Oooooh! New work by Vancouver artist Aaron Moran. I wrote about his salvaged-wood sculptures a couple of years ago {which I still love more than I can say!}, but when I saw this series, titled Section 1, I had to share it. Boy oh boy, it’s pretty amazing what he can do with bits of wood and a tiny amount of perfectly chosen house paint. Love.

Yep, it’s true! UncommonGoods is having an art contest, and they want to see what’s in your portfolio… AND, they’ve asked me to be one of the judges {pressure}. So, the deadline is MARCH 31st, 2013, and the grand prize… $500 + 5% royalties on a limited edition of 100 prints. Not too shabby! So, are you ready? Of course you are! You can find all of the rules right here. I can’t wait to see what you send in… Good luck!

{These are my three faves from the 2012 contest: 1) Kelly Puissegur 2) Kat Shoa 3) Valerie Galloway}

I’ve tried embroidery on paper… but never on a chunk of driftwood! These are the lovely works of British artist Ella Robinson. In the top and bottom images, she has used cotton thread. For the other two, it’s colored plastic lacing that is weaving so beautifully in and out of those holes. Oh boy, and now I want one in the corner of my living room. A lot.

{via Poppytalk’s Pinterest board}

Oh my. Atlanta based artist Drew Tyndell has me wanting to move into a little, flat, wooden, multi-colored house. Pink & navy, straight angles & organic shapes, painted surface & exposed woodgrain… and of course, just the right amount of insane precision. Home sweet home.

{via Design for Mankind}

Oooh, so pretty! I love these little painted objects by LA based artist Haley Ann Robinson. By day she is a graphic designer, and at night… well, I assume that’s when she paints these gorgeous little chunks of wood! All of this work was done for Totokaelo, a shop filled with lots of fantastic things {Dear Santa, I would like a chunk of wood with gold on it. Thank you.}

I wonder if the mother of Ryan and Trevor Oakes imagined that this is what her twin boys would do when she told them to ‘go play’. Clearly she forgot to mention that  whole “don’t play with matches” thing… and I’m so glad, because look what they made! Wow.

{via junkculture}

Embroidery & crochet. On leaves. And rocks. And sticks.

Gah! My artistic mind is officially blown. These stunning little pieces are the work of Cornwall based artist Susanna Bauer, and yes, I am now planning to spend my weekend looking for leaves, and rocks, and sticks. Maybe I’ll be able to convince Susanna to cover them in yarn! ♥

{via Meighan O’toole on Pinterest}

Paint on found glass {I would love to try that!}. This is the swirly, perfect, hand-painted work of Chicago based artist Emmy Star Brown. I had the pleasure of meeting her a few weeks ago – she was one of the attendees at GIRL CRUSH Philly. {Boy oh boy, there are some very talented ladies at those tea parties!}

Anywho, not only does Emmy specialize in beautiful organic shapes, but she also makes these:

So sweet! But wait, there’s more… check out a few grabs {or the full video} of the project that Emmy did with Sharpie. I absolutely love this campaign – amazing artists working on some pretty crazy surfaces!

Fantastic!

SEA GLASS! I love sea glass, and have collected it periodically over the years… but I could never figure out what to do with it. Well, UK based artist Jonathan Fuller clearly had a plan for the bits of wave-worn glass he’s gathered along the Cornish coastline. Beautifully gradated sea glass, embedded into cut wood panels. Ahh, so lovely.

Oh, this is such a sad, beautiful, inspiring project, titled “If We Lived Here” by Portland based artist Paula Rebsom. Usually my posts are quite short, but I had to give you the full {although, slightly shortened} story. Here’s where Paula’s story begins:

Thirty-one years ago, when my mother was 3 months pregnant with me, a harsh winter forced my parents off the farm that has been in our family for over 50 years. The 1,300-acre farm is tucked away in the little Badlands of North Dakota and only accessible by 9 miles of scoria road. After my parents’ left the farm they moved to nearby Dickinson, the land was rented to neighbors and the home was rented out to a couple that left the home in such disarray it was no longer safe for human occupancy. That is when the barn swallows, rabbits, raccoons and mice began to settle into their new home… Last February, after my grandmother gave my parents power of attorney over the property, they burned down the farmhouse, barns and chicken coup for liability concerns … This past September I returned to North Dakota and built a 16-foot tall by 40-foot wide billboard like replica of the home with the assistance of my father just over the hill from where the original homestead was:

I used the last image taken of the home before it was burned as my model for the front of the structure and attached 20 birdhouses that spell out the words “If we lived here, I’d be home by now.” to the back of it.

In its simplest form “If We Lived Here” was built in an attempt to provide shelter for the birds that were displaced when their home was destroyed. In it’s most complex form it is a quiet and haunting, ghostlike reminder of what was, what is no longer, and what may never be. It holds memories far beyond my years and comprehension while at the same time providing a new presence of hope and possibilities for this rural landscape. The landscape my mom was raised on, the land that her and my father would try to make a living off of, a place that I dreamed as a child to call home, the land my sister and I will someday inherit.

See? Sad, beautiful, and oh so inspiring.