I don’t know if you have had the opportunity to visit Colorado, but let me just tell you that it is beautiful. I was lucky enough to have visited it on multiple occasions, and on each visit was awed by it’s silent, dignified beauty; I did not understand what “purple mountains majesty” meant until I visited Colorado.

When I heard there were fires just outside of Boulder, a small part of my heart keened. It pains me to think of all that beauty falling to so much flame and ash. My heart goes out to all the residents of the area, both for the loss of their property, but more so for the loss of their home; the trees, the wilderness, all the beautiful things they have come to know and love.

There’s very little that can make such a situation like this at all palatable, but it seems fitting that some beauty be able to be drawn from the wanton destruction: photographer and Colorado resident Drew Levin has put together a stunning photo collection of the blaze, that makes the fire seem like a landscape of some beautiful, lonely planet.

To see the entire collection, click here.

In the meantime, here are some resources that will help keep you abreast of the situation, and ways you can help:

• Google has put together an aggregate map to track updates on the fires latest progress.

• Fourmilefirehelp.com is a forum to rally resources and offer help to evacuees

Fire, end soon.

It was no secret that graphic designer-cum-street artist Shepard Fairey was recently in town for an exhibition of his work. But imagine my delight when on my way to the gym, I discovered one of his new street installments.

Close-ups after the jump…

I love how it looks like the decorative pattern is wallpaper torn to reveal the collage beneath. It looks so elegant, yet anarchic all at once.

Shepard Fairey always brings me back to my time growing up. Back then, we’d see Andre stickers posted up everywhere in Philly. They felt like these mysterious, cultish totems. This was before it was known Fariey was the perpetrator, of course. I kind of miss the primitivism of that early work, but his contemporary work is so gorgeous, I really can’t complain.

For more work by Shepard Fairey, visit obeygiant.com

If there was any piece of advice that was drilled into me at the beginning wedding planning, it was to choose the right photographer. It’s the one piece of advice I would pass on to any couple getting married: invest time and money in a trustworthy, talented professional. You can fudge the flowers, the food, but the photography is something that cannot be fudged, and will have lasting repercussions beyond the big day; in the end, it’s either done right, or it’s not. I unfortunately know many couples who have had disastrous situations arise regarding their wedding photography – from a photographer who went bankrupt shortly after the wedding (and has refused to release the photos), to one that straight up disappeared post-reception. So though I have been pretty easygoing in regards to most details pertaining to the wedding, finding the right photographer was actually something I stressed about and did some serious research on.

Isn’t it wonderful when the universe hears your needs, and fulfills them? In the midst of my hunt, Kim was plunked right under my nose. Kimberly Craven and I met via one of my bridesmaids, who brought her to the surprise birthday party I threw Fiance Kaboom this year. She was a true gem, and noticing my SLR on the coffee table, asked if I would mind if she took a few pics. Considering I was completely busy being hostess extraordinaire, I eagerly encouraged her to go nuts. And go nuts she did. By the next morning, I discovered some absolutely beautiful photos waiting for me in my camera – and I had found my girl.

It is always a delight when I meet someone with a special talent, but it is an additional gift that Kim has become a close friend of both myself and Fiance Kaboom’s over the last few months. She is a smart, funny, beautiful individual, and FK and I feel truly lucky to have met her. She is also any girl’s dream of a perfect wedding photographer. Not only has she lent invaluable help and support in scheduling the day, but she has offered all of her knowledge to both of us when it comes to having a stress-free, ideal wedding (I can honestly say she is a contributing reason as to why I am not running around like a maniacal Bridezilla).

A few weeks ago, Kim asked John and I if we would like to do an engagement session. Considering FK and I didn’t want something super mushy and romantic, we decided on Coney Island: it’s fun-loving, quirky, and positively ridiculous – just like us. These pictures are the results, and I am absolutely staggered and awed by the power of Kim and her camera. Simply put, they are gorgeous.

Though FK and I were first hesitant to do one, I now see the invaluable opportunity an engagement session can be. Not only does it offer a photo montage that is much more casual and fun as opposed to the formal shoot on the wedding day, but the face time it provides between photographer and subject is a great warm up to the larger event. The session really allowed me and FK to get used to being photographed by a third party (something most of us just aren’t super comfortable with), and I am sure it gave Kim some insights as to what to expect from us as well. Not to mention giving all of us the opportunity to curb some of our less appealing photo habits: for instance, we noticed FK has a creepy habit of kissing me with his eyes open. Yeesh! In conclusion, I think all of us will be going into the wedding day more confident and prepared on the photo end of things, and with a stunning set of photos to boot.

You can see more of Kimberly’s beautiful photography here. She also keeps a great little photo blog. Thanks, Kim. We’ll treasure these forever.

I am absolutely smitten with almost all of photographer Jean Yves Lemoigne’s stunning, fantastic work. But a personal favorite is his unicorn series. Positively magical.

To see more of Jean’s work, click here.

Sam Weber’s work lives in this soft-lensed world that makes you just long to crawl inside. Mixing his talented realism with surreal situations and landscapes, his work is in the same vein as the new blood in illustration (James Jean, et al.) that are turning illustration on it’s head with graphic novel sensibility and a sense of the fantastic.

“13 Orphans” by Sam Weber

“Prospero 2″ by Sam Weber

“Parfumerie” by Sam Weber

“Guardsman” by Sam Weber

“Eros” by Sam Weber

See Sam Weber’s work here.

“holy twilight lilac water” by Tony Fitzpatrick

“boeuf gras” by Tony Fitzpatrick

“ghost motel” by Tony Fitzpatrick

“nothing of a white rain” by Tony Fitzpatrick

“slow jam” by Tony Fitzpatrick

“esplanade_moth” by Tony Fitzpatrick

To see more of Tony Fitxpatrick’s work, click here.

Feminine and sensual, Colette Calascione’s artwork implements new interpretations on classical painting styles to depict her surreal tableaus. Her use of symbolic items in her compositions is masterfully creative: in this world, a cigar is never a cigar, and a mask, a bird, a gesture are laden with impactful meaning. Both lovely to gaze upon and fascinating to consider, Calascione’s paintings are an invitation into her dreams, pure and simple.

To see more of Colette Calascione’s work, here.

To see more of Sanna’s work, click here.

Interview with Sanna here.

I love to paint. Unfortunately, I really don’t get much time to do it anymore. However, sometimes I see artwork that is so beautiful, and so completely in line with the things I try to achieve in my own artwork, that it takes a physical force of will not to drop everything and grab my paintbrush.

Carles Gomila’s work is a stunning mixture of old and new: present day symbolism, mixes with Renaissance-esque painting styles and classic female forms.

To see more of Gomila’s stunning work, click here.

If I had to (or could) pick one photographer to shoot me – you know, for when they write that magazine article about me – I think I would choose Lauren Dukoff.

Transient, colorful, reminiscent of a bygone era, and vibrating with a sense of magical realism, Dukoff has gained great renown for her portraiture of music’s brightest: most notably, her close work with folk artist Devendra Banhart. But I think even more than the portrait itself, it is the documentary perspective she takes in all her photographs that is so inspiring. Even in the photography of individuals, there is motion, setting, a sense of drama; but a drama anchored in life’s smaller simplicities: walking in grass, sitting on a bed, falling asleep in a tour bus.

Simply put: I could stare at her photography for hours. It is beautiful and exposed, yet carries absolutely no sense pretense. They are warm, tactile moments, that seem to hold within them that elegant simplicity that is so craved, yet so fickle.

Dukoff’s first compilation of work, “Families” will be coming out shortly, through Chronicle Books. I know what will be on my coffee table this summer.

To see more off Dukoff’s work, click here.