so good...

again, with the embroideries.  I just love this work by Michelle Kingdom.  The images are so painterly, textured and detailed.  I dearly want one for my own.  Her little dreamscapes are full of mystery.  You can see her work on her website, she is one of Designsponge.com 18 embroidery artists to watch on instagram, and she has been featured on thisiscolossal.com.  

"Some imagined future" by Michelle Kingdom.

"What is done cannot be undone" by Michelle Kingdom

"Life will divide us" by Michelle Kingdom

"Duties of gossamer" by Michelle Kingdom

Just wanted to mention....

That I visited my friend Keren Kroul's two person exhibition at Artistry in Bloomington, Minnesota on Friday night.  It is a spectacular show!  Of course I love my friend's gorgeous work, but I also discovered a fabulous sculptor, Nathan Hatch.  

Brilliant Absorption by Keren Kroul

Implement Landscape by Nathan Hatch

It is up until August 19...Hope you might have a chance to see it!

one of my favorite things to get in the mail...

Is the RISDXYZ.  It is the print magazine for Rhode Island School of Design Alumni.  I am consistently amazed at the talent, scope and ambition of the community I went to school with.  It is remarkable and inspiring.  I often dream that I have gone back to get another Masters degree in painting, sculpture and fibers...to explore the other areas I never had a chance engage in.  This issues cover featured the work of Sophia Narrett, a painter who began embroidering her narratives.    

Stars Align, Sophia Narrett

Something Went Wrong, detail, Sophia Narrett

Along the Vein, Sophia Narrett

I love how she plays with the edge of the frame, with negative space in the interior of the image and with the drips and pulls of embroidery floss that start to feel think like paint.  The images are so layered and full that it takes multiple viewings to really discern the entire narrative.  And the textures and color are so rich and evocative that you can get lost in the beauty of the stitching in and of itself.  Thank you RISDXYX for introducing me to her work!

I can't even....

believe how beautiful, haunting, sweet, evocative and completely mesmerizing this work is.  Annie Montgomerie is an artist I discovered while googling the term "taxidermy sculpture." These animals are just amazing, and the photographs are such loving little portraits of these creatures.  When I think about photographing my dolls, these are the qualities I hope to evoke.  Check out both her website and Facebook page..I am going to start watching her Etsy shop...I hear her work goes fast.  

I couldn't find any titles on-line....

a former student....

So I have been intending to write a blog post about my former student, Emily Wohlscheid, for as long as I have had this blog. I had Emily in multiple classes at Adrian College, a million years ago. I can't remember if I tortured her in Drawing and 2-D, but I know we shared a couple of semesters in Printmaking and one in Fibers.  And Fibers was just her thing.  I wished I had had more experience to share with her at that time, and I wished the college had had more classes for her to take.  But...she has found her own way and is making a business of it.  I am so proud of her.  She had way more courage than I did as a recent grad...developing her own line of jewelry and yarns and marketing it through art fairs.  She has six fairs scheduled in 2016 in the Midwest; I wish she would get one closer to me!  Emily was the one person I got in touch with about show prep once I got into RISDCraft.  Her best piece of advice "always bring an extra pair of scissors."  Please check out her website, Bricolage Studios and her shop on BigCartel.com.  I have included a couple of my favorite of her pieces below.   

Pin Cushion.

Bracelet.

Earrings.

Necklace. 

the coolest jewelry....

was found at RISDCRAFT.  Amy Pfaffman designs this wonderful, whimsical jewelry that includes many of my favorite things in unexpected ways.  

Porcelain baby doll parts. 

Knitting needles.

Colored pencils.

Thimbles.

Check out her website to see the different variations she has played with.  I wish I had had more time to talk with her in person, but I have loved poking around her website!

Denim research....

on google led me to these wonderful sculptures by artist Anne Wolf.  I desperately want to hold one.  Please take a look at her website, you won't be disappointed.  

"Cerebral Cortex"

"Heart 2"

"Heart 3"

This is....

Dandelion, my new ginger kitty.  In addition to my other new ginger kitty, Tilter.  In addition to the other cat I already had, Rocky.  I officially lost my senses after Bug died, and now I have three cats.  Lord help me.