My Euro fix

I came across these truly gorgeous mixed media prints from Stephanie Levy out of Munich. I love the simplicty of design - a typical Swedish influence. The bright orange is so yummy too!. I want to move into this room. Don't you?

Things That Fly

Whenever I need an art fix or feel uninspired I turn to Jodie Hurt's designs. She takes things that fly, like butterflies and birds and turns them into little bits of magic with her mixed media collages. I'm constantly amazed at how well balanced and composed these are. Visit Jodie on Etsy. Her ACEO cards are so fun and affordable. A mini original.

Coffee Cups...no seriously - coffee cups

Obviously the art gods were shining on me today because I came across the most amazing artist. This person draws on coffee cups. Really...you have to see this. Your standard un eco friendly Styrofoam cup is now an ingenious thorougly original positively absolutely sublimely decorated coffee cup masterpiece. I need more adjectives. Boy Obsolete. He is a dreamer, an artist and an animator.

The unexpected Stool Sample

I found this on a site called Monsieur Cabinet. It's a Stool Sample. Bet you didn't expect this did you?

And here is a poem about beans. Don't you love an artist who has a sense of humour and can draw at the same time!

DIY Desk

I thought I would go another direction in this post and talk about a recent project I completed.

I needed a desk. But I didn't want the usual boring office desk that you buy at Target or Staples and put together. I wanted a unique DIY piece of furniture. Here's what I did. I took two floating shelves that we no longer used and painted them in a bright Citron from Benjamin Moore. #2024-30. High gloss finish. Once they were dry we attached them together with wood on the underneath side of the desk.

Then I bought table legs from Ikea and attached those. Once it was complete we finished it with a custom made glass top that fits perfectly on the top of the desk pulling it all together.

Next - I searched for the right color to go with Citron. Not an easy task. I used catalogues - especially Flor to see how they brought colors together and found exactly what I needed. Back to Benjamin Moore for a warm aqua color: Covington Blue, no#HC-138. I painted two walls of the room in this color and kept two in their original white.

Finally I needed shelves. Once again I used floating shelves that we didn't use much and painted them in a high gloss white. I bought four shelf brackets at Ace Hardware and we mounted them securely to the wall with wall mounts I picked up a few desk organizing items at The Container Store...and voila! a new office! Almost entirely DIY. I reduced, reused and recycled and the whole space cost right around $200. I still need an office chair. :)

And by the way- the cat is extra.

If you have a DIY project that you want to share can you send it to me? I will need a description and 2 or 3 good photos. I will include your name the project on my blog. Thanks!

Dallas Shaw and New Collages

I really love the simple lines and poetic emotions of this print by Dallas Shaw. It is available in edition of 25 and it's a charming size of 8.5x11. Creating work for stylish people with sleek spaces, Shaw offers both modern paintings inspired by music, and also vintage work, which features delicate drawings on vintage printed wallpaper at her website. Check out the boots and eyeshadow too!

Normally I don't add two posts so today is the Friday Combo special. It's been years since I have done any figurative illustration and on a whim I dug up my graphite pencils from college and came up with this nude image on 6x6 canvas. The drawing is actually on a torn up envelope from the UK. It's available for sale if you are interested.

Have an art filled weekend.