I’ve been really drawn towards horse-related-art lately. Kind of odd since I don’t necessarily like horses. I took a horse back riding class in college and it wasn’t my favorite experience at the time. Photos found here and here.

Sketched, painted and finalized our Christmas card for this year. We’re only sending out 50. Are you sending out cards for the holidays?

- The photo above is a photography by Cheryl Maeder. The soft, blurry photograph remind me of a Mark Rothko painting. (Found via Black Eiffel)

- Delight by Design just featured a gorgeous bar cart that I’ve been staring at for awhile now.

- Oh Joy! featured work by Dale Frank awhile ago and something about it intrigued me. So bold.

- Also loved Brett Amory‘s work on My Love For You Is a Stampede of Horses.

- Seth’s post on Pushing Back on Mediocre Professors TOTALLY resonated with me. I wanted to give Seth Godin a big high five.

Enjoy your Monday! Photos from my Chicago trip will be up tomorrow! About 2 photos from my Chicago trip will be up tomorrow because I hardly took any! What is my problem?!?

This week on MEET, I am able to share the amazing work of Ashely Peifer! I was able to see Ashely paint throughout a semester at college and it was such a treat. Her work is phenomenal and I hope to place a piece of her work in my home in the near future. I started this series about two months ago and it is definitely starting to evolve. From this point on, you’ll see more specific questions being asked to bring a greater understanding of what these incredible artists do! Enjoy this interview!

1. You’re an extraordinary painter. Have you always painted? When did you start? My mom would say I was painting faces when I was three, but I didn’t start seriously painting until junior year of college. I had a really discouraging art teacher when I was in sixth grade, so I lost my childhood dreams of becoming an artist until I was a sophomore in high school. I remember drawing a bird with Prismacolor colored pencils, and it looked just like the picture. That was probably the moment when I got my confidence back.

2. I know you, at one point, studied graphic design in college. What made you switch to fine arts? Well, two reasons. One: to get out of the Dreamweaver class that I needed to complete to graduate; Two: because I found something that I was so happy doing.

3. Do you still enjoy graphic design? What types of design projects do you still work with? I do love graphic design! I usually just help my friends and family with logos and business cards, but I still occasionally take on a client. I really appreciate good design, but it’s so nice to sit back and be on the other side of it sometimes.

4. What is your favorite type of paint to work with? I love watercolors, acrylics, oils…basically all of them. I love experimenting so my pieces usually end up being mixed media. If I don’t like the way a painting is going, I usually just cover it in gesso. That’s where my most interesting pieces come from, I think.

5. Do you have any other favorite types of materials? YES. I love collage, so I am always on the lookout for really cool old books to tear apart, antique stamps, and plenty of mechanical pencils for some nice line quality.

6. Your collages are some of the best I’ve ever seen, what does your process look like when you’re creating a new collage? There’s a lot of layering, tearing, sanding,painting, and strategic placement of items. It looks like a disaster zone when I’m collaging!

7. Who are your biggest influences? For inspiration, I study a lot of Cy Twombly’s scribbly paintings, Terry Winter’s collage-like paintings, Robert Rauschenberg’s collages, and the minimalist drawings and paintings of Richard Tuttle. Also, whether it’s subconscious or not, my best friend (Kayla Plosz) and favorite professor (Bruce Campbell) influence my style quite a bit.

8. Do you have goals for 2010 as an artist? What are they? YES. I’m trying to find balance between working 60 hours a week and still making time to paint and build frames. Also, I’ll be applying to grad school for my MFA in the fall, so I need to get everything together and write a killer purpose statement.

I recently helped the talented Ashely give her a blog a little facelift! I customized the theme Handgloves by adding a custom header, a contact form, a stylized background pattern, an Etsy tab, and changed the font colors. The theme, which screams Helvetica, is a great place for Ashely to post her beautiful work, sell paintings, and connect with her audience. Take a look!

I have been creating things for a long time. Looking back now, I see that I created very different things compared to what I create now. It’s interesting to see what was once your style. Are you evolving or are you playing it safe?

Pieces created in 2005. Oil and watercolor paintings.

Saw this painting-turned-print over here. Mark Warren Jacques’ work is Wonderful. With a capital “W.”

I decided to pick up a paint brush for the first time in 6 months. I was contacted by someone to create a three-canvas piece and….I had fun! It’s a bit blurry. The photo was taken on my iPhone!