Botanical watercolors, cosmic moments, and rum-soaked nipple cakes. Yep, all of that and more is covered in my conversation with Oregon based artist Kiana Mosley. Her story about getting into the zone “late one night” might’ve been my favorite part. You can listen right up there under that lovely bunch of blooms, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Now, the first time I wrote about Kiana’s work, in the fall of 2013, I described her paintings as “juicy gardens”, and I’m sticking with that description. Look…

Gor. Ge. Ous. Ooh, and I love this too. She talked about using pieces that didn’t go exactly as planned, for future projects… like this stunning, bloom-filled, color explosion of an alphabet that she collaged out of painted scraps. How do I feel about it…

LOVE! Now that’s how you recycle “failed” works! And of course, I had to show this… her two prints that have just very recently become available at Target!? Oh, and look who picked one up for the White House:

What?! Yes. Ridiculously cool. Alright, and that’s that! Thanks to Kiana for those delicious nipple cakes AND for doing this interview with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and as always, thanks to you for listening… I’m on my way to Hawaii, but never fear, there will be more art for your ear launched from Maui next weekend! Until then…

Other links:

The Fig House, LA / Emily Henderson / Sweet C’s designs / ps. some of Kiana’s work is available in my online gallery

YES! Colorful, rich, jam-packed still life paintings that, honestly, make me a little bit giddy. These oil paintings are the work of American artist Anna Valdez. All of these items – plants, sweaters, blankets, scarves, books – are hers. She sets up, then paints, these very personal vignettes, giving us a beautiful glimpse into her world. Love.

Um, how am I just discovering the work of Colombian artist Ana Mercedes Hoyos? She began exhibiting in 1966 and from what I can tell from her exhibition schedule, she was still showing her work until just a few years before she passed away in 2014. Her work is vast in both medium and subject matter, but it’s these girls and their dresses that pulled on my heart strings.

Oh my goodness. This is the gorgeous work of LA based artist Elisa Johns. Some of her work is oil on canvas, and other pieces are acrylic & ink on paper… like those two snakes… who I had to make a bit smaller and put in the middle of the post so they didn’t freak me out too much. Luckily they’re flanked by blossoming acrylic/ink fireweed, so that helps. Here is Elisa’s artist statement:

I’ve written about French artist Fabien Souche before… and yes, those collages involved sausages as well. I also featured his work in my book, “Collage” … and again, meat. I just found this series of his from 2014, titled Housewifes, and well, I laughed out loud. Now if you’ll excuse me, I plan on spending the rest of the day cutting up old cookbooks.

These gorgeous pencil drawings are perfect for Monday, no? This is the lovely work of Florida based artist Katie Evans. These pieces are some of her most recent in which, “… the figures examine the limits of their surroundings, searching for the moment when the natural world meets the transcendental. It’s unclear if their endeavors are ever successful.” Yep, that sounds exactly right for a Monday.

I have been trying to convince this lady to be on the podcast since the very beginning. She said no… a lot. But I finally broke her. I love, love, love the work of Boston based Leah Giberson and so I’m thrilled that she finally said yes. Her subjects are mundane, but exquisitely so. Campers, trailers, old boats, lawn chairs from your grandparents’ yard, painted with insane detail, that truly celebrate the beauty in the everyday. You can listen right under that gorgeous, shiny airstream, or subscribe on iTunes. First up, a few of my favorite pieces just to set the mood:

Ahhh, those silver airstreams always blow my mind. All of her work is just so beautifully boring… speaking of which, here are a few photos from our trip to Chattanooga for the “Beautifully Boring” show, with Leah and New York based painter Samantha French. I love this photo of Leah in action {plus her butt looks great in this shot}.  There was a lot of “Leah Giberson” subject matter on the streets of Chattanooga:

That was such a fun trip! Next, these are a few of Leah’s older pieces… the houses, and open trailers that she talked about:

Oooh, those two trailers might be my favorites! Here are the two pieces that West Elm carried… that went absolutely crazy:

Gah! I love those too! Leah has painted a lot of lawn chairs, and some of them have even ended up on beer labels:

This is just one of the many pieces she created for New Belgium. I love them, so I purposely asked her about this project just so I’d have a reason to show them! We were also talking about how her work is evolving, and that she’s slowly becoming more interested in the mundane life reflected in the trailers instead of the actual trailers themselves:

Amazing. And finally, a glimpse into her studio. It might be small, but it is jam-packed with creative goodness:

Love! And that’s that… see, she had nothing to be nervous about. So easy. Thanks so much to Leah for answering her phone when I called, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and as always, thanks so much to YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Ah, nostalgia… with a dash of “this is the weirdest dream I’ve ever had”. I am in love with the beautifully bizarre work of American artist Alex Beck. I want to jump in that pool and head over to Jack & Ethel’s for dinner with the gang… before the elephants and ghosts show up, that is.

Oh, I do love mundane subject matter and muted palettes… enter the oil paintings (on collaged paper!) of California based artist Meghan Jean. Sigh. Nothing like finding beauty in the everyday. In fact, do that right now. Look around and find something beautiful. A shadow, a texture, an old chair that you don’t even notice anymore. Yep, we’re surrounded.

{via Fresh Paint Magazine}

Found photos, from around the world, living harmoniously in a seamless, new, and totally fictional landscape. Gorgeous. All of these pieces are from the very appropriately titled series, “The Fiction Landscapes”, by LA based J. Frede. Here is part of his very poetic artist statement about this work:

“… The visual of how well the lands meet and continue also creates a dialog about how the land beneath our feet is connected to the land beneath our loved ones feet possibly thousands of miles away. Further more it can be argued that all of the land is connected beneath all of our feet spanning continents and beyond where the divisions are not humanly perceivable. One constant line drawn below us around the globe and back to us, with a center meeting point just under our shoes in which ever direction you choose to face.”

Ahh, so true. I think I’ll go call my mom now.

{via Booooooom}