So, here we are on the last day of 2010! Pretty exciting for all of us, but especially monumental for San Francisco based artist Lisa Congdon. Today marks Day 365 in her A Collection a Day, 2010 project! Yep, that’s right – every single day of this entire year Lisa photographed, or drew a collection of things, and then posted them to her blog. It’s an unbelievably beautiful bunch of stuff {vintage toys, art supplies, buttons & thread, and the list goes on}. I’m totally jealous of her knick-knack packed shelves… oh, and also that Uppercase Gallery has turned these daily posts into a beautiful little book due out in the Spring of 2011! It’s going to be gorgeous!! Ok, ok, but enough about my jealousy, today is all about who makes Lisa jealous ~ Enjoy:

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I’m jealous of Alexander Calder.

From the moment I saw Alexander Calder’s show at the SF MOMA many years ago, I became smitten. I immediately bought two books on the man, Calder’s Universe and a vintage copy of his monograph entitled Calder (by Maurice Bruzeau, now out of print and difficult to find). I lay on my sofa and devoured them in less than a week.

Alexander Calder is best known for his mobiles, but he touched practically every artistic medium of his time (stabiles, graphic design posters, rugs, toys, sculpture, painting, drawing, jewelry, ceramics, etc.). Two years ago I had the privilege to see his work again at the Whitney. They featured his wire Circus, which made him famous in the 1920’s (he was a bit obsessed with the circus). It was incredible to see. He is one of the most experimental and prolific artists of the last century.

Born and raised in the U.S., Calder left for Paris in 1926, when he was 28 years old., and there is art career blossomed further and he became part of the avant-garde art scene of the day. In 1931 Calder married Louisa Cushing James. They traveled continually. By all accounts he was a good-natured man.

Intensely creative, fearless, prolific, modern, good-natured, lived in Paris in the 1920’s, world traveler, kept enormous messy studio. What is there not to be jealous of?

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Exactly! Thanks so much for dropping by Lisa, and congratulations on your lovely collection of collections! Can’t wait to see the book.

Umm, this may very well be the coolest post that has ever been on The Jealous Curator! I debated showing it actually, because quite frankly, it puts the posts that I write to shame! This one is true poetry… really. When I asked writer Anne Sage {of Rue Magazine, and The City Sage} to be a holiday guest, I knew she’d do something clever, but I did not expect this:

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i am so jealous and very
e.e. cummings who writes
“one’s not half two. It’s two are halves of one”
and paints the sun

“my blood approves,”
and poems and paintings are a better fate
than jealousy
i swear by all feelings

if he is true that
“all which isn’t singing is mere talking”
then long loud and clear
these songs resound

“this is the garden:colours come and go,”
admiring azures and starstruck greens
jealous small but full happy seems
the bigger more golden glow.

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See? How am I supposed to compete with that! Thank you so much Anne – you creative genius, you! xo

ps. I had no idea that e.e.cummings painted too. Hm, an inspirational and educational post!

Jesse Draxler is an American artist based in Minnesota, and is easily one of my favorite contemporary mixed-media artists {pretty easy to figure out, seeing how I’ve written about his work at least four times}. One more reason to love him? Jesse is a member of WAFA… which only makes sense considering that he really, truly is FA! Here’s who Jesse thinks is FA:

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I am jealous of Mark Grotjahn.

I first came across Mark’s work at the Hammer Museum while on a recent trip to LA. I was instantly drawn to it both because of it’s subject matter and because of its size, most upwards of 6 feet in height. Upon closer viewing I also noticed that the entire color aspect of the particular work was laid down with colored pencil. I am a big fan of colored pencil, and I could tell that he was using my favorite brand; Prismacolor (this was later confirmed through some internet research.) Due to some personal experience I have a great appreciation for filling in large spaces with thick layers of colored pencil, so the technique (and undoubted hand cramps) resonated with me.

What also resonates with me is the push and pull between spontaneous mark making and design-like precision. Being able to see the process within a piece of work is always a bonus, and balancing the two extremes can prove very hard to pull off.

Even though the centrifugal, op-art, graphic rays have been done quite a number of times before, Mark’s work seems fresh and vibrant. The often subtle shifts of direction give the work an entrancing quality and the techniques / mark making mash up give it a natural zen-like presence. Big up Mark, big up.

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… and big up to you to Jesse! Thanks so much for visiting!

I’m so happy to have editor & stylist Victoria Smith {of the always fab blog sfgirlbybay} back again! She was one of my weekend guests this past summer… I guess I served her enough glasses of sweet lemonade, because she agreed to come back over the holidays! She’s hilarious, unbelievably generous, and has amazing taste, which is why I can’t imagine that she’d be jealous of anyone, but it turns out, she kinda is:

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i’m so incredibly jealous of the selby. todd selby has the life. he gets to visit super talented, and creative people and photograph their homes and studios. now, i know what you might be thinking, “hey, isn’t that what you do, too?”. well, i do, but i aspire to do it as well as the selby. i don’t know how he does it exactly, but i’m very envious of todd selby’s ability to light his subjects in such a way that i feel as though i’m right there in the room. i am a visitor, right along side him. his photography is what i am most jealous of. i get to visit rad people, too. i just wanna do it as well as mr. selby. kudos, dude.

this is one of very favorite selby visits – that of eileen and mark wiesmayr at home in venice beach, winners of the Selby x CB2 contest. lucky. i’m quite jealous of them, too!

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Sigh. So many people to be jealous of in this post! Thanks so much Victoria… see you next summer ; )

For the longest time, I thought that American artist Lisa Golightly was actually two people, better known as Kiki & Polly. Turns out, it’s just her. Easy mistake though, as her site, her Etsy shop, and her blog all go by that name.  She has a very sweet explanation behind Kiki & Polly, that just so happens to go perfectly with her lovely work {soft paintings that explore bits and pieces of sunny childhood memories, often in the form of sweet, faceless children}. Anyway, I know that Lisa’s a very busy/popular lady these days, so I’m thrilled that she has taken a break from the studio to let us know who makes her jealous:

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I am jealous of Alex Kanevsky

I love his use of color and confidence in how he uses the paint and creates movement in his pieces.  Those big chunks of color and drips, how he creates objects with seemingly few strokes is so beautiful to me.  It looks effortless, confident and unafraid.  The color palette he works with makes even his unlikely subjects ‘pretty,” which to me, makes it even more interesting to explore.

I am a jealous, jealous gal.

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Yep… I can relate! Thanks so much Lisa… now, back to the studio you go!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day! I’ve had a chance to tidy up, and now I’m ready for all of my guests to start dropping by… hot chocolate {with a shot or two of Baileys} for all! My first guest is Brazilian born, Vancouver based Lili Vieira de Carvalho. As far as I’m concerned, she has a dream job as the Associate Director at the Diane Farris Gallery. She also writes/curates her own blog called The Art Monitor, which in her words “is a natural side effect of a passion for the art world and the city she now calls home.” It’s really good, you should check it out… but first, check out who makes her jealous:

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I am jealous of Aakash Nihalani.

This Brooklyn-based artist is highly influenced by graffiti and his work is playful, humorous and always exciting. The fluorescent 3D boxes made of paper tape are his trademark while in gallery exhibitions he shows another brilliant side of his creative brain – the guy doesn’t have a dark side! While choosing images for this blog post I just couldn’t make up my mind trying to pick just a few. I decided to concentrate on his street works, but his sculptures, prints, works on canvas and cardboard, are equally clever. Oh boy, I’m jealous!

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Me too, me too! Love this post… thanks so much for stopping by Lili! xo

Merry Christmas ♥

Christmas always makes me feel lovey, mushy and thankful. This year I feel very lovey, mushy and thankful… and it’s all because of you! Thank you so much for making The Jealous Curator what it is. I never thought I would “meet” so many amazing people through a simple, little blog – but I absolutely have! Lovely emails, postcards from exhibitions all over the world, and amazing opportunities have shown up on my doorstep and I have you to thank! I also want to say a special thank you to a few artists who, completely unnecessarily, sent me some of their work during 2010 {shown above}. It was like getting Christmas presents all year-round… who wouldn’t feel lovey, mushy and thankful after that?!

Have a lovely holiday with your friends & family! Oh, and don’t forget to pop in next week to visit with my insanely amazing holiday guests! They’re fabulous, and they’re jealous… what a combo!

{1) Aris Moore 2) Lillianna Pereira 3) Justin Richel 4) Tali Yalonetzki}

Oh, how I would love to spend Christmas in the cozy, and unbelievably sweet, cottage of Dottie Angel {aka a displaced Brit living near Seattle named Tif}. Seriously, how can one person be this creatively crafty? A handmade Christmas tree covered in buttons, thread, and knitted garlands? Are you kidding me?! Ok, ok, Christmas isn’t about being jealous. It’s about love, and joy, and… oh, who am I kidding?! I’m totally jealous. She’s beyond amazing!

{If you want to know & see more about the life that Dottie Angel leads in her mossy shed, you can pick up “The Suitcase Series Volume Two : Dottie Angel” that Uppercase Gallery will be releasing in the summer of 2011. This is actually on my Christmas Wish List… I’m hoping Santa puts in a pre-order for me!}

Raw photography/mixed media, right? Yep. But hold on a second… what used to be under those pretty little dots? If you said amateur photography of nudes found on the internet, you win! These are just a few of my favorites from a fairly large series titled Private Stages by German artist Peter Freitag. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure I could find a sexier/safer spot to take a nude photo than right in front of my stove. Careful – that burner could be hot!

Teepee/mountain-ish/geometric assemblages by Vancouver based artist Aaron Moran. Yep, a little found wood and some insanely well-chosen house paint, and I’m completely sold. Now, how to wrap this for Christmas morning… hm, maybe just a really big bow.

{via Junkculture}