We love: Takato Yamamoto

The exquisite art of Takato Yamamoto explores themes of darkness, bondage, vampires, metamorphosis, love and death. The perspective is always calm and serene - never depicting violence - rather, it is impending or just completed

We love: Tom Bagshaw

Based in the Georgian city of Bath, England, Tom Bagshaw works as a commercial illustrator under the moniker Mostlywanted and is represented by The Central Illustration Agency. His talents are sought after by clients in fashion, advertising, editorial and publishing, and include Saatchi Saatchi, Sony, the BBC, Kraft and GQ. He has done front cover illustrations for a group of select publishing houses - Future Publishing, Scholastic and Random House to name a few.
For his personal work he has developed a highly rendered digital painting style through which he explores themes of fantasy, beauty and mysticism. 'Yokai Dreams' is his first series created for a solo show and it masterfully demonstrates all the key qualities of his work which, while dealing with very imaginative content, aims for a strong level of realism in its presentation.
The darker, creepy elements in Bagshaw's paintings are often balanced out with quirky or humorous details which are charming for the viewer to discover. While feminine beauty plays a large role in his work, the women he depicts are never frail damsels in distress. More often than not they're strong, intriguing characters, with an air of mystery to them.
Though much of his reputation was gained through commercial work it is Yokai Dreams - his first exhibition - that marks his graduation from successful illustrator to highly-skilled, original and intriguing fine artist.

We love : Manuhell

http://manuhell.deviantart.com/

We love : Makeupbee

We love: Mirror Cradle

We love: Media Gold

We love: Nigel Q

We love: いのち_by_３１日東４【悠介】ム

Happy 4 Year Anniversary!

Four years ago today was how it all started. Izzy and Lyns had met at St. Martin's College...
Lyns invited Izzy around for a washed out Jubilee Party... where by which they ended up creating this Jubilee Pin-Up Girl! An alliance was born... A year on Sugarskills came to be!!

We love: Mayhem Here

 
 
http://thecandytree125.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/etsy-love-mayhem-here/

We love: Jolita Jewellery

Jolita Jewellery is a quirky label from London

offering edgy one-of-a-kind pieces for men and women.

We love: Kat Attack Photography

We love: Nick Lafontaine

 

We love: Audrey Kawasaki

 

Nothing like kicking the year off with some more Audrey!

The themes in Audrey Kawasaki's work are contradictions within themselves. Her work is both innocent and erotic. Each subject is attractive yet disturbing. Audrey's precise technical style is at once influenced by both manga comics and Art Nouveau. Her sharp graphic imagery is combined with the natural grain of the wood panels she paints on, bringing an unexpected warmth to enigmatic subject matter.

The figures she paints are seductive and contain an air of melancholy. They exist in their own sensually esoteric realm, yet at the same time present a sense of accessibility that draws the observer to them. These mysterious young women captivate with the direct stare of their bedroom eyes.

2 years Pratt Institute, Brooklyn - Fine Arts Painting

Audrey updates her online journal frequently with new work, pieces in progress, information about shows and more. Click here to visit Aud's Journal.

Some of Aud's other links: other blog, twitter, facebook, ffffound, tumblr, tumblr likes            

We love: ShakeyLens

 

We love:Hanna Viktorsson

Respect to: Amy Sarkisian

 

Amy Sarkisian (born 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) is a contemporary artist^[1] living and working in Los Angeles, California. She received a BFA from Kent State University in 1994 and a MFA from UCLA in 1997.
Sarkisian is primarily a sculptor^[2] but works in a variety of media that includes painting, drawing and collage. She is known for her jeweled skulls.^[3][4] In a 2011 interview, she named Brancusi, Eva Hesse and Louise Bourgeois as among her influences.^[5]
Sarkisian is represented by Galerie Carlos Cardenas in Paris and Kathryn Brennan Gallery in Los Angeles. She is also a member of Artists Pension Trust Los Angeles.
Sarkisian has exhibited internationally in galleries and museums

(source Wiki)

 

Respect to : Damien Hirst

 

“I just thought, ‘What can you pit against death?”
‘For the Love of God’, a platinum skull set with diamonds, is one of Hirst’s most important and widely recognised works. Its raw materials define it as an artwork of unprecedented scale. The 32 platinum plates making up ‘For the Love of God’ are set with 8,601 VVS to flawless pavé-set diamonds, weighing a massive 1,106.18 carats. The teeth inserted into the jaw are real and belong to the original skull.
The skull from which ‘For the Love of God’ was cast, was purchased from a London taxidermist and subsequently subjected to intensive bioarchaeological analysis and radiocarbon dating. This research revealed it dated from around 1720 - 1810, and was likely to be that of a 35-year-old man of European/Mediterranean ancestry. The title originates from exclamations Hirst’s mother would make on hearing plans for new works when he was starting out as an artist. As he explains: “She used to say, ‘For the love of God, what are you going to do next!’” 
‘For the Love of God’ acts as a reminder that our existence on earth is transient. Hirst combined the imagery of classic memento mori with inspiration drawn from Aztec skulls and the Mexican love of decoration and attitude towards death. He explains of death: “You don’t like it, so you disguise it or you decorate it to make it look like something bearable – to such an extent that it becomes something else.”



The incorporation of the large central stone was inspired by memories of the comic ‘2000 AD’, which Hirst used to read as a child. He relates how the comic, “used to have a character in it called Tharg the Mighty who had a circle on his forehead. He was like a kind of powerful, God-like figure who controlled the universe,” Hirst explains. “It kind of just looked like it needed something. A third eye; a connection to Jesus and his dad.”
Alongside their dazzling brilliance and “Eucharistic” beauty, Hirst’s fascination with diamonds results partly from the mutterings and uncertainty surrounding their inherent worth. In the face of the industry’s ability to establish their irreplaceable value, it becomes necessary to question whether they are “just a bit of glass, with accumulated metaphorical significance? Or [whether they] are genuine objects of supreme beauty connected with life.”The cutthroat nature of the diamond industry, and the capitalist society which supports it, is central to the work’s concept. Hirst explains that the stones “bring out the best and the worst in people […] people kill for diamonds, they kill each other”.
In 2010, Hirst created a second, baby diamond skull called ‘For Heaven’s Sake’ using pink diamonds.

 

A short film of ‘For the Love of God’ is viewable here.

 

We love: Jorge Monreal - Cocoaspen

 

 

2 Years Ago Today This Was Us! Gosh That Was A HOT Day!!!