Oh, these make me so happy… and kinda sad. Found photos starring gouachie ghosts by American artist Angela Deane. All of these pieces are from her “Ghost Photographs“ series. Angela refers to them as “ghosts of moments” – special events gone by which may or may not be remembered fully and or correctly – which is why they make me happy… and kinda sad. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go pore over old family photos and do my very best to remember what was happening and who the hell all of those people are!

{thanks to Carol for pointing me to Angela’s portfolio}

I have loved the work of American artist Jessica Brilli for years. I’ve written about her a few times, and I’m sure there are many more posts to come. She has a love of all things vintage, as do I. The other thing we have in common… curating. Yep, we’re going to talk about a very exciting show {that kinda makes me want to cry} which will open later this month, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Ok, you can listen right up there under that lovely couple, or you can subscribe on iTunes. First up, a few pieces from her “Static” series, the work I posted about way back in 2012:

So good. But alas, she “got tired of painting typewriters”, and so she turned her attention to vintage, suburban landscapes. I follow her on Facebook, and she often posts work in progress. I find it fascinating to watch her work develop that way. Here is one of my favorite progressions:

She is also concerned with the topic of health care and care for the elderly, this is an acute issue for many families and professional medical care for elderly relatives is an important social issue.

Ah! A peek behind the painted curtain. That piece is one of the images that was inspired by the set of slides she bought at a garage sale {such a cool story!}. Here are a few more from that “Slide Show” series:

… and those are the slides! I also asked for a tiny peek at her studio, and look, a vintage radio… surprise, surprise! Of course, I had to ask her about her motel paintings. The image below is one of my favorite pieces of hers. It whisks me right back to family road trips:

Love. Speaking of love… “Jealously Curated | East Coast Edition”. What!? Yes, Jess and a bunch of other artists have put this beautiful show together, that opens November 23rd in Cambridge MA. The theme… everyone in the show has been written about on my site! How crazy amazing is that? And yes, I got a little teary-eyed when they emailed to ask me if I’d be ok with it. Ok with it? Um, YES. Here is a peek at the fantastic artists whose work will be included:

Gah! So, so good! I wish I could go to the par-tay {Jess said the opening party was in November, but it’s actually on December 3rd}. If you can go, please do… and then send me photos! Alright, that’s that. There was a quick mention of a Big Salad with the Seinfeld crew in the speed round, and then we said goodbye. Thanks so much to Jessica, for EVERYTHING, and thank you so much to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

{Links to artists above: Anna Jensen / Jenny Brown / Airco Caravan / Erin Fitzpatrick / Jeremy Miranda / Leah Giberson / Taliah Lempert / Zin Helena Song / Jessica Brilli}

I wrote about UK based artist Pippa Young‘s paintings last year… and those bonnets made a lasting impression on me I guess, because today as I was scrolling through Pinterest {as you do first thing in the morning over coffee} I saw these lovely little interventions. I knew immediately that they had to be Pippa’s work… those bonnets again! Sigh. And now I want to finish my coffee and rush off to the thrift shop to look for old images to paint on. Gorgeous.

Ooh! A beautiful, artsy mystery! Here’s the scoop… a couple of days ago, wedding photographer Meagan Abell posted these images, and this message to her Facebook page:

“I found 4 sets of medium format negatives while I was thrift shop hunting a few weeks ago. They were sitting in a box of old vintage photographs in these plastic sleeves, and from what I could tell, they had been taken sometime in the 50’s. So obviously I brought them home, and today finally had them scanned in, and holy wow they are beautiful!

NOW this is where I need the Internet’s help. I would absolutely love to find the women in these photographs/the photographer who took them. The only info I have is that the negatives were found in a thrift store on Hull St in Richmond, VA. They are medium format, and judging by the style of dress, made in 1940-1950. The owner of the thrift store had no idea where they came from. I’m posting the best/clearest scans of the images, so if y’all could share this around, HOPEFULLY we can make it go viral and find the original photographer/subjects!”

So cool… and some of the most beautiful, haunting photos I’ve ever seen {reminds me of the final scene in Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus} If you have any info you can comment on her Facebook page, and if you share any info you can hashtag it ‪#‎FindTheGirlsOnTheNegatives‬. Here’s one more closer view of the woman in the photographs… recognize her?

Are you seeing double too, or am I just dizzy from this fantastic, vintage, very sassy work! Rich gouache, curvy/confident gals, and shiny high heels as far as the eye can see! This is the vintage inspired mixed media work of Vancouver based artist Ryan Heshka. My friend Martha Rich introduced us over email today… and before I even wrote him back I had this post ready to roll! Instant love… x2.

I could literally spend hours looking through the Instagram feed of Seattle based artist Cheyenne Randall… ok, I just did. I cannot get enough! He adds the most beautifully hand-drawn tattoos to some of pop culture’s favorite icons… from Twiggy to Marilyn to Elvis. I was going to stop there, but I’m a child of the 80’s so clearly I also had to include these:

Yes. Oh, yes.

{You can buy his work as prints, originals, and apparel right here.}

Sigh. I’m a sucker for weird old paintings. Imagine a place where there was a whole bunch of really good ones all in one spot?! Well…

This is a story about an iconic dish & glassware store in New York called Fishs Eddy, the vintage art that decorates that shop, and the son of the couple that owns the store who wants to start a gallery. Did you follow all of that? Basically, Fishs Eddy has been around for 30 years… they don’t actually sell art, but they do love & collect old pieces that they display all over the shop. Ben Lenovitz is the son of the two owners, and he has literally grown up there. His dream is to create Fishs Eddy Lost & Found Gallery so that he can continue to hunt for these treasures, but he also wants to make these beauties available to anyone that wants to buy them! Sounds like a fabulous idea to me. He’s going to start with a pop-up gallery inside Fishs Eddy, with plans to get a gallery space of his own in the near future. If you’re in New York, pop in there and say hello… and if you want to help Ben with his dream, he’s got a Kickstarter project you can check out here. Good luck, Ben! Hoping I can skip the garage sales and just come straight to you.

These are the original mixed media works of Naomi Vona. She’s an Italian artist living in Dublin, and I had the great pleasure of meeting her when I was there a few weeks ago. We had a few minutes to talk, and I asked her about these pieces. She buys vintage photographs from people all over the world… sometimes just one tiny photograph, sometimes a whole package… and then she gets to work! She draws, paints and collages right on top these little pieces of personal history. I’d be scared of “making a mistake”, but not Naomi! Her portfolio has hundreds of these creative interventions. The fancy masks are my favorite {can you tell?!}… they add even more mystery to these already mysterious images.

Sometimes, it’s what’s not there that truly matters most! I was in a collage-ish {not a word, but just roll with it} mood today, and voila, the portfolio of UK based artist Joe Webb. An x-acto blade, gorgeous color choices, and a whole bunch of perfect {and romantic!} negative space… SWOON!

Found images stenciled over with spray paint, and titled quite appropriately, Clown Face. This is the hilarious, kinda creepy, yet still gorgeous work of London based artist Steven Quinn. And, if you happen to be in London, keep an eye out for clown-covered walls! Yep, these vintage beauties are a series of paste-ups, that now grace the walls of Brick Lane. LOVE!