SushiBird Tile

As I was skimming through Home Beautiful magazine I saw these gorgeous handmade tiles by The Red Thread. These vibrant, graphic birds are created from Japanese papers nest on stylised background patterns inspired by nature. The white line work illustrations are hand painted on solid natural timber, and each element of the SushiBird is lovingly cut by hand from carefully combined paper colours and patterns, creating a stylish, elegant work of art with a contemporary feel. SushiBird Tiles are made in a limited edition of 50, and each tile is personally signed and numbered by artist Lisa Tilse. As they are individually created by hand, no two will ever be the same. Finished with a semi-gloss varnish for protection, the piece has a luxurious sheen that enhances the natural grain and warmth of the timber. Available at Udessi from $150.00 each. Inspiring!

Courtney Brims

Courtney Brims is a self-taught artist living in Brisbane. He artwork, featured in this months Frankie Magazine, reflects her obsession with all thing unusual. Her work can be purchase via her online shop.

Catherine Martin

I love everything that Catherine Martin designs. That woman can do no wrong. I really want a fantastic panel of this Black Cockatoo print in my house. Powerful and beautifully detailed.

Nikki Farquharson

Thanks to the Cool Hunter for putting me onto London-based graphic designer and illustrator, Nikki Farquharson. Her ongoing project, Mixed Media Girls, gives the viewer a lot to look at. The collages appear innocent and sweet but at the same time sharp and edgy.

Guy Peppin

Guy Peppin uses a combination of oils, acrylics and pencil on canvas to create these soft abstract pieces that I love. Available at the Liverpool Street Gallery, Sydney.

Minjae Lee

The Cool Hunter has founds some more great talent. Minjae Lee is a young South Korean artist whose work expresses a semi-disturbing inner tension that is tough to ignore, even if you feel that you'd like to. It draws you in with its powerful colours, halting imagery and clever juxtaposition of beauty, innocence and fragility with brash, loud and aggressive.

David Downton

Having recently graced the cover of Vogue's special anniversary edition, David Downton's incredible fashion illustrations have been exposed for all to enjoy. He is a master of his craft, and his amazing portfolio may be viewed at www.daviddownton.com

Kat Macleod

I have been to add Kat to my blog for way too long, and finally I have got around to doing it! I had the pleasure of having Kat in my classes at University. She was gorgeous then, and even more gorgeous now. Kat Macleod’s collage ladies will inspire confusing feelings of wardrobe envy, even though they are drawings and not people. She finds fashion, textiles, new art supplies and old books inspiring. Her clients include Vogue Entertaining and Travel, Collette Dinnigan, Harper’s Bazaar, Madison and Frankie. She has also illustrated three books, Bird, The Cocktail Book and Like I give a frock. She enjoys hot chips, talking on the phone and her cat. She also runs her own design business with friends called Ortolan. She is a true inspiration.

Mizue Hirano

Mizue Hirano's watercolors are so gorgeous and delicate. Shown here are examples of her work on a book, poster, packaging and magazine spreads in Japan. I love to see such a soft medium being applied to advertising and mainstream design. (Source Oh Joy!)

Prada love

Never before have I experienced such a love affair with leather goods as I do now. Prada has taken design to another level, and starting with their website, it is simply magic.The colour, the detail, and the fact that it is Prada all fuel this exciting collection which has got me budgeting like nothing before just to be able to obtain one on these exclusive pieces. The main source of my delight comes from their new range of what I like to call 'fishy bags'. Being a Piscean, this decadent range of purses, clutches and hand bags is based on a tropical fish design, and I am in heaven. The only downside is the fact that I love all of the colour combinations, and therefore cannot decide which one I love more. Having seen then in person has made this even more difficult. The leather is even more luxurious in the flesh, and I have suddenly realised why people will spend huge sums of money on luxury items such as these... because they are works of art.

Walnut Wallpapers

Walnut Wallpaper (based in Los Angeles) has a fabulous range of designs, both vintage and contemporary, that will add a whole new light to room (or your entire house!). I particularly love the Art Nouveau and Japanese inspired patterns, yum! Here are a few of my favs... (as seen in Oh Joy!)

Vektor Junkie

Von stumbled across this site at work the other day, and I am so glad she did. Vektor Junkie is a site that hosts Vektorika Magazine, an online magazine devoted to all that is vector, and it is fabulous (with up to 100 pages per issue!). Each issue is available for download, and features submissions from digital artists all over the world. It amazes me just how many talented people there are in the world!

Bill O'Neil

I found the works of Bill O'Neil via the Paper Shop Ink blog.'My creations are an illustrative and graphic fusion of abstracts and symbolism, chaos and mathematics, pop culture advertising and artifacts, and some kind of otherworldly information maps... I always seek to create pieces that feel kinetic, that seem evolve or change based on the viewers mood, or resonate differently with different people... something like mood-art...'. Well worth checking out his Etsy shop and website.