Pretty porcelain ladies with tattoos fit for a sailor… YES! This is the work of Scottish artist Jessica Harrison, and it’s currently showing in Paris at Galerie L.J. The show runs until June 24th, so if you’re lucky enough to be in Paris this Spring you really should pop by… on your way to a Parisian tattoo parlor, perhaps!

{via Colossal}

LINT. These gorgeous portraits are made with lint. On canvas. For real. I thought I should just mention that out of the gate, before I started talking about these fantastic, blurred/mirrored portraits by Toronto based artist Tonya Corkey. They are from her incredibly beautiful/linty series titled See you in the future. Now, you’re probably wondering, “why lint?”, “what’s it all about?”… well, wonder no more:

“Being within the discourse of painting, craft and photography, my work investigates an unavoidable aspect of human nature, the desire to seek memories.  The series, “See You In the Future.” investigates the role that the photograph’s referent plays in memory and its loss over time.

My work hybridizes the discarded material of lint with the second hand image – the iconic school photograph – to conceptualize my interests. Materiality conceptually layers the work. As a byproduct of society, lint consists of fibers, hair, dead skin and other debris, and thus directly referencing people and their daily activity. Lint and cast off photographs are both discarded materials – materials that reflect the idea of a decaying memory. Our desire for memory in absence is triggered by sensations of smell and touch, a trait of my work. The void spaces of raw canvas in works such as, “Unknown #1”are intended to reflect memory, described through the standing out of key features: the eyes, mouth and hair. The viewer’s mind fills in these void spaces in the same way a photograph would.” ~ Tonya Corkey

So cool! Oh, and ps. there are also non-mirrored portraits in this series that I love just as much:

Love.

{Thanks to the Alison Milne Gallery in Toronto for pointing me to their insane list of artists!}

I have loved the work of California based artist Elsa Mora for ages {and she writes an amazing art blog where I often find the most fabulous ceramics}. I’ve written about Elsa’s ceramics before, but just found this gorgeous Frida Kahlo painted paper doll in her unbelievable portfolio of amazingness! So narrative, so beautiful, and really really FUN! I think Frida would have loved this too… it might have even made her want to dance:

You can buy the paper doll here, and a print of this piece here. Happy weekend to you!

So, I have a major thing for portraits… but more often than not it’s portraits of women that I write about. Well, when I stumbled across these paintings by Paris based artist Lou Ros I found myself totally drawn to the pinky-hued, goggle-wearing men in his portfolio {I think they might be self-portraits}. Sort of strange, and totally beautiful at the same time. Oh, and also, who doesn’t love a good mustache, am I right?

So sweet, so pretty! This is the work of Montreal based artist/illustrator Isabelle Arsenault. The first two pieces are in her regular portfolio, but the last four pieces are from her sketchbook… sketchbook?! I love it when I find sketchbooks that could be framed and hung! Gorgeous!

ps. It happens to be my birthday today, so I have to include this piece too… that’s going to be me all day!!!

Whoa. Teeny tiny bits of torn and pasted photo on paper. This is the meticulous work of Korean born, New Jersey based artist Keun Young Park. I do not know how she has the patience to create masterpiece after masterpiece… absolutely stunning.

{Thanks to Jeanne for the link to this work}

LOVE! These papery Dr.Suess-esque leaves and pokey cacti make me want to get knee-deep in neon paint and paper-maché paste… so colorful, so tactile, so fantastic! This is the work of collaborative duo Adam Frezza and Terri Chiao. They’ve been working together since 2011, “exploring play and craft across a range of media” … which includes not only these crazy plants, but also things like their pancake prints for example! Hilarious!

{found a FB post by Sandrine Kerfante}

YAY! I cannot believe I found this! Two years ago I was rushing through the Portland airport and was stopped in my tracks by this amazing installation. I quickly looked at the artist’s name printed on the glass and tried to commit it to memory as I ran for my flight… and then I forgot. Well, thank goodness for Pinterest, because yesterday morning I was drinking coffee and scrolling through the art section, and voila… textile jellyfish floating peacefully in a giant glass tank! I now know that this is the work of Japanese born, Iowa based artist Sayuri Sasaki Hemann. These gorgeous fabric jellyfish, and felted anemones {is that what those are called?} were part of a huge installation at the Portland airport in 2012, titled “Underwater Flight”. It really did look like a huge, magical aquarium… so peaceful, so delicate, amazing.

I wrote about Brooklyn based {Manila born} artist/illustrator Monica Ramos almost exactly one year ago… and then I saw these new, tropical jungle pools and I had to write again! This work was part of a group show in Copenhagen, titled Just Swim, that came down on Monday {sorry!}. I saw these three pieces late last week on The Artful Desperado and haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since. Turquoise waters, navy blue palm leaves, and an innocent skinny dip with some friendly tigers {at least I hope they’re friendly!}… how’s a gal supposed to stop thinking about that!?

I’ve written about LA based photographer Stephanie Vovas a lot over the years. Last fall I included some of her always sassy, 1960s B-movie-esque work in the show I hung at The Fig House, and I’m thrilled that she’s also one of the artists featured in my book. When we finally met in person last November, it was friends at first sight! Speaking of amazing soul-sisters in LA, I also met my now very dear friend Autumn Reeser a couple of years ago, thanks to twitter. She’s a fantastic actor {Hawaii 5-0, Last Resort, Entourage, The OC…} and founder of Move LifeStyle. Anyway, being the matchmaker that I am, I just knew that these two fabulous, fun, beautiful, talented, LA based women had to meet, and obviously, do a shoot… and they did! Here are the very sultry, very vintage results of a day they spent together this past March:

See! I knew they’d make magic! … and then, well, I may have found my way in front of Stephanie’s camera for a minute or two as well. Ready? Oh boy, here we go…

I got Vovas’d! So fun, but also really weird to get that much attention… we had our hair transported back to the 60’s by the lovely Nicole, our smokey makeup applied by the always fabulous Stephen, and then of course, Stephanie and her camera transformed us into vintage bombshells! Autumn made it look so easy, and I did my best. Stephanie also caught a little bit of “behind-the-scenes” action, which was fantastic as it mainly involved playing with Autumn’s sweet little boys:

It was an amazing day spent with a group of truly lovely people, who I am so happy to call my friends. Thanks for taking me along on this very glamorous ride!

ps. Also, I got to hold that lil peanut for a reallllllly long time! ♥