Oh, how I would love to spend Christmas in the cozy, and unbelievably sweet, cottage of Dottie Angel {aka a displaced Brit living near Seattle named Tif}. Seriously, how can one person be this creatively crafty? A handmade Christmas tree covered in buttons, thread, and knitted garlands? Are you kidding me?! Ok, ok, Christmas isn’t about being jealous. It’s about love, and joy, and… oh, who am I kidding?! I’m totally jealous. She’s beyond amazing!

{If you want to know & see more about the life that Dottie Angel leads in her mossy shed, you can pick up “The Suitcase Series Volume Two : Dottie Angel” that Uppercase Gallery will be releasing in the summer of 2011. This is actually on my Christmas Wish List… I’m hoping Santa puts in a pre-order for me!}

Dishware or art? I’m going with ‘art’, because even though it would be hilarious to serve a piece of chocolate cake on that guy’s forehead, I just don’t think I could bring myself to do something like that to the beautiful work of Pretoria based artist Ruan Hoffmann. No – I think I’ll just hang these on the wall, and skip dessert tonight thank you very much.

{Thanks to Louis for sending Ruan’s work my way!}

These handmade pages by American artist Samantha Cotterill {aka mummysam} make me want to dust off the old sewing machine and roll out the bobbin thread… except that I haven’t even thought about sewing since I was forced to make a pair of Bermuda shorts in ninth grade Home Ec. Hm, maybe I’ll just covet these instead. Yes… much better plan.

{Now that I have you in a sewing kind of mood, come on over to sfgirlbybay and see the newest addition to ‘the house that jealousy built‘…}

Brian Downey is a curator at The Arts Company in Nashville. Not only does he have an amazing eye for art, he’s also ridiculously nice. We ‘met’ when he made a comment {a ridiculously nice comment, of course} on one of my posts about a year ago. Just so you know, whenever someone makes a comment, nice or not, I go and check out their site, and that’s how I found Brian’s very inspiring blog – Art, Design and Home. It was so inspiring in fact, that I ended up stealing writing about a bunch of his featured artists {don’t worry, I gave him credit… I promise!} Anyway, here is yet another fantastic artist that Brian discovered before I did:

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I’m jealous of Emily Eibel

I’m jealous of Emily Eibel.  As someone who took every studio art class I possibly could in college, I was constantly creating—pottery, sculpture, printmaking, even jewelry.  I’m not sure any of it was that good, and I can tell you with utmost certainty…it was nothing that anyone would ever be jealous of.  I was practically laughed out of my “Drawing I” class, so I have an enormous appreciation for someone who can put pencil to paper and create something that makes me take note and say, “Wow!”  Emily Eibel is one of those artists.  Not only does Emily create unique and quirky illustrations, she takes the process one step further by creating amazing, hand-stitched illustrations, and I have to say… I am in love.

These embroidered creations are sometimes disturbing, but always engaging.  These little gems would speak to anyone with a love of craft, which is one of the reasons I love them so much. Some of the most amazing works of art are the ones that combine fine art and craft, and Emily does this to perfection.  Her work is a more contemporary version of Miriam Schapiro’s “femmages” of the late 70’s, but with a simple style and a distinctly darker point of view.  I have only recently discovered Emily’s work, but I know I will be a fan for life.  How could I not?  She has quite a way with a needle and thread.  If only I had taken that darn embroidery class in college.

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Yes. My thought exactly! Why, oh why, have I never learned to embroider?! Thanks for stopping by Brian… and for being so ridiculously nice ; )

ps. Brian’s latest show, Inspired ~ featuring Julianna Swaney and Jonn Welles Bartlett, is on now until September 25th

Ooh, here’s my Friday crush… Grapefruit Crush to be exact! These very cool vintage bottle cap necklaces are currently on my top ten list, filed under ‘Stuff I Really, Really Want’ {hint, hint}. I found them on Etsy, so all I can tell you is that they’re made by a woman named Beth, and she’s from Wilton… um, where’s Wilton? Ok, so this is not a very informative post, but at least I can send you directly to her shop so that you can buy one of these necklaces right now!

{These reminded almost exactly of some work that I wrote a post about last May… which, by the way, can also be found on that same top ten list!}

Oh sure, just some beautifully hand-crafted crocheted animal trophies {aka Crochetdermy™}, a few of which are even kind of cute… until British artist Shauna Richardson strategically places them somewhere isolated and poorly lit! I think it’s safe to say that the ‘beautifully hand-crafted’ bear in the underground parking lot would require me to go home for a change of underpants. Oh come on, don’t judge me… you know you’d be in the same situation.

{Thanks to Liesl for bringing Shauna’s work to my attention!}

This is not a new story, but it’s new to me and it makes me jealous… so here it is!

This is a sampling of work by a group of African American women from a small area in Alabama known as Gee’s Bend. Saying that these women ‘make quilts’ just sounds far too everyday for how impressive this bold and meaningful work really is. They can’t be called anything other than artists, because not only is their work stunning to look at, it’s also a huge part of American history/culture. There are so many stories, and heaps of interesting information about these ladies that I can’t possibly describe it all here. Luckily for me {and you} there is a book called Gee’s Bend: The Women And Their Quilts that has images of their work, along with in-depth biographies of each woman… is it too early to start my Christmas list?

{Originally I had 5 quilts in this post but as you’ll see in the comments below, one of them wasn’t a quilt by the ladies of Gee’s Bend… so I’ve removed it. Thanks Richard.}

Seriously, why have I not signed up for some sort of embroidery class by now?! I am totally in awe of this medium, especially when the final pieces end up looking like the work of Jazmin Berakha… hm, I may have to put together Sew Jealous Part II.

{I discovered Jazmin’s work on a blog called Color Collective. If you’ve got a thing for inspiring colour palettes, you have no choice but to check it out. Go on. You’ll love it.}

Ok, I’m showing soft sculpture two days in a row, but when I found this work by Australian based artist Helle Jorgensen I couldn’t control myself. Barnacles made out of reclaimed wool, and discarded plastic beautifully crafted into sea anemones… how could I not write about it immediately? I imagine that she finds the reclaimed wool at garage sales and thrift shops, but where does she get that plastic yarn? She makes it herself of course, and if you have the patience that’s required, she’ll even teach you how it’s done.

{I found her while searching around flickr for a knitted birthday cake. Oh, and if you like these, you’ll probably want to have a look at Emily Barletta’s work .}

Yep, an entire year of being ridiculously jealous… and I hope that’s only the beginning! That’s right, one year ago today I wrote my very first blog post, and I quote:

‘If I could curate an entire show of only felt food I totally would.  I think they are hilarious, weird, and beautifully hand crafted. Sadly, all of these objects are on etsy.com priced anywhere from $8 to $24 because they’re considered craft, not art. Show them in a white walled gallery with shiny wood floors, add some much needed intent by calling the show something like “Comfort Food – A Nation Consumed” and mark my words, they’d be selling like hotcakes for a lot more than $8. It probably couldn’t hurt to adjust the scale a bit too… just ask Claes Oldenburg.’

So, one year later, with a ‘jealously curated’ show section now firmly in place, here it is… Comfort Food – A Nation Consumed.

{The lovely little knitted birthday cake above is by Helle Jørgensen, aka ‘gooseflesh’.}