Explosive color...

...literally. I was struck by the beauty and intense color of these abstract works by NYC-based artist Rosemarie Fiore. And then I read they were firework drawings, a two-word phrase that was totally new to me, and I had to know more! Turns out Fiore actually explodes fireworks in contained areas and captures the super-saturated, abstract results on paper. Check out her site to see a few shots of her work in action. As an artist, she's no stranger to rather dangerous, large-scale works; Rosemarie has also created enormous"drawings" by attaching paint to a Scrambler amusement park ride, and heated paint in a waffle iron before applying to canvas (bottom image).

I must admit those last ones do kind of make me crave a warm crispy buttery Belgian waffle though... maybe it's just me.

Stina So Fine

Today's inspiration comes from incredibly talented Stockholm-based illustrator Stina Persson. I have been enamored with her watercolor work for a while, but am totally loving these super graphic cut-paper illustrations, bringing some much-needed color on a gray and rainy Monday morning!

Hey Mati

Came across these excellent collage/painting prints by Mati Rose over on PaperNStitch's site today. I love elephants and happen to have quite a few of them around the house, including a pink elephant watering can that I also turned into a painting, so of course these struck a cord with me. I visited Mati's website and learned that we share a love of artists Margaret Kilgallen and Louise Bourgeois. You can see lots more of Mati's work in her blog and etsy shop. Cheers!

My New Obsession

I can't tell you how taken I am with these excellent paper and acrylic collages by New York-based artist Aaron Wexler. Just stunning.

Retro Squares

These excellent quilt squares (just a few of the many now in my possession) came to me by way of my mother-in-law; they are leftover scraps that belonged to my husband's grandmother's friend's great-aunt - got that? The extra fun thing, besides all the great fabric patterns, is that most of them are stitched to newspaper bits dating from the 40's. I definitely have some collage ideas in mind for these babies - anyone else know of any good projects to create with these?

Lovely Present

What a nice surprise to find this awesome postal-inspired collage in my mailbox on Saturday - big thanks to Valerie in New Jersey!

I recently participated in an art exchange through some friends, which entails simply making a piece of art and mailing it to the appropriate person on the participant list. I sent the collage below (which also became a notecard set over in the etsy shop) to a certain Adrienne in Chi-town.

New collage cards!

New collage cards added to the etsy shop! See more over here.

Amazing Collages

I just added yet another plant to the "officially dead" list. This one had no intervention by marauding kitties so the blame can solely be placed on me and my lack of a green thumb. Perhaps I should invest in plant-based art instead.

Artist Stephen Eichhorn creates these awesome hand-cut collages by combining individual plant images. I love the simplicity of the tiny individual leaves (top); the complex compositions of the majority of his work is pretty astounding. You can see more of his work here; he also has a blog.