suana verelst illustrations

belgian (et maintenant au quebec) artist suana verelst is a clear thinking artist. she approaches each of her dreamy pieces with a quilter’s mindset, combining today’s technology with painting, drawing and repurposed items. here’s a sampling of her poetic portfolio:

suana was born in antwerp and grew up in kortrijk, near the french border. she has degrees in fine arts from 2 schools: the academy of fine arts in antwerp, and john abbott college and concordia university in montréal (where she also received an art history degree). after her graduation in graphic design from dawson college in montréal, she began an illustration career in children’s books, and has won recognition and accolades for them in europe and north america.

suana’s favorite stories to tell are the ones where the most vivid characters come to life. one day, while completing an illustration, she was suddenly inspired to take the soul of her two dimensional drawing and craft it into a three dimensional character. her one of a kind doll collection now proudly compliments her illustration work.

a little whimsical, a tad surreal, a pinch spooky, and slightly absurd.

great stuff!

stay tuned to her etsy shop, currently being restocked with fun goods for september!

more eye candy on her website, and good reading on her blog too.

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fun vintage cookbook art by lou peters

if you have looked at more than one post here in this space, you probably know that my tastes run pretty eclectic. as much as i enjoy modern and contemporary art and craft, i’m also a big fan of mid-century style, so i was grinning ear to ear when i saw these great vintage cookbook illustrations on ward jenkins’ fun blog.

every time i look at drawings from this period, i totally imagine that i’m one of the people in them. everyone looks so cheery and carefree — especially that girl in the green dress sipping a sweet tea!

more of lou’s artwork on ward’s flickr photostream.

dig deep into the interweb, and you might just find the original cookbooks for sale.

via drawn!

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amanda webster - poignant illustrations

i like these illustrations from new york (via minnesota) artist amanda webster, because they make me squirm.

amanda has a background in psychology and her work is inspired by human nature and internal conflict.

she works in traditional and digital media.

 i’m compelled by the themes of pain, yearning and isolation.

the somber victorian feel and the raw emotion in some of these pieces make looking at them an arduous task — which is why i love them! 

moving, and so rewarding. 

check out amanda’s blog and online portfolio for more info.

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lisa solomon - empress of embroidery

lisa solomon is a california artist who comes from a long line of crafters. she creates imaginative drawings from a bevy of mixed media, including thread, wire, charcoal, watercolor, ink, satin, felt, and the wall, as well as paper and canvas.

her fabulous work is frequently inspired by childhood themes, found objects and the differences in masculine and feminine attributes.

lisa enjoys pairing unrelated things, to create unexpected new meaning from their traditional contexts. her themes mirror her results: harmonious, remarkably tactile pieces, borne of delicate, and sometimes nostalgic, material.

she is currently on exhibit in japan.

view more of lisa’s work here or there. purchase drawings, et. al., here.

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