I have said {many times} that when jealousy is kept inside it can become toxic, but when it’s said out loud, it can be turned into something incredibly positive. Thankfully, I have managed to do that for myself with art… the reason for starting this blog in the first place! It truly has been life-changing, and unbelievably cathartic. Well, somewhere during the past 2.5 years of writing these posts, I’m no longer only an artist… I’m also, officially, a blogger. So, you guessed it, now there are bloggers that make me jealous! I follow a bunch of extremely talented, intelligent, inspiring, and driven women {kick ass women to be exact} and I’ll tell ya, it’s hard not to be just a little bit jealous of their many fabulous successes. So I’m going to take my own advice… I’m going to say it out loud. Here’s a list of amazing bloggers that make me think Damn, I wish I tweeted that!

Top 5 {+ 2, because I couldn’t control myself} bloggers that make me jealous, and why:

Bri Emery ~ DesignLoveFest : one word. blogshop. Amazing, fun, sold out around the world, blogshop.

Victoria Smith ~ sfgirlbybay. Oh Victoria. Every time I talk to her she’s involved in something beautiful! I’ll just send you over to her press page, and you’ll see what I mean. Sigh.

Erin Loechner ~ Design for Mankind. Ok. This list could get way too long. Oh, I know… check out her own “Life List”. Note how many amazing things are already crossed off! I have no doubt that they will all have a line through them in the very near future!

Joy Cho ~ Oh Joy! She has her own lovely lifestyle blog, she’s the market editor at Anthology Magazine, and she has created/produced all sorts of beautiful products, including this stunning wallpaper. Gorgeous!

Tina Roth Eisenberg ~ Swiss Miss. Again, the list is far too long, but the short list goes something like this: she founded and runs CreativeMornings, TeuxDeux, Tattly and her coworking space called Studiomates. Exhale. I saw her speak at Alt Summit last year and I was beyond inspired… I’m not sure when she sleeps. Seriously.

Grace Bonney ~ Design*Sponge. She has a huge, dedicated following, and her very own, beautiful book that everyone either already has, or desperately wants: Design*Sponge at Home.

Tif Fussell ~ Dottie Angel. She has just put out a beautiful new book with Uppercase Gallery, she teaches crafty workshops, and then of course there’s her house… Yes. I want to live in her super cute, doily covered, DIY house!

Ahhh… there we go. It’s out of my head and into the world! And yes, I’m already feeling much better!

{image by Martha Rich… Hell Yes!}

Lovely old polaroids, right? No. They are, in fact, “the evolution of polaroid”. San Francisco based photographer Lisa Wiseman used her iPhone to capture all of these vintage-not-really-vintage-at-all images… and I love them! So much! I’ll let Lisa explain:

Because the iPhone has become a ubiquitous accessory, on-the-go picture taking is now the norm. People use their iPhones to take spontaneous photos in the same carefree way that cheap polaroid film has been used inthe past. In concept and ideology the iPhone mimics polaroid, however it pushes the aesthetic forward by utilizing a non-film (but technologically average) medium. Just like traditional polaroids had a specific size and unique look, iPhone photos, both raw and processed with iPhone apps, are unmistakable because the technology limits them to a fixed size and resolution and imbues them with a unique chromatic aberration that says iPhone and nothing else. I love the new polaroid.

Me too Lisa, me too.

{Thanks to Victoria for telling me about Lisa’s work.}

I don’t write about abstract art that often, but yowza… these compositions, those colors! Gor.ge.ous. And, if they look this good on screen, just imagine what they must look like in person! Well, if you live in Berlin you won’t have to imagine much longer… Emma Coulter, a UK born, Australian artist, currently living and working in Berlin has a show opening this Saturday evening. It’s titled Viscerality, and you should go.

September 17, 2011 ~ October 08, 2011
Opening:  Saturday September 17, 5pm to 9pm
Kunstraum Tapir, Weser Str. 11, Berlin, Friedrichshain
Open times: Wednesday, Sept 21, Sept28, Oct 5, 4pm to 8pm / or by appt.
contact taktberlin@googlemail.com or 0162 -1560185

Ok… when a post begins with a legless girl in a pink feathery dress, who happens to have a crow instead of a head, you know it’s gonna be a good day! I love, love, love these simple/gorgeous collages by Spanish artist Francisca Pageo. I love that fluffy dress, I love those albino deer, and I love the final piece because of those strategically placed forest critters, but mainly because it’s titled “September come take these feelings away”. I don’t know what it means, but I like it. A lot.

Big letters. Little birds. Why? Well, I’ll tell you – these cute little birds are called house sparrows, and in India their population is on the decline due to, well, a lack of houses. With so many high rises going up and the urban jungle constantly expanding, there are fewer places for these sweet birds to nest… until now! Thanks to Mumbai based designer Nishant Jethi, and this project, titled Living Typography, they are getting cozy in a stylish number ’86’, and settling down for the night with “MONA”… lucky little birdies!

{via Junkculture}

As a kid, one of my most prized possessions was my sticker book. I had a designated page for “puffies”, “sparklies”, and of course, “scratch n’ sniffs”. I think I may have lost my mind if American artists Payton Turner & Brian Kaspr had popped by to install their sticker wallpaper in my bedroom! I mean, come on… when you read a description like this: “Each wallpaper pattern is made up of thousands of hand-applied stickers, and can be removed and re-applied in any space”, how can any self-respecting sticker collector not be jealous? So insanely amazing… Hm, I wonder if there are any scratch n’ sniffs in there?

{via Design Crush, via Little Green Notebook}

I saw the work of American artist Erika Lawlor Schmidt, on the always inspiring Art Hound a few days ago. Clearly I had no choice but to write about it too! These three collages are from her Meanwhile, the Antartic Melts Series. The compositions are amazing, and her choice of imagery, shapes, and textures is fantastic… oh, and don’t even get me started on how beautifully bizarre the final pieces are. Ahh, so lovely, and so strange ♥

Ok, here’s the thing about me… I love portraits. Painted, drawn, photographed, embroidered, whatever… I love portraits. So, imagine my delight when I came upon the work of LA based artist Steve Kim. These pieces are clearly from two different bodies of work, but you guessed it, I could not decide which one made me more jealous. Rich oil paint, with a lovely lack of detail? Or, delicate, blue, barely-there colored pencil on paper?

Hm… nope. I still can’t decide.

{via Booooooom}

There is something so familiar, comforting, and brilliantly mundane about these paintings by LA based artist Sarah Dougherty.  Have I been here before? During university… or traveling maybe? Well, for whatever reason, {maybe because I’m constantly clipping trendy magazines in a lame attempt to redecorate my house}, I find it so calming to see mismatched, cozy, imperfect spaces where ordinary people live ordinary lives.  Maybe I’ll just put the perfect paint chips down, and have a martini instead. Ahh, yes… that’s much better.

{Thanks to Rebecca for sending me the link to Sarah’s work.}

I wrote about Fine Line, an insanely beautiful art magazine, when the first issue came out last year. They are now on Issue 4, and it, of course, is as lovely as ever. Here’s the latest news though… they are now selling limited edition prints by some of the artists that they’ve featured. The work is gorgeous {a few pieces are shown above}, and very affordable {as in $20 affordable!}… what a perfect combination! Pick yourself up a subscription, and a print or two from the Fine Line Etsy shop.

{Images above: 1. Issue 4 cover ~ art by Nina Nolte  2. Masako Miki  3. Greg Eason  4. Hollie Chastain}