Sexy bunnies… and one sassy kitty. I have to admit, these large scale oil paintings by Brussels based artist Nathalie Pirotte have made me a bit of a smitten kitten, too. So bizarre, kinda creepy, and absolutely gorgeous ♥

Ah, lovely collages by American artist Mary Virginia Carmack. My favorite part… those little white keyline drawings on top of the lovely collages. Gor. Ge. Ous.

I have an art show coming up in October, so I spent Friday and Saturday working on my own artwork… weird, I know. It felt amazing to get back into the studio, and then it felt, well, not so amazing. Here’s why {and I’m curious if any of you ever feel the same}:

1. I feel unbelievably guilty taking time away from my family to work on my art. Here’s the strange part though. I don’t feel guilty any other time. I can exercise, work on design projects, or go off for an afternoon of jealous curating… no problem. A day at the studio on the other hand… gut-wrenching GUILT. Seriously, what is that about?

2. I love making stuff. It brings me pure joy – until it’s for a show. Then I panic. I stop having fun, and start worrying about everything. Is this work good enough for a gallery? Will anyone like it? Will I like it?  It’s exhausting. Why can’t I just relax, and enjoy making stuff {you know, the stuff that brings me the aforementioned joy}?

3. I feel so much more comfortable writing about other people’s art. Half way through my studio day, I thought, “Boy, I wish I had my computer with me so I could just do next week’s posts instead.”

Any advice? I’ll take whatever you’ve got. Thank you!

{16 hours later: Thank you all so much for your thoughtful, helpful comments! I’m feeling a lot better, and have completely exhaled. I’m going to stop thinking so much, and just have fun. Whatever comes out of that will be the pieces for the show. Done. THANK YOU! xo}

Oh boy. I wrote about Portland based artist/illustrator Ashley Goldberg about three years ago… and here we are again! Little houses, little birds, and little beards {and little birds with little beards, of course!}. I have to admit though, my main reason for writing this post was so that I could show this painting. I have always loved this painting:

Sigh. Awesome.

{ps. Ashley is yet another artist who will be featured in my upcoming book… Q. Who’s crazy excited?! A. Yep, it’s me!}

I found the mixed media/printmaking work of German artist Micosh Holland on Saatchi Online just NOW… so glad it wasn’t LATER. See what I did there? Ok, nevermind… just enjoy the work. And what’s not to enjoy – an upside down ham, a few very mod living spaces, and a hit of neon pink. Love!

Sweet little houses all alone on, um, big leafy planets…? Ok, I’m not exactly sure what they are, but that does not stop me from loving them! Korean artist {now New York based} Jung Eun Park created these images as part of a series of drawings called “Missing Home”, and the inspiration behind them is really quite lovely:

Mostly my work has been about a relationship with my mother since I moved to New York and being separated from my family in a long distance. It became interests about a difficulty of communication, a fear of unconnected relationship, and a burden of being an independent person. I express my mentality caused by these problems with symbolic objects, human body and red thread in my drawing.

{via arthound}

Is it possible to be totally smitten, yet somewhat terrified? Yes, yes it is. These bizarrely beautiful oil paintings by Australian artist Abbey McCulloch have my heart racing… I’m not sure if it’s because of her stunning color choices, her spooky girls, or that tiny pink pig. Hm, I’m going to go with d) All of the above.

I have loved the work of Banksy for ages. I’m not sure why I’ve never written about him before… in all honesty, I thought I had… but no. Hm. Anywho, since most of us probably spent the weekend watching the London Olympics get underway, I thought I’d do my own artsy ode to London… via Bansky, and his ridiculously creative work. Oh look, a little pole vaulting to kick things off:

So clever ♥

Whoa ~I’m feeling dizzy from the jealousy overload. Ok so, this is the third time that I’ve written about Italian artist TRACCIAMENTI. I love all of her work, but her dress series… well, it kinda kills me. That first one with the rainbow? Neon yellow on black? And that final one above???… LOVE! Oh dear, I might have to sit down for a minute.

{Happy weekend to you all… and if you live in Vancouver, I hope I’ll see you at Gather Pop-up in Gastown!}

Yes, I need someone to massage my head too… I am totally overwhelmed by how much I love these book cover collages by American artist Hollie Chastain. I wrote about her ages ago, but when I came across a few of these new pieces, clearly I had no choice but to write another post! LOVE ♥

{ps. I am so thrilled to say that Hollie is one of the artists that will be featured in my book, and you better believe that these book covers will be in there… YAY!}