Sigh. These dreamy paintings by UK based artist Emma Williams make me want to travel the world. Now, who do I speak to about the fresh cut flowers and gorgeous ceramics present in each and every one of my stunning ocean view rooms? Love!

London based Jessica Dance describes herself as an art director, model maker and prop stylist… but I’m going to throw artist in there too because, damn, I wish I thought of this. Comfort food. Yum! Knit by Jessica and photographed by David Sykes. Now, if these plates full of delicious stuff are too comforting, ie., you’re trying to watch the waistline, may I interest you in this much lighter menu from Jessica’s portfolio:

“Paper plates” … get it? Ahh, so good. Happy Monday.

{via Booooooom}

Michelle Kohanzo is a huge lover of art, which works out quite well because she also happens to be the Managing Director at The Land of Nod in Chicago. Yes, she has an amazing eye and is ALWAYS on the hunt for talented artists to bring into the Nod family {hint hint}. Listen right up there under the red canoe, or subscribe on iTunes. As you’re listening, take a look at the things we talked about in the order that we talked about them. The first thing Michelle and I have in common… our love of weaving, and the work of Maryanne Moodie {ps. how gorgeous is this piece?}

Whoa. So good. Boy, I wish I could do that… one day! Next up, an amazingly gorgeous shoot that Michelle arranged with LA based photographer Stephanie Vovas for The Land of Nod. Here is a peek at the work that came out of that magical weekend at Camp Wandawega:

Gorgeous! And yes, those few final shots were a little bit special… it’s Michelle and her daughter Emily! They got all glammed up, hopped in a canoe, and Stephanie shot these beauties {including the lead image in the post… which might be my favorite}. In fact I even included the image of Emily in the camper in a show that I curated at the Bedford Gallery in 2014. Up next, I asked Michelle about a few of her favorite artists:

Soft sculpture by Tamar Mogendorff / Ashley Goldberg / Emily Jeffords / Me. Yep, those jars are two of my hand-cut collages that Nod commissioned for the Spring 2016 collection?! If you want to get your work in front of Michelle, listen to her tips on the podcast, and then send your submission straight to her inbox {for real}. michelle@landofnod.com  … good luck!

And finally, she told me about her trip to Laos and the work of this amazing woman, Carol Cassidy {the link she mentioned was wrong, but the link here is right.} Here’s her studio, and some silk weaving in action:

Such a great story… empowering women through art/craft. So inspiring. So, I could stop right there, but I feel like I should cap the post off with a few more of Stephanie’s Wes Anderson-esque shots of Michelle and Emily:

Love! But wait, there’s more… speaking of Wes Anderson, look what I found on Michelle’s Instagram feed. This is Michelle, her husband, and their kids. Beyond fantastic:

Ha! So good! Alright, NOW I’ll say thanks to Michelle, to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and of course to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend. Bye!

Um, how have I been writing this blog for almost seven years yet I’m just finding out about the crazy ceramics of France based artist/illustrator Lili Scratchy? Gah! I love them! Her work literally jumps right out of her sketchbook… see? Oh mon dieu, so much love for these weird little critters, and Lili’s fantastic imagination. Love.

Ah, I think collage and printmaking fell in love and had a bizarre little family. So dark, so intriguing… they’re like strange dreams. This is the work of Jaco Putker, an artist from the Netherlands. He combines many techniques {photopolymer, or solar plate, etching} to produce these wonderfully weird scenes… mushroom parachutes and hippo-balloons? Yes, please.

GLASS. These are GLASS. And spray paint. And butterflies and guns. How?

“These original paintings are painted directly on the reverse side of the glass using hand cut stencils and spray paints.
Framed in a deep box, the [subjects] seem to be floating in the air.”

Yes, yes they do. Oh my goodness, I absolutely love these paintings on cut glass by a UK based artist that goes by the name of Vee Bee. That’s all I know. Well, I also know that I really, really want that polka-dot butterfly. And that blue china pattern covered gun. Love.

{via Saatchi Art}

Portraits and ceramics in one… I might be in love. This is the work of UK based artist Anna Collette Hunt, from a series titled Newstead Odditites. Here is the behind-the-curtain statement about this work:

“The Newstead Oddities is a collection that features marble statues as ‘characters’, who are found on research adventures to museums and galleries. Anna’s first characters came from Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire. She often visits Natural Trust Houses and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London especially to meet new characters and find fresh faces. It might be particularly eccentric hair, or a mysterious sparkle in their eye that capture Anna’s attention and imagination. The artist likes to playfully assign heads to different bodies. Marie Antoinette’s clothing and body can often be spotted with a different head. What’s odder still is that sometimes the heads have a striking resemblance to the artists’ face- Anna likes to see if anyone will notice.”

Hilarious! There’s a photo of Anna on her contact page… see if you recognize her on any of these pieces!

Oh, Canada. I love this colorful ode to Canadiana {magical beards included}. This is the work of Canadian artist Jay Dart. That hot pink log in the first drawing instantly made me think of “The Log Driver’s Waltz” … ah, memories. Yep, between Jay’s whimsical drawings and that classic tune, every Canadian should be feeling quite nostalgic! Ok, now that I’ve got you in the right frame of mind…

GO VOTE. See you at the polls, Canada.

Obsessive consumption, rule-based projects, impostor syndrome, telling our inner a**hole where to go, and “making piles of crap” because that’s the only way you get better. Oh. This woman. So smart, so funny, so talented. I’m talking to Portland based illustrator/educator Kate Bingaman-Burt … she always has a ton of cool things on the go, so I am slightly stunned that I was able to get her for the podcast. She tucked herself away in a quiet corner of her office at school, and we talked and talked and talked {we went a little longer than normal!}. Maybe it’s because she’s a teacher, but wow, she had so much great advice to share. Listen right up there under the swirly IKEA cone, or subscribe on iTunes. As you’re listening, take a look at the things we talked about in the order that we talked about them. First up, one of Kate’s credit card statements… hand-drawn as self-imposed punishment:

Yep, she drew {and shared} all of her credit card statements until her debt was paid off. This is where her rule-based projects really took off. They of course led to her daily drawings… she drew everything she bought, every day, for YEARS. There are zillions of them, but here are just a few of my favorites:

Gah! So good… and what I might love even more is her hilarious commentary on each purchase! Clearly when obsessive behavior is involved, you have to organize your zillions of drawings somehow. Enter Kate’s monthly zine, “Obsessive Consumption” where she catalogued all of these hand-drawn purchases… which then became a big, beautiful book by the same title:

So. Good. Speaking of good, have you seen Handmade Nation? It’s a fantastic film by Faythe Levine. I love it so much, but until this podcast I had no idea that Kate did all of the illustrations for it! Who knew?

ps. If you haven’t seen this movie, you totally should. {Note to self: Invite Faythe Levine to be on the podcast}. And finally, in the speed round, I asked Kate about her favorite place to shop. I thought she might say IKEA or thrift shops, but nope… office supply stores! Apparently when Kate’s feeling creatively blocked, she wanders the label aisle to get unstuck {pun absolutely intended}. Here are a few of her purchases from the shelves that get her creative fires burning:

Post-its. Kate loves post-its, as I’m sure you can see from the number of pads she buys at one time. Ok, I’m off to set up some rule-based projects for myself so that I can make piles of crap, and you should too … because that’s how you get to the good stuff! Thanks so much to Kate for taking the time to do this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and thanks to YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

ps. I hate to ask, but if you like my podcast, could you rate it on iTunes? It helps spread the word! xo

Ooh la la! I love these paintings by Paris based artist/illustrator Lea Maupetit… and that first one would have come in really handy when I was trying to meet my book deadline this summer. I was tempted to buy it, but the original is SOLD {wahn wahn}. Maybe that vase of yellow flowers would make me feel better.