Oh my delicate, golden, feathery goodness! I absolutely love this work by American artist Jaime C. Knight… and possibly Lena Wolff. I know that they had a collaborative show, titled In the Beginning, last December at Lake Gallery in San Francisco, but I’m not sure if these pieces were done by both of them, or if these are Jaime’s solo works*. Either way, I truly do love them {…and all of their delicate, golden, feathery goodness!}

*Just got a comment from Jaime, and sure enough, these are her pieces! Thanks Jaime : )

That’s right… I said your shirt! Yep, all you have to do is get a ticket to the  submiT event in Vancouver on Thursday August 18th, 7pm at Performance Works on Granville Island, and you’ll be all set. Here’s the deal – there are ten very cool, limited edition t-shirts featuring artwork by a killer line-up of artists* for sale, and the money will go toward primary education in Ethiopia through imagine1day. Great art, great cause! Now, what do these very cool t-shirts look like? Well, you’ll have to go to the party to find out, and…

I’ve got a pair of tickets! Who wants ’em?
Answer this question:
Who’s your favorite unconventional artist, and why?
Tweet your answer, and be sure to include @submiTvancouver and @jealouscurator so that we know you’re talking to us! The winner of two tickets to submiT Vancouver {value at total of $60} will be drawn at random from all entries on Wednesday, August 17 at 10pm. submiT Vancouver will announce the winner on Facebook and Twitter. Good luck!

*{The work shown above is from five of the featured artists… but not the art work that will be on the shirts, of course! In order: 1. Ben Skinner 2. Jessica Bell 3. George Vergette 4. Fiona Ackerman 5. Sarah Gee}

If I was in Brooklyn tonight, I would be at Curbs & Stoops Active Space {566 Johnson Ave}. In fact, I would be there right at 7pm because that’s when their latest show, Goodbye Space Shuttle, opens. Here’s what it’s all about:

To those born near or after the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969, the Space Shuttle Program epitomized the ascendant glory of U.S. manned space exploration. Now, thirty years after the launch of the first space shuttle, we react with ambivalence to the retirement of these artifacts of 20th century technology. Ending manned space exploration represents a silent admission of the United States’ lessening world status and ambition. It echoes the seismic shift in potential that seems to have been brought on by concurrent economic, environmental, and geo-political crises. This confluence of disasters points to another meaning of Goodbye Space Shuttle, which is: no rescue. What new visions can alter the trajectory of this overcrowded rock?
In retrospect, the abandonment of the shuttle program may prove to be as large a milestone as its first launch. It thus seems appropriate to dedicate an exhibition to the moment. Artists participating in this late summer homage include:
Taylor Baldwin, John Bianchi, Matthew Capezzuto, Jane Corrigan, Bill Donovan, Jen Durbin, Sue Havens, Alexis Knowlton, Andy Lane, Beth Livensperger, Sakura Maku, Brian Maller, Vasken Mardikian, Jason Mones, Wilfredo Ortega, Jen Schwarting, John Silvis, Lee Vanderpool, Peonia Vázquez-D’Amico, Letha Wilson

{The work shown above is titled “Payless” and is by Jason Mones. The show runs from Friday July 29th until August 19th}

Ok, I am seriously considering buying a plane ticket to LA for the sole purpose of getting my picture taken by the amazingly talented Stephanie Vovas… granted, I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t pull off the vintage vixen look, but I sure would try my hardest {pout, hair tossel, repeat…} Her entire portfolio is filled with fabulous shot after fabulous shot, and if you’re in LA, or have already bought your plane ticket, she’ll be having a solo show this November at Edgar Varela Fine Arts.

Aaaannnnd, exhale. The gorgeous work of New York photographer Mikael Kennedy is now hanging on the pristine white walls of Catalog Gallery, and will be there until July 17th. “Pieces of the Moon” opened last Thursday in Vancouver… and I loved every single minute of it! The work looked amazing {obviously!}, the place was packed with fabulous people, and on top of that we got the very talented Jonathan Dy to document the whole thing with his stunning black and white photography. Maybe I should change my name to, The Lucky Curator! Thanks so much to everyone who was involved in putting this show together {Peter Hay Halpert in New York, Robert Squire of Catalog, Paul Burger of Cargoh who introduced me to the guys at Catalog, and of course, Mikael Kennedy for trusting me to do this on the other side of the continent. xo}

ps. That’s me in the bottom photo, which by the way, I am totally framing!

Anybody up for breakfast in Vegas? On the menu… “over-sized pancakes made from photo optimized recycled fabric, stuffed with what actually feels like real pancake.” Sounds good to me, and although I usually prefer my pancakes without fur, I think I’ll make an exception for that last one!  Todd Von Bastiaans, and Bryan McCarthy have teamed up to bring you Todd & Bryan’s Pancake Bed and Breakfast at the Trifecta Gallery in Las Vegas. It opens tonight, June 30th, and runs until July 29th. I’d get there early, because I’m pretty sure that these 54″ pancakes will be sellin’ like hotcakes!*

*I totally stole that quote from a writer that I used to work with named Jane Murray, because well, it’s hilarious! Thanks Jane : )

Vancouver based artist Jamie Armstrong has found his way into my heart with these vintage photographs complete with painted-out faces, rosy-cheeked men, and of course… a huge amount of gold glitter. Really, what more could a girl {and a bunch of rosy-cheeked men} want?

{Yet another find from The Cheaper Show No.10}

Hockey legends, and cross-stitching {yes, I said cross-stitching, not cross-checking}. And if the subject matter/medium isn’t fantastic enough, Canadian artist Mike Macri has framed his soul crushing work in fancy white frames. Yep, I can honestly say, I’ve never been a huge hockey fan, but now I’d do just about anything to have one of these guys hanging on my wall {including a little cross-checking, if necessary}.

{I saw Mike’s work at The Cheaper Show on the weekend, and you guessed it, I was jealous.}

Oh, where to begin. This year’s Cheaper Show in Vancouver was, umm, fantastic! From the Friday night preview show, to the giant line-up that started in the wee hours of Saturday morning and lasted late into the night, straight through to the actual event. An amazing venue, thousands of very cool people, some very tasty chocolate cake, and of course, fabulous art. I got there early on Friday night and was able to go around and see the entire show… that was a little trickier later that night, and almost impossible on Saturday {too many interesting people to stop and chat with!} As I made my way around the gorgeous space, this was the sound I kept making {please note, I was alone at this point so I’m sure I sounded like some kind of crazy art groupie}… Gasp! Wha?! The dialogue in my head went something like this: “What?! They’re in this show!? I’ve written about him/her, I love him/her, and now I’m seeing their work up-close and in person! Holy #$%@”. Yep, that’s what it sounded like inside of my head, all night long. 1. Ben Skinner, 2. Vincent Pacheco, 3. Aaron Moran, 4. Erin M. Riley, 5. Russell Leng, 6. Zoe Pawlak… and the list could literally go on and on. There were also a truck load of artists that I’ve never written about before who I now love, have seen their work up-close and in person, and will be writing about in the very near future. Like tomorrow.

{ps. I was lucky enough to have two of my pieces in the show, and they both sold! Yay/phew.}

Come on, paint a cigarette… all of the cool kids are doing it. I have never smoked a cigarette in my life  – ok, once at a bar in Belgium when I was 18 – it did not go well. I’m hoping things go a little smoother tonight at The Cheaper Show preview party when I find myself up-close and personal with the work of Seattle based artist Vincent Pacheco {aka Mudchicken, and the founder of WAFA!?!} I wrote about him last year, and have been insanely jealous ever since… obviously you can imagine my delight when I was doing a final perusal through the list of 200 Cheaper Show artists, and there he was. I’m not sure if he’ll be at the show, but if he is, let’s hope I don’t cough, choke and tear up!

{The Cheaper Show officially opens on Saturday night at 6pm… 200 artists, 400 pieces of art, everything priced at $200. Get there early… and I mean really early!}