Oh, yes! I want to swing on those swings, under those lights, surrounded by bizarre, large-scale, carousel-inspired creatures! I mentioned a pre-release print from this show a few weeks ago, but now Joyride, a new solo exhibition by Minneapolis based artist Jennifer Davis is open for business! I absolutely love every piece in this show, and I’m particularly excited about this because almost two years ago, I was sitting on a warm patio in Minneapolis having a post GIRL CRUSH dinner with Jennifer, and she told me that she was waiting to find out about a grant… a grant that would allow her to do a road trip to a bunch of US cities, that were famous for their old carousels, so that she could gather inspiration/source materials to do a huge, whimsical, solo show. A few days after I left, she sent me an email… yep, she got the grant ♥

* This show will be up at Public Functionary, in Minneapolis, until April 25th. That means you can swing on swings this weekend if you want to… Go!

Oh, Jennifer Davis. I have written about her so many times, she was the host artist for GIRL CRUSH Minneapolis, and she’s one of the artists in CREATIVE BLOCK. And, if all of those things weren’t enough, now she’s got an amazingly beautiful new show, Joyride, that opens tomorrow night at Public Functionary {7pm- midnight} in Minneapolis. Huge 4’x4′ pieces all inspired by vintage carousels… gorgeous! Jennifer traveled all over the US to gather images & inspiration for this body of work, and tomorrow night it will finally be revealed… well, except that I’m going to let one piece leak today! Yep, this gorgeous horse print will go on sale tomorrow at noon (CST). Here’s the info:

And here’s the link to purchase, but remember, you can’t buy until Saturday at high noon! NEIGH!!!! {that was meant to be a horse sound… hm.}

I’ll be taking a little break this summer… not from here {I’ll still be here every day}, but I will be taking a tiny vacay from guest posting, just until September, so I wanted to say:

Ok. I have to admit, it’s really hard to stop!

I’m slightly addicted to my ART GOES HERE posts on Victoria Smith’s lovely site, SFGirlByBay.com. I’ve already started pinning minimal rooms to “hang” art in come fall – oh, and if you have any spaces you think I should use, let me know!

And, I absolutely love doing the affordable ART ROUNDUPS on Emily Henderson’s amazing blog, StyleByEmilyHenderson.com. I’ve heard from so many of you that you’ve bought pieces because of that series, and I cannot tell you how much that thrills me!!! But…

… after an insanely busy year {moving, renovating, two books, traveling for GIRL CRUSH, curating two shows, not to mention my graphic design business} I’ve decided to really slooooooooow things down for the summer. I have a little boy who needs me to jump into lakes with him – how can I say no to that! So, Victoria and Emily {and your amazing readers!}, thank you so so so much for letting me be part of your world! I’ll miss you like crazy, and see you all in September  xo

{artwork: 1. Plates by Little Owl Design 2. Paintings by Maz Dixon}

Ah, this is where it all began… a joke that I made on sfgirlbybay about hosting a tea party using gorgeous dishware designed by artist Alyson Fox. Five GIRL CRUSH art workshop + tea parties later, and I’m on my way to Austin {at the airport as we speak} to co-host GIRL CRUSH Austin with Alyson!

Now, it turns out that she is not only an insanely talented artist/designer {see everything above? yep.}, but also an amazing cook … so she’s making our fancy lunch herself! All of the sweet treats for the afternoon tea party are being generously baked and donated by Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop {who just happen to be recent winners on Cupcake Wars!}. Now, if all of that wasn’t fantastic enough, guess who my “helper” is for the day? Kelly from Design Crush is making her way down from Oklahoma City to help me with all of the tiny details that go into making GIRL CRUSH happen. Yep, this is gonna be GOOD.

Alyson’s beautiful home studio. Amazing women sharing their creative struggles & triumphs. Sugar. A truck load of art supplies.

See you on the other side.

Ah, yes… it’s that time of year again! I’m off to Salt Lake City today, for Altitude Design Summit {affectionately known as Alt}. I’ve got my stripes, a bit of glitter, and a whole stack o’ business cards! I’ve spoken at Alt the past two years, and this year I’ll be on a panel called “Building Offline Events” – Friday at 10:30am. I’m thrilled to be sharing the stage with three amazing ladies: Laura Mayes of Blog con Queso/Go Mighty/Mom2.0 , Megan Gilger of The Fresh Exchange , and Stacey Ferguson of Justice Fergie/Blogalicious. My part of it will be covering a few helpful tips and tricks that I’ve learned hosting GIRL CRUSH over the past year. ie., make sure you have vegan options for breakfast, when the host artist is vegan {Right, Lisa?}!!!

Anyway, I’ll be on twitter, instagram, and Facebook while I’m gone, and back here with regular posts on Monday. If you don’t hear from me, I’m probably covered in glitter and trapped in a photobooth! Don’t worry – I’ll be ok in there.

{Photo by Janette Crawford ~ my roomie from 2011, and roomie again this year!}

This is the work of one of my favorite ceramic artists ever… Amanda Smith. If you’re not familiar with her usual work, have a look at this post I wrote about her in my Girl Crush series on sfgirlbybay (go now, and then come right back!)

Great, yes!? Ok, so this is a new body of work by Amanda, that she is selling in her very affordable Etsy shop, called CLAY  MATTER:

Love, love, love! It’s like little characters from her ceramic slab narratives have ventured off on their own… so sweet/very weird! I wrote about her in 2009 , and she is one of the artists featured in my book {are you picking up on how much I love her work?} But wait, there’s more… ceramic rings? Yes. Ceramic rings:

♥

{ps. everything in this post is between $25 – $62… seriously!}

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!

I am waking up in Philadelphia this morning, getting ready for tomorrow’s GIRL CRUSH with the lovely Shauna Alterio {where amazing things will happen!}, and I thought it was appropriate to feature a Philly-born* artist for the weekend post! Enter the hand-lettering work of  Mary Kate McDevitt… so fun, so charming, and her color choices are fantastic! Can I get a HIGH 5? Nice!

* Mary Kate is now based in Portland, but then this post wouldn’t have been quite as timely!

Pencil, gouache, and paper on panel… and a few unsightly blemishes on the horizon made beautiful. Seriously… have you ever seen such lovely power lines? This is the work of American artist Rebecca Rothfus. I have loved her paintings for a long time, and I’m so excited to find out that I’ll get to meet her next April {she’s coming to GIRL CRUSH Austin, hosted by me and Alyson Fox!}.

Now, I won’t be in Austin until next spring, but if you’re there right now, you can see Rebecca’s work at grayDUCK Gallery, from June 15th ~ July 15th, 2012.

I just got back from a fantastically fun weekend in Minneapolis, for GIRL CRUSH with the lovely Jennifer Davis {recap post coming soon!}. Jen had a long list of amazing artists from Minnesota that she wanted me to see, and am I ever glad she showed me! One of my favorites was St.Paul based artist Julie Buffalohead. Wolves, unicorns, and raccoons in tutus… um, how could I not love her work!