Seasonality of Food

There is a word for seasonal eating. It's really popular around these parts... buying only what's in season from the local market and something about only eating the fruit that falls from the tree too... I had a friend once who was all about it. Macrobiotics? Is that it? I don't remember. Either way, I don't think this is what she meant. It is still pretty cool though :)

I know it is really really not good to crop up a work of art like that, but the detail is pretty brilliant and I just couldn't get a good screenshot. You should head over to Rue and check it out for yourself. It's pretty much just non-stop brilliance over there.

Ummm... Whaaaat?

Tire Art.

Can A Vintage VW Get Any Cooler? Oh Yeah... Waaaaaaaay Cool!

What do Croatian metalsmiths who make fences and gates do when they get bored? Ask the guys at Vrbanus.

I have always wanted a vintage VW bug. This last photo I have had in my "Cool" folder for ages. I always thought it was a black bug painted with silver, and that was cool enough for me. They Dylan pointed out that it looked like it had been intricately chopped up. You can see right through the car! What??? So then I had to google it, but googling chopped up VW bug wasn't doing it so I gave up. Today it occurred to me to try the letters on the license plate... voila! Of course, now I want one :)

Felted Gorgeousness From Dana Barnes

Last night I was catching up on some blog perusal and one of my mainstays, Fiona at Cafe Cartolina, had posted these rather brilliant stools from Claire-Anne O'Brien.

 I love huge chunky knit things, and it reminded me of these rugs I found awhile ago, probably via a post on Facebook, I can't remember now. Either way, thought I would dig up that bookmark and post 'em.

The rugs in Dana's SoHo loft.

These photos are a few of the rugs that were conceived by Dana Barnes in her SoHo loft as a way to lessen the noise that having such a wide open space can create. With her two young girls living in the loft with her and her husband, she needed some underfoot padding, and with a background in textile design, the obvious choice was ginormous granny squares crocheted out of merino roving. Her collection is called Souled Objects and features felted contemporary versions of traditional crafting styles such as crochet and macrame. I am completely enamored with both the round crocheted bubble type ones and the flat felted one that has small dome shapes (below, in her bed/bathroom).

Dana is on to her fourth front loading washer, as she uses the machines' hot cycle to felt the large squares after they have been crocheted by hand and they seem to be less than thrilled to be her workhorses... a bag of wet wool roving is pretty hefty. It would seem that Dana is infatuated with felting. Indeed, her home is filled with her work, and she uses a wide variety of techniques to create a number of different styles and functions. Her technical skill is evident, an obvious trait from years working with designers such as Elie Tahari in the New York fashion mecca.

What is perhaps less evident, but more relevant, is her connection to indigenous craft. She has spent a great deal of time in developing countries to be close to the hands that felt, weave and manipulate textiles in a quest to fully relate utilitarian function with the beauty of the handmade. She also credits her upbringing, in the Southeastern US watching a community of crafters and artisans that relied on local sources.

She has help, in the form of a group of young artists and crafters, one of whom is Megan Novak. Megan enjoys the time she spends at the loft, out on the terrace crocheting huge squares with a dowel and her hands in the sun.

Ms. Novak wears an organdy apron to keep the fibers where they belong. Not only do I love the image of giant crochet stitches, but her hair is darling!

Dana has shown at the International Furniture Fair, and her pieces (ranging from $95 to $200 per square foot) are sold at BDDW in New York.

Designer Dana Barnes

Photos from Souled Objects site, and from this wonderful NYTimes article.

Turning Bits Of Paper... The Art Of Quilling

Quilling has been a fascination of mine  since I was a girl. I can't remember where I first saw it. I associate it with my grandmother, who taught me quite a few nifty things so perhaps it was through her. I pretty much love anything that uses paper as a medium. Martha Stewart always has some sweet quilling examples (above) and her site is where I usually turn for inspiration first because the projects found there are not too easy, but achievable.

I have recently though, stumbled upon the most brilliant quilling artist! Russian born, London based Yulia Brodskaya has been quilling for a little over three years, but her projects are so stunning, she has garnered the attention of many profitable entities and she truly has taken it to a new level. I thought you might like to see some of her work.

She has created pieces for the covers of books you will recognize, and as well, some very fun invites.

Who knew that the art of rolling and shaping tiny strips of paper and gluing them to a background could be so lucrative? Or really, so innovative! What makes your jaw drop and shatter into smithareens though, is the piece below. I have never seen something like this, and imagine the possibilities...

If you visit her site you can see various stages as well as angles of this piece, titled "Babushka", which she explains in depth. Every angle captures a different quality of light and emotion. She really is an inspiration, not only due to her incredible talent, but also through how she describes her process and insights into the medium itself. I just love how she has taken such a simple craft and created something so unique for reasons completely removed from where the craft originates. Just stunning.

Finder's Keepers

I am so in love with this idea... I have a friend who has a friend who did the "Goddess Project" last summer and hid one hundred Goddess statues all over the Kootenays. It happened to be during one of those lovely periods where my computer was down, or I would have blogged the heck out of it... but now I see it happening again in Vancouver! LOVE THIS!

Finders Keepers is a project created by Vancouver–based artist, Jasna Sokolovic. By placing two
hundred ceramic heart magnets around Granville Island for people to find, share and if inspired, to report back to her website, she has found a way of promoting herself, her love of 3D street art, and LOVE with her community. Who doesn't love a good treasure hunt? Get out there NOW and find one! (...and please bring your camera and take a photo of where you found it, and what you will do with it so you can share on her site... I am excited to see what people post!)

Owl Love

I had to steal this button and link from my friend at Three Owls! I haven't set up my printer yet, but I CAN"T WAIT to get one of these up on my wall... and the wall in my boys' room, and do up one for their grandma... They are just WAY too gorgeous! So behold! The new button up there on the right, just waiting to help you make your very own customized owl calendar. Everyone needs more owls in their day...

...enjoy!

Now You See It...

I have run into an issue with my studio and my EPIC party has been put on hold. I am fine with this because I have a million and one things to be getting done and thinking about pink pastries should not be topping the list. It will be a couple more weeks.


In the meantime, whilst diligently doing my eco research, I have run across this GORGEOUS artwork by Nicole Dextras. I ran across her visuals in a completely unrelated search on sustainable fabric dying and lo and behold, she turns out to be a graduate from our local art college, Kootenay School of the Arts! I come from Vancouver BC originally and am accustomed to high standards in most creative fields, (the west coast is pretty much saturated with stunning scenery and high profile artists flock like so many pigeons...) but can honestly say that the work that comes out of that school is really a cut above. Anyway, her open-to-the-public studio is on Granville Island which automatically gives her credence and as you can see in these photos, she is worth taking a look at so I plan to visit the next time I am in Van!


Nicole's work is ephemeral art, which means that it is by nature (no pun intended) made to be impermanent. The work is created, photographed and left to do it's thing. I am so taken by how such a simple idea can create such a lovely image, but then, simple is usually the most beautiful.

In her Iceworks collection, the folds of fabric and garments frozen in place or in blocks of ice create a stunning texture and "movement" and play of light.

That said, the detail in her Summer Weedrobe's layering of leaves, bark, flowers and twigs create a depth that leaves (oh, another one!) you with a glorious fairytale feeling.

So lovely!

You can see more and I believe purchase prints from her website here. I hope you like!

Handmade Wilderness

Unique is difficult to find these days. When they came up with the notion that great minds think alike, they weren't planning on billions of people taking over the planet and consequently ideas happening at an exponential rate, good or bad or neither. It always pleases me to find something that everyone else is doing but taken to another level. So I was most pleased to come across the sculptures in Jennifer Khoshbin's 'Handmade Wilderness' series a little while ago, done with paper mache over resin.

The carved trophy head is a wonderful alternative to putting a dead animal on your wall, but this funky idea brings a whole new and light-hearted twist to the idea that I just love. She has a special gift I think. My favorite is the deer done in flocked paper and I also love her wolf head and her rhino that you an see on her website here.

Her other projects done with paper cutting are also delightful! This is a talented woman.

Christmas in July... Yay!

One of the very best things in life is to receive mail. Real mail. With your name on the front in ink and in the kind of envelope that lets you know it isn't a bill or sneaky flyer or disconnection notice. I especially love it when the sender uses bright turquoise marker to address it. I was a bit baffled this morning though when I opened my mailbox and found something from far, far away.

I don't know anybody living in Nashville, and definitely not anyone that would be taking the time to write to me. Imagine my delight when I opened it to find a collection of beautiful stamps that I bought from Simply Suzula's etsy site some time ago at about three in the morning. I had completely forgotten about them.

I had been looking up vintage embroidered linens and she seems to find some very unique items. I love how she photographs the embroidered hankies on the clothesline. I will frame these little beauties in a collection of frames I have had on my wall that were originally for photos, but have become my version of a curio cabinet. I will post photos when I have them.