'The Art of Money' is a treasure worth hoarding

Most of us don't associate money with art. But banknotes are often a canvas for beautiful and fascinating designs that offer a window on a country's distinct culture, heritage and geography. In The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency From Around the World, David Standish takes us on a trip through the beautiful and bizarre imagery on international bills —"from the Little Prince on French currency to the furry denizens of the rainforest of Madagascar to the obscure Salmon P. Chase, Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State, on the $10,000 US note."

Standish provides interesting tales about why certain people, places, animals, things, and symbols appear on currencies, and devotes the final chapter to American money, which at various points depicted George Washington crossing the Delaware River, Benjamin Franklin with a kite, and Pocahontas getting baptized.

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Enigmatic Shapes and Psychedelic Patterns

To say that I love Sanagi 's work is an understatement. Looking at her art feels sort of therapeutic, and I find her drawings refreshingly intricate. They're trippy, psychedelic, and resemble something that you might see under a microscope. Not much is Googleable about Sanagi, but that's fine. There aren't many artists these days that still pull off the whole mysterious vibe, so I commend her for that. By the way... they're all hand-drawn with pen and ink.

Here's a trippy reimagining of the zodiac animals.

These are the animals from the zodiac calendar as created by Japanese artist feebee . I can't even begin to imagine how long painting these hybrid creatures on wood panel must take, but the results are pretty amazing. Some of them look terrifying, some aren't scary at all, and one looks like the Pokemon Meowth. They're all eye-catching, but none of them mean as much to me as the one representing my own sign, the Sheep (also known as the Goat or Ram). The twelve animal signs represent twelve different types of personalities. It is said that people born in the Year of the Sheep can be very indecisive and lazy. Hmmm, I guess Chinese zodiac is pretty much legit.

James DeRosso's ceramic monsters

I really like these whimsical ceramic creatures by James DeRosso. Yes, they have bulging eyes and toothy grins, but they're not scary at all. The Portland-based artist started making cute monsters while he was a student to jokingly create gargoyle-like guardians for the kiln. After other students kept taking his quirky little figures, he realized there was a market for them. "I'm enjoying the whole monster making niche," James says. "It's amazingly gratifying to be doing ceramics full time and especially to be a teacher introducing kids to the joy of clay." Be sure to visit his website and like his Facebook page for the latest monster news.

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