Ok… this is certainly not new work by Australian artist Gemma Smith, but it’s the first time I’m seeing it. It’s safe to say that I love these pieces right now, just as much as I would have loved them when they were originally shown {2008 I believe}. Giant, colorful, perfectly precise, acrylic gems perched on white pedestals, light bouncing off and through them. Amazing… then, and right this very second!

These are the porcelain sculptures of Argentina-born, Venice-based artist Carolina Antich. I wrote about her paintings last year {they are fantastic!}, and just included some of that work in a guest post on SF Girl by Bay that went up today. While I was finding images for that, I stumbled across these lovely, white, kinda bizarre ceramic pieces… and obviously had to write about them too! ♥

{Images of the work are from Carolina’s site, and the studio shots are from a post on SF Girl by Bay, via Llamas Valley.}

Who wants to go for a walk in an eerily quiet, yet absolutely beautiful forest? Me too! And I’ll bet that Austin based artist Joseph Noderer will meet us there with his oil paints! {All of these pieces are at least 2 feet x 3 feet, and some are up to 4′ x 5′!! Gorgeous!}

ps. If you’re in Austin, Joseph has a show on at Tiny Park Gallery until October 19th, with scupltor Jamie Panzer.

Whoa. I never cease to be amazed by the work of Italian sculptor Willy Verginer. Wood. Carved into this. Amazing. I wrote about him in 2010, and thought that I couldn’t love anything more than that body of work {because it’s stunning}, but I just popped over to his site to see if he had done anything new, and boy, had he! Wooden blooms sprouting from smooth, dreamy full-size wooden figures… and oh my word, that navy & cream palette… perfection.

“BaskeTREE”… get it?! Ha! Not only is the title of this series hilarious, but all of the pieces are just so fun! Thrift-shopped bits n’ pieces, and what I assume are chunks of pink floral-arrangement foam, assembled into the weirdest little bonsai tree-ish things I’ve ever seen. This is the work of American artist Amy Santoferraro. I wrote about her years ago, and when I stumbled on this work the other day {over on Artsy Forager} it was time to write again… obviously. And now, it’s time to go to the thrift shop, and maybe the plant store… obviously.

I’m not quite ready for summer to be over yet, but these somewhat autumnal installations are slowly easing me in. Who knew that ultra-fine woven metal could be this organic looking… well, I suppose UK based artist Michelle McKinney had a hunch. The leaves, the butterflies… but those orangie-pink circles {aka “money plant”, “honesty”, or “silver dollars”} are my absolute favorites. So delicate, and oh so beautiful. If she had a few “chinese lanterns” and I might actually be ready for fall… maybe.

Ok, this might be one of the most amazing artistic collaborations I’ve ever seen… Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck, and a whole bunch of bees! I’m going to let Aganetha describe this project, because she can do a much better job than I can:

First, a clarification; I am not a beekeeper. I rent the colonies of honeybees, bee hives, and apiary space from a qualified beekeeper. All my work with honeybees is overseen by a scientist and is always completed under the direction of a beekeeper. The beekeeper takes care of the bees. I am an artist interested in environmental issues and in inter-species communication, specifically interested in the power of the small. My ongoing research asks questions regarding the ramifications all living beings would experience should honey bees disappear from earth.

….

To begin a collaborative project with the honeybees, I choose a slightly broken object or damaged material from a second hand market place. I choose damaged objects because honeybees are meticulous beings, they continuously mend anything around them and they do pay attention to detail. To encourage the honeybees to communicate, I strategically add wax or honey, propolis or hand-made honeycomb patterns to the objects prior to placing them into their hives. At least I like to think my methods are strategic. The honeybees often think otherwise and respond to what is placed within their hive in ways that make my mind reel.

At times, the honeybees encourage me to add or delete honeycomb after they have worked on an object. As an example, by overextending their honeycomb, the honeybees encourage me to sculpt into this mass of waxed cell construction and return it to them for further consideration.

Amazing.

I honestly don’t know what I love more… the beautifully complex wire sculptures of Asian American artist Ruth Asawa, or the photographs of Ruth with her beautifully complex wire sculptures. Sigh… it’s all just so stunning. Sadly, Ruth passed away, at the age of 87 in her San Francisco home on Monday night. I found this lovely statement about her, from the curator of American art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco {Timothy Burgard}:

“Ruth Asawa will be remembered for the extraordinary wire sculptures that so beautifully interweave nature and culture… [she was] a pioneering post-World War II modernist whose works have transcended the multiple barriers she faced as an Asian American woman artist working with traditional ‘craft’ materials and techniques. She lived to see all of these confining categories challenged and redefined.”

Rest in peace, Ruth ♥

A unicorn covered in cute food? I’m in. This crazy unicorn is the work of Spanish artists {and brothers} Juan and Alejandro Mingarro, aka Brosmind. Their Barcelona based studio is the hub for their very successful illustration company, but it’s their wacky personal projects that got me… like the unicorn, and this completely padded art show viewing wagon, for example:

Watch out for the ice cream on the seat! Ok, so I have no idea what the unicorn is about {except that it’s awesome}, but here’s the scoop on the wagon:

Brosmind WAGON is a hilarious car covered with beanbags and powered by pedals. It was created for the collective exhibition ON! Handcrafted Digital Playgrounds, taking place at the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati, Ohio (March-September 2013). All the visitors attending the exhibition are invited to drive it in order to tour the exhibition from a funny point of view. Technical support by Isaac Salom. Pillows manufactured by Woouf.

Sigh… I would love to stumble across these mirror-covered chunks of wood while out for a stroll in countryside! London based installation artist Lee Borthwick uses “natural, organic and reclaimed materials, allowing the viewer to recapture the sense of reflection offered by dramatic landscapes.” Yes. Yes she does! Luckily, if you live in the UK, you don’t have to hope for a chance encounter with her work in the woods – she has recently been commissioned by Anthropologie EU to take her gorgeous wood/mirror/wire tapestries {each one is totally unique and hand-made by Lee} from the woods, to your wall:

Oh my.

{ps. if you live anywhere other than the UK, you can try contacting Lee directly if you want to buy one of her tapestries}