Brillante Weblog Premio, Part II

I can tell when I’m not quite “on my game” on this blog. There’s lots of cutting and pasting and casting about for words. The previous post is a good example. So here’s my attempt to fill in some of the holes in the previous post.

If you have read my blog for a while, you know that Maya from maya*made and I are blog buddies and (I count myself lucky) actual in-person friends. We met in January of this year in the sweater aisle at the Salvation Army store while both of us were looking for wool sweaters to felt. I immediately recognized her unique spirit and was impressed with the many talents that she was just beginning to explore more deeply and put out into the world.

Maya and I started on this whole blog journey together, and there were countless evenings when we were just getting started when we exchanged multiple emails very late into the night about particular sites that inspired us. (Also, many late-night phone calls that devolved into bleariness.) We were both giddy with this amazing resource we were tapping into—so much beauty and inspiration to be found, all at the click of a mouse.

So, in the spirit of those very late-night emails, let me annotate some of the blogs I awarded with the “Brillante Weblog Premio,” as I would have done for Maya:

1) Snippety Gibbet. Have you seen the playful papercuts that Snippety Gibbet does? They make me laugh out loud, and each “snip” reveals a scene that would be almost impossible to express as eloquently in words (and yet Jan does that, too!). I’ve studied them closely but still don’t get how she snips them! She's an art teacher, and her photos of the work she does with her students are pretty inspiring, too!
2) Fog and Thistle. OK, if the blog name alone doesn’t draw you in, the papercuts will. The three-dimensional ones are my favorites. There is something very earthy and mythological about all of Rachel Weber’s expert cutouts.
3) dolls stories. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon the work of Israeli textile artist Neta Amir, but I’m so happy I did (I think it was one of those late-night Flickr crawls). You have to check out how she deconstructed a finished doll, stripping away its extra layers and getting to its essential beauty. Now that’s what I call great editing. Also look at the installation she did of her work in a Maastricht art gallery. And the slippers she makes, and . . . . You can get lost in all the beauty, I’m telling you.
4) Have you noticed all of the amazing Portuguese artists out there? Saidos da Concha, the wonderful blog of Portuguese textile artist Constanca Cabral, led me to many other Portuguese artists. Reimao is an illustrator who I’ve just learned about, and unfortunately her blog is in Portuguese only. But look at her illustrations, and you’ll see that they translate perfectly.
5) I’m sure that you’ve heard of Portuguese artist Graca Paz and her and her husband’s Atelier XT, the amazing source of all things bright and beautiful. I’ve never been to Portugal, but after seeing Graca’s work, I must go. The whole country must be filled with color and patterns and life. I’ve never seen anyone mix pinks and turquoise and red (this combo just inspired a birdhouse I painted with the boys) so beautifully. You have to check out her newest series of paintings—O Canto do Rouxinol (Nightingale’s Song). I’m in love with the imagery, and the language! And her crocheted afghan in these same colors, and the kids’ furniture her husband makes! Cotton candy heaven!
6) I just stumbled upon the most amazing blog and Flickr photostream! You have to go look through Argentinean illustrator Gustavo Aimar’s work. He’s an amazing book illustrator and collage artist, and he shows his process! I learned so much by looking at photos of him at work. His personal profile is very poetic: “Amante del clavo de olor, la nuez mozcada, la canela, y los papeles antiguos. (“Lover of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vintage papers.”)
7) After my trip to Portugal, I think I’ll need to head down South (southern U.S., that is). What is it about Southerners and design? They get it, they do. I think I noticed knack studio’s work on elsiemarley’s Trash Pickins Flickr group. I keep going back to her blog and studio site just to admire all the details in her studio and to see the colors she uses. And those gorgeous vintage glass knobs! So much to learn here!
8) I recently got a Flickr email from Mint Design, and I immediately fell in love with the look of this blog. I swoon over (they do that in the South, don’t they?) all the eye candy and inspiration in every post, and I’m getting quite the design education. There must be something in the air or water down there, don’t you think?

So, thanks, Maya, for giving me this award and giving me the opportunity to share some blogs I love.