Ok, there are a couple of things you need to know about me… I love collage, and I have a weird fascination with Queen Elizabeth. So yes, I fell in love as soon as I saw this work by London based artist Adam Hale, aka @mr.splice. I already thought these collages were amazing, and then I read this little tidbit in Adam’s Instagram bio: “All work is handmade and created using London’s free magazines.”  FREE magazines! Brilliant.

ps. You can also see Adam’s process in action, by following his other Instagram account right here.

Gasp! A modest black dress transformed into a magical, crystal-covered wedding dress all thanks to a three month submersion in the Dead Sea. “Salt Bride” is the work of Tel Aviv based artist Sigalit Landau, in collaboration with her partner Yotam From. There are so many poetic elements to this work, the first being Sigalit’s connection to this water. She grew up going on family holidays to this sea and knows it well {*fyi, this dress is not the first thing she has turned into a salty gem}. Secondly, her inspiration for this piece is beautiful too:

The traditional Hasidic garment shown in the photographs is a replica of the costume worn by the female character Leah in the canonical Yiddish play, The Dybbuk, as portrayed by legendary actress Hanna Rovina for forty years with the Habima Theatre, first in Russia and then Israel.

Written by S. Ansky between 1913 and 1916, The Dybbuk tells the story of a young bride possessed by an evil spirit and subsequently exorcised. In Landau’s Salt Bride series, Leah’s black garb is transformed underwater as salt crystals gradually adhere to the fabric. Over time, the sea’s alchemy transforms the plain garment from a symbol associated with death and madness into the wedding dress it was always intended to be. ~ Marlborough Gallery, London

Amazing, and perfectly executed. There are currently eight large-scale, underwater photographs of the “Salt Bride” being exhibited at Marlborough Gallery in London. They’ll be on display until September 17th, 2016.

* A few other salt-covered objects from Sigalit’s stunning portfolio:

That bike. Love.

Gasp! So many colors, and oh so many little balls of hand-sewn goodness hanging on the wall! This is the organic/organized work of Chilean artist Serena Garcia Dalla Venezi. I can’t decide if I want to lie down on them, hang them on my wall, or eat them! Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go chew several flavors of bubblegum for breakfast.

{via Lisa Congdon on Pinterest}

Yes, if I had orchestrated these projects I’d be dancing around in circles too! Yes, projects with an ‘S’. We’re looking at not one, but TWO houses completely covered in hot pink crochet. Um, when can I move in!? This is the absolutely beautiful work of Polish-born, New York based artist Olek. The first house is in Avesta, Sweden {first house in the post}, and there is another one in Kerava, Finland {second in the post}. These interventions aren’t just beautiful though, they’re incredibly important. Here are Olek’s words about this project, and the many people who helped make it happen:

“Our pink house is about the journey, not just about the artwork itself.  It’s about us coming together as a community.  It’s about helping each other … we proved that we are stronger together, that we can make anything happen together.  People from all walks of life came together to make this project possible.  Someone donated the house, another one fixed the electricity and @redheartyarns generously donated the materials.  And of course, most importantly, many women {including Syrian and Ukrainian refugees} joined us in the effort to make my dream a reality.

… Women have the ability to recreate themselves.  No matter how low life might bring us, we can get back on our feet and start anew… We can show everybody that women can build houses, women can make homes.  In 2015 over 21 million people lost their homes due to war and conflicts in their native countries. The pink house, our pink house, is a symbol of a bright future filled with hope.  Everybody should have a home.”

Yes, yes they should ♥

{via Colossal}

Oh, this was so much fun… but painful from a technology perspective! Don’t worry, we stitched it all together so hopefully you won’t even notice {thanks Greg!}. Today I’m talking to Melbourne based artist Sandra Eterovic. She paints weird and hilarious things on wood in a folk-artish yet modern way. Sandra went from studying Art History, to designing rude underpants, to making the scary jump to full-time artist… let’s just say her inner critic had an opinion about that. Anyway, you can listen right up there under that amazing pizza t-shirt, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

So, let’s start with a few of my painted cut-wood favorites:

Marlboro. So awesome. Speaking of awesome… paintings on vintage ping pong paddles? YES!

Oh I love them so much… not to mention the salami and lemon growing off that vine! ♥

Up next, the gorgeous cover that Sandra did for Australia’s Frankie Magazine – and a shot of her page in their 2015 calendar:

So cool!

Now, let’s talk art prizes. The piece below, with all of the crazy t-shirts, titled “Read My Mind”, is the piece that Sandra has in the run for the R&M McGivern Prize. $25,000. Yeah. Just think of all of the wooden t-shirts she could make with that! If you’re in Melbourne on September 16th, go and vote for her! It’s a people’s choice award, so let’s get this done people! Here’s her painting, followed by a few of her other ‘funny things on shirts’ paintings that I love:

Come at me bro! HAHAHA! I love that one.

Ok, so in the not so speedy speed round, Sandra said she’d rather be a mermaid than a unicorn. This painting instantly popped into my head… I knew Sandra had painted a mermaid before. Here she is in the form of a sassy tattoo/scarf:

Ok, I’d want to be a mermaid too. And finally, I really wanted to include a photo of Sandra herself so you could see who you were listening to! Here she is in her lovely home {photo via The Design Files}:

Beautiful… Sandra, her work, this conversation, all of it! A lot of her work can be found in her shop, so pop over and pick something up … a flower-covered ping pong paddle perhaps! Thanks so much to Sandra for bearing with me through our technical difficulties, and for being so open and honest. Thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the 66th episode, and thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book! To preorder a copy for FREE just use my fancy link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator. And finally, THANK YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Design Files 
2. Frankie Magazine
3. Craft Victoria
4. R&M McGivern Prize, Melbourne
5. Elizabeth Gilbert’s TEDTalk
6. Martha Rich
7. Lisa Congdon

People snipped and cut from their original environments and placed in front of giant crystals, on snowy mountain sides, and deep in outer space… yes, that sounds like collage to me, but these are paintings! This is the work of Australian painter Anna Di Mezza. She says “… the paintings invite the viewer to make up the plot in their own mind as if the images were taken from a frame from a surreal film.” Um, yep! Happy storytelling, and happy Friday.

{Her work is available on Saatchi Art}

What? A “Tell Truth Magic Rope” included too? Yeah, I’m going to need this in my collection. Ok, I don’t have an action figure collection, but if I did, this crazy little Wonder Woman would be the STAR! This is the fantastic and hilarious work of LA based artist/illustrator Mark Todd. All of these pieces, and many more, are in a new show that opens tomorrow night, September 2nd 8pm – 11pm, at  La Luz de Jesus in LA {4633 Hollywood Blvd}. The show is called “Covered” … here’s the gallery’s description:

“Todd reinterprets comics from his youth, as well as earlier, iconic ‘ultimate collectors items”. Most of the pieces in this show are based on these types of desirable comics, such as number ones in the series, or the first appearance of a character which were often unobtainable for a young, comic obsessed Todd and his small weekly allowance. In Covered he keeps his interpretations of these covers closer to the source than in previous shows, channeling a combination of confidence with playful naivety, injecting humor with purposeful “mistakes” such as misspelled text and truncated sentences.”

So awesome! If you can go, GO. The show will be up until October 2nd.

ps. I don’t have any Star Wars collectibles in my non-existent collection either, so clearly I’ll need to add a limited edition Mark Todd “CHEWBACK” to my list:

So. Good!

Ok, I may have gotten a little out of control with this post… but I dare you to visit the site and/or Instagram feed of Australia based artist Leonie Barton and NOT get completely lost in her work. I’ve been following this daily series for quite a while and thought that the last day of August might just be the perfect time to write about these nature-inspired beauties. Can you imagine strolling along the beach to find one of these? Sticks, shells, bits of plastic, rusty bottle caps – turned from beach debris into beautifully composed art pieces. Here are Leonie’s words about this body of work:

“The current ephemeral works and sculpture in the galleries are a continuation and a variation on, a years long daily discipline of creating an artwork regardless of circumstance, weather or location and using only materials from the ground, found in the moment… left behind for others to experience.”

Gorgeous. See you in September.

{Any work on her site can be ordered as a print. Just reach out to her at: leonie@leoniebarton.com}

It’s very rare for me to write about digital work, but boy oh boy, I do love the way this lady stretches a pixel! I wrote about American artist Frances Berry in 2013. I just discovered her most recent series, titled “Lines We Live By”, and had to write a new post immediately! Everyday vintage scenes in candy colored goodness stretched with modern techniques. Loooooove.

Pearl encrusted, underwater beauties… so lovely in a strange, magical, ghostly mermaid kind of way. All of these haunting hand-sewn sculptures are from a series, titled “Full Fathom Five”, by New Jersey based artist Tasha Lewis. Here are her words about this project:

“With these works, I imagine the decay or “sea change” described by Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest:

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

In these portraits, time on the ocean floor has replaced their eyes with pearls and thread and they are everywhere encrusted with beads.”

Sigh. Happy Monday.