Ok, so it’s only been ten minutes since I last wrote about Laura McKellar, but I can’t control myself… she has so much great work to choose from that I just have to show a little bit more before I’m done jealously curating for the day. So here you go, two more digital prints on fabric, complete with hand embroidery that I’m sure will leave you feeling totally inspired… while slowly crushing your soul. Enjoy!

It’s a beautiful morning, the sun is shining, and I am totally smitten. Her name is Laura McKellar, she lives in Australia, and she may very well be my new favourite artist. These two pieces {embroidery and digital print on fabric… I know, fantastic!} are based on The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson, and were shown last November at the Once Upon exhibition in Melbourne. Sigh… nothing like a good girl crush to get you through a Tuesday.

Sigh.

Today I find myself totally caught up in the world of Swiss illustrator/designer Daniel Lachenmeier. I love all of the images shown above, but I have a soft spot for the last one. It was a proposed illustration for Du Magazine about time, which is interesting because I feel like I could just sit quietly and look at if for a really, really, really long time. I wish I could think of a fancy, artsy sounding reason why, but the truth is I just find it very calming. Maybe it’s the muted palette, or my love of suburban houses? Who knows, but if you’ll please excuse me, I’ve got some staring to do.

{I found Daniel’s work via Postcards to Alphaville… yet another insanely inspiring collaborative project put together by Paul Paper.}

I have a new crush. His name is Scot, and I like, totally ♥ him. Denver based artist Scot Lefavor has everything I’m looking for in a ‘feel like I’ve been punched in the creative gut’ art crush… vintage subject matter, typography, a pop-esque style, found imagery, and just a little bit of cursing. Ah, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

{via crisaris, an art blog with gem after gem after gem after gem… well, you get the idea}

I don’t know much… but I know I love you. The only thing I do know about these collages, is that they’re from a series called Pictures on Pictures by an artist simply known as Donna K.  That’s it. That’s all I’ve got. Oh, and the title of the final piece above {which made me laugh out loud at my little desk}, Blind dating is exciting. HA! Love, love, love!

{All of these images are available for purchase at Swipple.com}

We all have childhood memories that probably aren’t exactly right. They are the way that you remember events and people, which may have been influenced by the story that your Uncle Ted told over, and over about that event/person, putting a picture into your head that you now believe to be a memory. Well, American photographer Liz Steketee didn’t want to be proved wrong by a photo, so she’s taken matters into her own hands with her series titled Reconstructed Memories. By scanning and combining her own family photos, she is able to truly reconstruct these images to conform to her personal memories or, in some cases, change things completely to the way she would have preferred life to be. And so now, thanks to Liz, Uncle Ted’s story will live on forever.

Brace yourself. You are about to be insanely jealous {but you’ll feel weird about it} and also totally inspired. Listen to this:

After a somewhat troubled childhood, and a pretty bad car accident in France, Skylar Fein was accepted into pre-med at the University of New Orleans, and moved there to get started on his future. Six weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit destroying everything he owned. That should be the end of the story right? Wrong. In the aftermath he began collecting the wood that filled the streets and did what any pre-med student {with absolutely no art training} would do. He turned this wreckage into politically charged pop art {please refer to the founding fathers of America shown above}, had his first solo show in 2008 at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, and then dropped out of school to pursue art full time. Since then his work has been featured in Artforum, Art in America, New York Times, Style Magazine, The New Yorker, etc…

See what I mean? Insanely jealous… but you feel weird about it. I know, me too.

Awwww! Aren’t they sweet? Don’t you want to give them a good home? These poor little ceramic orphans were left all alone, badly painted and nameless, at charity shops all over South East England. Luckily, London based artist Emma Harding showed up on a rescue mission! She dusted them off, painted them in fabulously vibrant colours, and then lovingly named each one. Now they are shiny, beautiful and ready to find new homes. Yes, that’s right, all of these little thrift store orphans are up for adoption. You can take one home today if you like… but I call dibs on Pat & Una Thorpe!

{Thanks to the always inspiring and lovely frankie magazine for this find.}

A little snip with scissors here, a little click of computer keys there and finito… the perfect combination of digital and analog! I have a background in fine arts and digital design so this work by Italian artist/designer/illustrator Nazario Graziano kinda pushes me over the edge in the jealousy department. Ah, if only we could all snip and click like Nazario.

{Here’s another jealousy inducing tidbit for you. He’s also the founder of a very cool online art+design magazine called ANTI Magazine, whose aim is ‘to showcase outstanding visual content as an online magazine and also through future exhibitions all around the world.’ And, good news… they’re accepting submissions.}

So clearly I have a thing for mixed media, especially when found imagery is involved. I love these Mad Men-esque collages by Chad Kouri. I found him while researching my other latest crush, Netherland. They currently have a two man show on at Rotofuji Gallery in Chicago, but it’s closing this Sunday so put on your pantyhose n’ pumps and get down there asap!