Today I’m talking to Swedish artist/illustrator Camilla Engman. Eep! She is one of those people who I’ve got way up on an artsy pedestal… and so do a lot of you apparently! I’ve had several people send messages asking if I can get her to come on the podcast. Yes, yes I can! Listen on the little player right up there, or subscribe on iTunes. 

Let’s start with a few of my favorite paintings by Camilla:

Ah, so good. Mysterious, narrative, and oh so beautifully painted. We talked a little bit about her strange characters… the bears and dogs etc… turns out they represent people {people that may or may not take on those animal-like characteristics}:

Ahh, I love them so much. So sweet and innocent… but I have a feeling they’re probably not quite as sweet and innocent as one might think. Next, these are the amazing envelope collages, from her “Distant Friends” series that she and Ana Ventura started together. I cannot get over them. So simple. So smart. So “damn I wish I thought of that” :

LOVE! We also talked about her studio. Sigh. I want to go to there:

She’s in her own little house which is part of a larger arts community area, in Gothenburg Sweden, called Konstepidemin, which means “the epidemic of art”. There is a little blue restaurant, galleries, AND guest studios that you can apply for as part of their artist-in-residence program. Here’s a little peek:

Yeah. Let’s ALL go there! Thank you so, so much to Camilla for talking to me, even though she was worried about her English… which I thought was perfect/much better than my Swedish; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and THANK YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Her online shop, Studio Morran
2. Book that Camilla did with Uppercase
3. Apply for a guest residency at “Konstepidemin”

I love it when you’re looking through an artist’s polished portfolio… and then you stumble onto their loose and lovely sketchbook! Yep, this is a peek into the sassy sketchbook pages belonging to London based artist/illustrator Alexandria Coe. Such simple, elegant, lovely lines.

Ah, a series of lovely traditional doilies. Well, that’s what I thought… until I looked a little closer. These are drawings. DRAWINGS! They are from a series, titled “Tedium”, by Canadian artist Lindsay Arnold. Here is her beautiful description of these drawings (DRAWINGS!):

“Tedium is a series of drawings using the doily as a metaphor for feminine experience and the process of aging. The crocheted pieces I use as models are sourced from yard sales, auctions and second-hand stores. Each portrait includes stains, holes, loose threads and errors. The imperfections which have rendered the doily unusable for its original purpose now provide narrative and meaning to the drawing. This series honours experience, acknowledges tedious labour, and attempts to reveal a part of the anonymous maker’s story.”

Love. So much.

{ps. Lindsay has a show opening, titled “Hearth”, on March 17th at Estevan Art Gallery}

Yessssssss. It’s amazing that a bit of skillfully applied ink and watercolor on paper could make me want to go night swimming… in February. Ok, maybe a quick flight to St.Thomas first. This is the simple and fantastic work of American artist/illustrator Ian Dingman. Happy weekend, indeed.

Whoa. I have written about New York based artist Matthew Craven a few times before {here and here}, but when I saw this recent show, titled MONUMENTS, well it was time to write again! His work is absolutely stunning in person… a gorgeous combination of collage and detailed drawing. If you happen to be in Houston, this show will be up at David Shelton Gallery until February 6th.

These gorgeous pencil drawings are perfect for Monday, no? This is the lovely work of Florida based artist Katie Evans. These pieces are some of her most recent in which, “… the figures examine the limits of their surroundings, searching for the moment when the natural world meets the transcendental. It’s unclear if their endeavors are ever successful.” Yep, that sounds exactly right for a Monday.

Oh, so beautiful. This is the mixed media work {some of it quite large} of UK based artist Anna King. She has a lovely artist statement that explains her work perfectly, so I’ll pass this over to Anna…

“My work explores the margins of landscape – overlooked, peripheral places – abandoned buildings, wastelands, plantations and quarries. These structures are marks we’ve made on the world, and now time passes without human intervention – paint peels, grass grows through cracks in concrete and the temporary nature of our own existence is brought into sharper focus.

I work in oils on paper pasted onto board, drawing into the wet paint with pencil. This results in a deconstructed, sketch-like finished work, the smooth surface, fragility and fluidity of the mark making on paper echoing the temporary and incidental nature of the places I paint.”

Poetry, paper and paint ♥

I don’t know how I did it, but somehow I managed to get American artist Esther Pearl Watson on the podcast. Actually I know exactly how I did it … I asked Martha Rich to ask her for me. Worked like a charm. I have been a huge fan of Esther’s for years, and finally met her a few weeks ago in New York. I was nervous and intimidated… until she opened her mouth. I quickly realized that she was hilarious, really nice, and actually a little bit shy herself. Esther’s story is amazing… she had a very unique childhood, to say the least, and it fuels much of her current work. Anyway, I’ll stop typing so you can start listening. Hit play right up there under “Looking for the Swimming Hole at Dinosaur State Park”, or you can subscribe on iTunes. First up, a few of my favorite pieces from her painting portfolio. Esther refers to them as memory paintings, and I called them “postcards from childhood”:

Amazing. Instead of sunny, perfect childhood memories, Esther illustrates the darker side… you know, things like “Before the Landlord Finds Us” {you’ll have to listen to find out why there are so many UFOs in her paintings}. Part of the reason I think she’s such a creative genius is because of the way she recognizes / embraces her experiences, good and bad, and turns them into creative projects. Speaking of which, she found an old diary in a dirty roadside gas station bathroom… and yep, she turned THAT into art too. Enter “Tammy Pierce”:

Creative. Genius. Since that day, years ago in a gas station bathroom, Tammy Pierce has become her own woman. {ps. the real owner of the diary was not named Tammy Pierce… it’s a name that Esther made up from various names found in her husband’s high school year book… and btw, her husband is Mark Todd – another insanely talented artist / illustrator / teacher}. Here’s a little taste of Tammy’s world today:

Oh Tammy. So many bad decisions. And there you have it… I beat the art history books and got Esther’s story now! It was such a thrill to meet her in person, and I’m over the moon that she said yes to the podcast. I hope you loved it as much as I did! Thanks to Esther for sharing her hilarious, creative stories; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and of course, thanks to you for listening {AND thanks to everyone that’s given a rating on iTunes… ART FOR YOUR EAR is slowly moving up, row by row, in the “What’s Hot in Art” section because of you guys!}

Other people/things we talked about:

Mark Todd  /  Ashley Mistriel  /  Martha Rich  /  Alice Neel  /  ArtCenter College of Design, LA  

ps. I mentioned my brother, playing a hand mirror as a guitar in my “bossy older sister” air band… and should have mentioned that he wrote, played, and recorded the music for this podcast! Another creative genius. Thanks Cam, you’re the best  xo. 

Thank you to everyone that entered the draw for this lovely, heart-warming, made with love storybook! I could only draw one name, and that name is… MEGAN CARTY! If your name isn’t Megan Carty, you can still buy this beauty directly from the Cordes family. Visit their site, right here.

*Stay tuned because I’ll be giving away a little something, via my Facebook page, every Friday between now and Christmas!

I don’t know about you, but I am in desperate need of a happy, feel-good story… this is it! All of this started with a decades long holiday family tradition, reading a story that is over 100 years old. This tale, titled “Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn”, was written by Albert Bigelow Paine in 1898. The Cordes family has been reading it on Christmas Eve for generations. Such a shame that it has long been out of print… and so they decided to take it upon themselves to change that! Betsy Cordes, an art director with ideas, business savvy, licensing expertise, and a love of working with artists reached out to American illustrator Adam McCauley {really interesting video here with Adam talking about his traditional “crow quill” ink drawings}. With a lot of love, a truckload of hard work, and a very successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, they brought Mr.Dog and his friends at the Hollow Tree Inn back to life! Take a look at this video of Betsy and her dad, Jim, talking about the sweet story behind this sweet story. ps. This was their Kickstarter video from 2014, which they finished with flying colors… so no need to pledge. Since this video they’ve printed a second, limited edition, run. Ok, now you can watch it…

Ah, Mr. Dog’s Christmas at the Hollow Tree Inn … I just got a copy when I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and it’s absolutely gorgeous! Red linen, gold foil, Adam’s illustrations! Want one? Of course you do! Leave a comment below and I will draw one name on Monday November 30, at noon PST…. and if you don’t win this give-away, you can still order one right here. But be quick… Betsy and her family were only able to print a limited number for this holiday season.

“Dimensional drawings”… that’s how Colorado based artist/assoc. drawing professor Ajean Ryan refers to these pieces from her very extensive portfolio. There is something so fun, experimental, child-like about them. Bits and pieces from everyday life assembled into delicate, 3D “drawings”… drawings that have me convinced to drop everything and run to my studio so I can start gluing something to something else!