A while back, I went right-click crazy and saved a giant folder of
images by Davide De Agostini. His work can be unsettling to look at in some cases, but is nonetheless utterly compelling.
I poured through these beautiful, macabre images and admired his ability to fuse warm aesthetics with chilling, haunted faces and bones.
I’m reminded of Stephen Gammell pieces, brought to life with color.
Oh Lordy, I’ve been here…
Sarah Sheil’s artwork has me mesmerized. Here is a detail from my favorite piece:
She creates dark, mystical images that glow and swirl with light and shadow. We see shades of iconic figures…life and death.
Her subjects seem poised between the earth realm and the cosmos (or the underworld).
Magic is afoot, indeed.
I’m in the process of switching computers to a new laptop, so today we have a quick post. Enjoy the surrealist work of Leonora Carrington
Zsofia Dome takes my breath away with her detailed illustrations. It was this anthropomorphic root series that made me need to track down her work.
I’m also particularly impressed with her tarot series, in which she loosely sticks to the themes of the universal Rider Waite deck, but takes some fantastic artistic liberty.
The Tower…
Death:
The High Priest:
The Moon:
I do hope she comes out with an actual deck at some point. I’d be thrilled to add it to my collection!
I’ve seen a lot of Nicholas Cage valentines, but never one with the expert coloring this one has. Those lips…hot pink…
This isn’t a Valentine at all, but it’s fun.
The perfect misanthrope cake.
The only mustachioed volcano I’ve ever seen.
Lest you think I forgot about the folks getting screwed over in a divorce at present:
I could probably make a whole post about cards with some variation of this phrase:
And if you’re in the mood for some vintage Valentines, check out:
Vintage Valentines: Monsters and Undead
Vintage Valentines: Ghosts, Witches and Skeletons
Vintage Valentine Roundup: Masochistic, Murderous and Meaty
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
My unbelievably talented friend William Basso introduced me to the work of Mariko Ando, an artist and printmaker born in Japan and currently based in Vancouver.
What will you find here? BUNNIES. And lots of them. Which is fine by me, because I’m a fan of all things Lagomorphic.
This is probably one of my favorite illustrations ever. One look, and I want to dive right into this place. A squishy, gorgeous bed in a tree, complete with chandelier, my own swing and the company of owls? YES PLEASE.
I love her lush, finely detailed style.
Is this fish holding a “recipe for vegans?” I’m surprised more animals don’t carry around vegan cookbooks.
You’re being welcomed into this post by anthropomorphic hotdog with breasts.
As far as I can tell, this is a real vintage ad. Probably one of the most jaw-dropping examples I’ve seen.
Imagine this is what you’re really standing on.
I prefer my tables without testicles.
Don’t miss the other title by this author on the bottom.
For “elegant women of refinement and taste.”
Just your average note-wielding mouse on a lobster.
I’m not sure what’s going on here. Is this a medical assistance device? Unless it’s equipped with some sort of pulley mechanism to lift bodies in need, I see very little purpose for lying on something LESS comfortable, a few inches above something designed for lying on.
And now, in today’s installment of unappealing instructional material…Meet the man who can tell you how to lick pimples.
Haunted…
In conclusion, cats are the cure for everything.
French painter Albert Besnard has a series of figurative Death pieces, in which the ominous bony figure shows up boldly or furtively…blending into the crowd and shadows, startling those he encounters as an unexpected guest, or simply looking dapper.
Shhhh…
While he is also known for his success in watercolor, pastel, oil and etching in portraiture, landscape and decoration, I particularly like this little collection I’ve assembled here.
Inner Topography is an illustrated series by Martino Prendini that brings visual representation to various psychological states. I love seeing what emerges when one attempts to give physical expressions to inner landscapes. I’m including the titles of each, as they serve to cast a tiny spotlight.
Hideaways
The artist states:
It’s the attempt to draw a kind of figural map of the inner world made of weaknesses, fears, desires, addictions, rituals, memories, hopes. Small prisons and small liberations, sometimes poetic sometimes grotesque, in contradiction with each other as they are in any inwardness.
Secret Gardens
Please, Smile Both!
We Are Simple Hearts
Words Battle
I enjoyed examining each aspect of these pieces. I couldn’t help but conjure stories about how the symbolically illustrated parts interconnected.
Jeremy Miranda paints fine art, with a slight surrealist nature. One often cannot tell where water, reflection and open space begin and end.
He creates paths in the most unlikely places, like something out of a dream.
I want to go here:
I stared at this one for quite sometime, drawn to the warm glow of the Christmas tree while perplexed about the surroundings. I wish I saw this before Christmas so I could’ve posted about it or sent it out. What an intriguing image.
SheWalksSoftly 
