Congratulations Kari! Four, lovely side plates from Alyson Fox’s White Noise collection are on their way to you… hm, sounds like a perfect time to go buy some cake! Thanks to everyone who entered {I wish I could send everyone some of this gorgeous stuff}, and thanks so much to Ink Dish for doing the give-away with us.

Yep, a top secret project, in LA, that I can finally tell you about! It is super, crazy exciting and I am still pinching myself that I get to be part of this. Ok. Let’s start at the beginning.

So, the amazingly talented and hilarious Emily Henderson {HGTV host, and styling queen} called me awhile back about a project that she’s working on. It’s a very cool event space that will be opening in LA later this year. Sounds exciting, right? Sure, especially if you live in LA. Then she said, “…and I’d like you to be the art curator on the project”. I responded with “Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun”… but allow me to translate that to what was actually happening in my head: “WHAT?!?! HOLY #%$! ME?! YES, YES, YESSSSS!!” Yep, something like that.

It’s called The FIG HOUSE, and here’s Emily’s description of what this space will be all about:

The Fig House is going to be a space you can rent for parties, weddings, photo shoots, book signings … pretty much anything you want to. You could have a huge dinner party there, a screening of a film, premiere party, or use it to propose to your lady. It’s rented out per night, and it’s whatever you want it to be.

Now, here’s where you come in. The first group of work will be an ode to California-based artists, so if you’re from California, or you have an artist you love from California, send their links my way! Soon! Thank you, and thank you so much to Emily, and Steve Fortunato {the founder of this fabulous space} for asking me to be part of their amazing project … translation… “WHAT?!?! HOLY #%$! ME?! YES, YES, YESSSSSSSSS!!”

Hi again! Ok, quick, before I hop on the plane to Austin, how about a give-away to make ALL of you feel like you’re at Alyson Fox’s tea party too? Ok, great! The lovely people at Ink Dish are giving away one set of side plates {4 plates in total} from Alyson’s White Noise collection! Gah! I love this collection oh so much! If you do too, just leave a comment here, and I’ll draw one lucky name when I get back on Monday morning.  Good luck!

Ah, this is where it all began… a joke that I made on sfgirlbybay about hosting a tea party using gorgeous dishware designed by artist Alyson Fox. Five GIRL CRUSH art workshop + tea parties later, and I’m on my way to Austin {at the airport as we speak} to co-host GIRL CRUSH Austin with Alyson!

Now, it turns out that she is not only an insanely talented artist/designer {see everything above? yep.}, but also an amazing cook … so she’s making our fancy lunch herself! All of the sweet treats for the afternoon tea party are being generously baked and donated by Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop {who just happen to be recent winners on Cupcake Wars!}. Now, if all of that wasn’t fantastic enough, guess who my “helper” is for the day? Kelly from Design Crush is making her way down from Oklahoma City to help me with all of the tiny details that go into making GIRL CRUSH happen. Yep, this is gonna be GOOD.

Alyson’s beautiful home studio. Amazing women sharing their creative struggles & triumphs. Sugar. A truck load of art supplies.

See you on the other side.

It’s amazing what a few slices of a blade, and a bit of bending can do to a photograph. Suddenly these quiet nature scenes are crisp, bold, and graphic. Brooklyn based artist Letha Wilson manipulates images just a little bit, and creates something wonderfully new. Every now and then she cuts a little more than the photo though:

In this case, she cut right through the drywall so that light from behind could shine into the gallery… um, LOVE!!!

Sweet jiminy… I love, love, love these paintings. I mean sculptures. Or paintings. Ok, here’s where the confusion comes in… Melbourne based artist Sandra Eterovic paints with acrylic on wood, but then cuts away the background so that’s she’s just left with a giant Tshirt or a huge can of SPAM {so good! the painting that is, not actual SPAM} She lured me in with that number-covered couple, and then finished me off with these:

… grouchy men in Chanel shirts? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!

{Thanks to Lucy for sending me a link to Sandra’s work!}

Oh my word. These intricate paper collages are  the work of California based artist David Adey. He uses fashion magazines, and found google images as the starting point for his work… and then laser cuts, and craft-punches them into zillions of tiny fragments. He then meticulously pins each bit onto foam board, creating stunningly beautiful, and insanely elaborate mandalas. I’m pretty sure I’ll never look at a lipstick ad the same way again. Sigh. Gorgeous.

{via the artful desperado}

Chunks of wood, and chunks of people. Ah, the collage work of Madrid based artist Jesús Perea. Love. And with that, I wish you a happy, creative, adventure-filled weekend! See you on Monday.

{via design milk}

Oh my word. American artist Janet Echelman makes huge, sculptural nets that are colorful and billowing during the day, and light up the skyline like beautifully bizarre jellyfish at night. Not that Amsterdam needs any help being beautiful, but yowza, that first piece in the top of the post creates an insanely stunning view of the city! Janet was originally a painter (USA), who studied calligraphy (China), and then dabbled in textiles (Bali), after which she was a teacher at Harvard (USA), and eventually ended up working in sculpture (India)… um, who’s inspired?! Yep, me too.

First, the multi-talented Faythe Levine {of Handmade Nation fame… among countless other things!} got together with photographer/film maker Sam Macon, and wrote this book. Can you guess what it’s about?

You guessed it! Sign Painters, and the lost art that is sign painting {um, with a foreword by Ed Ruscha!}. The book profiles, and celebrates, classic sign painters – the artists who actually use a brush, and paint, and old-school techniques to create some of the most beautiful typographic art in the world. But Faythe and Sam didn’t stop with a book … nope … they just made a documentary too!

So good! Here’s the overview:

There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.

In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters, the first anecdotal history of the craft, features the stories of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States. The documentary and book profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.

Ooooh, it looks amazing! The first screening was just a couple of weeks ago in Washington DC. It’s starting it’s tour of indie theatres right now, so if you want to see if your city is on the list, click here. And for a preview of the film, you can watch the trailer right here.