Balloons. CERAMIC BALLOONS … gasp! Korean born, Los Angeles based artist Nina Jun creates these beautifully glazed, bold patterned, light as air balloons… that are far from light as air. “Her work challenges our concepts of comfort, levity, and gravity. Through these pieces, she hopes to expand views about roles that the ceramic material plays in the contemporary art world.” Mission accomplished!

{via designboom}

Gasp! How gorgeous is this outdoor installation by photographer Autumn de Wilde?! It’s titled Lighting, Layers and Reflections, and from what I can tell she built it/shot it for an Escalade ad. Well, whatever it was for, I just can’t get over how gorgeous these little, colorful, mirrored houses are! Oh, I sure hope they left them there after the shoot was over… can you imagine road-tripping past these beauties just as the morning sun is coming up? ♥ ♥ ♥

I wrote about Finnish artist Caroline Slotte almost exactly one year ago… that post was about some insanely beautiful ceramics. Today’s post is about some insanely beautiful trash… carved from wood. Gah!!! Gorgeous! The talent this woman possesses takes my breath away. I wonder what my post about her next January will contain? My guess… something insanely beautiful.

{Thanks for sending the link, Gregory West!}

So, we’re all familiar with the beautifully bizarre animal paintings in the portfolio of Minneapolis based artist Jennifer Davis, right?

Love, love, love! Now… look what happens to lost, forgotten, lonely ceramic animals when Jennifer spends a little too much time in her local thrift shop:

Gah! She JenniferDavis’ed them!!! {Ok, I just made that up, but that should totally be a thing!} Crazy stripes, gorgeous colors, and oh, so much fun! She always has a few of these critters for sale in her Etsy shop, so pop over and have a look… I’m waiting for a wiener dog.

ps. Jennifer also does commissioned pet portraits! I’ve included a few of them in a group of work that I just chose for Liz Lemon over on SF Girl By Bay today… yes, I said Liz Lemon.

Glass. It’s all beautifully colored, tiny bits of glass! I am in awe of Philadelphia based artist Amber Cowan. To have the skill, and patience, to create such lovely, imaginative, detailed work… with glass?! Not only is she a very accomplished artist, she also teaches. She is a faculty member of the glass department at Tyler School of Art. Hm, do you think I could convince her to teach me how to make one of those little pink swans?

{Thanks to Corinne for sending me a link to Amber’s gorgeous work}

Is it any wonder that “joy” is her middle name?! Australian artist Amy Joy Watson creates the most beautiful sculptures… beautiful sculptures with balloons!!! Now, to be clear, she does make pieces that don’t have balloons in them – things like giant geometric bows, and “rainbow machines”… but for me, yep, it’s all about these candy-colored, helium-filled lovelies! Stunning, impeccably made, and so full of JOY!

Dear 2013,

This is our last day together, so I just wanted to say… you were amazing.

You were filled with art that was delicate, mysterious, funny, touching, strange, controversial, and breath-taking.

You were there when I finished my first book, and started on my second.

You took me to all sorts of lovely places like Salt Lake City, Chattanooga, Austin, LA, and Maui. {ps. In January, Stefan Sagmeister kissed me in SLC, so that was a pretty great way to kick off the year!}

You gave me the chance to guest write for lovely folks like Victoria Smith on sfgirlbybay, Emily Henderson, and Anthology Magazine.

You were the first year that I really gave my own artwork a shot… even if I resisted. A lot.

You were the year I spent settling into a new town, and home, with my amazing husband and super sweet little boy. We had twelve months of adventure ~ making new friends, swimming in the lake, fishing, jumping off docks, and eating more ice cream than three people should ever consume.

You were also the one that introduced me to so many lovely new friends {like Stephanie, Emily H, Ginny, Leah, Emily L, Samantha, Mark, Alyson, Melinda, & Diana}, and gave me time to visit with some really wonderful old friends {Autumn, Kathleen, Jessica, Mary-Jo, Janette, Melanie, Meleny, Christy, Janna & Jason, Kira … love you guys!}. AND there are so many more of you who I plan to catch up with in 2014… I’m talking to you Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Vancouver friends! I might even make my way to Paris and London {fingers crossed!}

And finally, you did a pretty good job of teaching me how to slow down, so that I could truly enjoy everything along the way. Thanks. I needed that!

So, with that I’ll say bye bye, 2013. I can’t wait to meet your pal, 2014… I’m pretty excited to see what she’s got in store for all of us.

~ danielle xo

Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you have an amazing, fun, safe night tonight! Thank you so much for being part of my little world, I appreciate it more than I could ever put into words.

Ok, are you ready? 2014. Let’s fill it up with creative genius… GO!

{1. Prospect Goods 2. Rachel Castle 3. CONFETTI SYSTEM 4. Max Wanger 5. ROTGANZEN}

I hate snakes, so so so so much… but not this snake! I absolutely, crazy LOVE  this snake!

Oh, Rachel Denny. I’ve loved her work for years… and she just keeps getting better! Mirrored snakes, howling wolves, waxy woodpeckers, and of course, her signature deer heads! What I love almost as much as her final pieces, is the glimpse that she gives into her Portland home studio. Boy oh boy, I’d love to spend a day in there with her just makin’ stuff! Well, last year I did the next best thing… I got Rachel to make stuff for me! Yep, I bought a hot pink, cashmere doe to hang above my fireplace. Her name is Rosie, and I love her very very very much:

ps. Rachel is one of the artists featured in CREATIVE BLOCK. Her work looks amazing as a full page spread, and her interview is fantastic!

pps. the other two lovely pieces hanging there are by Ben Skinner {text/wood}, and Sarah Gee Miller {circle drawing}

I don’t even know what to write… this has been hush-hush for so long… but finally, I can tell you all of the ins & outs of my book that has just been released by Chronicle Books {available in stores all over the world?!!} Let’s start with the title. It’s called CREATIVE BLOCK, and here’s what it looks like (an instagram taken with my very old phone, but you get the idea):

*The cover was designed by Dinah Fried at Chronicle, and then painted by Toronto based artist Amanda Happé. I love it so much and am proud to have had such talented people working on this project.

SO, WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT:

I came up with the idea for CREATIVE BLOCK for myself, just as much as for all of you. I wanted to make something beautiful – a contemporary art book filled not only with inspiring images, but also inspiring words, advice, and tips to help amateurs and professionals alike, find their way through those days when the ideas just won’t come. Because everyone who dabbles in something creative feels that way at some point – right? Right. I wanted to write this book to show you that if you’re feeling this way you’re not alone either. I’ve written hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of posts about successful, working artists who seem to have this whole “creative thing” figured out. But surely they have blocks from time to time? How do they get through them? Where do they find fresh inspiration? How do they handle negative feedback? Does it stop them in their tracks? Now, these full time artists don’t have the luxury of not finishing, or giving up on a project – not when they’ve got a gallery or art buyer waiting on them! So how do they push themselves through those moments when the ideas just aren’t there? Or when the ideas are there, but their hands or materials will not cooperate.

THE ARTISTS:

Finally! I’m thrilled to reveal the list of 50 amazingly open, honest, witty, thoughtful, funny, talented artists that allowed me to interview them about their own creative blocks, insecurities, and inner-critics. Not only did they give us a candid view into their creative process, but each of them wrote a “creative unblock exercise” to help shake us out of our own blocks. Amazing? YES!

Gah! Almost 300 pages of stunning contemporary artwork, insightful advice, and creative-unblocking tips. It’s soooo good, all thanks to that amazing list of people who have been such a huge inspiration to me. I’ll hope, actually I know, they’ll inspire you too!

WHEN & WHERE:

The book is now on shelves, all over the world, as of March 2014, and online via GREAT.LY, Chronicle Books, and all of the other usual suspects. Check the side bar for upcoming book signing events! See you there!

ps. Thank you so much to Jerry Saltz, Brené Brown, and Faythe Levine for writing endorsements that will appear on the back cover – I love that you love it!

Oooh, a forest of glass! And those gorgeous colors… modern, but with an oddly familiar feel. I’m sure my grandmother had objects around her house in exactly the same palette. Anywho, I digress. This beautiful work is titled “The Woods” by Oslo based artist/designer Andreas Engesvik, and was created in collaboration with Norwegian design studios StokkeAustad. I love this description:

“The inspiration was found in the forests and the lights of the North. A tree changing colours and transparency through the seasons is a fascinating process which was captured in this glass object.”

Kinda makes you want to see Norway in all four seasons, doesn’t it? Hm, well I can’t give you that, so the least I can do is show you a tiny bit of the process behind these pieces:

Sigh.

{via The Art Cake}