Inspired: Red (Hong Yi)

Hong Yi, a Malaysian artist who goes by the nickname "Red", describes herself as an artist-architect who "likes to paint, but not with a paintbrush." Instead, she uses all sorts of found materials to create imaginative portraits and whimsical scenes. Her work has gained much acclaim recently on the Internet, in part due to her ability to capture well-known figures in creative and evocative mediums. She currently resides in Shanghai and works for an Australian architectural firm. Her most recent project, "31 Days of Creativity with Food," consisted of a daily art piece constructed solely from food on the backdrop of a white plate. These are few of my favorite pieces from her work:

Cucumber Landscape (made from one cucumber)

All You Need Is Love (cherry tomatoes, nori, soy sauce)

Giant Squid Attack! (squid and squid ink)

"The Wave" (nori, long grain rice)

Portrait of Jay Chou, in coffee

The making of the Jay Chou portrait

Go check out the rest of Red's work on her website (it's totally worth it!)

Plus she runs a great blog!

Inspired: Marisa Redondo

Marisa Redondo creates beautiful organic paintings inspired by the natural beauties of her current surroundings in Northern California. Working with oils and watercolors, she seeks to capture the unique patterns and colors of nature (which she does quite well). I find her choice of colors and the intricacy of detail in her work fascinating. You can find all of Redondo's work in her Etsy store, River Luna. These are a few of my favorites:

Gathering Bundle

In Bloom

Tree Ring Feathers

Stick Collection

All of Marisa Redondo's work can be found in her Etsy shop

Inspired: Maja Lindberg

I have to admit, the hedgehog illustration is the primary reason I found this artist (Hedgehogs are my catnip). Anyways, back on track: Maja Lindberg is a designer/illustrator from Sweden who draws ethereal portraits of animals and fairytales and other such things. I find her use of light most striking in her illustrations- an effect that gives a depth to her dreamlike figures. These are a few of my favorites from her pieces. (You can check out all of her work for sale in her Etsy shop here.)

Evening Swim

Ocean Deep

The Lighthouse Widow

The Hedgehog

All of these and more can be found in Maja's Etsy Shop

The kind of post inspired by too many hours of air travel

Night Lights by Beata 

The sun fell below the horizon long ago but still
along the mountains hangs a choking orange glow that
burns the sky with bands of blue remnants of day
last lingering on unwilling to succumb before the
sweeping creeping darkness
engines hum a steady cacophony drowning the simplest
thought smothering sense dulling mind to even
most jolting terror as she looks across
clouds to see light has gone diving into impending
blackness and fireflies dancing below
(Afterglow, author unknown)

Inspired: World Press Photo Awards

The results of the World Press Photo Awards were released a few weeks ago, and the winners are stunning. Out of 103,481 photographs from 5,666 photographers, a few winning photos were chosen by an international jury in a number of categories ranging from sports to news to daily life. These were a few of the photos I found most striking, but all of them are so incredible. Head over to the World Press website to check out the rest of the winning images for 2013.

Gaza Burial, Paul Hensen, 20 Nov 2013
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories
World Press Photo of the Year, 1st Prize, Spot News Singles

Joy at the End of the Run, Wei Seng Chen, 12 Feb 2012
Batu Sangkar, West Sumatra, Indonesia
1st Prize, Sports Action Single

Emperor Penguins, Paul Nicklen, 18 Nov 2011
Rose Sea, Antarctica
1st Prize, Nature Stories

Cross Country Steeplechase, Roman Vondrous, 15 Sep 2012
Pardubice, Czech Republic
1st Prize, Sports Action Stories

At the Dandora Dump, Micah Albert, 03 April 2012
Nairobi, Kenya
1st Prize, Contemporary Issues Singles

Want to know how they picked the winners? Check out these interviews with the jury members.

Inspired: Jennifer Booher

Beachcombing No. 63, available on Etsy

Jennifer Booher, a denizen of Bar Harbor, is an art historian turned landscape architect who delves into the intersection of art and science. An avid beachcomber, she gathers and carefully arranges her finds into beautifully ordered photographs. She calls herself "part magpie, part squirrel, part scientist, and part historian" in her drive to collect, document, and research her findings as she transforms castaway flotsam into captivating fine art. Her work can be found in her Etsy shop, Quercus Design, or on her blog of the same name. These are a few of my favorite pieces of hers.

Beachcombing No. 52

Aluminum, Seaweed, Driftwood, Periwinkle

Beachcombing No. 55

All photographs belong to Jennifer Booher and can be purchased in her Etsy shop

Inspired: Alice Pasquini

Alice Pasquini's urban art is bold, bright, and stunning. A splash of color in acrylic and spray paint on a grey wall in the midst of a bustling city catches the eye and brings life to a space that was empty before. The scale, depth, and detail of her work speaks to her talent in capturing emotion and evoking feeling in the audience of the everyday viewer, who might catch a glimpse of a portrait on a daily commute, trip to the store, or walk around the block. Pasquini writes: 

"I create art about people and their relationships, I'm interested in representing human feelings and exploring different points of view. I especially like to depict strong and independant women"

Here are a few of my favorite pieces from her work:

All images belong to Alice Pasquini

Inspired: Anna Aden

Anna Aden's photography is highly evocative and beautifully composed. A carefully-paced hand, a sweeping vista, a pause before a moment's breath-- the best photographs induce a sort of stillness, a curiosity, and a sense of near intrusion upon an intimate moment. These photographs from Aden's series, Autumn Fields, do just that. 

Anna Aden is a photographer based in Umea, Sweden. Her work has been featured in a number of publication. To see more of her wonderful photography, click here.

P.S. Check out her facebook page for more loveliness

Inspired: Melinda Beck

the objects in my house talk to me

I discovered these illustrations by Melinda Beck via Creature Comforts. And I love them.

The inanimate objects in my house tend to talk to me too. The plants don't though-- they just listen to me ramble on and on and on...

(P.S. all of these illustrations and more are for sale in her shop!)

Small Type

keys to places I use to live

They seemed like a good idea

run



All images belong to Melinda Beck

Inspired: Emma Leonard

about a girl

Emma Leonard is an illustrator based in Melbourne who draws ethereal and often melancholic pictures of lovely girls using a variety of mediums. I think I love her ink-and-watercolor illustrations best of all. There is something quite delicate and wistful about them. One almost expects a splash of color to whisper off the page on a slight breeze.

hold me

saffron

girl reading

a dream within a dream

All of these prints and illustrations and many more can be found in Emma Leonard's Etsy Shop

(She also has a lovely blog)

All images belong to Emma Leonard

Inspired: Vivian Maier

I'm back! Two papers, two exams, and one job application down, all in two days. It's quite nice to be done with the midterm rush. Today's post was so much fun for me to write- Vivian Maier is one of my favorite photographers. I could look at her photographs all day.

10 Sept 1955
Self Portrait

Vivian Maier is a fascinating figure.  Working for all her life as a nanny in New York and Chicago, she carried her camera with her everywhere, capturing scenes of everyday life.  Little is known about her personal life-- those who knew her describe her as a quiet, solitary person. Her negatives were only discovered by accident when the contents of one of her lockers were auctioned off; and her tremendous talent was only realized after her death. Since then, John Maloof, the Chicago real estate agent who discovered her work, has been curating and archiving her work, which has drawn international acclaim. 

1955,  New York, NY
Maloof described Vivian as giving a voice to the voiceless with her camera

2 Dec 1954, New York, NY
But Vivian's work captured all sorts of people, rich and poor

1953, New York, NY
Her photographs document everyday life in the post-war boom

22 Aug 1956, Chicago, IL
Both moments of rest

1957, Chicago, IL
And of work

Undated, Canada 
The young

1958, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
The old

Undated, Unknown
Stillness

4 November 1955, San Francisco, CA
Wonder

1956
And beauty

All photographs by Vivian Maier