my love for you is a stampede of horses.

Happy New Year.

Ok, I said that I would be back this week with posts, well...I lied. I'm sorry about that. I know you all understand, what with the holidays and all. I know you hear me barking, big dog and you'll let it slide cause you're good like that.

I hope you all have a lovely and safe New Year's. Thank you all so much for continually coming by the blog, leaving comments, sending me emails and your overall encouragement. I can not begin to explain what it means to me. This blog would not exist the way it does with out your continued support. Thank you.

Let's put 2009 to bed and start 2010 off right. Here's to a new decade; full of creative energy, new and old friendships, better mistakes and above all love. This will be our year, friends.

**above print by Mike Monteiro at 20x200.

Happy Holidays!

I just gleaned this image from Anno Domini's  latest show Fresh Produce. I love the folkloric vibe this piece by Binho Martins gives off. I especially love how it says 'Free'. I think it perfectly captures the spirited season right now. It's been a bit of a long Fall and I am delighted the holidays are here. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful and truly loving holiday season. I will see you all next Monday with visions of sugar plums only for you. LOVE.

p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment on the stellar give-a-way above! Don't tell anyone...but I hope you win!

Shelley Reed.

Shelley Reed's incredible oil paintings pay a sort of homage to such masters as Gillis d'Hondecoeter, Jean Baptiste Charles Claudot , Alexandre-François Desportes and Gérard de Lairesse. She uses art history literally as her muse. Her larger pieces are epic being as large as six and a half feet tall to five feet wide. I am blown away by the depth and beauty within her work. Absolutely stunning.

"What You're Doing To Me Now - I Want Done Forever."

I just received this beautiful print from Mark Warren Jacques. It couldn't come at a better time. I love everything about it, the name, the colors, the moons, the symbolism. I know exactly where I am going to put it. You can get a copy for yourself or someone you love here. Also, check out this great video of Mark talking about art and skating:

Beth Cavener Stitcher.

Wow, was what came out of my mouth when I first saw Beth Cavener Stitcher's arresting sculptures. My friend Dagan had sent me an email asking me if I was familiar with her work, attaching a link for me to peruse. Scrolling through her years of work I felt like I had let myself down in some way not knowing about Beth's work. Mind you my friend had followed up his first question with: "because you should be if you aren't." Ugh, I know!

Initially when I look at work, I gauge how quickly my mind starts to wander as I take a piece in. I really pay attention to my visceral reaction. Beth's work sent my mind into emotional overdrive. I had so many questions, ideas, thoughts. I was simply blown away. I am absolutely taken with how she translates human emotion through the animals she creates. Exploring body language as a metaphor, she portrays her animal subjects as 'human psychological portraits':

"The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality" 

The piece above, A Second Kind Of Lonliness, is probably one my favorites of Beth's. Every eight seconds a breath is released from the goat's mouth and the pinwheel spins. SO many levels of awesome.

Alex Mcleod Give-a-Way.

Alex McLeod has generously offered to give away the above print to a reader of ML4U. Titled "By The Sea", it's 12" x 17"7/8 printed on Fuji Crystal archival paper. The original image will be featured in Alex's upcoming show at ROJO Barcelona in lightbox form. Pretty sweet! Let's mix it up a little bit, k? This time, I'll still choose the winner by the trusty randomizer, but this time I want you to tell me what your favorite holiday dessert is. Mine is sugar cookies with a nice cup of PG Tips. Oh and be sure to click on the image to get a much bigger view of the print. It's SICK!

Alex lives and works in Toronto where he creates his super, bubbly, kinda sweet yet kinda creepy, chubby universes digitally. Take a virtual tour through one of his sets:

isle of the dead from Alex McLeod on Vimeo.

Tim Lee.

25yr old, British born Chinese Artist Tim Lee recently sent me a link to his work online. Sometimes, I hate sitting behind a computer when super detailed work comes over the wires. From what I see of Tim's paintings they're intricate as all get out. He paints with Chinese inks on rice paper...I can only imagine how amazing that paper looks with the ink soaked through it. I'd love to just stand there and stare. Wouldn't you? So gorgeous. See more of Tim's work on his blog.

Cats Let Nothing Darken Their Roar.

We love this calendar. Every year we fall for it. It's cute, witty, stylish and has great manners. You totally want to bring him home to the folks this Holiday. Don't lie.

Jon Carling.

This print makes me think that Edward Gorey and tattoo flash had a love child and his name was Jon Carling.  A reader alerted me to Jon's scratchy drawings.

The Invariant Set.

In October James Gauvreau sent me images of his and Anna Pantchev latest work under the name The Invariant Set. Obviously, this post is stupidly late...but I really loved what they sent, and to be honest I just do not have enough time in the day (with a full time job, meh.) to post everything I receive or want to for that matter. But enough whingeing about things that can not be help. I grew up around many women who quilt, so right off the bat The Invariant Set's work instinctively appealed to me. The colors, the shape, the whole set up: LOVE. Better late than never. Learn more about them on their blog.

Jeff Barnett-Winsby: Mark West and Molly Rose.

Documentation always amazes me. Love does too. Often using the latter to catalog such an emotion between two people (especially a forbidden love) can be a fascinating foray into the human condition. Jeff Barnett-Winsby has recently published a limited edition book titled Mark West and Molly Rose. Through correspondence, a hand tooled painting and photographs, the book catalogs a forbidden affair. A bit about the story behind the book:

Artist Jeff Barnett-Winsby had been photographing in Lansing Prison for a year, when he found out that an inmate, John Maynard, had escaped with the help of a social worker, Toby Young. Maynard and Young, under the aliases Mark West and Molly Rose, were captured two weeks later in Tennessee.

Andrew Schoultz Interview with Scion Art.

Scion Art just recently interviewed Andrew Schoultz. The video is a nice foray into Andrew's work, plus it's great to hear his thoughts behind his process, materials and what he's learned along the way. I think you'll like it.

Andrew Schoultz Interview from Scion ART on Vimeo.

New Work: Emily Barletta.

Check out this new crocheted piece (and clay) by Emily Barletta! It's her biggest and most labor intensive piece to date, measuring 68 x 49 x 3 inches. Wow. I asked Emily to tell me a bit about the piece:

"Mostly I just wanted to try to crochet something big (it took 6 months and I kind of hated working on it by the end.) Also I wanted to expand upon the mini crocheted sculptures I was making last year (you can see them here). I guess the piece goes along with the regular themes I've been working with (blood and guts and emotions.)"

One of the things I really admire about Emily is the intensity within her work and her ability to be so real about her it. You can read a Q&A I did with her when the blog was just a wee baby. ;)

 

Be sure to click to get a good look at this puppy.

Sneak Peek: Every Single Where.

I am really excited to post these images of oil paintings by Pakayla Biehn. Her show Every Single Where opens this Friday at Gallery 6 in SF. Jillian Mackintosh gave me a shout about the show and I had to ask her if they were actual paintings...because as you see Pakayla's work is so serene and concise it looks like photography. Just looking at these paintings I feel completely moved, I can only imagine what they'll be like in person. If you are in the Bay area make an effort to stop by the show. Then tell me what you thought, ok? A little bit about the show:

Gallery Six is pleased to present “Every Single Where” a collection of new works by San Francisco based artist Pakayla Biehn. Miss Biehn is a California native who now calls San Francisco home. Decidedly resourceful, she creates environments of curiosity and intimacy that resonate within painting, installation, drawing and mixed media. “Every Single Where” marks her first solo show. Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, December 18, 2009 from 7 to 11pm.

 

Pakayla Biehn’s most recent body of work concerns her congenital vision disability, called Strabismus. Her eyesight consists of mutually exclusive images trying, unsuccessfully, to bond into a cohesive impression. She uses her own embodied identity as a starting point for her paintings and installations. Her goal is to find a visual language to negotiate the intersection of imagery and create a similar perspective to give the viewer an understanding of her own optical condition.

Christian Rex van Minnen: Website Update.

Christian Rex van Minnen updated his website this weekend with three new pieces. Man, his painting is so intense and real! He makes meaty, guts and bulbous, tumors look almost beautiful with the warm light he captures so effortlessly, yet his work still manages to have a macabre edge. They almost glisten sinisterly. I find the pretty, white moths dancing around to be a nice, soft touch. You know, to take the edge off some dis-embowled guts found on the forest floor. I love Christian's juxtaposition of the gory with the beautiful. He does it so well. You can read a Q&A I did with Christian last year here.

Amanda Nedham.

Amanda Nedham's drawings are loosely based on mummies and objects from natural history museums. Within her work she explores what she terms "culture baggage - the appropriation of the body for the purpose of expanding narrative potential." I find her drawings stunning and slightly haunting.

Amanda's show Tapping The Admiral recently showed at Le Gallery in Toronto. To see more of her work check out the Gallery's site.

Yulia Yakushova.

Originally from Moscow, Yulia Yakushova calls Prague (twice over now) home. During the day she works as an editorial illustrator, but her drawing doesn't stop there. Outside of work she draws posters at home with friends for local partys in Prague. Ahhh, to draw all day. What a life! Yulia sent me a bunch of her illustrations, both personal and professional...check them out.

Guest Blog: Champagne Wishes and Hamburger Dreams with Alison Feldmann

I find utmost delight in the headiness of a well-conceived gift. As such, I've been waxing poetic on dandifying myself in fur trappings for every appendage, squealing over decayed dolls and waxen wishbones and indulging my fondness for finger amputation artwork for the past weeks. This week's Gift Bazaar post is the swan song to my operatic solo, and just in time to finish your holiday (dreaming?) shopping.

Join me, won't you?

Oh, my Todd! Receiving this too-cute-to-be-true Stevie Wonder-inspired postcard would put me over the moon.

Mimi Kirchner is a doll-maker unparalleled, and her series of toile-as-tattoo characters bring to mind aspirational painted ladies and the general vibe of the the Coney Island boardwalk scene.

Put some Underworld on the stereo and tune out: Caitlin Kuhwald's work is like a pulsing trance fantasy come true.

 

I love me some mid-century modern, and these modular plastic salt + pepper shakers are like physical figure eights..all curves, with no beginning or end.

 

This necklace speaks to me. Ancient future is "natural sea urchin spikes, tiny vintage brass cubes, and old car parts meeting up on a vintage brass chain for a pyramidal journey around your neck."

This little bun makes me get a little warm and gooey inside. The soft and unguent black merino definitely helps the cozy visions. I'd make a line-up of these little friends and decorate the mantle.

I've recently fallen in love with the Elaine Benes fashion oeuvre and have become convinced that a tiny backpack, oversized blazer and saddle shoes need to become part of my closet's lexicon. This canvas bag from Layer X Layer makes for a contemporary take on exclamations of "GET OUT!!!" (while artfully shoving).

Oooh! Gorgeous rabbit fur jacket in patchwork, be mine.

Thanks to Meighan for the oh-so-gracious and wonderful invite to guest blog on My Love for You: I've enjoyed it so! Keep on keepin' on, my friends: champagne wishes and hamburger dreams to all! For more craft and style musings, hit me up on Twitter or read me on Etsy's blog, The Storque.