Gasp! All of my childhood passions in one place? Yes! These oil pastel / acrylic beauties feel like a storybook dream, with just a touch of nightmare thanks to those deep, dark shadows. This is the latest work, a series titled “New World Horses”, by Denver based artist Jillian FitzMaurice. And, just like my obsession with ‘My Little Pony” back in the day, I wanna collect all of them! Thankfully, that’s totally possible… Jillian’s work is available through Visions West Contemporary {Montana}.

Okay, I think I just found a new thrift shopping friend! This is the work of Australian artist Edward Waring. Vintage Crystal and Glass. Epoxy Adhesive. Acrylic Paint. Hard Acrylic Extender. Yep, that sounds like my kind ‘o materials list! These are all from his series titled “Memory Sticks”, each one named with a woman’s name … from Betty to Mabel! Here’s part of his artist statement that focuses on these candy-colored towers of repurposed crystal goodness:

Currently, Waring is utilising vintage crystal and cut glass, repurposing and altering the once cherished tableware to create pieces that require the audience to re-explore what could be considered old fashioned or ‘passé’. Waring’s work reclaims old traditions and old fashioned ways of life and creates a space for them in the contemporary. His use of tableware once saved for ‘best’ in households gives new life to forgotten pieces, and asks the viewer to reflect on feelings of childhood, memory and family.

Absolutely! I’m quite sure my grandmother, Blanche, had most of these vessels, and all of them were filled with colorful Liquorice Allsorts or fruity Jujubes. Ah, good times. Edward’s work can be found via Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Sydney.

Well, here we are. It’s Friday November 6th, and I thought we’d know who the 46th President would be. But we don’t. I’ll wait though. COUNT EVERY VOTE. My guest today is Diana Weymar, an American artist based in Canada who happens to be the woman behind the Tiny Pricks Project. It’s a public art project that “counterbalances the impermanence of Twitter and other social media, and Trump’s statements by using textiles that embody warmth, craft, permanence, civility, and a shared history.” Yep, this episode is gonna be political, because that’s the entire point of Tiny Pricks. If you’re not familiar with the project, listen to this episode! And if you do know about it, listen to this episode! You can hit play right up there under Diana at her 2019 show at Lingua Franca, NYC, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

First, not only did Diana create this ongoing project, she also kicked it off with her own work, AND continues to make new pieces. Here are just a handful of my favorites:

Sigh. These are all documented quotes. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

Now, Diana also uses her needle and thread to capture other important moments, quotes and people. Enter these three beautiful works in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

RIP RBG ♥

So, this project is now up to almost 5000 pieces that have been contributed from people all over the world! Again, here is just a small sampling {artists Instagrams listed below}:

Artists shown above:  1. @justine.twina  2. @notyoureverydaymary  3. @lazygalmartha  4. @jlsully25  5. @valbee  6. @mldugan1  7. @peggyearle8  8. @jlillywerth  9. @yoginigb {nasty woman} 10. @artphotogirl {i’m speaking}  11. @daniellekrysaart  

Look at that pile of mail… those boxes and envelopes are full of work! Ah-mazing. And, as I promised her at the end of the episode, I made a piece too! That’s mine just above the pile. “MOVE TO CANADA” – right after the first debate between Trump and Biden, I read that “move to Canada” was the most searched phrase on Google. Well, as a proud Canadian, I’m not surprised at all. ; )

Speaking of proud Canadians, here’s our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receiving an embroidered piece from Diana, delivered via the guys from CBC’s “Infoman”:

It’s a combo of two things Trump said about Justin… “He’s two faced / He’s a nice guy.”

Next up, the big, beautiful ‘Tiny Pricks Project’ show hosted by the Lingua Franca shop in New York. The entire space was literally wall-to-wall with embroidered quotes:

So, so, so good! And, to wrap things up, I had to share this personal piece Diana made for me. Apparently I said this on a podcast at some point, and she messaged me to ask if she could embroider it:

Obviously I said yes! But wait, then she took it one step further… she asked me to write the quote on a piece of paper and email it to her. I did, and voila, my handwriting was embroidered onto one of her grandmother’s lace handkerchiefs. What? Yes! She mailed it to me, and it now hangs in my studio. Amazingly wonderful, yes? Thank you to Diana for this beautiful, personal work AND for being on the podcast today; thanks to you for listening, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday with more ART FOR YOUR EAR.

Other links:

1. Participate in the Tiny Pricks Project
2. Tiny Pricks on Instagram
3. Diana Weymar on Instagram
4. Lingua Franca, NYC
5. Late Night with Seth Meyers
6. The Smithsonian

She’s done it again… another immersive, jaw-dropping collage that I want to move into immediately. “Biodiversity” is the latest insane collage by Berlin based artist Clare Celeste Börsch. I’ve written about her several times, she was on the podcast in 2018, and so when I saw this installation, clearly, I had to share it too! Here are Clare’s words about her newest paper wonderland:

68% of biodiversity lost in just 50 years…

My latest artwork shares a message of love, urgency and hope. Love for our planet, our future selves, our children and future generations. Urgency, because climate change is upon us and the predictions of what to come are dire. And Hope, because there is still a narrow window of time to act and there is still so much we can save.

We are currently on track for 4 degrees of warming by the year 2100. This means a future marked by increasingly violent storms, droughts, wildfires, flooding, and crop shortages.

But we have the tools and technologies to respond to this crisis. We must now collectively and individually rise to this unprecedented challenge. In the video, I list concrete ways you can make a difference today. Please watch and share! It is available on YouTube.

Soooooo beautiful! Happy Friday.

*photos, video and editing by Patricia Schichl.

Oh my word. Okay, let’s begin by saying, absolutely everything in the portfolio of Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão is mind-blowing. I wrote about her in 2018, and have been following closely ever since. She is constantly creating new underwater wonders out of wool “from the deadstock of the textile industry in Portugal”. This insane 2019 installation, titled “Coral Garden”, involved months of crocheting and latch-hooking in order to bring this magical, colorful world to life. Here are Vanessa’s words about why she does what she does:

Global warming and pollution are destroying one of the most vital environments – the coral reefs – which are the heart of marine life. “The Coral Garden”, focuses on this issue. Vanessa believes in an up-cycling effort and conscious production methods as an attempt to fight this negative mindset and improve our planet’s health, creating her artworks with recycled materials and handmade techniques.

Beautiful.

“Hanging By A String”, 2020. You can say that again. All of these pieces are part of a personal series {graphite, colored pencil} by Chicago based artist/illustrator Vicki Ling. Here are her words about this work:

“The theme I am exploring with this series of work is the feeling of insecurity brought forth from the potential catastrophes of modern life.  Contemporary lifestyles tend to obscure various crises that spontaneously erupt, from privacy invasions to public health issues and from climate change to personal emotional disorders, etc. I’m interested in surfacing that sense of tension and insecurity and raise these issues to our collection consciousness in this collection of work. Each composition leverages a red string as a visual device to represent the tension of modern life. Fragile objects interact with the string in an almost impossible way to create a direct challenge to the balance and harmony of the overall scene.”

Well said, and beautifully executed. As I write this post on the afternoon of November 3rd, I can’t help but wonder about the balance and harmony tomorrow may or may not hold.

I have a personal obsession with everyday objects, I have a soft spot for ceramics, and I love large-scale murals… sooooo the work of Spanish artist Manolo Mesa is obviously my new favorite thing. Oh my word, so good! He paints his pots & pitchers on walls all over the world, each one with its own story to tell. Follow him on Instagram to see where the next wall will be.

{Found via Designboom}

Gasp! … and another one for good measure… GASP! Canadian sculptor Susannah Montague just turned the tables on this virus, and transformed it into the most gorgeous piece of art! I give you, “Saint Corona” {ceramic, glaze, 22k gold lustre, vintage decals}. I am always in absolute awe of the detail Susannah puts into each and every piece she creates, and this is no exception. Look at all that stuff … tattoos, a virus covered crown, and that golden phone? LOVE. {ps. I have to share this little tidbit… when this piece was in progress, Susannah posted a shot on her Instagram feed and said, “The golden phone is an homage to @thejealouscurator, who can truly flex a gold, glitter iPhone.” HA! Yep, I do have a gold glitter phone and I’m beyond honored that it made it into this latest masterpiece!} “Saint Corona” is currently in San Francisco as part of a group show at Modern Eden Gallery until November 13, 2020. Here’s their description:

Modern Eden Gallery proudly presents ‘Midnight Garden’, our fourth major group exhibition curated by Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. Over 90 artists from across the globe… working with the themes of nighttime, growth, darkness, and lush flora.

Yep, Susannah nailed it… again. Happy Monday. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

You might know her as @mrsciccoricco on Instagram… that’s how I knew her for years before we finally met in person! My guest today is California based, Dutch artist Natalie Ciccoricco. Obviously we’re going to talk about her insanely beautiful/poetic “Nesting” series {born during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic}, but we’ll also cover important topics like day jobs, motherhood, qualities that make for a perfect stick, and the reasons why she loves David Lynch. Oh, and at one point she ended up interviewing me about my latest book, but I quickly got things focused back on Natalie! You can listen right up there under “Nesting No.64”, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

First up, a few images I posted of Natalie’s “Nesting” pieces, fairly early on in the series:

I mean, COME ON! I love them all so much. And can’t you picture little Lou finding sticks for his mama on their daily walks? So crazy cute. This is just a fraction of the pieces in the series at this point. Personally, I think Natalie has struck creative gold. Speaking of striking gold, did we discuss the circular paper she sourced?

Yeah. ROUND RAG. Ah-mazing! {I can’t remember if we talked about this, but had to include a few images. Clearly.}

Next up, the really big commission Natalie just completed earlier this fall:

Chunky cross-stitch + found drift wood = LOVE.

Moving along to this dreamy series… ‘Color Holes’. This is what Natalie was working on before COVID hit:

Beautiful… the work, and Natalie standing in front of this series at Rasmussen Gallery in California.

Now, I was wracking my brain before we chatted because I could not picture the work she did before the color holes! Ahhh, the mixed media fairies, of course:

So lovely. That shot in the middle is from “Plus One”, a show Natalie invited me to be part of. Each artist from The Main Gallery chose their “plus one” from outside of the gallery to show with, and Natalie picked me! So there we are, up on the wall together in the summer of 2016. Ah yes, simpler times.

Now, I asked Natalie to send a photo of her embroidery thread, because I wanted to see if she really is organized. She is. I, however, have a slightly different storage system for my thread collection:

Hm. Well at least my collage cutouts are organized… really! THEY ARE!

And finally, a little touch o’ Halloween to end the episode. Sadly, Natalie does not have a picture of herself as a singing banana, so instead please enjoy these photos of my first ‘trick or treating’ experience:

A 2 year old bride? Okay. The ‘after’ picture is actually my favorite … the sorting is always the best part! Thanks so much to Natalie for coming on the podcast, and huge thanks to you for listening. Have a safe and happy weekend, and I’ll meet you back here next Saturday for a brand new episode of ART FOR YOUR EAR.

Other Links:

1. Natalie on Instagram
2. Natalie’s Shop
3. #30DayArtQuarantine {that has become a never-ending art quarantine}
4. Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch {the book Natalie loves}

Well, THIS is terrifying… perfect for Halloween Eve! This is the wonderfully weird work of Israeli artist Ronit Baranga. She describes her work as “figurative art on the border between living and still life.” Oh, I think it might be a little past the still life border… shudder. All of these pieces are part of Ronit’s current show, “All Things Sweet and Painful”, at Beinart Gallery in Melbourne, Australia {Oct 17 – Nov 8, 2020}. Here’s the description of the show:

“Life-like sculptures take a twisted turn into the world of food and more specifically, sweets and desserts. But the treats have their own mouths, awaiting their chance to bite. Who eats whom?”