Stitched portraits, CMYK experiments, bold typography! Whoa… the graphic designer, and the artsy embroidery-lover, in me are both madly in love! London based designer/artist Evelin Kasikov blends these two disciplines perfectly! She has been commissioned to do works for WIRED, The New York Times, Kate Spade and many others. Yep, madly in love, and totally jealous! Oh, and you have to see her artist profile for the Kate Spade project:

Madly. In. Love.

Oh, I do love a good Polaroid, and this project, titled Present Company, is full of them! In order to have a genuine interaction with someone she might otherwise never know, Washington DC based photographer Amber Byrne Mahoney walks up to complete strangers, asks to take their photo, and then has them answer one of two questions… “if you could ask a perfect stranger anything in the world, what would it be?” or “what is one thing you’d like people to know about you?” Their images, and answers, are below:

Love! Now, for a little behind the scenes… the reason Amber started this project was because of a chance encounter with a man, named Tyrone, shown in the final photo. It’s a lovely story filled with good will, guitars, and a whole bunch of warm fuzzies! You have to go and read this story!

And on that note, I’ll wish you all a happy weekend… see you on Monday!

ps. If you’d like to participate in ‘Present Company’, you can learn more here.

Smashed cars, flower arrangements, and large fields of beautifully chosen colors. Seriously, how can I not love these collages {magazine clippings on panel} by American artist Matthew Cusick. They are all from his Happy Endings series, and they do in fact, make me very happy. The end.

{via Escape Into Life}

There are a lot of “365 days of…” projects out there right now, and, yes, this is one of them! A really good one! It’s called The Aldas Project: 366 Drawings for Good {Aldus is the Hungarian word for “blessing”}, and it was created by Philadelphia based artist Kristy Modarelli, beginning on January 1, 2012. Here’s what it’s all about:

The idea for this project is two-fold – a personal challenge to create an original drawing every day, for a year; and to raise money for three of Kristy’s favorite non-profit organizations: 826 National, The Schoerke Foundation, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Each original drawing, made of archival materials, will be sold for $100, with $25 going to the buyer’s choice of the three charities.

Good intentions, and gorgeous, geometric drawings… a lovely combination!

{via Inspired to Share}

When I was in San Francisco, for GIRL CRUSH with Lisa Congdon, I also had a chance to visit with the crew at Chronicle Books. I’d met one of their editors {the lovely Kate Woodrow to be exact!} in January at Alt Summit. She came to my panel on the first day, and the next day I went to hear her speak… on a panel that just happened to be called, From Blog to Book. Can you guess where I’m going with this?

Yep, it’s true… The Jealous Curator is going from blog to book! Seriously. I am working on a book that will be published by Chronicle?! I have to tell you, this is at the very top of my life list, and I am beyond thrilled that I get to cross it off! I can’t believe that I’m going to be along side all of these gorgeous art books on Chronicle’s shelves – I own half of them, and have written about the others. I can’t tell you exactly what my book is about just yet, but as we move the process, I’ll tell you as much as I can {ooh, mysterious!}

I just wanted to take a second to say thank you to Chronicle for believing in me, and even more so… thanks to all of you for actually reading every day. If someone had told me this was going to happen, three years ago when I started my blog, I wouldn’t have believed it. I feel very, very blessed.

Ok… I guess I better start writing! Wish me luck!

{1. Little Paper Planes 2. Obsessive Consumption 3. Stencil 201 4. The Exquisite Book 5. Paper Cutting 6. 100 GIRLS ON CHEAP PAPER}

Ok, I’m hoping these celestial-looking works, from a series titled Stellar, don’t give any of you an art-induced seizure… but, I just loved them so much, I had to take that risk! These are the work of New York based photographer Ignacio Torres. They are glittery, beautiful, and kinda bizarre… ah, my favorite combo! Here’s Ignacio’s description:

This project began from the theory that humans are made of cosmic matter as a result of a stars death. I created imagery that showcased this cosmic birth through the use of dust and reflective confetti to create galaxies. The models organic bodily expressions as they are frozen in time between the particles suggest their celestial creation. In addition, space and time is heightened by the use of three-dimensional animated gifs. Their movement serves as a visual metaphor to the spatial link we share with stars as well as their separateness through time.

Not my usual kind of post {never fear, I’ll be jealous again in a few hours}, but I just wanted to show you what I found today… I don’t know about you, but when I’m feeling slightly uninspired, the best medicine is always a bit of a treasure hunt! There are three amazing thrift shops in my neighborhood, that rarely disappoint. I found a little yellow deer, and an aqua swan… yep, it was a ceramic gold mine! Feeling inspired… why, yes I am! And all for under five bucks! What do you do when you need a bit of a creative pick-me-up? Ceramic animals for you too?!

There is something very quiet, comforting, and nostalgic about the work of American artist Rachel Mosler. All of these pieces feel like simple, yet confusing family trees that I would quite happily spend the afternoon trying to unravel. I would love to see them up close, because those details are killing me! Sigh ~ lovely.

Oh, and then there’s this… it’s a close up of one of her studies, but wouldn’t it be amazing if she created a printed fabric with it?  I want a “Rachel Mosler” skirt… what do you say, Rachel?!

Whoa. The cut and folded paper illustration work of French- born, San Francisco based, artist Chloe Fleury is, well, gorgeous! Her work for the cover of Anthology’s latest issue is amazing {look at those tiny paper lamps!}, I love those bunny heads, and her 3D San Francisco neighborhood posters… um, and now I totally want an orange popsicle sold to me from a little pink paper truck! If you live in the Bay Area you can literally be part of  the world of Chloe Fleury… her show, titled Color Me Happy – The World of Chloe Fleury, is opening at La Boutique next Friday, April 27th,  from 6 – 8pm {RSVP here}. Here’s a sweet little video to prepare you for Chloe’s lovely, bright, papery world:

Cute! And on that cheery note, happy weekend! See you on Monday!

Yep, I have a thing for portraits. I also have a thing for work that combines beautiful detail, with absolutely no detail. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that I have a thing for wood grain. Ok, clearly I have no choice but to have a thing for the work of Berlin based artist Tilo Uischner. Sigh ~ that woman’s lovely face, and gently crossed hands… ♥