Hello. My name is Danielle, and I’m an embroidery-aholic. Ok. Yes, it’s true, I have been on a major embroidery kick lately. And clearly I have no self control, because when I found the lovely work of Amsterdam based artist Hagar van Heummen {and her girls in weird, triangular, red hats} I couldn’t stop myself from writing about them. Love, love, love!!!

I’ll stop tomorrow. Maybe.

So, the other day a reader named Lisa left a comment on one of my posts, with a link to the work in this Etsy shop {thank you Lisa – clearly, you know what I like!} I didn’t recognize the shop name, but the work looked strangely familiar… and rightly so! This is the work of Shannon Rankin, an amazing American installation artist that I wrote about last January! These are her smaller, non-installation pieces, that she sells from her Etsy shop, selflesh. She uses bits of maps, and embroidery thread to make me jealous create these lovely {unbelievably inexpensive!} pieces.

Gasp! I’m dying… DYING! I absolutely love this work by Maria Aparicio… and friends. All of these pieces are collaborations with various photographers. They supply the stunning images, and she supplies the soul-crushing, jealousy-inducing embroidery. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sit down so I can catch my breath. Um, you may want to call 911. Thank you.

I love all of this collage work by American artist Andrea D’Aquino – but that final image… yowza. It makes me want to get into my studio and stay there until my loved ones start to get concerned ~ paint . doodle . snip . snip . glue . repeat . paint . doodle . snip . snip . glue . repeat . paint . doodle . snip . snip . glue . repeat…

I watched a huge flock of starlings {which, by the way, I found out is called a “host”} fly over me today, and it reminded me of Catherine Ulitsky’s work that I wrote about a few months ago. I must have had brightly colored geometrics on my mind, because an hour later, I found these fantastic drawings by Santiego, Chile based artist Camila León. Coincidence?! Similar feeling, but without the starlings… Camila’s work is more like a whole bunch of beautiful, unique, CMYK fingerprints. Love. So much.

Yep, it’s true… every week curate1k, founded by Boston based curator Norah Guignon, finds $1000 worth of art for you. A $400 piece here, a $300 piece there, and maybe even a bunch for under $50! All you have to do is find something you love, and click on it. You’ll be directly linked to the gallery site that’s selling it {you know, places like Little Paper Planes, Enormous Tiny Art, Etsy, and so on!} Easy, right? Right. And, as if that wasn’t good enough, Norah’s putting together a few “$100 week Gift Guides” heading into the holidays for him, her, and even the artsy kid in your life! YES – I want art in my stocking this year!

{1. The Good Machinery 2.Britt Bass 3. Marlene Vergara 4. Kelly Lynn Jones 5. Olivia Jeffries 6. Anthony Zinonos}

I am a huge fan of Swedish artist Camilla Engman, and so of course, I’m a huge fan of her little sidekick… her dog Morran! Morran has been a huge part of Camilla’s life, and career… have you seen Camilla’s Suitcase Series book? Morran is a major feature! I found out about an hour ago that Morran passed away a few days ago. I don’t know Camilla, or Morran, but I’m crying as I write this. I have two little dogs myself, one of which we almost lost just over a year ago, and the sadness was overwhelming. And so today, I want to share this amazing project that Camilla started in the fall – a book filled with art… Morran art to be exact! She has asked people from all over the world to contribute pieces {these are just a few of my favorites}, and the results are fantastic! It’s going to be a lovely book.

Camilla, I’m sending you lots of love, and Morran… may you run for hours on rainbows xo

{1. Kirsten Houthooft 2. Alicja Nikodem 3. Lien Geeroms 4. Sara Olmos 5. Emmanuelle Eschembrenner 6. Suana Verelst 7. Darja Charapova 8. Marta Monteiro 9. Petra Wester Norgren 10. Christine Roussey}

Yesterday was all about cardboard crystals, but today… hello paper mache rocks! Malin Gabriella Nordin has a portfolio full of all sorts of amazing mixed media work {as you can see}, but oh, how I love those little paper mache rocks!

{via Booooooom}

Sigh. I love all of this gorgeous work by London based artist Lydia Shirreff. Diamond-ish crystals mounted on the wall {titled ‘growth’}, white concrete floor buckling up from below {titled ‘terrain’}, and don’t even get me started on that amazing wall full of shelves displaying tiny, colorful, geometric specimens {titled Animal, Mineral, Vegetable}… oh. my. word… that wall!

{via sodapopgirl}

Thread. All of it. Yes, even that lovely living room suspended from the ceiling… it’s all thread! I’m lucky if I can hem a skirt, but clearly Toronto based artist Amanda McCavour is more than comfortable using a sewing machine! Here is Amanda’s artist statement describing her process {because you know you wanna know how she does it!}:

In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations by sewing into a fabric that dissolves in water. This fabric makes it possible for me to build up the thread by sewing repeatedly into my drawn images so that when the fabric is dissolved, the image can hold together without a base. These thread images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart, despite the works actual raveled strength.

I am interested in the vulnerability of thread, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together.  I am interested in the connections between process and materials and the way that they relate to images and spaces.  Tracing actions and environments through a process of repetition, translation and dissolving, I hope to trace absence.  My work is a process of making as a way of tracing and preserving things that are gone, or slowly falling apart.