Artist Love - Australian Series - Kirra Jamison

Kirra Jamison is a young Australian artist. {A.very. talented. artist.}.  Born in Byron Bay but currently Melbourne based. 

Kirra draws upon mythology and fairy tales for inspiration to create her artworks of seemingly surreal worlds, with ambiguous narratives that are sometimes dark, sometimes whimsical and sometimes both at once! Kirra uses a kaleidoscopic palette and employs various techniques and mediums.

{photos of artworks via Kirrajamison.com}

Surrender Star, Firstdraft, Sydney 8- 26 September 2010

Cosmic Might  by Kirra Jamison. 

Kirra in her studio by Daniel Mahon

{photo}

Kirra has been featured on photographer Paul Barbera's "Where They create" series. The photo above and the ones below give you a sneak peek of her studio and creative life. Go visit for more fab pics.

You can also go take a "sticky beak" (an 'Australianism' for being nosy!!)

at Kirra and partner Dane Lovett's funky home on Design*Sponge here. 

Their colourful home is situated above their studio spaces amongst a community of artists.

or over at The Design Files.

For more information visit Kirra Jamison's website, or maybe you'd like to stop by Kirra's blog Keke,

inspired by time she spent living (and cooking) in Japan, she says of it:

"Keke is inspired by the people I know, the places they cook and the food we share. Keke likes to use organic, sustainable and ethically farmed ingredients whenever possible."

photos from Keke

Hope you enjoyed peeking into Kirra Jamison's creative world - I did!

Take care,

Sally xox

Artist Love - Rosetta Santucci

Finding My Way Back {photo}

Dandelion Walk

Have you seen any of the fabulous paintings by Australian artist Rosetta Santucci - possibly in Nina Proudman's bedroom if you, like me,  obsessively watched Channel 10's Offspring?
{Weebirdy has a great blog post on how to get the 'Nina'-look here}.

{photo via Weebirdy}

I think this is my favourite of Rosetta's paintings (but it's hard to choose!).

Falling Into The Light  86cm x 61cm

Rosetta's husband John is also a talented artist, so it's no surprise to discover that they have a very stylish home, it's been featured on The Design Files, as well as a few magazines and Design*Sponge too.
My favourite rooms are the bedroom (below) and her painting studio.

Rosetta's fabulous and original style is influenced by her background in costume (for film /TV), jewellery & Textile design. She is particularly inspired by ethnic & tribal textiles.
Her work is also evocative of a birds eye view of exotic, fantastical landscapes. Imagine a land or a world with that much colour....

{bedroom & studio photos - via The Design Files}

Rosetta in Real Living mag 

I know The way Out {photo}

Enjoy!
love,
Sally xox

Artist Love - Jessica Swift

I absolutely adore the energetic, whimsical, exuberantly-colourful work of fabulous artist / surface pattern designer Jessica Swift. {Can you tell I am a fan?!}

Jessica has a blog, a fabulous website, which you can buy a multitude of colourful products from, an Etsy Shop where you can buy fab prints like this one (below), along with things like pocket mirrors and cards...

Basically if you can think of something to print a pattern on - Jessica is likely to have done it! Even rain boots!!

I especially love Jessica's paintings: Here's a taster - but you can peruse many more or perhaps even purchase of Jessica's playful, funky original works on wood panels at Gregg Irby Fine Art.

{images from Gregg Irby Fine Art}

Enjoy ~ I hope to have brightened your day a little!

Love,

Sally xoxhttp://www.etsy.com/shop/jessicagswift

Artist Love - Lulie Wallace

    Hello! How are you?

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the work of Lulie Wallace.

Vibrant American artist, Lulie, studied art at the College of Charleston,  
earning her Bachelor of Arts in painting.

 Lulie and her husband Harrison - (Oh and Abe the Labradoodle!), live and work in the Charleston area, of South Carolina.

       I love these floral paintings - Lulie describes them as having an
      'alien quality'..."not the kind that travel to earth in UFOs,
but are the objects that, at first glance, appear to be everyday objects, but upon a closer look, are distinguished by uniqueness and   character".

About her paintings Lulie says "My aliens take form in a
lime green tabletop, a magenta shadow, or in vibrant teal
greenery.
 A painting of flowers in a vase is an obvious subject matter to
most collectors or observers, but what I want my art to achieve
 through color, shape, and texture is the balance of uniqueness,
character, and honest materiality".

{images}

Lulie's palette ~ like a work of art in itself!

Lulie's art blog can be found here. 
Her shop is here

Love,
Sally xox

Spotty, Dotty, Spotty, Dotty, Spotty, Dotty....!!

This is just so fabulous! It's an interactive art installation, at the Queensland Art Gallery, where kids can get involved with creating art in a gallery and watch it come to life and evolve.
 I know two little peeps who'd have loved to join in on this...

{images from Colossal}

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art  {GOMA}

Yayoi Kusama: The obliteration room, 2002

(19 November 2011 – 11 March 2012)

"Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is one of the most significant and influential artists working today. When she was a small girl she started seeing the world through a screen of tiny dots. They covered everything she saw – the walls, ceilings and even her own body. For 40 years she has made paintings, sculptures and photographs using dots to cover surfaces and fill rooms. Kusama calls this process 'obliteration', which means the complete destruction of every trace of something.

This summer the Queensland Art Gallery ǀ Gallery of Modern Art invites children and families to take part in playful works of Yayoi Kusama by participating in The obliteration room, a popular interactive installation first commissioned by the Queensland Art Gallery for Kids' APT in 2002".

(text from GOMA). 

© Yayoi Kusama / Image courtesy: Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

Yayoi Kusama | Flowers that bloom at midnight (detail) 2010 | 

... And I thought what we did with sticky dots was fun!! ... 

Well actually, it was - it's a great simple idea for a non-messy craft for kids (fabulous for taking out to a restaurant for instance!).

All you need is paper, a black texta (Marker pen / felt tip) and a pack of coloured sticky dots,

(I bought mine from my local discount variety store).

1. Draw a large simple shape eg a kite, or a fish perhaps, or maybe an umbrella, (we did, amongst other things, an octopus), then let your little one loose with 'colouring-in' the picture with dots.

The ideal age is probably 3-5. (It worked really well for my 4 year old).

This post has made me fancy some bright, spotty dotty 'Smarties'!! haha!

Off to raid the fridge....

Love,

Sally xox