On fire, indeed! That’s a detail of a quilt… a  QUILT, by Minneapolis based artist {and hilarious story teller} Terrence Payne. I had him on the podcast almost 70 episodes ago, but when I discovered that he’d put his oil pastels down for a moment, and traded them in for a sewing machine, well, I had to have him back on. AND, I had dinner with him when I was in Wisconsin last fall, and I laughed so hard I almost broke something. He has some stories, let’s just say that. Quick warning though, there is swearing in this episode, so if you have kids around you may want to pop in some headphones instead. Seriously. I was going to bleep him, but it took away from the insanity of his stories. You’ll see what I mean. Anyway, back to ART! You can listen right up there under the close-up of one of Terrence’s fire quilts, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First up, a refresher from episode no.71 … a few of my favorites! I love his large-scale oil pastel drawings, especially the text pieces:

BOOM!

Ok, that of course leads into why we’re here today. This pentagram drawing is one that Terrence is known for, and then look what I caught a glimpse of while scrolling through Instagram:

What!? A quilt version of the drawing!? I thought someone had paid an homage to him… nope, TERRENCE MADE A QUILT.

Well, he got hooked and is currently working on 12 quilts for an opening at his gallery, Rosalux, at the beginning of May. Here’s where he is so far:

His drawings in textile form! I thought this was his first foray into the world of fabric stores etc, but no. Here is a 2008 installation that he did with fellow Minneapolis-based artist Amy Rice. It was titled, “Nest : An Exhibition of Living” and took place in a very cool lookin’ house:

Ahhh, I wish this was still around so I could live in it. Beautiful.

Also beautiful, Terrence’s “knots”… both the original pastel drawing AND the wallpaper version by Hygge & West:

So pretty. {I have a chunk of this framed in my studio}.

Ok, and another interior collaboration… Terrence Payne + Target:

Again, gorgeous! Quite amazing how he can blend his work about “dystopian societies” so beautifully with commercial projects!

Oh, and I just had to throw this in, because at the end of the day, I was super proud of this show! This is a little peek into “Open Door 13” that I was invited to curate at Rosalux Gallery in December 2017:

Seriously, that dog. But wait, there’s one more dog you need to meet:

Oh, Dottie! So sweet. And Terrence, hard at work… someone should make him a quilt to lie on too. Thanks so much to Terrence for doing this with me {again}, and for telling me all of the stuff and things! Huge thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thank YOU for listening. There will be more Art For Your Ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Rosalux Gallery, Minneapolis
2. Terrence on Instagram
3. Amy Rice, Artist
4. Ben Venom, Artist
5. Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis
6. Tonya Corkey, Episode no.75
7. Hygge & West (Wallpaper Co.)

Ahhhh, the dreamy work of Portland based painter Lisa Golightly. I have written about her work five zillion times – but what can I say – I like to keep on eye on what she’s doing, because it’s always absolutely lovely! Fading memories captured in their half-remembered goodness – and her palettes? Well, they’re everything you hope a summer day might be. {Visit Lisa’s Instagram feed to see what she’s working on. I do!} Happy Friday.

Gasp! All of my favorite things in one place … that palette, a touch of art history, portraits of women, and of course, just the perfect amount of weirdness. These oil on linen paintings are the work of Spanish artist Lino Lago. They are from his series titled “Fake Abstract”… and if you happen to be in Copenhagen TODAY you could go to the opening of a group show that he’s in. Find your way to Bredgade Kunsthandel gallery, and voila!

{Via Colossal}

Annnnnnd, inhale. This is the gorgeous work of Taiwanese artist Chih-Hung Kuo. As you can see, I had to include those close-ups… the brushstrokes, lines, color choices… annnnnnd, exhale. Now, mountains are not exactly a rare subject, but this artist statement {found on Aki Gallery’s site} about his latest body of work, titled “The Study of Landscape”, does a deep dive into the ideas behind these paintings… or studies of paintings… or mountain studies… or paintings of mountains.

{via Miss Moss}

Imagine having such elaborate, fantastical daydreams that you’d rather spend your life lost in your imagination than living in reality. Enter “maladaptive daydreaming”, a psychiatric condition, and the topic of this lovely animation created by Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Lily Padula for an episode of NPR’s Invisibilia {Invisibilia is one of my favorite podcasts, so when I saw this piece from Lily in my submissions inbox, well, I jumped at the chance to write about it!} The episode/piece is titled, “When Daydreaming Gets In The Way Of Real Life”, and voila, here it is. Enjoy…

Beautiful and sad and wonderful.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered to win this BOSS BOOK! The name I pulled this morning: Francie of fossesayshi.com! Congratulations, Francie… it’s time to be BOSS! And, huge congratulations to Emily and Kathleen on an amazing, successful, and exciting launch week xo

………………..

Oh, yes, yes, YES. Being Boss: Take Control of Your Work and Live Life On Your Own Terms … yep, this is the brand new book by Kathleen Shannon and Emily Thompson. You might know them from their brilliant podcast titled, you guessed it, Being Boss. I have known these amazing, entrepreneurial women for years {we all met at Alt Summit a looooong time ago}, and I could not be more excited for them. Today, on April 10th, their first book hits shelves worldwide!  This book puts all of their podcast episodes, personal insights, and in-the-trenches experience into a tidy {beautifully designed} package. Emily and Kathleen have put everything into this book… they give amazing/easy to follow advice on getting focused on what you want, mapping your goals, and thankfully, they talk a lot about how to stop freaking out about money … and selling yourself without shame! Amen. They also invited me to do a little Q&A on the ins and out of self-doubt and, of course, I said “yes!”

So… guess what? Running Press, the publisher of this lovely book, has given me one copy to give away to one person who’s ready to be BOSS. I’m guessing that’s you! Leave a comment below and I’ll draw one name on Friday April 13th. Good luck! ps. Or… just go buy the book right now! 

Ok. I need everything that Australian artist Laurie Melia makes… but that coffee cup? It is literally screaming “MONDAY MORNING” at me right this very second. Hilarious, beautifully made, and just enough weirdness to warm my art-loving heart. Happy Monday.

ps. Laurie’s work sells super fast, so keep an EYE {get it} on her Instagram feed for new work {and on her shop to click BUY}.

Smoking baby doll. Yep, crazy. This was such a fun episode, but it wasn’t the normal format. I had my questions ready for Canadian ceramics artist Susannah Montague, but she had a list for me too! Why the shake-up? Well, I was not in my pillow fort studio for this one… we were LIVE at Club Kwench in Victoria, BC {photos below}. So, we talked about everything – from her movie-prop-making days to her beautiful twins who were the wonderful miracle of IVF… hence the baby dolls and blastocyst bubbles! Listen right up there under that “sweet” baby, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First, those beautiful baby bubbles I was just mentioning:

Stunning. Susannah’s level of detail blows my mind. Flowers, skulls, and … belugas:

I was so happy to finally have a chance to ask her what all of these tiny tidbits are about, and of course, I should have known the answer. Susannah is inspired by the Dutch Vanitas … beauty through decay and the inevitability of death… so enjoy the now!

Speaking of death, how about a couple of beautiful porcelain ghosts connected by their life-breath, as if to say “we are all one, we are all connected”:

See? This is why I said “crazy” so many times! CRAZY. Look at that bunnicorn on the left!

And of course, I have to show the process for these ghostly beauties. FYI, people who cast their children in the name of art, well, you know they mean business:

Love, love, love! Don’t you want to spend a day in her gorgeous Bowen Island studio? Be careful though… she might cast you!

Ok, and then it was my turn. The first question Susannah asked me was about my new book… and yes, I could talk about it FOREVER:

A BIG IMPORTANT ART BOOK… Now with Women! Seriously, I could not be more proud of this project. I hope there are many more volumes to come! {It will be on shelves on Oct 2, but you can preorder it now if you wanna.} So, those last two photos above are my “book nook”, both the interior and exterior view : )

Next, just a few of my mixed media collages:

The top-most image was the first piece I ever did in this series {that I started just over two years ago}, and the final piece is the one that Susannah owns! It is titled, “BARB AND CANDICE WERE LIKE TOTALLY NAILING THIS WHOLE LIFE / BALANCE THING.”

And here we are – recording live – at the sun-filled, dreamy, creative space that is Club Kwench:

HA! That’s me, Susannah, and Tessa {the dynamo behind Kwench}, chugging a little Creative Juice XXX! Can you believe Susannah made those for us a few days before the event!? I didn’t make anything for anyone. Oh, and I had to include a shot of the lovely little Liz-inspired bud vase that she made for me last year. Isn’t it gorgeous? Now I have two pieces by Susannah, so I guess that means I owe her one of mine! Thank you so much to Susannah, her super sweet twins, Tessa at Club Kwench, our fabulous audio guys Andrew Lloyd and Nick Francis, and the lovely live audience. Without that giant list of people, this sunny Sunday event wouldn’t have happened. AND, this podcast wouldn’t happen without the support of Saatchi Art, Thrive Mastermind, and YOU. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Emily Carr University of Art & Design
2. Thrive Mastermind
3. Club Kwench, Victoria 
4. Sound by: Andrew Lloyd and Nick Francis
5. Seymour Gallery, Vancouver {her show is up until Apr 14}
6. Susannah on Instagram
7. Madrona Gallery, Victoria
8. Amanda Smith, episode no.6
9. Wayne White, episode no. 30
10. Tina Berning, episode no.68
11. My art site / My art Instagram feed
12. Running Press {preorder the book today!}

Gasp! Giant makeup? Yes, except that they’re paintings {acrylic paint on shaped canvas}. I don’t know about you, but I could lose several hours just browsing the shelves of a makeup shop – the colors, shapes, palettes, glittery, matte, neutrals, neons and the list goes on. It’s like an art supply shop… for your face. Well, Geneva based multi-disciplinary artist Sylvie Fleury has taken this one giant step further:

Fleury has long been interested in the way the makeup industry discards the “new,” mere months after a long and extensive research process into textures, colors, and names. The attributes the cosmetics industry takes into consideration when developing a product, Fleury argues, are not dissimilar to those an artist may consider when creating a new body of work. But while makeup is wiped clean nightly, art is meant to exist for eternity. {via Contemporary Art Daily}

Brilliant. ps. That’s Sylvie with two of her pieces at Salon 94 in New York.

Flowers at nighttime on paper … sigh. This is the dreamy/eery work of Brooklyn based artist Jenn Dierdorf. I love her palettes, loose strokes, and don’t even get me started on those grey-scale bouquets. I discovered Jenn’s work because we’re in a group show together! Yep, the lovely and talented artist/curator Kirstin Lamb assembled a show, titled “Bouquet”, that is currently hanging at The Yard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The opening party is on April 18th {5:30-8pm}, so if you’d like to come and see a whole bunch of flower-inspired works by ten flower-loving artists, then RSVP right here.