“Vogue (US), July 2013”

“Ebony Magazine, July 2013”

“Cosmopolitan, July 2013”

“InStyle, July 2013”

………………………….

Confetti? Nope. Skin. Well, photos of skin. These beautiful collages are the work of American artist Kelly Kristin Jones, and the circles are small clippings that she has taken from women’s fashion magazines. Here’s how and why, in Kelly’s words:

Standing in line at the grocery, I grab at fashion magazines lining the aisle and will myself not to become impatient with the slow-moving line. Not long ago, for the first time, I actually saw the women featured in these magazines; their manufactured and manipulated coloring stood out in a way that I had never noticed before. I added a pile to my basket and hurried home to deconstruct the pages of these “women’s interest” magazines.

Sampling from the advertisements and content of popular women’s interest magazines, I build collages of the coloring – the skin – of female bodies. Cuttings are taken of the “true” shade offered in the photograph with the extreme shadows and highlights avoided. The size of the circular clipped skin corresponds to the size of the body (or body part) pictured.

Yes. More rocks. Geodes, to be specific. Clearly I cannot get enough of these little wonders of nature, and so when I saw these paintings by Cecelia Phillips I knew I’d be writing about them. What I love almost as much as her work, is her explanation for why she paints these amazing objects:

“I kind of believe in fate.

Several months ago I met a woman who was straightening my hair. It happened to be her birthday, and she happened to tell me that she was going hunting for geodes to celebrate.
No shit, I said. I’ll make you a geode painting as a present.
As I began to explore the subject matter of a geode, I realized that they embody a lot of who I am and what I believe in artistically – a little bit of kitsch, a smidge of bling, a little crusty on the outside and gleaming from within. They are worlds within themselves, private galaxies of color and space, and I love to paint them. Moreover, they are secret, hidden from the rest of the world, just waiting for a inquisitive and creative person to crack them open. I share these with you in the hopes that you are such a kindred spirit passing by on chance.”

{Thanks to Rebecca Rothfus, an amazing artist herself, for sending me a link to Cecelia’s work}

I’ll be taking a little break this summer… not from here {I’ll still be here every day}, but I will be taking a tiny vacay from guest posting, just until September, so I wanted to say:

Ok. I have to admit, it’s really hard to stop!

I’m slightly addicted to my ART GOES HERE posts on Victoria Smith’s lovely site, SFGirlByBay.com. I’ve already started pinning minimal rooms to “hang” art in come fall – oh, and if you have any spaces you think I should use, let me know!

And, I absolutely love doing the affordable ART ROUNDUPS on Emily Henderson’s amazing blog, StyleByEmilyHenderson.com. I’ve heard from so many of you that you’ve bought pieces because of that series, and I cannot tell you how much that thrills me!!! But…

… after an insanely busy year {moving, renovating, two books, traveling for GIRL CRUSH, curating two shows, not to mention my graphic design business} I’ve decided to really slooooooooow things down for the summer. I have a little boy who needs me to jump into lakes with him – how can I say no to that! So, Victoria and Emily {and your amazing readers!}, thank you so so so much for letting me be part of your world! I’ll miss you like crazy, and see you all in September  xo

{artwork: 1. Plates by Little Owl Design 2. Paintings by Maz Dixon}

Tape, paper, paint, pencil… a little bit of everything goes into the recipe that is the beautiful work of Barcelona based artist Albert Ruiz Villar. I love his color choices, compositions, use of hot pink tape, and the fact that he asks his little girl to title some of his work… the final piece above is called “Nobody eats under the table” – LOVE!!!

{Thanks to my lovely and talented friend, Jessica Bell, for telling me about Albert’s work – ps. Jes happens to be the new, very proud owner of “Nobody eats under the table”, which she picked out IN PERSON when she visited Albert’s Barcelona studio a few weeks ago. Ok. Jealous on soooo many levels.}

Oh, here you go again Jealous Curator… writing about thread art. Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong!!! These are ink drawings – INK DRAWINGS! Paper {11″x14″} covered in delicate thread, I mean pen lines, by American artist Steven Vasquez Lopez. The perfection is amazing, but it’s those “flaws” that totally got me. GORGEOUS!

Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, he also draws these:

THESE ARE INK DRAWINGS!

{via Design Milk}

Ah, I can almost smell the salty ocean air, and taste the cotton candy! This series, titled “Jersey Shore”, might just be the perfect post for the Fourth of July… ferris wheels, boardwalks, and good friends? Yep. Perfect! This is the work of San Francisco based photographer, and self-proclaimed “analog junkie”, Christine Zona – and here’s her description of the project:

“I created this series to reclaim the innocence of the Jersey Shore.  The shore that I remember as a child.  This shore still exists, but recently it’s been overshadowed by the “Snookis” and the “Situations” of the world.  So I headed out to Seaside Heights, Asbury Park, Point Pleasant, Belmar, and Atlantic City with my Polaroid Spectra Camera and a backpack full of expired film to capture it as I once saw it.”

Mission accomplished, Christine! And to all of my other American friends, may your weekend be filled with salty ocean air, cotton candy, ferris wheels, boardwalks, and most importantly, good friends!

You’ve probably seen the work of Toronto based artist Jen Mann before. Her work has been featured, well, everywhere. I have always loved her work, and I’m sure you can see why. Sigh. Beautiful, strange, feminine, and mysterious. And so much pink. Stunning. And speaking of stunning, I just had to show you the scale of that first piece:

Ok. Now I love it even more.

Oooh! Now this is my kind o’ porcelain collection!  These gorgeous plates are the work of Belgian artist Jan De Vliegher {who happens to live in one of my most favorite cities in Europe – Bruges, Belgium}. The moment I saw his work I was totally in love with the simple subject-matter, the loose brush strokes – that strangely provide so much detail, AND the scale. Oh, the scale:

LOVE!!!

{via Beautiful Decay}

Ah, nothin’ says “Happy Canada Day, eh” like a bunch of colorful beards, some magical mystery branches, and a Mounty holding a bird. Ok, maybe it’s just the Mounty that really says it… the beards sort of say Portland. Anywho, what better way to kick off Canada Day, than with an amazing Canadian artist, and a few bearded guys with fishing rods. I wrote about Ontario based artist Jay Dart years ago, but my love for his work has just continued to grow… much like the long, colorful beards that he clearly loves to draw.

HAPPY CANADA DAY, CANADIANS! Enjoy the fireworks, go get a beaver tail, and while you’re at it…

♥ ♥

Ok, there is soooo much I want to tell you … but I’m only allowed to give you a few little tidbits today. So, let me catch you up on what’s going on at the moment. The book is set to be released in the Spring of 2014. All of the writing/editing is completely finished, and the final manuscript is now in the hands of the lovely folks at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. Pretty much everything is ready to go to print… except the cover. The amazing design team is working with one of my favorite artists {who happens to be featured in the book}, Toronto based painter/designer Amanda Happé:

Gratitude? Yes. My world is filled with gratitude right now! Note: Just to be clear, this painting is NOT the cover… but it’s similar in it’s Amanda Happé-ness. I just saw her preliminary sketches a few days ago, and they ROCK! I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a talented artist doing a custom piece for this project. When this is over, I’m totally going to buy that painting and hang it in my living room. I will then sit underneath it while I hold my book. Yes. That is exactly what I will do.

Ok. This info about the front cover was the first little tidbit. Now, flip it over… you will never believe the amazing group of people who reviewed the book, and then wrote endorsement blurbs that will appear on the back. Ready?

Holy SHIT. I’m sorry for the cursing, but I feel it’s necessary. I still cannot believe these people took time out of their busy lives to read the book, let alone sit down to write the nicest reviews EVER. I was really nervous to reach out to all of them, but I fueled up on caffeine, gave myself a pep talk, and sent out the emails. And they all said yes, immediately. CRAZY.

Jerry frickin’ Saltz? {Yes, that is now how I refer to him at all times, because am still in disbelief that he said ‘yes’!}. I have to tell you, writing to the Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine is terrifying. What if he wrote me back and criticized me!? Um, hello, art school nightmare! Well he didn’t, thank goodness. He was hilarious, open, and generous {ok, he dished it out a tiny bit, but I totally handled it. Must have been the caffeine.}

Brené Brown. For real. Have you seen her TED Talk on shame and vulnerability? So, so good. And maybe you’d like to see what she and Oprah chatted about. Yes. Oprah. Without giving away too much, this book talks a lot about the insecurities that artists face every day – so who better to review the book than someone with a PhD in vulnerability, right?

And then there’s Faythe Levine. She is sort of a creative hero of mine. She owns an art gallery, is an artist herself, and she directs amazing documentaries that take a beautiful look at art in America {If you haven’t seen Handmade Nation, or Sign Painters… well, you should!}. I am thrilled to have an amazing working artist review a book about amazing working artists. It just makes sense.

Now, the final bit for the back cover. My bio photo. Ugh. I tried to use my Polaroid over the face shot that I use for most things, but my editor {the amazing Kate Woodrow}, wouldn’t let me do that. So, I called this guy:

Jeff Topham is an amazing photographer, writer, and film maker. I actually wrote about one of his film projects, Liberia ’77, in 2010. If you ever have a chance to watch it, please do. It’s ah-mazing. Anywho, not only is Jeff all of these things, he’s also one of my childhood friends, so when I had to do the dreaded “head shot” I knew he was my man. I call the photo above “You better not make me look like an idiot, or I’ll tell your mom what you did at that party in 10th grade.” Well, we had a few stops and starts, but he got the shot:

Yes! Done. I will now use this shot forever. Thanks Jeff! xo {ps. I won’t tell your mom anything!}

Ok, so that’s all I can tell you so far… basically now you know what’s happening on the front and back, and as Spring 2014 approaches I’ll let you know what’s going on the inside of this fantastic cover! Thank you again to Amanda, Jerry, Brené, Faythe, Jeff, Kate and all of the other crazy amazing people at Chronicle… not to mention the 50 contemporary artists featured in the book! You’ve all made my dream a reality.

{If you’re still reading, thanks for paying attention all the way through this very long post. This book has been a huge part of my life for the past year and a half and I just have to tell you about it, whether you want to know or not! Ok. I’m done now. Happy weekend!}