Artist Feature: Emma Coulter

I'm feeling inspired by Emma Coulter's bold energetic paintings. Perfect for spring!

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Nicola Ginzel: Embroidered Everyday Ephemera

I am inspired by Nicola Ginzel's embroidery art. Her work adds meaning and preciousness to somewhat mundane items that would normally be discarded. So Beautiful!

Ivano Vitali: Knitted Paper Art

Since 2005 artist, Ivano Vitali, has been creating art from up-cycled newspapers. Each page is processed into yarn without the use of dyes or glue. I love playful scale of his works, especially the sock. His knitting needles are amazing. I can't wait to see what he makes next!

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Abigail Reynolds Geometric Cut Art

Can't get enough of Abigail Renolds artwork. The mix of black and white and color is very effective not to mention the layered meaning. I really want to see them in person because they look so tactile.

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Modular curtain puzzles

I think these modular curtains are very clever. You build them to fit your window and your privacy needs. I think it would be nice to wake up to the different levels of light shining through these. A set of 160 cost $235 here.

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Greg Dunn

It's Monday and I'm loving Greg Dunn's paintings of neurons and other biological beauties. Simply stunning and subtle.

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Crochet with unusual materials

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Wall Art made With Nails and Rope

I'm liking the subtlety of these DIY wall art kits. You can buy the kits here. I think a map of some sort would be interesting imagery for this technique.




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Duncan Johnson

Artist, Duncan Johnson, collects salvage wood from nearby his home in Vermont to make these lovely sculptures. Or should I call them paintings or quilts. I'm not sure. His art transcends many mediums and reminds me of traditional quilt making. Using scraps of whatever you have around to make something beautiful.



It reminds me of an idea I was exploring a while back with fused plastic quilt like pieces.


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Graffiti Spotting in SE Portland

I've noticed I easily get stuck in my routines doing the same things over and over, so when I got back from my travels I decided to put a conscious effort into having exploratory walks in other neighborhoods in Portland. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is taking long walks without any purpose or expectations. I want to continue this now that I'm back in my routine. I always find visual eye candy along the way like this really cool graffiti spotted on Belmont St.

I'm pretty sure Jesse Reno and Charlie Alan Kraft created this street art.

I just love seeing little details like this on the sidewalk of Belmont St. It makes me happy.

Naturearte: Intricate Leaf Cut Designs

While gathering inspiration for my 2012 calendar I came across an amazing artist I want to share with you. These intricate leaf cuts take a huge amount of patience and delicate handy work. I am so impressed with the amount of detail he can get in each leaf.

"All the work of cutting, drying and framing has been self-taught. I have cut many leaves and the vast majority of them have ended up in the trash, but I am slowly perfecting a method that will not break the leaves."

Check out his website, Naturayarte, for more inspiring leaf cuts.

Tear Away Wallpaper

I have a lot of experience ripping wall paper down and putting new from my childhood. My mom was known for her wallpaper expertise in her circle of friends and so anytime she had a wallpaper job I was her assistant. Now, as an adult, I am usually turned off by wallpaper. It's usually just too much for a room. And the patterns can feel old and dated so quickly after they are put up. That is why I usually just stick to paint.

But this this tear away wall paper by znak is opening my eyes to the possibilities and future of wallpaper. Wall paper can be expressive, creative, organic. It can change over time. I like all of these things. It's more of a collaboration between the designer and the home owner.

What are your thoughts on wallpaper?




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Upcycled Chandelier Lighting Inspiration

The clever Sarah Turner created this beautiful lighting solution out of sand blasted plastic bottle bottoms. Simple shapes in repeition have a gorgeous effect that reminds me of some kind of sea creature. More on Sarah and her eco art here.



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Paper Art, Typography, and Stop Motion

I'm very inspired by paper artist, Bianca Chang. I think the process is very beautiful and obsessive. Each paper is hand cut! The final effect is very subtle, sophisticated, and I just can't stop staring at it. Check out her website here. Be sure to watch it come to life through the stop motion.

The making of A from Bianca Chang on Vimeo.

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Hand Stitched Leaves by Anika Mari

I've done a little bit of sewing on leaves before and it is a delicate but very rewarding task. I just love what Anika Mari has done with these leaves. Very poetic, in my opinion. Especially the ones with 2 leaves attached by stitches. An unexpected union that is both beautiful and spontaneous.

Question: if these two leaves had a baby, what would it look like?



See more sewn leaves here.

M50 Artist Community in Shanghai

M50 was my favorite thing I did in Shanghai. It took me a couple of attempts to find the place. Its near a train station and silly me, I assumed there was only one train station in Shanghai. I was going to the wrong train station. Once I figured that out, it wasn't hard to find the place. It's basically a group of artists living and working in a small community. There are so many contemporary galleries to wander through. and random intriguing objects are laying around too. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon. They even have a little cafe where you can rest and grab a bite. It was delightful. (see pictured below)

This is a small crop of a huge root system of a tree that has some carving in it. Rad.

I found these roses left on a trash can and can help but to wonder about their history.

I ordered the red pepper curry thinking it would be a red bell pepper. Haha, I was so wrong. It was full of spicy chilies.

Pinched Earth

I love how playful this outdoor sculpture is. Scale can totally change the emotion associated with an object.

Anybody know the artist?

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