Olaf Hajek and a Defense of Anthropologie

Sometimes I feel guilty about loving Anthropologie so much. A lot of people have issues with the politics of the CEO, with the very fact that it is a big chain store, with the preciousness of the products...but y'know what...those criticisms don't really outweigh the benefits in my opinion.

I'm consistently impressed with Anthro's efforts to work with artists to commission pieces instead of just ripping them off. And for those of us who don't live in big cities, Anthro is probably a sanity-saving oasis of lovely in a local mall otherwise filled with crap. In short, Anthro brings genuinely beautiful things to the masses, and I'm hard-pressed to find anything wrong with that.

For instance, if it wasn't for Anthro, I'm not sure if I ever would have discovered the amazing work of Olaf Hajek whose book Flowerhead recently landed in stores. So amazing.

P.S. I just couldn't resist his volcano picture below. If only the one in Iceland was shooting flowers and butterflies!

Artist Spotlight: Eloise Corr Danch

Have you ever wondered about the talented people behind those amazing window displays you see in stores like Anthropologie? Well, aside from brilliant in-house teams who help style the stores and the displays, there are tons of amazing artists like Eloise Corr Danch, a brooklyn-based artist who specializes in paper sculpture, illustration and set and graphic design.

I am totally blown away by the paper gardens and other sculptures Eloise makes for clients like Anthro, Macy's and Saks. Check out more of Eloise's work here.

H/T Katy Elliott

Artist Spotlight: Simon Benson

Introduced to this amazing artist via Jenna at L'ecume des Jours. Especially love his drawings of still water which take me back to long summer days spent at Eric's family's lake house. Summer, please come now!

Artist Spotlight: Hillary Webb

Lately I can't get enough of textile artists, and Hillary Webb is certainly one of the most talented I've seen. I love her very contemporary take on this traditional art form. Each piece is naturally dyed and hand-embroidered. Learn more about Hillary and her work here.

First discovered on Canadian House and Home

Artist Spotlight: Kirra Jamison

Today, I want to introduce you all to one of the most amazing new talents I've seen in a long time. Kirra Jamison is an Australian artist whose brilliant, kaleidoscopic work is described best here:

"Kirra Jamison cultivates ideas. Initial kernels of intuition germinate into lines, forms and patterns that branch and weave and interlay the picture plane with snatches of narrative. Floating amongst the fragments of decorative motif and patterning, vignettes of everyday experience emerge and inveigle the viewer with abundant possibilities of meaning. Harmonious or chaotic, repeated or disrupted, Jamison's use of patterns and images dismantles cultural boundaries, blurring the divide between high and low art, the East and the West, the past and the present."

Some of my favorite works below:

Artist Spotlight: Annabel Mehran

I love photographs that really "take you there" and these lush landscapes from Annabel Mehran are so evocative of the spring thaw. I've been cooped up in my apartment all week and would give anything to be running around in any of these photos. You can almost feel the crisp air, slippery rocks, scratch of the meadow, and smell the wet dirt. Seriously guys, winter is a cruel season for daydreamers.

Artist Spotlight: Bryan Nash Gill

If you needed proof that no pattern maker in the world can match Mother Nature, check out the work of Bryan Nash Gill. As you can see in the photo below, Bryan creates these gorgeous, undulating forms with direct imprints of tree stumps. Check out more of Bryan's work here.

(discovered on Miniature Rhino)

Artist Spotlight: Chris Everard

Chris Everard's photos of ornaments cascading down staircases and overflowing from fireplaces had the blogosphere swooning over the holidays, so I decided to check out more of his obsession-worthy photos of fashion and interiors. Color-saturated, gleaming and romantic, every one of these images makes me feel like I'm in someone's impossibly glamorous dream. Seriously, I want to live in these photos and I bet most of you would agree! View more of his work here.