This is the epitome of “Damn I wish I thought of this!”

Many artists, including myself, use imagery from decades past, but not like this. Everything on Paris based artist/illustrator Julien Pacaud’s site is so beautiful and unique. This was the first image I saw and I could not get it out of my head.

Suddenly the hills weren’t so alive with the sound of music I guess.

I’m a sucker for instructional illustration and this colour palette is amazing. That’s it. I love it, and wish that I had made it, but Nicole Kita beat me to it.

I’m not sure how old Marla Olmstead was when she painted this, but given that she’s only 8 right now I think it’s a safe bet to say she was, well,  somewhere under 8! Depending on what you believe, Marla is either a controversy or a prodigy. I’m going with prodigy… it’s more inspirational that way. You can decide for yourself by watching the documentary about her, “My kid could paint that.”

{November 2009 : After seeing the film again, I’ve written a follow-up post about Marla.}

There are two collaborating artists from California behind the Date Farmers ~ Armando Lerma and Carlos Ramirez. They make new & amazing stuff out of old & discarded stuff – old signs, wood, and this one was made using found metal.

Playboy Bunny, deer head, hot pink… there’s not much more they could have done on this one to make me love it.

Nothin’ like a good old fashioned hooked rug. Mix in a little typography and I am totally hooked, pardon the pun. I love this piece by Jim Houser. The rest of his work doesn’t really look like this (still really great), but this was the one that made me wish I hadn’t put away my rug hooking tools when I was 11 ~ hmmm, they’ve got to be around here somewhere…

So inspired & oh so jealous.

I realize that I keep saying this, but yet again I couldn’t decide which of Colorado artist Amanda Marie‘s pieces I should post… there were way too many good ones to pick from! Her work is an amazing combination of vintage storybook imagery and what I can only assume to be some really, really, really weird dreams.

I had a small obsession with Jennifer Harrison‘s laneway paintings back in my Toronto days. I finally have one hanging in my home, but it took moving to the other side of the country before I got it. So simple, so beautiful and it will forever remind me of my years in Toronto.

The cover of a PRINT Magazine from 2003 is still tacked up on the bulletin board in my studio. Margaret Kilgallen, a SanFrancisco painter and installation artist, graced the cover. It was one of the first times I felt truly inspired, and then completely envious of someone’s enormous artistic talent. She was an amazingly gifted artist who, very sadly, stopped painting far too early. She was 33 when she died due to complications from breast cancer. Imagine what she might have created if she had lived a few more decades.

Again, such a hard time to pick just one of Gary Taxali‘s pieces to post. He’s been making me jealous since I first saw his work in Toronto back in 2001 or so. His style is so unique that you can recognize his work almost immediately… which makes you look super cool & artsy at cocktail parties. “That must be a Taxali you have hanging there…  ah yes, I’d recognize his work anywhere.”

Gretchen Gammell is an artist from Portland. She just had a show at the Winsor Gallery in Vancouver BC. My favorite part of this piece is the eye on our left… followed closely by the overall colour choices and composition – love that hair!  Ah, so many reasons to be jealous.