Designer Toys

My Dezeen newsletter arrived today, and it never disappoints. I was especially excited to read about Olivia Lee's designer dolls.

Anyone who is into urban vinyl toys, is already familiar with the concept of limited edition designer toys - that is, toys made by designers.

But Lee has taken this as irony. And made designer toys. That is, toys of designers! And they are fab! The dolls are made in good spirit and in her words - "this project is an observation of how designer personalities are literally becoming synonymous with the objects they design."

My readers already know I adore Karim Rashid. (See previous posts, here and here.) And let's face it, Olivia's toy of him is just too cool.

I want it! I hope Kidrobot will be producing it!

A Happy Accident

There once was a girl named Peggy, who really wanted to fly away. Since this seemed a little irrational, she made the very sane decision to obsess about the color orange instead.

She spent her days thinking about orange, which helped ease the agony of a grey cubicle. By night she mixed and mixed and mixed. But the perfect orange alluded her.

So she went to the trusty craft store - and found the orange of her dreams! She quickly took it home and breathlessly started applying it to a canvas in process. Now mind you, this was no ordinary bottle of orange paint. No indeed. This was a very free-spirited bottle of orange paint. Peggy applied the paint to a precise, mathematical piece she had been working on. But the orange paint would have no part of it - when she turned her back, it spilled all over the canvas.

Peggy was disappointed at first. But then she recalled her lessons around letting go of perfectionism, and had even written about that below. "Okay," she thought, "the canvas and the orange paint are conspiring to become something else." So she just went with it, reminding herself that she is merely a conduit.

Now that orange was feisty, and kept refusing to conform. Again it spilled, to Peggy's delight. She was really falling in love with that orange paint. The purple paint became jealous and spilled too. So what did Peggy do? She set them free. She poured the orange and purple onto paper. It was great fun! She had never been a fan of Jackson Pollock, but she began to understand how fun his work must have been.

She wasn't content just to pour, she decided to smoosh them too. The result -

reminded her of those bullshit Rorschach ink blots, and the psychologist who had gotten mad at her because all she ever saw was butterflies. Although she saw hearts in these blots.

Undaunted, she continued to experiment with the orange. She thought of Autumn, her favorite season, and painted this:



Autumn 2008. 24" x 24", acrylic and marker on canvas.

She has been seeing trees in her mind, with peacock feathers as leaves. And though she wasn't completely happy with her new painting, she was grateful to the orange for the lesson in being free-spirited and she knew that she would be working on series of paintings featuring trees.

It was clear she had to buy another bottle of the perfect orange. And then her thoughts turned to green...

Saturday is for Creativity

Saturday. The day many Americans live for. This week was so busy at work, I had no time to create. But I am grateful for my job, and even though I am confined to a grey cubicle, I am never far from art. I always think about art, beauty and decor. I am fortunate to be in an office that honors art. My favorite part of the job is walking through the hallways where I can commune with the art.

Our office boasts several works by Viktor Schreckengost, lined up in one hallway. This is my favorite hallway, I walk through it slowly savoring the way Viktor does orange skies. And I wonder, could I ever paint an orange sky as lovely as he does?

Could I ever achieve that kind of beautiful precision? Each time I attempt precision, I fail. In the past I was hard on myself. Now I look at attempts at precision as lessons in letting go of perfectionism. Overly perfectionistic tendencies can cripple creativity. The journey is as important as the destination. But... I still dream of painting like Viktor.

All week long, I formulate ideas. I fill notebooks with doodles. So many ideas, I cannot keep up and I feel truly blessed by my creativity. I never want for ideas, only time.

I live my life as art. I am grateful, I feel so much love and I see beauty everywhere. Even in mundane objects.

I stared at these objects a long while the other day, marveling in the color. I was amazed at the design of the Bigelow green tea bag, logo designers never cease to amaze me. I think this bag would look cute rasterbated and hung along side my favorite logo design from Starbucks that I wrote about here. I love graphic type, and I am falling in love with yellow and chartreuse.

Today I am painting, there is no greater joy. It seems a sin to be inside on a day like this. But, the canvas is calling me. Canvas, a muse so alluring it cannot be ignored. I am not sure where this canvas is taking me. It has a mind of its own, I am merely the conduit.

Here is what I am listening to.


I bought this CD at Starbucks, I love that Starbucks saves me time when it comes to music. And I admit it - I bought it because I love the cover. Just look at those colors! Wow! I am falling in love with 70s style. My minimalist phase is over for a while. All white rooms with almost nothing in them still make me swoon - but I seem to be in the mood for color and stuff. I can see why people have more than one home!

Some lovely ladies from work invited me to join their crochet group. I haven't crocheted since I was a teenager - when I made an ugly purse for my mom that she used proudly until it fell apart. I'd like to make a rug. I love the idea of a large, round, orange rug.

Pattern from Craft Bits. Of course, then I'd have to paint my floors white. I would love to make doilies. But then I would need to take a pottery class, because I've always wanted to make vases with doily imprints.

Still obsessing about this candleholder from Urban Outfitters.

I was strangely drawn to peacock imagery this week.

I want to be a hippie. The world desperately needs hippies. Peacock feather earrings from Urban Outfitters. Peacock cup and saucer set from Wild Life Wonders.

I think Mr. Schreckengost would be surprised to see his work featured alongside peacock feather earrings. What can I say? That's just the way my mind works. One thing influences another. Who knows where the muse is taking me. Stay tuned to find out.

TGIF!

It's Friday! I had an incredibly busy week at work, so had no time to blog or paint. I did draw and doodle a lot, though. I've filed notebooks full of creative ideas. I am so lucky that I never lack for ideas, only time. So what are my plans for the weekend? Why, to write, paint and take photos of course!

Recently I've been thinking a lot about green. See previous posts here and here. I already have orange and blue in my apartment, but these lovely vases from Crate and Barrel are making me rethink green. I adore them, I'd love to have all of them! They are reasonably priced too.

I have a couple of new objects to play with this weekend. What could be better?
Got this one for $3.00! It says Jonathan Adler on the bottom.

The glass vase from India is not new, but I think it looks adorable with my new incense burner and votive holder. The incense burner is also from India and has the same shiny finish as the vase. I was so excited when I saw it! A perfect match that happened by accident.

I have two very distinct color schemes going, orange/pink/yellow and turquoise/blue. Thinking of adding green. Whatever I decide, there will be lots of white, of course. I also seem to have two distinct styles. Scandinavian and Asian/Moroccan. I also hope that my place is Bohemian and modern. Ahh. Such happy dilemmas. Stay tuned.

Oh Hella!

I am insanely in love with the work of Hella Jongerius. She is one of my favorite ceramicists. I've written about her before. See previous posts here and here.

Her work is simple yet complex. The craftsmanship is superb. Her pieces could fit in any environment, they are modern yet primitive. They are edgey, but tempered with a soft feminine hand. Witness the genius of her embroidered porcelain.

It seems I am not alone in my obsession, here are some flickr finds of her work. Hope you enjoy!

Image from flickr user Vivian0123.

Image from flickr user LYNfabrikken.

Image from flickr user Hilarriet.

Image from flickr user and blogger extraordinaire Yvestown. See my blog roll for a link to her blog. I want this vase! I wish Ikea had an online store.

Here it is again. I drool everytime I see it! Image from flicker user d a a n. She also has a marvelous blog, which is part of my daily read. It is called The Style Files. See my blog roll for link.

Image from flickr user fueledbycoffee.

Image from flickr user Jayoni.

Love of vases, ceramic and glass

I need to sign up for a pottery class. The signs are obvious. I obsess about vases and bottles. This weekend, I drew vases and am planning to do paintings of vases. I even discovered some new artists I would like to share with you. My first love is ceramics and porcelain, but I am also falling deeply in love with art glass. Here are some fine examples of all of the above. Enjoy!

Thank you to Elle Decoration, UK Edition for introducing me to the work of French ceramicist Georges Jouve (1910-1964). Images from Jousse Entreprise.

Thank you also to ED, UK for introducing me to the Fabbriche collection by Rosaria Rattin for Kose. She designed the fuchsia vase above. I almost had a heart attack when I saw it! Hot pink is my absolute favorite color, and finding a modern vase in this color is difficult. I adore it paired with a more vintage looking Chinese, as well as the warm color combined with cool. (This is a color scheme I've written about quite a bit.)

I had some difficulty finding more of her vases. I love them! Wish they were available in the U.S. I want them all. They appear to be matte finish, which is my favorite.

This image came from a Chinese blog (link). Simply beautiful.

Thank you to Vogue Living Australia for introducing me to the incredible work of Robin Best. Ms. Best has a deep reverence for the ancient Chinese traditions. She crafts vessels influenced by this tradition and pairs them with her modern vessels. I am in awe of her craftsmanship. She is also making me rethink the placement of my vases. Though I generally do not like patterns, I adore the way they pop against the white simple forms.

Images from Ceramics, Art & Perception.

I am mixing glass and ceramics more. I never thought anyone could rival my love of Blenko, but Joe Cariati is doing just that. I am insanely in love with his glass works.

I love his take on the popular vintage barber shop bottle.

Yep. It was a good weekend.

Friday!!

I had cause to celebrate on Friday, I wanted to treat myself to something nice for the weekend. My choice:

Shelter magazines! What a treat! I went all out and bought two of my favorites. Vogue Living from Australia and Elle Decoration, UK Edition. I tend to like the foreign shelter magazines better than the American ones. The only problem is when I see something I like, it's usually not available in the U.S. These magazines did not disappoint, and I even discovered several potters I didn't know about.

I wish I could get my hands on Elle Decoration, South African Edition. For now I am happy with their wonderful blog (link). Congratulations to Diana Fayt who was featured on their blog! (See my previous posts about Diana, here.)

What is your favorite shelter magazine? I'd love to hear from you.

Lamp Tramp

I am always fascinated by light fixtures. Everywhere I go, I tend to focus on the lights. This show stopper was at the restaurant where we celebrated SNL's birthday. I want it! I mentioned to the server how fascinated I was by the fixture, he said he had never noticed it. Imagine.

Pottery Jones

Tonk said it had been a while since I did a pottery post. Guess I've been remiss. Here's a fix for pottery junkies everywhere. Happy Friday!

Aren't these gorgeous! I love these simple organic forms by flickr user Ninainvorm. Nina's pottery can be purchased at her etsy store, here. Besides being a talented ceramicist, Nina is skilled at display and decorating her home, which you can read about on her delightful blog, here.

Spirogoya vases from Graham and Green. How cute would these be with a single stem of Queen Anne's Lace in each vase?

These beautiful works are from etsy user Jenni Brant. I adore them. One of each, please!

Celedon vase crafted by Duangkamol of Thailand, available at Novica.

Gorgeous bowl by David Piper is available at The Artful Home.

The Most Beautiful Pillows in the World....

...are designed by Michaela Scherrer. Scherrer is one of my favorite designers, she has a soft touch influenced by vintage Japanese textiles. Her rooms are modern, simple and lush.

Her pillows are horribly expensive, but like I said, they are the most beautiful pillows in the world. Images from Vivre.