amanda briggs at dear ada

ellen altfest.

I like the strange, cool, flatness of this skillfully rendered painting of cactus by ellen altfest. Given the subject matter (hot, dry desert plants) the hit I get from this painting is that something is off. Which is intriguing and mysterious. Which is always good in a piece of art.

hero design studio.

I'm loving this screenprinted poster from hero design studio. Yet another wonderful limited run, affordable, screenprinted piece of art from a small studio. I love the development of these boutique press houses that offer really terrific art at an accessable price. Now there is no excuse not to have fabulous art in our lives.

dennis hayes iv.

Ah, this is so nice. A great mixed media piece by dennis hayes iv. Great color too.

chick-a-dee.

Design matters. It should solve problems, ideally in an aesthetically pleasing way. Take smoke alarms for example. They save lives, but man, are they ugly. So ugly apparently, that some people don't use them because of how they look. Now I'm not saying I agree with this thought process, but I do understand it. As a type 1 diabetic who wears an insulin pump, I am confronted everyday with living with a designed object that helps keep me alive, but at the same time has some serious design drawbacks. The trade off I make between great engineering and less than fabulous design, is one I am begrudgingly willing to make. But when I think of design in it's highest form, I don't think there should have to be a trade off. Design should enhance the decision to have an life saving object in ones life, not deter it. Design should make it easy to do the right thing.

Like this fabulous example, the chick-a-dee smoke detector by the designer, louise van der veld. Who wouldn't want this wonderful bird in their house, regardless of the fact that it is also a smoke detector? This sweet product leads with design and assumes engineering and function. At the very least, it takes away the excuse of making a bad decision that could lead to great harm. In this case great design not only inspires a smart choice, it also makes it hard to make a bad one. I just love this!

Thanks to the wonderful style files for this happy link!

amy sillman.

I'm loving the summer colors in this lovely painting by amy sillman, which remind me of these colors found by my husband in Arizona. Ah, summer.

david maisel.

Believe it or not, this is an airel photograph not some stunningly beautiful piece of jewelry or a magnificant painting. Not that it isn't stunningly beautiful, but the fact that it's a picture of some place on earth, just can't be good. Regardless of that sad fact, this piece is one of many by the wonderful photographer david maisel. My god his pieces are breathtaking both aesthetically and journalistically if you will. And though very different visually, they remind me of the similarly arresting work of ed burtynsky.

And thanks to i heart photography for yet another amazing link.

doris betz.

These 2 brooches are by doris betz and I lu-huv them both so much. Especially together. One, so delicate and sweet and feminine with it's pink beads and all. The other, kind of rough and unfinessed and scrappy, like a lovely piece of metal you found on the street. Both are totally wonderful in my book.

terri logan.

This is a fabulous bracelet by terri logan. Wow, do I love the colors of these stones, common river rocks to be exact. This is a wonderful example of how the most mundane things can be seen with fresh eyes when called to our attention through simple presentation and beautiful crafting. Just delicious.

jennifer febbraro

I like this painting above by jennifer febbraro very much. Painted, drawn, frentic and patterned. Plus I love the color, especially the use of turquoise with red.

This one below is pretty sweet too. Great use of color and mix of media. Very nice indeed.

john dilnot.

This is great. Clustered, overlapping, frenetic in a box. And then also neat, scientific, precise on the page. Both are fabulous. Both are done by john dilnot.