mint

It’s not just because he’s my boyfriend that I think his portfolio is awesome. Really. See his brand new site here.

Sandra is an amazing illustrator from Sweden who has a great flickr page (where I found the little crocheted pieces on the right) in addition to her portfolio and etsy shop, where you can find the perfect “softie” to give to some lucky kid.

When I was a senior in high school, I had to do one final, huge project on a subject of my choice (I chose modern art, not realizing how broad a topic it was). I don’t think I got a very good grade on the project, mostly because I waited until the last minute to do the actual ‘project’ part. I blame this on Robert Rauschenberg. I got so interested in reading about him and the other artists of the 50s and 60s that I just couldn’t stop reading and start writing. So, I was sad to learn last night that Robert Rauschenberg passed away on Monday at the age of 82.

In case you don’t know much about Robert Rauschenberg, or just need to brush up on your old Art History class, he was an abstract painter and collage artist, most famous for his “combines.” Combines are combinations of paint, found objects, and sometimes chairs, quilts, plastic bottles, newspapers….you name it. According to the AP article, the famous ‘Bed’ painting was created on a quilt because he couldn’t afford a canvas (and toothpaste was one of the mediums used).

“I don’t ever want to go,” he told Harper’s Bazaar in 1997 when asked of his own death. “I don’t have a sense of great reality about the next world; my feet are too ugly to wear those golden slippers. But I’m working on my fear of it. And my fear is that something interesting will happen, and I’ll miss it.” -AP

If you spend a lot of time looking at design blogs like I do, you probably already know about coe & waito’s beautiful work.  But, continuing on my search for ceramic inspiration I thought I’d share it anyway since I love the simple, mostly white forms and the idea of silk screening on ceramics.   All pieces shown above are for sale here.  (Their site is also worth looking at to see their jellyfish installation!)

I was browsing one of my favorite graphic design firms, Fwis, today and came across this free downloadable pinhole camera they just designed for Corbis (yeah, the stock photography people.) Print and build with a few things you probably have lying around the house. How cool is that.

Alexander Gorlizki

I’ll admit it, I’m pretty proud of myself for this. It’s my first packaging design project!! I haven’t been doing graphic design for very long, so I still get excited each time something I make turns into more than just a document on my computer desktop. These are self-promotional projects, so none of them were actually realized, although we are thinking of giving our clients the wine as gifts. My boss gave me free reign on these pieces so coming up with the concepts, design, and then printing and making everything in house for the photo shoot was really fun.

Ellie Brown has a ton of work on her website to comb through, and I like that she showcases both her altered books like the one above, and her photography (below.)  On the homepage, there is an interesting essay by Ellie Brown about photographing her sisters over a ten year period (from young girls through adolescence), visually documenting their quest for identity.

I ran across Mosstika’s stuff on i heart it yesterday, and thought this “graffiti” was pretty cool. It’s made out of grass (I’d love to know how they do that)!

I thought I’d share a little project of my own today! I made these earrings a while ago, with a gift of lace from a neighbor. This is so simple (no, I didn’t make the lace), I just cut out pieces of it and sewed it to earring hooks that I bought at a bead store. I’ve been scouring the internet to try to find a place to buy more lace like this, but I haven’t had much luck. This is the closest thing I’ve found: Kalena’s etsy shop. I’ll be keeping my eyes open since I’d love to make more earrings like this, and I’d love links to other online lace shops if you know of any!

Here’s a little more ceramic inspiration for you!  Delicate little pots from Paper Boat Press.

Recently, I signed up for a pottery class in hopes that I can get myself back into making art on a regular basis. I was a fine art major in college, but since then I’ve had a hard time finding the motivation to make things. I guess it can be a difficult transition to go from having your art projects assigned and graded to having complete freedom! I’ve been poking around Etsy to get some ideas, and although my class is a wheel throwing class, I seem to be pretty attracted to hand built pieces and things with texture, and I like the idea of altering wheel thrown pieces after they’re made. I’m not a painter by any means, so the idea of scratching into the clay or drawing with a pencil (a la andrea yates) sounds like my cup of tea.

Images:

black & white cups - Kristen Swanson; blue bowl - Laura Blumenthal; planter - Michael McDowell; tall vases with windows- Susan Dwyer; vessel with orange interior - Susan Dwyer; yellow & white set - Diana Fayt

Chris Kenny makes three-dimensional collages out of maps and other found materials, mounting them on pins so that they have the appearance of hovering in front of the wall. Be sure to visit the site as they are much more interesting as larger images!

I stumbled on Andrea Yates’ work on etsy this week while looking for inspiration for my own new-found love of working with ceramics. Her stuff is delicate, but as she says herself (and I love this), “I like to think my work is like your favorite pair of faded blue jeans, but for the table. They’re both made for everday use.” Cups above $10 on etsy. Or, visit bon bon atelier for even more.

I recently saw Lisa Perry’s house in Living Etc. and although there were lots of things I loved about it, I was especially intrigued by the all white walls with the black trim on the inside of the windows. Maybe I could do this at my house, too!