::micah lidberg::

Don't worry little winter snow peeps, spring is 'round the corner for you all. In the mean time, check out these beautiful, hopeful, warmth inspiring prints.

'Peony' and 'Spring Bird' by artist Micah Lidberg.

I want these available in yardage and wall covering.

quiet sky

Japanese artist, Misa Tanaka creates these vessels by fusing porcelain and glass, aptly entitled: Shizukana Sora:: Quiet Sky.

fold school

patience and a lot of time on one's hand. Paper art has been around for over a thousand years, finding its roots in Japan, but rarely getting the mention that it deserves. Folded, cut, pasted, prodded, carved or quilled....these are all, so, completely off the hook....

Bovey Lee, Jolis Paon,Brian Dettmer,Richard Sweeney,Bert Simons, Su Blackwell, Yulia Brodskaya

images from web designer depot.com

solitude + storm

My sweet friend Audrey, who has a great blog { parcel post } with super cool stationary/paper/graphic finds, recently featured Jay Kelly's work. I love the whole feel of them- they remind me of a late afternoon snowfall in the mountains { I know, very descriptive, but don't they? } .

Kelly has done a line of very affordable small cards, suitable for framing and available only at Audrey's gorgeous shop: Urbanic on Abbot Kinney. What a great gift idea!




Audrey and her husband, Josh, are the proprietors of two fantastic Abbot Kinney staples: Urbanic and Neighborhood. Must sees if you're in Venice.

tistram lansdowne

Why join them when you can paint them. I learned my lesson in 4th grade when I was busted for drawing hearts and 'Ziggy' on an arm chair at school. Embarrassed and vowing to, never again decimate public property.

I have instead, quietly enjoyed graffiti from afar, driving past a wall along the 405 I've become an art critic to the taggers.

Artist Tistram Lansdowne, creates beautiful, delicate and gentle watercolors of abandoned buildings and rusted urban detitrus, much of it tagged to the nines.

Beauty on top of beauty.

::ann wood handmade::

I felt this to be the perfect week to share with you these exquisite pieces by artist Ann Wood.




The owls, with wonderful names like, "Iago", "Mr. Guppy", "Pecksniff", "Rodrigo" and "Henchard" are made using found, vintage bits of Japanese boro textiles, paper mache´, Victorian bodice fabrics, Vintage buttons, World War I army blankets, even vintage threads. All are stuffed with wool and stand approx. 9"

I love this photo, depicting one of the owls in mid-creation. He looks as though he's wearing a monocle!

That face! and check out those talons. incredible.

These are just amazing. And, mostly sold, but you can get on Ann Wood's mailing list to be notified of updates. It's well worth hopping over to her site just to see the full breadth of her work.

London calling...Jeremy Dickinson

loving the work of British artist, Jeremy Dickinson.

Using toy cars from his own collection, beat up, chipped, well loved... all in a crayon box color pallet paired against, grayed gritty backgrounds.

Seven Buses 2009

20 x 20 cm

Locopark II 2009

35.5 x 61 cm

Sometimes organizing the toys by color and scale...

Ten Reds 2008

46 x 46 cm

Dickinson's work brings to mind the minimalist tendencies of Donald Judd and the automobile sculptures of John Chamberlain.

Plant and truck Wall 2008

76 x 254 cm

Autopark (Causeway Spectrum) 2008

51 x 178 cm

Autostack (Plymouth Plaza) 2009

25.5 x 30.5 cm

.........wonder if I could facebook him. He seems really cool.

all images galerie xippas, athens, greece

The quiet, beauty of still life painting. Abstract Realist, Paul Wonner

Garden Chairs and Lunch Table

Painter Paul Wonner, generally associated with the "Bay Area Figurative" style of painting, was the creator of beautiful, quiet works of art in a palette so rich and clear you want to reach out , grasp it, and feel the depths of the color, the textures of paint.

I keep a few of my favorites on my desktop, bringing them up to soothe my soul when needed.

the waiter

His work was regarded in the same school as the originators of the Bay Area Figurative style, which included, David Park (1911-1960) and Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993)

Dutch Still Life with Stacked Objects and Telephone (detail)

"He painted in a brushy manner similar to theirs until the late 1970s, when his style turned crisp, emphasizing bright light and sharp shadows, and he concentrated on still life themes.

Green Cloth, Orange Juice, Magnifying Glass

The Dutch Baroque still life tradition served as a historical source for Mr. Wonner, but he typically painted objects from everyday contemporary life. His mature pictures distinctively portray things as separated by almost surrealistically vacant distended spaces." sfgate.com

Frédérique Morrel

Textile artist, Fre´de´rique Morrel, was so distraught with the idea of her grandmother's tapestries being carelessly tossed posthumously, that she became inspired to create unique,usable art, all made from orphaned textiles. Regenerating something old and staid into something new and fresh. "Since each piece uses recycled patches, each is completely unique, involving a painstaking search through archival needlepoint stocks and an elaborate effort to source pieces in sizes that will fit with one another."
there current project is a life size model of a stag.

...Which would completely freak me out if I woke in the middle of the night to get a glass of water.