Oh boy. Scarves covered in dogs, cats, and random forest creatures. LOVE! This is the work of Paris based artist Nathalie Lété… but these are seriously just the tip of a gigantic iceberg of amazing, bizarre, fantastic stuff! For example, if dog scarves aren’t your thing, could I interest you in this?

A steak n’ roses area rug. See… amazing, bizarre, fantastic!

These are the porcelain sculptures of Argentina-born, Venice-based artist Carolina Antich. I wrote about her paintings last year {they are fantastic!}, and just included some of that work in a guest post on SF Girl by Bay that went up today. While I was finding images for that, I stumbled across these lovely, white, kinda bizarre ceramic pieces… and obviously had to write about them too! ♥

{Images of the work are from Carolina’s site, and the studio shots are from a post on SF Girl by Bay, via Llamas Valley.}

Who wants to go for a walk in an eerily quiet, yet absolutely beautiful forest? Me too! And I’ll bet that Austin based artist Joseph Noderer will meet us there with his oil paints! {All of these pieces are at least 2 feet x 3 feet, and some are up to 4′ x 5′!! Gorgeous!}

ps. If you’re in Austin, Joseph has a show on at Tiny Park Gallery until October 19th, with scupltor Jamie Panzer.

Whoa. I never cease to be amazed by the work of Italian sculptor Willy Verginer. Wood. Carved into this. Amazing. I wrote about him in 2010, and thought that I couldn’t love anything more than that body of work {because it’s stunning}, but I just popped over to his site to see if he had done anything new, and boy, had he! Wooden blooms sprouting from smooth, dreamy full-size wooden figures… and oh my word, that navy & cream palette… perfection.

It was that jumpy girl in the meadow that sealed the deal when UGallery asked me to be one of their guest curators… then I found the coral nail polish it ALL came together! I chose just over 30 pieces for my little collection, and these are a few of my faves… cactus and a giant watermelon? Yep, these really are GOOD THINGS. You can find the full collection right here…

{ps. all of it’s for sale…fyi, in case you’re in the market for a giant watermelon}

1) Valerie Chiang 2) Nicole Newsted 3) Mark Yaggie 4) Nicole Newsted 5) Bryan Jerabek

Ew!!! …and also, Ahahahaha!!! This is the work of Hamburg based artist/designer Silke Baltruschat. These are posters from Schulmädchen-Report: Was Eltern nicht für möglich halten (Schoolgirl Report Part 1: What Parents Don’t Think Is Possible) – a 1970 West German sex report film. Already kinda creepy, and then Silke adds some strategically placed, dangly, black thread. So gross, but oh, so so good. Ew.

{via the always fabulous yellowtrace}

Oh, vintage found image collage… you will always be my first love. I haven’t written about anything like this in awhile, but when New York based artist Johanna Goodman sent me a sample of her work, well, my heart skipped a beat. Cakes, big shoes & a bunch of cigarettes, airplanes, peaches n’ lemons – yes, yes, yes, YES!

Juicy gardens on thick white paper. Gah! These are not your grandmother’s floral watercolors! Nope, this fresh n’ modern take on the subject is the work of American artist Kiana Mosley. The vibrant colors flowing into eachother, the big juicy blooms, the use of white space in these contemporary compositions: Love, love, love!

ps. I also love that she has a few of these for sale as $28 prints in her Etsy shop…

“BaskeTREE”… get it?! Ha! Not only is the title of this series hilarious, but all of the pieces are just so fun! Thrift-shopped bits n’ pieces, and what I assume are chunks of pink floral-arrangement foam, assembled into the weirdest little bonsai tree-ish things I’ve ever seen. This is the work of American artist Amy Santoferraro. I wrote about her years ago, and when I stumbled on this work the other day {over on Artsy Forager} it was time to write again… obviously. And now, it’s time to go to the thrift shop, and maybe the plant store… obviously.

Flowers in full bloom, and beautiful, happy, lipstick-wearing ladies… ♥! This work was sent to me by Heraa Khan, an artist from Pakistan. She describes herself as a “miniature painter”, not because she’s miniature {I’m pretty sure}, but because most of her work is as small as 2.5″x4″ – these are gigantic compared to that, coming in at around 9″x13″… and, she makes everything herself.  I mean, everything: the paper, the paintbrushes, and the paint {which she keeps in sea shells!}. Listen to this:

“I have been trained as a Mughal and Persian miniature painter. My work involves transforming the old technique driven art form into a more personal and contemporary form of art. My work process includes making my own paints, my own paper (wasli) and making my own paint brushes from squirrel hair. I make lots of colors and store my paint in little sea shells.”

Amazing! No wonder those ladies can’t stop smiling… their lipstick has been applied with squirrel-hair! Tickley!