A few years back, when I fist moved to Brussels, I visited Alice Gallery for the first time. Over time, this vibrant gallery in the heart of the city has become one of my favorites (showing lots of street art and urban artists), but I often think back to the show I first saw there by the Belgian artist collective Pica Pica.


Pica Pica is made up by Boris Magotteaux (1978), Manuel Falcata (1979) and Jerome Degive (1980), all born and raised in Liege, Belgium. Their work includes installations, paintings, and drawings. And I'm a huge fan. The name Pica Pica comes from the latin name 'the talkative magpie', a bird commonly found in the wastelands around Liège and indeed, the name seems well chosen. Using common materials and shapes, Pica Pica create geometric, imperfect, yet beautiful and fascinating works.


I read somewhere that all works are produced by all three artists together. I would love to see what that looks like.


Links: Website | Blog | Alice Gallery BXL


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God, I love the Internet. The way it can bring people together, connect folks from around the world, inspire us, allows us to share things - it really is something, people.

I know I sound like an old lady, but I remember when we first got our Internet connection back in 1994 and I was able to chat with complete strangers and build friendships - it was amazing. Addicting and amazing. And yes, I used the word 'friendship'. I have built real friendships over the Internet, met people I was corresponding with via e-mail and all sorts of social media, and just have that connection. I know this is kind of a long intro, but I met Jenny Kan this way - years ago, via our blogs, commenting away. We've since met multiple times and I now consider her a friend.


Well, my friend, Jenny Kan, happens to be an amazing accessories designer. Based in Amsterdam, she set up a scarf label, called 'Ordinary Sundays'. The label and the scarfs are just gorgeous. I myself own a few and they're unique, luxurious, pretty but cool. LOVE her brand, LOVE her work. So I figured it's about time I turn the spotlight onto this wonderful and talented lady. Go get her scarfs. It's very much worth every penny.




Links: Website | Shop | Facebook | Twitter


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Katie Daisy is an illustrator based in Portland. She grew up on a farm in Illinois, however, and the rural beauty of her childhood has definitely stuck with her. These images (and all of her work really, which includes work for clients like Urban Outfitters and Chronicle Books) are so sweet in summery, I just couldn't help but share.

Links: Website | Etsy Shop | Blog


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A little while back I was attending a conference where I participated in a 'discussion workshop' (which apparently means you just sit around and talk) about autobiographical comics. It turned out to be a total fad, mostly because the guy leading the workshop openly proclaimed to hate the entire genre (and refused to call it that) and pretty much told everyone he felt keeping an illustrated journal was childish and narcissistic. Needless to say I was totally into the ensuing conversation and felt very comfortable to share my own self-obsessed work.

However, I think he's wrong. And possibly just old and mean and wrong (yes, I'm very grown up where it comes to handling disagreements). Mostly because one of the reasons I keep an illustrated journal is because so thoroughly enjoy reading about other people's ordinary (and extraordinary) lives. An example: I recently discovered Kathy MacLeod's work and it's just awesome. I love her spot-on observations and the apparent easy by which she draws about her days. Also, she has a cat. And I have a cat, too. Really, we're like twins. Almost.

Links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Nelleke verhoeff is an illustrator, animator and photographer from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Although she mostly does illustration now, she has a background in theatre - which, I think, clearly shows. Her new blog 'a face a day' is an expression of Nelleke's love of faces, characters, masks and expressions and it's lovely.

Every day Nelleke presents us a new, fresh face as part of her collection and what I love the most about this is that sometimes you're not sure if this person she's depicted is someone she knows, someone she observed, or simply a face that sprung from her own imagination. Her blog then becomes a blog full of random encounters with people you may or may not ever meet.

Links: Website | Blog | Flickr


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Florent Chavouet is a French illustrator, whose work is mostly comprised of journal-like drawings of his travels in Japan. I'm a huge fan of his work and I'm at a loss to even describe how inspirational his drawings are to me. They make me feel completely energized and hopeless at the same time. Energized because his style is one of the coolest things I've come across in the past few years, and hopeless because I know I will never be able to emulate his brilliance.

So anyways, he just put a hilarious series of drawings on his blog, roughly describing the recipe for okonomiyaki. It's worth checking out (as are his books!). Links: Website | Blog | Books


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Love this video of artists Supakitch and Koralie creating a mural. Simply mesmerizing.



Links: Supakitch | Koralie

Via: Anthology Magazine


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