how cute can you be

How cute are these illustrations from Giselle Gonzalez?? I was searching on etsy for big eyed kid prints (like these) when I came across the piece at the top of this post. I was looking for a vintage print to hang in my room, but decided to search everything instead of limiting myself to vintage, and voila! I found this in the handmade section. Her whole shop is so absolutely adorable, with a 60's/70's illustration style that I love so much I want to give it a gigantic hug! The mod big-eyed girl is definitely my favorite, so I think that'll be gracing my wall soon! You can find her on etsy here, and her blog here.

the great northern

I've recently become overwhelming smitten with Twin Peaks. My parents recommended it to me, and since I think they pretty much have the best taste in the world when it comes to music, movies and tv, I took their advice and set myself up with season 1 a couple weeks ago. As usual when I get hooked on a new-to-me show, I breezed through the whole thing in about a weeks time. And WOW. I can totally understand now why it has such a devoted cult following. It's one of those shows you just can't get off your mind. I've dreamt about it quite a few times now (thank goodness I haven't had any scary Bob dreams yet, but I know they're bound to show up eventually) and even came up with an idea for a new flapper doodle painting with a Twin Peaks theme. I'm totally hooked.

I waited until I had finished the last episode of the last season to do any digging online, to make sure I didn't accidentally glimpse any spoilers. After imdb, wikipedia and some fan sites, I searched on etsy to see if anyone had any cool fan art... and low and behold I found these amazing cross-stitch and embroidery pieces from a Twin Peaks themed etsy shop brilliantly titled The Great Northern! Totally amazing! I'm thinking I might need to snatch one up, and I'm leaning towards the coincidence & fate piece. But how awesome would it be to have a whole series of them displayed together?!

artistic envy

I have been bitten by the green-eyed monster more times than I'd like to admit. When I come across art that I absolutely love, it's a combination of adoration, awe, and jealousy that I didn't make it myself. As blogger Tommy Salami said on twitter the other day when talking about a great book he's reading, "It's so good that I'm depressed someone else wrote it." That's how I feel about great art.

And so, I thought I'd start spotlighting some of my favorite artists who make me go absolutely green with envy over their artistic abilities and creative sensibilities. People who combine impeccable talent with an awe-inspiring imagination. Peggy Wolf is a prime example. She creates the kind of art I wish I could. It's gorgeous, chic, creative, incredibly well executed and absolutely beautiful! I love her use of color and the combination of opaque blocks of color with translucent watercolors. I want to buy up her entire shop and paper my walls with her artwork.

You can visit her shop on etsy, and you can click through the images to see the individual listings for each print.