Do you remember this? A few years ago I wrote about this amazing abandoned farm house, turned life-sized dollhouse, on the Canadian Prairies. It was the work of artist Heather Benning:

So dreamy, right? Well, it’s almost like it was a dream, because just like that, it’s gone:

Sad face. But, it was the right thing to do. The building had become very unstable, and Heather didn’t want it to collapse, or be vandilized, so this past March she took matters into her own hands, and she set it on fire. Sad face, again. Although, if it had to go, it’s pretty cool that it went out in a blaze of glory!

Oh, pretty prairie dollhouse, I know it was your time, but I’ll still miss you. I will always remember you like this:

RIP ♥

{Great article/interview with Heather Benning about this on CBC}

Sigh… the work of California based artist Masako Miki. I love her work, and wrote about her back in 2011, so when it came time for me to start looking for artists to show at The Fig House in LA this coming summer, I hopped right over to her site… and found all of this new work! I love it all, but those red ink drawings on paper are kinda killing me. Oh, and yes, I’m thrilled to announce that Masako is in fact one of the confirmed artists for Fig House – YAY!!!

{She has a show called “Helplessness in Hopefulness”, that is currently at K. Imperial Fine Art Gallery in San Francisco. The show is still up until this Saturday, June 1… so get over there if you can!}

I honestly don’t know which I want to do more right now… take a screen printing course, or run off to Chamonix, France. Oooh, or maybe I could do a screen printing class IN Chamonix, France! YES!! This is just the tip of the iceberg {or tip of the mountain peak} when it comes to the stunning portfolio of Scottish artist {who is only moments away from graduating from the Edinburgh College of Art} Emily Moore. All of these gorgeous prints, on that beautiful thick rag paper, are pieces are from a series titled Chamonix. I went backpacking there after University, and these prints immediately whisked me back! She is an insanely amazing printmaker, but her paintings, photography and installation are fantastic too… and she hasn’t even graduated yet. Can you even imagine what’s yet to come from Emily?!

I came across these gorgeous woodcut/drypoint prints by American printmaker Ellen Heck, and immediately fell in love. I minored in printmaking, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it, and a great admiration for anyone that can do it this well. Amazing technical skills blended effortlessly with pretty, flower-clad girls, AND a group of Frida Kahlo impersonators… jealous? Yes, yes I am.

I’m sorry if this offends any vegetarians {or people who hate baked goods} but I couldn’t control myself… “Fat Tats”, is a series by Manila born, Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Monica Ramos, and I love every unhealthy tat she’s got going! Watercolor tattoos of fatty food. Hilarious and beautiful. Excellent combo. Ok, now who’s up for a slice of pie?

{Monica is the featured artist on Buy Some Damn Art this week. Girls hugging llamas, friends frying eggs on the sidewalk, and a bit of skinny dipping. Yep, you might want to get over there! Happy weekend!}

Do you know this story? It’s a good one!

I wrote about Vivian and John way back in 2009. Their story is about an undiscovered, photographic gold mine. They never knew each other, but now they’ll forever be connected… A few years ago, John Maloof went to an auction house across the street from his home. For $380, he bought thousands and thousands of undeveloped negatives that had been abandoned in a storage locker by an American woman named Vivian Maier. John started developing the negatives, and EUREKA!!!… he truly did find a gold mine. This is just a minute fraction of what he found:

Vivian’s photographs are stunning, beautifully composed, intimate glimpses into American life in the 1950s and 60s. What’s not intimate though is the knowledge about who Vivian actually was. She died only days before John tried reaching out to her. He had so many questions – who was she? Why did this unbelievably talented woman never show her work to anyone? But now, thanks to a beautiful documentary that is currently in production, a few of those questions have been answered… and they’re a bit strange. A sneak peek at  Finding Vivian Maier …

We wish we knew you, Vivian {her self-portraits could be a post all on their own}:

Love.

This is the work of American artist Lori Larusso. Prints? No. Paintings? Kinda. They are acrylic paintings, but I might be tempted to call them sculptures. See some of those shadows? Yep, these are actually paintings on intricately cut panels {all around the 4′ mark}. Gorgeous! And besides the beautifully mundane domestic subject matter {which I am obsessed with!}, in perfectly chosen colors, I think what I love most is that fact that they’re a bit of a mind trick… by cutting the panels, Lori gives so much dimension to these totally flat, partially dissected spaces. Ah-mazing.

So, I was working on my art roundup post for the lovely Emily Henderson {which is up today btw}, with a plan to feature “houses”. Now, because I’ve written about Hagar van Heummen, an artist based in Amsterdam, a couple of times, I knew she had some great houses in her portfolio. But when I got to her site, I found all of this amazing new work! Houses, yes, but those plants! I love these pieces oh so much… and the icing on the cake … they’re crazy affordable! {originals range from $150 – $570, and her prints are only $30… I got the bottom most piece! Can’t wait to frame it.}

I’ve written about UK based artist Anthony Zinonos a couple of times, but that was way back in 2009… clearly, it’s time for a new post.  As you probably know, I am a ridiculously huge fan of collage, especially found image collage. A scrap of perfectly chosen paper, a few strategic snips from a stack of old magazines, and voila, you have an entirely new story being told on a field of canary yellow! Anthony’s work is so simple, and so clever. Oh, and not only is his work simple and clever, but he always has the best titles – that last piece {on the field of canary yellow!} is called … “justGOtalkTOher” … ha! ♥

ps. So I think you know that I’m working on a couple of books with Chronicle Books {it’s killing me not to tell you what they’re about… soon though!}. The first one is almost finished, and I’m knee-deep into the second, which just so happens to have a wonderful foreword written by one Mr. Anthony Zinonos! YAY!

I love this. I love it so much, that instead of me fumbling to describe it, I’m going to copy and paste the description of this lovely project, titled Mapping Manhattan, by native New Yorker, Becky Cooper. Ready?

“Armed with hundreds of blank maps she had painstakingly printed by hand, Becky Cooper walked Manhattan from end to end. Along her journey she met police officers, homeless people, fashion models, and senior citizens who had lived in Manhattan all their lives. She asked the strangers to “map their Manhattan” and to mail the personalized maps back to her. Soon, her P.O. box was filled with a cartography of intimate narratives: past loves, lost homes, childhood memories, comical moments, and surprising confessions. A beautifully illustrated, PostSecret-style tribute to New York, Mapping Manhattan includes 75 maps from both anonymous mapmakers and notable New Yorkers, including Man on Wire aerialist Philippe Petit, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, Tony award-winning actor Harvey Fierstein, and many more.”

So, so, so good! Here are a few of my favorites:

Awww! Isn’t that last one so sweet? ♥  You want to make one now, don’t you? No problem! You can download the map right here! Now all you have to do is draw/paint/write your love {or hate} story with Manhattan, and send it to mapyourmemories@gmail.com. Happy mapping, and happy weekend to you 🙂

{ps. If you want to buy this book, you can find it in bookstores everywhere, or online at: ABRAMS, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Oh, and there’s a great article about it in The New York Times}