I’ve talked to artists who work with hand-made paint, fresh flowers, tiny glass tiles, and delicate paper… but today is a new one. Lint – aka dryer fluff. Yes, Canadian artist Tonya Corkey creates these gorgeous pieces using lint from the laundry room! I wrote about her years ago {the second I found her work obviously}, and now thanks to the wonders of podcasts, I was able to ask all of my lint-related questions. You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Before we really get going, just so you believe me, look at this close-up of that first piece above:

Lint!!! Mind. Blown. Ok, moving on. This next piece is the colorful portrait that Tonya was talking about:

Just imagine collecting and organizing that much colorful lint? It makes me want to wash a bunch of red socks so I can send her a ball of pinky/red fluff! Now, not that I want Tonya to ever feel terrified, but I kinda love that this piece scared her so much. See, brilliant artists are humans too.

Ok, so here are some of her portraits. The first guy below, Freddie, was the first lint portrait she ever did, and is titled “Your Friend Freddie”. This piece is 5’x3.5′ and took months for Tonya to finish… which doesn’t surprise me at all:

She quickly embraced negative space which saved a lot of time… and lint.

Oh, and these! These are the mirrored pieces we talked about. STUNNING:

Right? Sigh. So gorgeous. Up next, the writing from the back of these nostalgic found photographs… some mirrored, some with a bit of a linty shadow:

Again, gorgeous. Speaking of gorgeous, here is a shot of Tonya in her studio. I love seeing where/how artists work, and this photo is particularly great because you can see the scale of a few of the pieces from earlier in this post. Also, I love that she’s surrounded by bags full of dryer fluff:

Lovely. Thank you so much to Tonya for taking the time to tell her stories, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting episode 75; thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book – it’s officially available now – and thank YOU so much for listening every week! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Queen’s University
2. Alison Milne Gallery
3. OCAD
4. Ben Skinner
5. California College of the Arts

Yeah. That’s right… CROSS-STITCHED VIDEO GAMES! This is the meticulous work of Swedish artist Per Fhager. I had to include that image of Per in action so you’d believe that these are embroidered pieces, not screen-grabs. Insane. Here’s a bit more about why he does what he does:

Per´s choice of material, technique and color gives us a perfect example of how traditional crafts can receive a new expression and context in the modern world. The embroideries differs largely in texture, technique and color density, these differences are important in the process of producing the needle point works. The handmade pictures arrives from video game stills where composition, narrative and memory plays its role.

It really is kind of crazy how close a pixel is to a cross-stitch. Hm. And with that bit of amazingness, I will wish you a happy Friday. Mic drop.

You know when you fall in love, and you feel kind of confused but excited at the same time? Yeah. That’s how I felt when I came across these bizarre / beautiful collages by Anna Bu Kliewer. Crazy chunks of flora and fauna in all sorts of strange places. Sigh… confused and excited, indeed. I may need to swing by that hilltop bar for a quick drink to calm my nerves.

{Anna is a German-Ukrainian collage artist, based in London. Some of her work can be found in her shop, and she is also represented by Breed in London.}

‘LOVE’ does not begin to describe how I feel about this work {acrylic & oil pastel on framed canvas}. Versace, Hermes, Ming… and those tiny pink deer. Sigh. All of these pieces are from the 2016 series, by Vancouver artist – New York based – Andy Dixon, titled “Expensive Things II”.  Yep, I want alllll of those expensive things framed and hung on my wall.

ps. Versace and Hermes are both 61″x62″, and the vases are 41″x43″  ♥

Oh. YES! “Half-finished” work gets me every time. Insane detail beside simple lines… magic. This magic happens to be taking place on mylar. Mylar! This is the absolutely gorgeous work of Toronto based artist Kristy Blackwell. I wonder if her previous life in film has anything to do with her choice in materials:

“Trained in fine art at the University of Guelph and, thereafter, in computer animation at the University of Toronto, Kristy has had an accomplished career as a digital matte painter and compositor on over 50 feature films. But Kristy’s first love is fine art and her experience creating photo-real digital images has inspired her to experiment with various traditional techniques and materials to both create and deconstruct reality on canvas or other supports.”

Note to self: pick up some mylar.

Boo! Bats, cats, and tiny little fangs that seem to glow. This is the eerily beautiful work of Baltimore based artist/illustrator Zach Montoya… I love it. And I’m kinda scared. Happy Halloween!

{ps. Some of this work is available in Zach’s shop  ///  found via Booooooom}

If you were an early adopter to the world of Etsy, you’ll know exactly who my guest is today. Yep, I’m talking to Portland based artist Ashley Goldberg! I loved her work before I even started this blog {which was almost 8 years ago}, and watched from across the interweb as she evolved into what she refers to as “Ashley 2.0″… I wanted to hear alllll of the stories that went along with that, and she told me! Weird little critters, vibrant patterns, and the positive passwords that helped her along the way. You can listen right up there under those little faces, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Ok, let’s start closer to the beginning… remember these? I love all of them, and these pieces are actually still available in Ashley’s Etsy shop:

Ah, love! Quite a few of those pieces were from the “ashley g 1.0” phase of her art career, but as 2.0 came along, so did these patterns:

Ok, I could have posted thousands of them {literally}, but I tried to control myself. Well, to a point… here are more of Ashley’s patterns out in the world! Wallpaper and bedding and teepees, oh my!

{1. Jimmy Cricket  2. Urban Outfitters  3,4,5. Land of Nod}

That teepee. I mean, come on! How cool would it be to see your work this way? Very. What about seeing your work all over your own clothes!? Even cooler:

{1,2,3. Gorman  4. Lazzari}

YES! I need that sweet “All My Little Friends” dress! I totally pictured Ashley wandering around Portland in head-to-toe “Ashley Goldberg”, but apparently it’s all black, all the time, for her. I understand. Completely.

See. Black… with just a bit of color on her paint-covered hands! I loved every second of finally getting to talk to Ashley. There are links to her karaoke choices below… yep, they paint quite a picture! Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting episode 74; thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book – it’s officially available now;  and thank YOU so much for listening every week… there will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Byeeee!

Other links:

1. Ashley’s Etsy shop
2. Ashley’s insane number of patterns on Flickr
3. Ashley’s lovely Instagram feed
4. The two karaoke songs were Biggie Smalls- Juicy (the PG version) and R Kelly ignition remix

Gorgeous paintings… control and chaos in perfect harmony. This is the work of Italian-born, Berlin-based painter Jessica Rimondi. I love all of these pieces, but that first girl in the glasses? I’m smitten. Happy Friday to you.

{Some of Jessica’s work is available at Saatchi Art}

Paintings that look like collages? LOVE! This is the work of Canadian artist Andy DeCola. As a painter he’s always been “intrigued by the constant bombardment of images we consume every day … With his current body of work, DeCola seeks to remove his previous emphasis on using found and appropriated imagery from popular culture exclusively in order to concentrate more on his conceptual goals as his artistic practice evolves.” Mission accomplished. Beautifully.

Can you tell that I couldn’t decide which I loved more? The flora or fauna… both so beautiful. This is the work of Warsaw based artist/illustrator Agata Wierzbicka. Lovely.