A polka-dot horse, color-coded hounds, and a big pink bull… yep, this is my kind o’ farm. These large scale oil paintings are the work of American artist, and newly graduated MFA student, Russ Noto … sigh… he had me at PINK.

Sigh. Love. I have written about Canadian painter Holly Farrell so many times. She paints everyday objects like chairs, bowls, bars of soap, and yes… shoes! Holly’s work is going to be featured in my book {YAY!}, and when I was going through her portfolio looking for my favorite pieces the other day, I found myself gathering up a whole bunch of her shoes… and voila, today’s post was born! ♥

Oh, the amazing, large-scale beach portraits of Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra. They almost look like hyper-real paintings, don’t they? These photographs, from her series titled Beach Portraits, are not only huge {approx 46″ x 37″!!}, they are also absolutely stunning in their quiet simplicity. Sigh.

{Looking for something to do this weekend? Perfect! There is a retrospective of her work currently showing at the Guggenheim from June 29 ~ October 8, 2012}

I wrote about American artist Stacey Page almost two years ago… well, clearly she’s been busy, and so clearly I have to write about her again! Portraits & embroidery? Yep, it gets me every single time. Gah!

Lovely, yet somewhat disturbing, nudes by Vancouver based photographer Daphne Chan. They are so peaceful, soft, weird, and uncomfortable … sigh… I love them.

{There is a really good video interview with Daphne on “HOT ART WET CITY”… great insight into her work/subject matter.}

Now this is my kind of litter! New Zealand artist Neil Dawson created this sculpture, titled Horizons, for Gibbs Farm {an amazing place, filled with an insane sculpture collection, in North Auckland}. I’m not sure what those cows are thinking, but I’d be quite happy to have a giant piece of icon-like paper land gently on a hilltop near me! So, so good.

Allison Watkins is an American artist based in San Francisco… and this is her “closet in San Francisco”. Yep, that’s the title of this gorgeous embroidery piece. The detail {and lack of detail} is absolutely beautiful to me {♥} I wonder if I could get her to come over and embroider my closet… hm, I better go and buy some prettier clothes!

Gasp! Porcelain popcorn, with gold glaze. Um… YES!!! I absolutely love these sculptures by LA based artist Pae White. Oh, and her installation, titled Ashen Roses, is insanely beautiful too:

Amazing, right?! Ah, but that popcorn… I cannot get over that popcorn!! Here, have one more look:

Love! And on that deliciously golden note, happy weekend!

I absolutely love mundane subject matter, and so obviously I love these beautiful, washy, everyday things by Chinese artist Guo Hongwei. He layers/dilutes watercolor paint on paper, creating this blurred effect,  in order to “mimic the way memories get eroded, replaced and deleted.” Yep, another perfect addition to my “beautifully boring” list!

Sigh. Pink negative space, with little glimpses of nature peeking through… or is it sitting on top? Hm. Well, either way, I absolutely love this work by Sydney based artist Chris Thompson.

{via but does it float}