmerizing! Is it watered down and sprayed on? I have no idea, but I do love it! All of these paintings are from her Atmosphere Series. What I love the most about this series is how the mood changes so drastically from one piece to the next. Amazing that a simple color change can do that. I organized them from stormy/lonely to happy/energizing. What a difference it would be to own the black piece vs the pink piece… hm, maybe I need both so they can balance each other out!

I ♥ BREAD!!! Can you tell that I am a bread lover with a gluten allergy? Nope, can’t eat any of it. Croissants, buns, bagels… I love them all, but I might love these illustrations by Izumi Morito & Hikosaka Yuki even more than actual dough. They run a woodblock workshop specializing in food illustration {they also do some pretty fantastic business cards and posters!}

So, to recap, I love bread, and bread art. You know what else I love?  This little lady who, I’m pretty sure, “bakes” all of these yummy things:

Yep. A woodblock print baker. Love.

Lonely and forgotten has never looked so beautiful. These large scale paintings by German artist Carola Schapals would never be lonely or forgotten if they were on my wall. Sigh. Gorgeous.

Remember how concerned your mother was about getting dirt on the carpet? Well, tell her not to worry because these stunning “carpets” are made entirely of sand. SAND. Amsterdam based artist Daniëlle van Ark spent five weeks creating these sand carpets while in residency at Rijksakademie… and apparently it took the janitor five minutes to sweep it up when the exhibition was over. Ouch. I really hope Daniëlle didn’t watch that! Goodbye beautiful, elaborate designs… and yes you’re seeing that correctly… bye bye PACMAN carpet!

Whoa. I want to read the epic fairytale that should so very clearly go along with this group of beautifully bizarre creatures! This is the magical, ceramic work of British artist Sophie Woodrow. I can’t help but wonder where these crazy characters come from. Oh, here we are:

Her work has been informed by an interest in the Victorians as the first generation who chose to define nature in opposition to what is human. In a spirit of wild curiosity, tinged with fear, the Victorians idolised nature, ‘packaging’ it into highly romanticised, palatable works of art … Pursuing an interest in natural history, Sophie has looked particularly at our continually shifting theories of evolution. Her work has been inspired by the enormous misinterpretations of geological evidence made by the Victorians, often with bluff self-confidence. She regards these misinterpretations as a game of Chinese whispers played over millennia.

“Chinese whispers”. Yep. I think that’s what I’d title the fairytale.

{yet another fabulous ceramic find from art is a way}

I’m about to totally date myself, but… one of my earliest childhood memories involves a visit to a “real artist’s studio”. This “real artist” was a good friend of my mom’s {my mom is an amazing painter, btw}, and she had a loom… because it was 1978! I remember working for hours and hours on my very own tapestry. My parents had that terrible weaving on their wall for years. Well, after seeing this work by Melbourne, now New York based, artist Maryanne Moodie I so badly want a do-over! She has taken this stereotypically 1970’s art form and so beautifully modernized it with her use of bold geometrics, and unbelievable color choices.

Maryanne has a website, but I also follow her on Instagram, which is where I found all of these fantastic images. I love that there are finished pieces, works in progress, and colorful supplies fresh from the yarn shop! Gorgeous, and oh, so inspiring. Ok, Mom… get the loom. I think I feel another tapestry coming on.

I’ve always thought of cemeteries as quiet, grey, and sad… clearly I’ve been looking at them in completely the wrong light! This is the vibrant work of Mexican born, Texas raised artist Beatriz Guzman Velasquez. So colorful, so beautiful… truly a celebration of life! Now, I thought that’s what this work was about, but after reading her statement I’ve realized that they are actually a commentary on, as she calls it, her “border culture”:

“The cemeteries I have decided to focus on, from 2009 to the present day, have been identified as “Mexican” by the people of the Rio Grande Valley.  Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, Anahuac, Havana and La Puerta cemeteries have in common structures and color schemes.   Space plays a great role in this identification since they do not follow the minimalistic and monochromatic structures of American cemeteries.  I have omitted to portray the tombs that glorify the honorable and rich.  My paintings are about my people, the poor and alienated, who break constrictions at the time of building their last testament in life, their tombs.   Here, I portray my identity, shaped by transculturation, still present even in death and not contained by borders.”