Street Art by Monkey Bird

Monkey Bird is a French duo of contemporary artists who were born and currently working in Bordeaux. Blow the Bird and Temor the Monkey are the genius minds behind the mind blogging artwork. "They incarnate the two faces of humankind, the monkey being the realist, and the bird being a dreamer." The duo studied graphic design, object design and industrial design in college. Their work is inspired by religious paintings and the art nouveau often depicting wild animals in urban setting.

They have worked on the walls of museums, institutions, waste walls, antique doors and abandoned buildings. "Their mission is to transcribe social themes into walls, through the use of animal totems and elaborate symbolism." They are presently being represented by GCA Gallery in Nice, France.

Japanese Culture Inspired Functional Ceramics by Reiko Miyagi

Reiko Miyagi was born in Japan and worked as a potter in Mashiko, a renowned pottery town, before moving to the US. When she was in college she use to visit ceramic galleries, museums and pottery towns. This made her fall in love with the rich pottery culture in Japan and eventually becoming a potter herself.

After receiving B.A. from Tama Art University and studying ceramics at Bunka Gakuin, she did a pottery apprenticeship at Tsukamoto Ceramics in Mashiko. She now has a studio Tabula Rasa in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina where she makes functional ceramics in both contemporary and traditional styles using gas kiln firing. Over the years she has developed her signature style in black and white sgraffito stoneware. Her work has been shown in several shows and galleries including the Smithsonian Craft Show, the American Craft Council Shows and the Charlotte Mint Museum Potters Invitational.

Her pieces can be found on her online store and to take a closer look at her work you can join her on Instagram.

Award Winning Mixed-Media Artist Creates Paper Cut Collages

 

Ashley Barron is a mixed media artist and an illustrator who graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2007 and has been creating cut paper collages ever since. As a child she grew up with an extensive collection of children's literature, thanks to her mother who was a preschool teacher. Ashley used to spend long hours on a rainy day with a book, daydreaming and drawing whatever her felt like.

Her collages are rich in textures and is a blast of colors. Each piece is created with hand cut paper that are arranged to form birds, owls, scenes, and flowers. She has worked in partnership with brands including Disney, GE, Canadian Wildlife Federation, TEDX Toronto, Ontario Parks, Cover Girl, Elle Canada, The Royal Ontario Museum, and Pepsi Canada to name a few. She has been honored with awards by Communication Arts, 3x3 Magazine of Contemporary Illustration, and Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators.

She has illustrated several picture books including the Math in Nature series, Kyle Goes Alone, My Forest is Green and Birthdays Around the World. You can learn more about her work and see behind the scene videos on Instagram.

Stunning Stained Glass Suncatchers by Vitrage Art

When I used to live in Tucson stained glass suncatchers could be seen everywhere. The desert sun provided for the perfect light to add sparkle to the piece hanging on the porch, sun room window or dangling on a tree in the yard. It's magical to observe how the light gets reflected through the colors of the stained glass owl, hummingbird, butterfly, cardinal and flowers, bringing them to life. 

Kateryna of Vitrage Art handmakes stunning suncatchers from quality stained glass using 19th century Louise Tiffany technology, fusing and with glass painting elements. She also makes beautiful table lamps and panels that are available here.