The Craft Begins

The Craft Begins

Art, cooking, life – everything's a craft.

 

Mad Men

I don’t have TV so I haven’t seen the latest episode yet – please, no spoilers!  In the meantime, I’ve been stalking about some photos of the unfairly beautiful Jon Hamm and January Jones.  I’m particularly enamored with this spread they did for Vanity Fair a few years ago.  Enjoy the photos!

Shadows

A friend of mine sent me the link to these images, and I have to say, I was amazed.  From what looks like a pile of trash comes these amazing life-like shadow images.

Can you even imagine the foresight and patience it would take to create something like this?

Lyndi Sales

Can you believe that these pieces are just made from paper and pins?  So amazingly intricate and unusual.  Lyndi Sales is an artist from Cape Town, South Africa, and the pieces shown above are all in reaction to a horrible plane crash.  From destruction comes beauty, I suppose.

Gregory Euclide

There’s something very entrancing about Gregory Euclide‘s work.  It’s like the dioramas that you used to make as a kid, only infused with massive amounts of skill and political and social commentary.

He creates these little worlds that you just want to get pulled into, though there’s a bit of a recoil once you realize what his pieces are composed of.

If you want to see more of his work (and there’s a lot more), click here.

Bowerbird

Hey guys!

I’m revamping and updating my little shop a bit.  I don’t have too much so far but I’m excited to see where it takes me.  Here’s some pictures of my first items:

Japanese Architecture

A reader a while back pointed out this Japanese architecture firm to me – I fell in love immediately.

Such playful use of vibrant color – though my personal style tends more towards the subdued I really am drawn to color like this.

Some Other Place

Words cannot describe how amazing these photographs from Lori Nix are.  She creates these intricate little miniature scenes that are somehow a tiny bit sinister, and photographs them so beautifully you’d swear that it was a real place.

She’s got other collections that are interesting as well, but there’s something so sad about these that draws me in.

Doors

There was this great import store in Tucson called Designer’s Craft that I used to love to go to.  What I found particularly amazing were all of these massive, intricate wooden doors.

Can you imagine having one of these in your house?  You’d be the talk of the neighborhood!  I could also see it being a really excellent garden gate, with vines crawling up along the sides.

Charles Burchfield

I think the universe has been conspiring to constantly show me paintings by Charles Burchfield.  There’s an almost impressionist-esque hand in the way that he renders landscape, but the color palette that he chooses really conveys a sense of sadness and perhaps oppression.

Burchfield was an American watercolor painter who lived in the earlier part of the 20th century.  He’s a decidedly midwest presence in a world that seems to be dominated by art from the major coasts.

It’s amazing to me how his works can simultaneously be so joyful and yet so haunted.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!  I have to say, this is my favorite holiday of the year, followed by Halloween.  There’s something about watching fireworks that just makes me so happy!  I got to see some last night, and I’m planning on the big show tonight.  Hope everyone has a fun BBQ and firework filled holiday!

Personal Time

I’ve been going through a bunch of personal stuff lately, so I’m sorry if my posting hasn’t been the most up-to-date.  One thing that’s made me happy?  Having fresh flowers around all of the time. It’s pretty nice when you can just get them out of your yard.

What makes you happy when you’re having a hard time?

Brian Jungen

Brian Jungen‘s work is created from such everyday, mundane objects that the end result is even more amazing.  His craftsmanship is stunning – it seems as if his pieces came that way from the factory, as if there were a template made and machines to do his bidding.

Carefully disassembling Nike sneakers and turning them into Pacific Northwest-eque tribal masks?  Genius.  I find it’s rare that an artist can meld the conceptual and the craftsmanship of a visual artist, but Jungen has this skill in spades.

I’m particularly enamored with the whale skeleton composed of stackable plastic folding chairs.  What sort of crazy vision compels someone to create at this scale?

Nancy Bass

How sweet and unusual are these paintings from Nancy Bass?

I always find myself drawn to images of cows (there’s something about their faces that is so playful – either that or it’s the farm blood in me) but I rarely see them juxtaposed with more modern art in such a compelling way.  Aside from that, her rendering of the cows themselves is simply artful, and she’s got an amazing eye for color.

Harmony Scott Jewelry

I am totally enamored with Harmony Scott’s delicate, intricate wire-wrapped jewelry.

She has such a great sense of color and composition.  When I heard she was based in Aspen, CO I was sure that everything would be totally overpriced but I think that everything is more than reasonable, especially given the amount of work that goes into each piece.  She’s got a lot of designs ranging from the simple and elegant to the wonderfully ornate – so, something to appeal to everyone!

El Capitan Resort

As if I needed another reason to love Santa Barbara.

The El Capitan Canyon Resort is my new dream vacation spot.  Yurts and tents and gourmet-camping like experience.  How could you not want to go there?

Where are you dreaming of going lately?

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