Seriously, that horse is the best… I feel happier just looking at her. This is the work of UK based {I think?} artist Francesca Cramer. Yes, we’ve seen embroidery on vintage postcards before, but there’s something so lovely about Francesca’s whimsical work. The ivy, the mossy cottage roof … and I mentioned how much I love that little horse, right? Happy Friday.

ps. I’m in San Francisco for my book tour right now, and I’ll be talking, Q&A’ing and signing books at Hashimoto Contemporary tomorrow afternoon from 2-4pm. AND, Seonna Hong will be there with me! She has a solo show at Hashimoto right now and she also happens to be one of the artists in the book… win win!

Look, the heart wants what the heart wants, ok!? … And yes, my heart desperately wants these insane flowers by American artist Angela Deane. I’ve written about her fabulous ghosts before, and then earlier today I stumbled across that first rose, and well, here we are. Weird, hilarious, and fun … with just a touch of pure ‘Alice in Wonderland-ish’ terror. Happy Friday!

Yes, fine, I am absolutely dating myself by loving these pieces so much. In fact that could very well be my first grade class {ok, it’s not, but it totally could be}. This is the work of Los Angeles based artist Diane Meyer. I wrote about her in 2013 but this ongoing series, titled “TIME SPENT THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE FORGOTTEN”, is just too good not to follow-up on…

“In the series, cross stitch embroidery has been sewn directly into family photographs. The images are broken down and reformed through the embroidery into a hand-sewn pixel structure. As areas of the image are concealed by the embroidery, small, seemingly trivial details emerge while the larger picture and context are erased. I am interested in the disjunct between actual experience and photographic representation and photography’s ability to supplant memory. By borrowing the visual language of digital imaging with an analog process, a connection is made between forgetting and digital file corruption. The tactility of the pieces also references the growing trend of photos remaining primarily digital- stored on cell phones and hard drives, but rarely printed out into a tangible object.”

Brilliant, nostalgic, lovely. I have to go find my Raggedy Ann doll now.

Oh. I have a physical reaction to this series by UK based artist Josh Huxham. In particular, the image of the pilot and the plane. My grandfather was a pilot in WW II, and in his later years his memory started to fail … unless you asked him about flying and then he could tell you everything! So many detailed stories about training, and friends, and meeting my grandmother on a weekend leave at the beach. These quiet yet powerful images feel like identities, lost stories, and memories all rolled into one beautiful photograph. Here are Josh’s words on this graduate project {yes, he’s only just recently graduated from the Plymouth College of Art}, titled “Silence” …

‘Silence’ explores the re-construction of the family photograph. By using various techniques to re-print, re-age and re-construct previously scanned photographs from his family archive, Josh’s work aims to connect with those closest to him through visual language. By constructing these surreal handmade photographs, Josh’s inner thoughts and emotions towards a family space he feels lost within are passed on to the viewer. Exploring this media continues to allow Josh to be vocal through the visual.

Beautiful. And now I miss my grandparents more than usual.

Fake birds camouflaging themselves perfectly in a sea of vintage wallpaper. Gorgeous, and very cleverly titled…  “Flora and Fauxna“. So good. This is the latest series by American artist, and photography professor, Patty Carroll. Here is part of her statement about this work:

“Since the 1900’s “bird” has been used as slang to refer to women, often materially obsessed yet physically beautiful women … In their natural habitat, birds camouflage themselves in their tree homes, they sing, but remain invisible as they go about their business of feeding, fending off predators and teaching their young. Their camouflage is survival. In these still-life photographs, colorful fabric, artificial flowers and other household baubles create a sumptuous, patterned, and ornate world. This world mirrors the home life of birds in nature while symbolizing the nesting instincts of women whose homes are a sanctuary of pride and obsession.”

Happy Friday.

Ok, I can’t decide if I want to spend all day cutting up old catalogues, or if I should use that time to redecorate my house ’60s-style! This is the work of American artist Cory Peeke. Not only do I love these beautifully composed collages, I also super crazy love this statement:

“I stick stuff to other stuff and kid myself about the rest.” ~ Cory Peeke

YES. Hilarious and amazing. Ok. Time to pick a dust ruffle for the bed.

{discovered via Kolaj Magazine}

Pinups and Canadiana, indeed! Today I’m talking to Vancouver based artist/illustrator Ryan Heshka, a proud fellow Canadian, about his sassy, pulp-inspired work. There are mean girls, “Mystery Twins”, and so much perfect found paper I can hardly stand it … we also covered important topics like underage drinking in barns on the Canadian Prairies. You can listen right up there under “The Wood Gang”, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Ok, let’s kick things off with a few of my favorite gals:

Yes. I love these! I told Ryan I pictured him being a comic-obsessed kid when he was little. Apparently I was right, and here’s proof… two of Ryan’s “early” works, followed by a more recent piece:

Ha! So cute, so funny! Well, given his love for Batman, it’s not surprising that these masked ladies eventually showed up in his portfolio. Batman + babes =

Oh, the bubblegum… those two might be my favorite set of Ryan’s “Mystery Twins”! Up next, we were talking about a few of his pieces where text, from the found paper he uses, shows through into his work:

So, so, so good. And I can almost smell that old paper from here! Mmmmmm.

There were two pieces I wanted to hear the story behind… they’re the first two below. They kind of led us into a Canadiana tangent, so I put a couple of those here too {note “Rolanda” on the jacket of the Blue Bird on the right}:

Ah yes, makes me proud to be Canadian… I was never Miss.Canadiana though. Well, something to work towards I suppose.

Ok, now Ryan’s books! He’s done a few: “Welcome To Monster Town”, “ABC Spook Show”… but this one has to be my fave:

Smoking, drinking, and stealing bras. Yep, mean girls being mean. If you want your own copy of “Mean Girls Club”, you can find it here.

Oh, and I always like to know what an artist’s studio looks like, so Ryan sent these along for the post. Check out his amazing view of that Vancouver sky:

Wowza! His cat doesn’t seem impressed though.

And finally, after all of that pinup / Canadiana action, I felt like this was the perfect painting to finish with:

Yep, there’s even a beaver. Thanks so much to Ryan for taking time out of his very busy, sleep-deprived day to do this with me; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode; thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book! To preorder a copy for FREE {or to pick up any other book you might want} just use my link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator. And as always, thank YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Martha Rich  / Mark Todd  / Esther Pearl Watson
2. Kate Larkworthy Illustration, NY
3. IKEA Ribba Frames!
4. Corn & Apple Festival, Morden Manitoba

I have written about American artist Amy Santoferraro a few times over the last few years… and here we are again! This is Amy’s found object series, titled “BB Baskets”. I love the objects themselves – juicy little jewels in forgotten ceramic baskets – but when I read how these beauties came to be, well I just had to share:

“My home is across a valley from Fort Riley, Kansas. The Kansas landscape mimics that of Afghanistan and Iraq in color and flatness, making it an ideal training ground for soldiers at the Army base before they head off to war. Everyday I hear and feel the rounds of firing and bombing practice while watching the neighborhood kids shoot each other with BB guns in the convenient overgrown bush hides of my yard. It is quite possibly the most surreal thing I have ever repeatedly experienced.

I started collecting the BBs the kids left in the yard without any clear direction other than picking up and collecting the beautiful balls of color. The collection grew as the days passed, and I gradually began seeing them as material. I love that they can be so many things and don’t readily volunteer their origin story. It’s not essential to appreciate the resulting object and in no way is a statement about war or only a personal narrative.

Sometimes the balls are just balls. But they are also bubbles, fruit, wishes, vomit, bubbling crud, excuses. . . pretty much anything that can build up to be overwhelming, disgusting and/or beautiful. The found baskets in this series fulfill my need to collect evidence of ceramics doing what it does best: masquerading as other objects and materials. One thing mimicking another due to nostalgia or sentiment rather than function or design, or skeuomorphism, is a huge part of my work and practice. I like to think of it as “materials behaving badly.” The materials or objects at home depot, the thrift store, or in my studio are kinda like Girls Gone Wild: they reveal too much, are too fake and are too cheap.”

So. Good.

It’s very hard to write about UK based artist Claire Brewster without including a bird, so that little guy is in there just for good measure! I’ve written about Claire’s beautifully cut birds several times … but earlier today I found her gorgeous botanicals and this post basically wrote itself. Vintage maps, intricately cut flowers, delicate shadows. Sigh. Enough said.

Wow, these are a big deal. Get it? Because they’re cards. Ok, this is the work of California based Dan Levin. I’ll let him tell you how this happened:

“I had these vintage decks of cards and I was fascinated by the history of them. I started cutting through them, kings’ and queens’ faces, but there was something missing. Almost by accident, I turned a deck upside down and looked at the patterns and said ‘wait a second’.”

Wait a second, indeed! Happy Friday ♥

ps. If you want one of these beauties, visit his shop.