There's just something about Amy Ross' collages that makes me happy. They're whimsical and a bit bizarre and yet  they speak to me on some primal level about our connection with nature and the way in which we're just as much plant and sea creature as we are human (am I sounding too out there for you yet?)... 

I love the combination of classical, period-piece legs + bizarre plant or creature torso; I also find the work to be really pleasing to the eye and grounding at the same time, despite being so fantastical.

​Take a look at the pieces below and I think you'll know what I mean, even if you don't really know what I mean...

Don't you just love them? And those hedgehogs?!?! You can see more of Amy Ross' work on her website and on Instagram. You can buy archival prints of her work in her shop. 

Oh, and she's based in Boston, so that's fun! Maybe I'll get to go see her work in person someday... 

I hope your Tuesday is as whimsical as these works of art!

These paintings! I want to fill my house with them and sit amongst them and just stare at them all day long. They make me so happy! They're by CA-based artist Teagan McLarnan, who creates them using Egg Tempera, one of the few types of paint that I know next to nothing about...but man, does she know how to work it to create these dreamy pieces of art.

You can view some of my favorite paintings from McLarnan's succulent series below:

Wow, right? Just wow. Makes me want to stop what I'm going and go paint (or plant some succulents) right this minute.

You can view more work by McLarnan on her website and you can purchase her work at Elliott Fouts Gallery. 

​I hope your day is as colorful as these paintings!

We've got another huge storm headed our way today (Over. It.) so I figured that instead of griping about the weather again, I would instead celebrate stormy weather and dark, cloudy skies by sharing Rochelle Redfield's gorgeous "Confetti Skies" series.

I love this collection of paintings and I love the inspiration behind them; Redfield says that they were inspired by "Hudson Valley skies and personal moments of stormy optimism."

I think we could all use some confetti in our stormy skies and during tumultuous times, don't you? Because there's always something to celebrate, even when things get dark (or you have another nor'easter headed your way, haha). 

You can view some of my favorite paintings from this series below and can see more work by Redfield on her website... 

So great, right? Don't you love them!?!? Unfortunately the paintings above are all sold, but Redfield does do commissions and I'm sure she could paint you a custom confetti sky if you need one (don't we all?). 

Learn more about Rochelle Redfield here. 

For my fellow East Coasters, I hope you all stay warm + safe during this week's storm! Keep your fingers crossed for me...Charlie Mae + I are supposed to be flying to Knoxville tomorrow morning for a fun weekend with friends (argh).

And that brings me to a programming note: if we do make it out, there will be no Simple Joys of the Week on Friday so that I can be totally present with my friends on our short trip. I'll be back at it on Monday ;) 

As we get into real fall weather here on the Cape--the kind that actually requires a hat, scarf, and gloves--I can't think of any better outfit inspiration than this series of fabulously funky illustrations by Budapest-based artist Ilka Mészely.

There is something so wonderfully simple, straightforward, and also slightly comical about this particular collection of sketches, but despite their simplicity, I still find them to be perfectly composed, lovingly crafted, and quite interesting. 

You can view some of my favorite little sketches by Mészely below:

Don't they just lift your spirits a bit? Bring you a little warmth on a chilly day? They also make me want to up my outerwear game and add a bit more pattern and funk to my wardrobe...

If you like Mészely's work as much as I do you can learn more about her on her Facebook page, follow her on Instagram, and shop her work on Etsy. 

Because photorealism or trompe l'oeil (intended to create the illusion of a 3-D object) paintings are SO far from my wheelhouse, I've always had huge respect for artists who can create super three-dimensional, life-like paintings; just the sheer amount of patience + skill that it takes to create a trompe l'oeil painting is inconceivable to me!

Thus, I am always blown away by paintings like the ones you see here today. I mean, that little piece of chocolate? To die for!

These pieces are all by Chicago-based artist Kyle Surges and are from his "Nostalgia Series," which has a pop-art slant and depicts objects from days gone by, often painted at their actual size to make them look even more life-life. Each of these paintings take Surges anywhere from 2-4 months to create, and he paints them with a tiny brush so that he can get every detail juuuussssst right...

You can check out some of my favorites below: 

And just to be clear, YES, these are all oil paintings. Even the yo-yo one. Can you believe it!?!? I know, neither can I! So incredible. 
​
You can view more work by Kyle Surges on his website. 

I know that we just celebrated Labor Day, but I'm not done with summer yet. I plan on squeezing in quite a few more days at the beach, swims in the ocean, and late-afternoon BBQs before closing the door on this summer, so I'm still in the mood for art that captures the beauty of summer, as well. 

Enter the incredibly talented painter Elisabeth McBrien. Her work speaks to me on every level; I love her style, her color palette, her subject matter, and her incredible ability to capture light. I have a feeling that after viewing a few of her paintings, you'll fall in love with her work, too.

I've included some of my favorites below...

See what I mean? Endless summer on canvas! I can practically feel the sunlight slanting through the trees and the warmth in the air...

You can check out more work by Elisabeth McBrien on her website. 

And I hope that you, too, can savor these last few weeks of warm weather and sunlight! 

If I could, I think I would like to have one of Carolyn Gavin's paintings (or prints) hanging on every wall in my house. Just a glance at one of her pieces makes me feel more optimistic, more creative, and more awake. Her work makes me want to go paint right this second and use the brightest paints I can find. It's SOOOO beautiful!

The great thing about Carolyn Gavin's work? Most of her paintings are available as super affordable prints in her Etsy Shop. I'm seriously going to buy a few, just have to decide which ones...

Some of my favorites are below:

See? Aren't you in a better mood now? And don't you want these paintings all over your house, too? Swoon. 

Learn more about Carolyn Gavin by visiting her Etsy shop or following her on Instagram.

Hope your week has been as bright + cheery as these paintings!

Oh wow, I'm swooning over here. I mean, have you ever seen anything more quietly beautiful than this pastel painting of two pineapples? I want it! Or rather, I want to look at it every day and marvel at the colors, the composition, and the skill. 

This piece of art and the other equally-swoon-worthy pieces below are all courtesy of UK-based artist Anna Roberts. Her work is soft, airy, summery, and silent in a way that makes me feel calmer and more at ease just by looking at it. She has a gift!

Here are a few more of my favorite pieces by Roberts...

Can you believe these aren't photographs!? So crazy, I know!
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You can view more of Anna Roberts' work on her website or by following her on Instagram. 

I'm a warm beverage kind of girl. I drink a cup of hot Chai Tea with milk every morning of the year--even if it's sweltering outside--and I love a good decaf latte or pot of herbal tea. Basically, if it's hot and not too sweet, I'll give it a try and probably like it. 

So, when I came across Lori Larusso's beverage paintings, I was immediately smitten. They're beautifully painted (obviously) and her use of bright, bold background colors is striking. Also, anyone who has ever tried to paint a drinking vessel (I have) knows how hard it can be to get all of the circular lips, bottoms, handles, and saucers just right perspective-wise, but she nails it every time (because she's a pro). 

Lets take a look, shall we? Here are some of my favorite pieces from this collection...

Totally great, right!? Don't they make you want to sit down with a cuppa something steamy right now? Glad I was writing this post while sipping my morning tea--it made these paintings all the sweeter ;) 

You can see more of Lori Larusso's work on her website. 

Oh, you guys, I don't even know where to begin with these paintings by Australian artist Sally West. The color palette, the thick, decadent, icing-like brushstrokes, the subject matter, the fact that she paints all of these pieces ON SITE (yes, on the beach)...all of it! I'm enamored.

You know when you see a piece of art and it just jumps out at you in every way? That's what each painting in this series has done to me. And if I ever have enough money, you'd better believe that I'm coming back to Sally West's work and adding a piece (or two) to my "collection." 

So. Pretty. 

You can view some of my favorite paintings from this series below...

Love West's work as much as I do? You can view more on her website or on KAB Gallery's website, where you can view the entire series.  Oh, and here's a great behind-the-scenes shot of a work-in-progress that you just have to see: 

Ahhhh, I love it! 

Hope your day is as delicious as these paintings. 

"Love This!" is back! After a somewhat unintentional 1.5 year hiatus, this monthly column has returned and is here to stay; thank you for letting me know how much you missed it in my recent 2017 Reader Survey!

This month, we're looking at a some gorgeous springy/floral and also somewhat mysterious (or at least curious) paintings by Midwestern artist Shawna Gilmore.

I love this series, entitled "Chameleon," because it's both lighthearted and in some cases, kind of dark at the same time. There's a playfulness to her work that straddles the line between fun and foreboding...do you get that vibe when you look at these paintings, too? And not to mention her talent! Wowee. 

You can view some of my favorite pieces from this series below:

Great, right? I love the light outlines that hint at the shapes against the floral wallpaper patterns...I can't get enough florals right now! Happens every spring ;) 

If you love Gilmore's work as much as I do, you can view lots more of it on her website. 

I hope your week has been as flowery as these paintings [thus far]!

Okay, so before we go any further with today's artist, we need to acknowledge that the iceberg image above is a drawing. That's right; not a photograph, a drawing.

Now that your mind has been blown, let's talk about the artist behind that drawing: 

Zaria Forman is one very impressive lady. She creates large-scale pastel drawings of melting iceburgs and rising coastlines in order to show how the Earth is changing due to climate change. All of the pieces in today's post were inspired by an expedition that she took up the NW coast of Greenland in 2012, and she is currently on another expedition aboard the National Geographic Explorer, traveling to Antarctica as an artist-in-residence. 

Her work is beautiful, moving, meticulously detailed, and of course, socially responsible. I love it. You can view some of my favorite pastel drawings by Zaria Forman below...

​[Above: Greenland No. 63, 50" x 75," Soft Pastel on Paper (2013)

Above: Greenland No. 71, 50" x 60," Soft Pastel on Paper (2014)

Oh, and I wanted to include the image above to give you an idea of scale...amazing, right!?!

You can view more of Zaria Forman's Greenland series (and her other work--I love her Maldives coastline drawings, too!) on her website. You can also follow her on Instagram to get a peek into her current expedition to Antarctica {the pics are INCREDIBLE}.

Enjoy! 

After an almost 2-month hiatus (during which I shared some of my work + recent logo designs instead of other artists' work), Love This! is back! I'm excited to return to this column and today, am thrilled to share Dina Belenko's still life and conceptual photography with you; it's pretty incredible.

Belenko is a Russian artist whose process is waaaaay more involved than just taking a picture and doing a few edits in Photoshop. In fact, if you want to see how she created the donut image on the right (above), you can view her elaborate process  here (I think you'll be petty impressed).

So lets get to it! Some of my favorite still lifes by Belenko are below...

Pretty great, right? You can view lots more of Dina Belenko's work here. 

Have wonderful Wednesday!

If there was ever a color palette that makes me swoon, it's Jenny Parson's. Just scrolling through the paintings + pastels that I've included below makes me feel more serene, more optimistic, more in love with nature, the world, light, brushstrokes. 

Talented artists will do that to you. 

Parsons is a Cape Town-based artist whose work focuses on exploring the human relationship with land and depicting the "visual conversation between horizontal and vertical, mass and detail, and solidity and fragility..."

Personally, I think she's done a bang-up job conveying this "visual conversation" and I'm simply in love with her work. You can view some of my favorite pieces by Parsons below...

Oh, and a fun tidbit about the artist: when I emailed her to see if I could feature her work, I found out that she is also a yoga teacher! Yay ;) 

You can learn more about Parsons and view her entire portfolio [she's VERY prolific] on her website. 

Hope your day is as beautiful as these paintings.

If you want to see a visual representation of the words 'quiet' and 'stillness,' just take a look at UK-based artist Susan Ashworth's paintings. 

Her work mostly depicts scenes of tabletops or items sitting on top of surfaces--and although this subject matter has been depicted time and time again over the ages, there's something fresh + new about Ashworth's treatment of the flowers, dishes, and bottles in her paintings.

I'm most drawn to the play between light + shadow in Ashworth's work, but I also adore her handling of the paint and the texture of her pieces. You can view some of my favorites below: 

See what I mean? Glorious! You can view more work by Susan Ashworth on her website. 

I hope you can find a few moments that are as quiet and contemplative as these paintings today...