Ahh, blue skies, green grass, and relaxing afternoons in a lawn chair… well, for us maybe, but not for Leah Giberson.  Instead of hanging out in a trailer playing Go fish, she’s been hard at work in her studio preparing for a very busy summer. Leah has two solo shows happening at the same time… on opposite sides of the country. You can find her new work at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from July 2nd ~ 31st, and at Rare Device in San Francisco from July 9th ~ 31st. Hopefully once both of the shows are in full swing she’ll be able to sit down, kick off her flip-flops, and have a well-deserved glass of lemonade… and maybe a few games of Go fish!

Ah, summer… swimming in the lake, s’mores on the campfire, and visits from a bunch of jealous friends. Yep, that’s right, I have filled my summer with fabulous weekend guests {bloggers, artists, curators, and creative directors} all of whom are stopping by to tell us who makes them jealous! Oh, it’s gonna be good! My first guest will be here next week, from Saturday until early Monday morning… when every good house guest really should be heading home anyway. So, until then, stock up on lemonade and hang that hammock! I’ll still be here Monday to Friday with my regular posts… and of course, to make sure that the blog is nice and tidy before my guests arrive!

Suburbia, and stunning natural environments {made of tiny strips of paper & oil paint}, brought harmoniously together on wood panel… Um, I think I might be in love.

Maybe if suburban Long Island had actually been this beautiful, American artist Cheryl Molnar, wouldn’t have felt the need to escape it’s identical houses, cul-de-sacs and strip malls. She now lives and works in the eclectic, culture-rich neighborhood of Greenpoint Brooklyn, but luckily for us, her experiences in the burbs have become the fuel for her lovely work. Hm, I wonder where the kids growing up in suburban Grand Canyon {shown above} will end up running off to? It’s a pretty long drive to Brooklyn.

Ok, so, who feels like totally redecorating all of a sudden? Yep. Me too! I’m jealous, inspired… and wondering how long these women had to stand still for?! Well, long enough to find their way into Australian artist Emma Hack‘s Wallpaper series I suppose. Amazing.

{via Design For Mankind}

I don’t know how many times I’ve written about Martha Rich… ok, five. I can’t help myself! I really am so jealous of her work. It’s simple, raw, and hilarious. I want to make art that is simple, raw and hilarious. Her paintings of food are the closest to my heart, so when I saw the huge body of work {burgers, hot dogs, pies, cakes, ice cream, cupcakes, cookies and more!} that she just finished exhibiting in Palate, at Scion Space in California, I knew that I had no choice but to write about her for a 6th time… and then eat a piece of coconut cake.

{Some of the work from this show is still for sale on her site. It’s affordably delicious, and today is the last day for free shipping! What are you waiting for?! Go!!!}

There is so much more to this story*, but here is the quick version… After spending years with drug addiction, living on the street, two stints in rehab, and a lot of hard work, Ronan Boyle emerged as a very talented {and sober} artist. He had traded the “faded and discoloured concrete walls of his street environment [for] the artfully distressed concrete walls of the high-end real estate market”, specializing in commissioned decorative abstracts for these development showrooms. He continued working in the studio, and because of these two incredibly opposite life experiences, several beautiful series were born… Concrete, Lucky, and Dancers just to name a few. I love the  layering, bold type and distressed textures that seem so effortlessly combined. I am very jealous of his work, and even more inspired by his story.

*{If you want to read more about Ronan’s life, there is a great article in ION Magazine…}

Well, I did it! I got the piece I wanted! Unbelievable really, and I’ll tell you why… I was allowed in to the show a bit early {thank you Mana!} so that I could photograph some of the work, and interview a few artists before the masses arrived. The piece I had my eye on was by an artist named Ben Skinner, who by the way, was one of very first artists that I ever wrote about. Anywho, I was interviewing him when they opened the doors. Not even five minutes later, someone came over and put red dots on two of his three pieces. WHAT?! At that point I panicked and said, Screw the interview… I’ve got to get in line!!! And that’s what I did. I literally ran to the already very long line with cash in hand, and watched the big wall of projected  numbers. If there was a black dot behind the number, it meant the piece had already been sold. I stood impatiently watching No. 370 like a hawk. Finally I made it to the front of the line, and seconds later 370 was sold… to me! And then I went back to find Ben and finish our interview.

KIND of gorgeous, no?! Typographic inlaid wood veneer. Sigh. Ben Skinner is a Vancouver based artist, who by day is the concept designer for all of the windows at Aritzia and TNA. Most of his fine art is text-based, which is probably why I love him so {…well, it might also be because of those glasses}. He keeps a notebook of words and phrases that pop into his head, and when the moment is right, he takes them from scribbles in a book to stunning artwork using paper, thread, wood, and sometimes even glitter. Thank you Ben! I absolutely love the new addition to my slowly growing collection.

Oh, yes, and let’s not forget the other huge highlight of my night – I got to meet Jack Black! Unfortunately Jack was not victorious at The Cheaper Show. Here he is with the painting that he stood in line for… but sadly, as he waited, the little black dot of doom appeared behind his number. Poor Jack.

… And that’s exactly what I’m going to do at The Cheaper Show tonight! I’ve got $200 cash in my pocket, I know which piece I want {a secret I’m guarding until after the show}, and I’m ready to fight for it… Ok, well, just to be clear, when I say ‘fight for it’, I actually mean ‘stand in a very long line for it’. What can I say? I’m a lover, not a fighter.

Have a great weekend! I’ll report back first thing Monday morning on how well my feisty line-standing paid off.

Are you having a hard time communicating with that ‘special someone’ in your life? No problem… just buy them a painting {gouache on paper} by San Francisco based artist Mike Monteiro, and I’m pretty sure they’ll get the idea. Granted, they’ll probably dump you, but hey, at least you will have been heard… and you can always hope that they’ll storm out, slam the door behind them, and leave the painting behind for you! Score.

{I discovered Mike’s work a few months ago on The Beholder. I really wanted to put him in my ‘girl crush’ show… but unfortunately, he’s not a girl.}

Step One: Find a mate {preferably with glasses similar to your own}

Step Two: Have a baby

Step Three: Worship said baby

Step Four: Try not to be really mad when that baby grows up, becomes an artist, and decides to use very old photos of you in his super cool sketchbook which he then puts on display for the whole world to see. Psst, Ben… your mom called, and she didn’t sound happy!

{Ben Owen,  is a recent graduate from the University of Kentucky. I should point out that the majority of his work [hand dyed silks and found paper collage] is much more abstract than the work I’ve shown here… but what can I say, I have a weak spot for sketchbooks filled with families from decades past!}