Oh, Matthew Robert Hughes, I love pretty much everything about your, um… paintings? No, wait. They’re photographs. Beautiful, gauzy, totally engaging photographs from a series titled, This-Has-Them 2008. I love the colour palette, the softness, and how quiet they seem to be. And you know what… I even love that guy’s moustache.

I’ve always loved the work of Andy Warhol, but since that’s not a very unique thought, I’ve never written about him {except a little mention in Fashion Show}. Well, I’ve decided that I don’t care if it’s not a unique thought, I am totally jealous of him and I’m going to say it out loud! Here’s how this came about… I was at a little gallery last weekend to see another show. It was alright. Then I noticed a small arrow pointing upstairs to a second room, figured I had time to kill, so why not take a look. I got up there, turned the corner and came face to face with the two pieces shown above. Huge, stunning, original Warhol screen prints. Now, I’ve seen his work in person before, but I knew I was going to see it {that’s what you expect when you buy a ticket to a Warhol Retrospective} but this time they were a surprise, and they literally took my breath away. I’m sure some people think it’s become too mainstream/cliché to say that you love his work, but when you’re standing right in front of these prints, looking closely at one of his creations, you can’t  help but be overwhelmed by the artistic genius of this man. I ♥ Andy. There, I said it.

I’m just a little bit scared of these girls… good thing that they don’t actually exist in real life. These beautifully haunting portraits by Dutch artist Katinka Lampe are not of any one person in particular. Each of her paintings evolves from a number of inspirations. ‘A reproduction of a painting by Vermeer, a photograph of a sexed-up model, or a newspaper picture of a criminal can lead her to stage a scene with a model.’ And even then she’s not quite done altering the image. Exaggerated make-up, or hair that looks like a wig, make these portraits even more strange / detached from reality… and I think we can all agree, stunning, but just a little bit scary.

I could not be more thrilled on this fine Monday morning! Suzanne Shade, Director and Curator of The Beholder, asked little old me to be the guest curator on her fabulous gallery site for the entire month of May! I thought it would be easy, but she has so much good work to choose from, it was actually quite hard selecting only ten pieces to feature. Anyway, after hours of debate I ended up putting a show together that I’ve titled ‘girl crush‘. Check it out when you have a moment, but brace yourself… you might end up with a bit of a girl crush too!

{The images shown above are four of my ten picks. They are by 1) Ky Anderson  2) Lisa Congdon  3) Leigh Wells 4) Jennifer Davis}

I’m trying to think of something clever to write, but all I keep thinking while looking at these pieces by American painter Joshua Petker is ‘Wow. Gorgeous… sigh.’ I love his colour choices, the huge clouds of paint, and the sadness/beauty of his somewhat vintage-looking subjects. All of the work shown above is from his series Between Butterflies, which is currently showing {until May 5th} at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, California. …Hm, nope, still nothing clever to say. Just awestruck and jealous.

Oh, how I love Amanda Marie’s work… and if you do too, then you better act fast! Until the end of April {ie tomorrow} all of her pieces that are 18″x24″, that were previously priced at $425, are now on for $250. $250!! I know. You’d be crazy not to go and get one this very instant.

Um, what are you still doing here? Go on… GO!

Today’s post is brought to you by the talent-filled Southern Hemisphere. Thanks to Australia’s lovely and inspiring frankie magazine, I found New Zealand’s lovely and inspiring Bayley Collins and her collages of birds in bunny suits. Strangely enough, her art + design company is called bird in a bunny suit. Coincidence? I think not.

The Date Farmers‘ solo show, Smother Your Mother, is currently showing at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York, and runs until May 8th. If you can go, I will not only be jealous of these two amazingly talented guys from California, Armando Lerma and Carlos Ramirez, but I’ll also be very jealous of you.

Ok. I’m just going to say it. I want to be friends with San Francisco based artist Charmaine Olivia. Her artwork is amazing, and from what I can tell from both her work and her blog… she’s hilarious! Here’s the evidence:

1. A deer in gym socks {come on, it’s just funny}

2. ‘What do you mean what do I mean’ {enough said}

3. And finally, the third piece. So beautifully painted, with so much deep, inward expression on the subject’s face… and it’s titled ‘I should really wash my hair’.  {pure gold!}

I know… and now you want to be her friend too. Well, get in line.

I really, really, really want to stop looking, but I just can’t. You too?

I have never written about a commercial wedding photographer before, but when I found these scandalous shots of Boudoir Barbie I couldn’t control myself… I guess I know how Ken must feel. Anyway, I’m not sure how or why these beautifully lit, very sultry shots of  Barbie in her underpants came about, I’m just glad that American photographer Critsey Rowe decided to do them. Disturbing, hilarious, and really quite beautiful… great combo.

{Click on Boudoir Gallery, then scroll to CELEBRITY. Oh, and thanks to Kathleen for emailing me about this!}