A weekend full of artsy goodness always proves to be a fun time. Between the Indie Craft Bazaar and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, I thought I’d share a few of my favorites artists, including the artist that created my newest art collection piece (above), Marina Terauds.

Ashlee Walters – Paper Show

Lynn Whipple

Kapone

I love how interconnected the art world is sometimes. While listening to Ramona Falls yesterday I thought the style of drawings on the album cover in my iTunes player looked familiar. And shortly afterward I realized it was the work of Theo Ellsworth, an incredibly talented illustrator who was at JournalFest last fall! Although I didn’t take his class, I bought one of his illustrated cards because it was completely different from what the rest of the vendors were selling (pictured above).

Upon browsing his blog up I immediately fell in love with a pair of ghost goggles he made. Too cool. Currently Theo is working on new material for an upcoming book, so be sure to follow his blog for all the sneak peeks.

Ramona Falls – I Say Fever (Directed by Stefan Nadelman)

Over the Rhine – Desperate for Love. (Various art teams)

A few weeks ago one of my local Flickr contacts, Danny Brito, posted a neat illustration project he was starting out. The gist: Danny recreates a photo of your choosing and frames it to mimic the look of a Polaroid print. As you can see above, he did a wonderful job with the photo I gave him for inspiration, and it was only $30! If you’re interested in having your own Polaroid illustration, you can order one through his blog. And if you’re a local in the South Floridia area, be sure to check out his solo show at PinkGhost in April.

A while back street artist Depoe contacted me via Flickr in regards to a few photos I took of his pieces down in Miami’s Wynwood district. He asked if I would be interested in swapping copies of my photos for some of his pieces. Seriously, how could I say no? I love his work. Well, earlier this week I received a wonderful package containing two pieces encompassing his signature bleeding boxes/lines. He even included what appears to be pages from a sketchbook and USPS shipping labels he drew on top of. Photos of the original pieces are located on my Flickr page.

Also, be sure to check out Depoe’s Primary Flight installation. It’s beautiful.

While we walked up and down the seemingly endless aisles of gallery spaces, I noticed I was favoring sculptures more than usual. And it goes without saying that my favorite artist from the convention was Nick Cave. Although his pieces aren’t a textbook definition of a sculpture (he terms them sound suits), the amount of detail and beauty was fascinating.

I also saw Swoon’s piece in the Deitch gallery. To be honest, I really would have loved to see her participate in Primary Flight.

Today’s agenda involved a trip out to the Wynwood Art District, home to Primary Flight and also a stop inside the Graffiti Gone Global exhibit which I absolutely loved. There were so many great pieces in one space. I can only hope the curators keep this show going for years to come, because it was by far my favorite.

To top it all off, we made a trip to our new favorite cupcakery, LA Sweets.

Although Miami and I have a strong love/hate relationship, a weekend such as this tips the scale in its favor significantly.

Art Basel, thanks for stopping by. You were a blast.

The interview (courtesy of Walrus TV) follows the petite street artist plastering her work on city walls, a trip to the laundry mat and her studio, and ultimately showcases a glimpse into her first solo exhibition held at 76 Grand Street gallery in New York City. However, if you have to watch just one part, I suggest hitting the the 2:19 mark, where Swoon briefly details a story about her peephole series – it’s quite adorable.

Although the video above is a few years old, Swoon and a group of fellow artists recently teamed up for a new project, the Swimming Cities of Serenissima, which set sail (literally) last month:

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of handmade boats and a crew of artists traveling the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice this May and June, 2009. We made art boats from junk and will be performing the dreamy story of a drifting metropolis during the Venice Biennale, a celebrated contemporary art exhibition.

For updates on the group’s voyage, you can check out their website, Flickr page, or Twitter feed as they post tweets from Venice.

Since we were in the area we also swung by the Art Center to round out our thirst for new art. (Post including my favorite artists from the gallery coming later this week). In short, it was a great way to end a soggy weekend in Miami.

It goes without saying that my favorite piece in the restaurant was the Salvador Dalí piece.

His artwork includes bold and unique mixed media techniques which I instantly fell in love with. For more of Irek Lavazzon’s work check out his personal website.

As for Le Café, it has without a doubt become my new favorite new spot in Miami. And this coming Friday (April 10th) they have JaJA LIVE! World Jazz Fusion playing from 8:30-11:30pm (from Le Café’s calendar):

JaJA LIVE is a unique sound created by taking musical backgrounds from Africa, South America, Australia, Europe, and the USA, and applying them to a Jazz Improv session where anything can happen.

Hear instruments such as Djembe, Didgeridoo, Guiro, Maracas, Guitar, keyboards, Shekere, Flute, Saxophone, Clave, Bells etc…..

Looking forward to making this artsy hangout my second home in Miami.

Spring may be here, but I’m much too anxious for summer to start. Mainly because it marks the return of one my favorite shows, Mad Men. Last year, I posted about Dyna Moe’s Mad Men illustrations – great stuff. Well, it seems AMC enjoyed her work so much that they approached her to do new pieces for each episode. Instead of posting them on her Flickr stream, they would be added to the official Mad Men site after each episode airs. She’s already started on a few episodes from the new season and you can check them out on her Flickr. And here I thought I wasn’t oing to get pranked on April Fool’s – well Dyna definitely got me. Either way, I still look forward to her new illustrations for the upcoming season. And AMC should commission her work – it’s great!

And as much as I love AMC, I don’t appreciate the “Season 3″ preview/fake-out they posted on Facebook. Maybe you will:

For more of Dyna Moe’’s work you can follow her on Twitter or check our her website.