And the winner is ….. Jamie Lee Osborne! Thank you so much to everyone that entered! It is a gorgeous, helpful, advice-filled book so if you see it on bookshelves during your holiday shopping, GRAB IT! 

………………………………………

What!? American collage artist Hollie Chastain wrote AND illustrated a book! Oh my word, this is who you want to learn your ‘collage how-tos’ from. It’s filled cover to cover with mixed media techniques, step-by-step instructions, inspirational bits ‘n pieces, AND a whole bunch of lovely paper at the back to get you started. And guess what… yep, I have one to give to one of you! Just leave a comment below and I’ll draw one lucky name on Friday November 24th. Anyone from anywhere can enter… good luck, and happy Monday!

ps. If you can’t wait for the draw, “If You Can Cut, You Can Collage”, hit shelves last week! Find it right here.

Ok, I’ll be the first to admit I may have spun out of control on this one. It was NOT my fault though … ArtSnacks put a white acrylic pen AND a “liquid chrome” marker in this month’s mystery art supplies box, and that was only two of the items!?!?  I innocently decided to try them on black/grey pages, you know, just to see how they looked, flowed, etc. … that’s the last thing I remember :

RIGHT!??! Markers I can color with OR turn into watercolor magic, a pencil that goes on like butter, tiny YUPO papers that also feel a bit like butter, and then yes… the liquid chrome and white acrylic. Not to get too cliquey, but I’m voting those two “most popular” this year. SO. GOOD.

The holidays are fast approaching. so if you want to get in on the December box {for yourself or a friend or yourself}, sign up by November 30. Order one month at a time or sign up for 3 months, 6 months, or a full year… whatever works for you. Click here for all of the ins and outs. ps. enter coupon code ‘thejealouscurator’ and you’ll receive 10% off your first month of ArtSnacks.

In the November box: Molotow Liquid Chrome Marker – 1mm; Amsterdam Titanium White Acrylic Marker – 2mm; Caran d’Ache Grafwood Pencil; Tombow TwinTone Dual-Tip Markers (2);YUPO Medium Mini Paper Pad by Legion Paper; AND a roll of SweeTarts! Mmmm. 

Today is all about graphite drawings and animals… and ceramics, jewelry, stone masonry, teaching, free art, TV shows, celebrity chefs, leprechauns, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I’m talking to Northern Ireland based artist Lee Boyd. You can listen right under those elegant rabbits, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Let’s start with the piece Lee made based on my photo taken in Venice this summer, because, well, I could look at images of Venice all day loooooong:

Isn’t that great!? Even better and more blush-inducing is his reason for choosing the panther:

“Curiosity satisfied” : Awhile back I spent some time searching out sources of inspiration and found the interviews of artists by The Jealous Curator. She gathered together an array of artists from around the world and asked the questions, and the answers were my company as I created my own work in the studio. Not long ago she posted a picture on Instagram of herself in Venice and I took the opportunity to create this artwork after contacting her for her permission to use it. The phrase “curiosity killed the the cat and satisfaction brought it back” was the perfect anecdote for the composition but rather than any cat, I chose a stronger feline – a black panther – hunting out her passion for art.

So, amazing! I will treasure this forever.

Next up, these images are from the first post I wrote about Lee, Easter 2015:

I may or may not be obsessed with his rabbit drawings.

Oh, and this! These are the shipment container studios he was talking about, aka Project 24. How amazing is this:

I would happily have people wander by and stare in at me … like the panther that I am!

Speaking of cats, this is the drawing that greatly disturbed a woman who had been peeking into Lee’s studio:

… and of course, Sophie herself. Look at that ninja attitude… yep, she could easily take out an aye-aye.

Ok, so from cats to a male chauvinist pig hitting on a swan at the pub:

Leave her alone… she’s clearly not interested.

So, it turns out that Lee did have another {non-nude} aye-aye in his portfolio! And, in case you aren’t familiar with the weird cuteness living in the trees of Madagascar, a real photo of an aye-aye too:

Gah! I need one!

Next, Saatchi Art invites various people to curate collections from time to time. Singer Carly Rae Jepson put a grouping together and chose one of Lee’s works. Rabbits. See I’m not the only one obsessed with them:

Excellent choice, Carly.

Ok, I love this … “SHOW ME THE MONET!”. This is the BBC show that Lee was on. The stories about this were so funny, from falling through the set door to likening the female judge to a duck. Oh, Lee…

The black rabbit, aka his self portrait, was the piece featured on the show and, no surprise, it made it into the final exhibition. I love the meaning behind those empty Ikea shelves. So smart. ps. that final photograph above is from the home of celebrity chef Peter Gordon who ended up buying that drawing! 

And finally, Lee’s new portrait series that he has just embarked on. Portraits of people, with just a hint of animal. Here he is in action:

Beautiful. That’s Lee’s partner, Andrea, and her reflection as a rabbit. Sigh. Gorgeous. Thank you so much to Lee for telling us his hilarious stories, and for giving such insightful advice; thanks to Saatchi Art for not only supporting the episode but also supporting artists far and wide; and of course, thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Saatchi Art (yay!)
2. Project 24, Ireland
3. David Kassan’s Art Crit Academy
4. Carly Rae Jepson’s picks on Saatchi Art
5. “Lee Boyd : One to Watch” on Saatchi Art
6. Peter Gordon, Chef
7. Lee on Instagram

Oh yes! I love these weird, fabric-draped collages by Netherlands based artist Nicola Kloosterman. I wrote about her in early 2016 when she was just starting to work with collage. I loved those pieces, but even more, I love that she’s continuing to push herself and her style. Three cheers for found image collage!!! Happy Friday : )

When writing about Vancouver based artist Bobbie Burgers, one must always include an image to show scale… wowza! I’ve written about Bobbie before, have had her on my podcast, and I’m currently writing about her in my new book! All that said, I just had to share some of her latest paintings. Mostly known for her yellow, red, and blue work, these black-ish pieces stopped me in my tracks. Bobbie is not solely interested in “florals”, she’s interested in “the process of decay, transformation, and metamorphosis”. Yep, some of the most beautiful decay, ever.

{Her work is available through Equinox Gallery in Vancouver}

Oh my word, so gorgeous! Chairs that have been stretched and pulled from furniture into art… that you can still sit on. This is the work of Amsterdam based artist/designer Sebastian Brajkovic. Where did this idea come from? I’ll let him tell you:

[His] interest in the rotation and skewing of an object originated from his childhood, when reel-to-reel tape decks and car wheels were such a source of overwhelming intrigue to the young Brajkovic that his parents wondered if he might be autistic (he was not).

Yep, I guess the heart wants what the heart wants… and for some, the heart wants hours of intriguing reel-to-reels ‘n wheels!

I am in absolute awe of everything Iraqi born, LA based artist Hayv Kahraman creates. The first piece above, for example, is titled “Strip Search”. Beautiful, powerful, personal, chill-inducing … all of it. These pieces are just a few of the works from her 2015-2016  “Audible Inaudible” series. Here are her words about this work:

“Audible Inaudible is a term keyed by ethnomusicologist Martin J Daughtry where the violent sounds of war become muted by its auditors as a mechanism for survival.

I have multiple memories that involve the terrifying sound of the air raid siren so I started the research in how to translate a sonic memory into object. This lead me to Martin’s a book titled “Listening to War, Sound, Music and Survival in Wartime Iraq” where he describes an interview with a mother shielding her children from the violent sounds of war by holding them tight and pressing her arms against their ears. Her body, her flesh then acted as a perfect, natural micro environment to protect her children. I wanted to mimic this concept of “flesh as defense” so I introduced pyramid acoustic foam in the paintings; a material that “detains” sound. I started surgically cutting my linen and pushing the foam through it from the back. As it was penetrating the surface I felt as if I was conducting an operation of resistance. These calculated cuts and wounds were enabling the painting to breathe. Inhaling and exhaling it was reacting, resisting, defending and accepting these sonic wounds.”

Speechless.

Terrifyingly beautiful! How have I just discovered the work of Ireland based, um, “ThreadStories”. Ok, so her real name is a bit of a mystery, which is probably the point. Anyone who specializes in making weird and wonderful knitted masks has to love a good secret. Now I just have to play matchmaker between her and Erik Mark Sandberg… THAT would be a gorgeous, creepy, mysterious, ah-mazing collaboration!

ps. all of her work is on her Instagram feed. Careful, you might lose track of time over there.

Who wants to come to ‘Walkyland’ with me today? Yes, I’m so thrilled to be talking to Swedish born, London based artist and illustrator Monika Forsberg! You can listen right under those lovely ducks, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First up, this link to “Mummy Needs Gin“, a hilarious animation she did for Channel 4 in England. So, so good! Also good… some of Monika’s pieces I wrote about a few years ago:

Yep, still love ’em!

Ok, we got right into it {well, after talking about dogs and stuff}. Here are just a few of the collaborations she’s done with some very big brands. No.1: Anthropology:

Oh, I love that swan pillow. Next collab… Monika’s patterns walking the runway for Australian brand, Gorman:

A post shared by monika forsberg (@monika_forsberg) on Sep 6, 2017 at 11:02pm PDT

That would be surreal… to see your drawings walking down a runway?! Also surreal… getting a call from Valentino! Here are a few of the hearts she did for their Hong Kong store:

Not only was the turn-around time on that project insanely fast, she was also planning her youngest son’s birthday party over the same few days. And her oven was broken. Mummy needs gin, indeed.

These next whimsical pieces are just a handful of the gems she’s done for eeboo:

Ok, it’s official… I need one of those puzzles for the holidays this winter.

I love what Monika said about starting to make / share her patterns. If you want to get certain kinds of jobs that you aren’t getting, show that you can do it and hopefully the phone will start to ring! I’d call about these for sure:

Those horses. Come on! Next, the cover of the crayon book she illustrated … and wrote! The writing part came as a bit of surprise apparently ; )

Of course I had to include a few of the dinos we were talking about:

No quetzalcoatlus, but that’s cool. And finally, last but not least… DUCKS!

She was not kidding … she really does love drawing ducks. She said no one ever calls asking for ducks, but maybe they will now!

So, I always like to end a podcast post with a photo of the artist, but Monika is not a fan of selfies. I’m kinda glad because it forced me to dig until I found this:

Ah! Little Monika in Northern Sweden, moments after “knitting a worm”. LOVE! Thank you so so so much to Monika for putting her phone anxiety aside for an hour so we could hear her inspiring story; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and of course thank you so much for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Monika on Instagram
2. Hollie Chastain episode
3. Mummy Needs Gin animation – for Channel 4
4. Kate Woodrow, Literary Agent
5. Barbapapa!

… but wait, there’s more! Embroidery work in the street? Oh YES!

Gorgeous. This is the embroidery infused work of Mexican artist Victoria Villasana. If you recognize her name it’s probably because she was a prolific street artist for a decade in London, known for “her rebellious femininity and cross-cultural imagery.” Embroidery on the street and in the gallery? Yes, yes, a thousand times YES. Colorful, powerful, and beautifully executed.

{via Patternbank}