Art Direction.

Found these awesome Melvin Sokolsky images while browsing through the Black Eiffel blog. They were shot for Harper's Bazaar "Bubble" Spring Collection in 1963, WOW!
it's my kinda Mad Men.

Supakitch & Koralie

Supakitch & Koralie are the shit!!! check out this video of them at work and you'll see what I mean:
(image above from Jason Travis' persona series of images, you'll want to go HERE)

Mike, Don & Bernie.

It's so interesting to see these three different interpretations of David by Michelangelo, Donatello, and Bernini. I really do love them all but I gotta say that although I'm least familiar with Donatello's work I'm facinated by his sublime and refined interpretation. While Michelangelo and Bernini choose a beautiful but somewhat expected interpretation, Donatello opts for a highly personal one. I mean the dude's practically a dandy - fancy hat with hand on hip and all! When I saw this for the first time in the Bargello in Florence I thought it was hilarious. Perhaps Donatello's version is the most truthful to the story of David and Goliath, a young unassuming boy who had no hope in hell of defeating a giant yet somehow manages to do the impossible. What's Donatello saying with this piece??? maybe real courage can surprise you!

(image with red background from Denver Westword blog)

Do you know the Muffin Man.

Well the Muffin Guy... at least that's what the cashier at Whole Foods called me today.

You see, when I find something I like I become a creature of habit to it. So my new ritual is to grab a muffin and a coffee from Whole Foods as often as I can. It's usually a toss up between the glazed vegan muffin or the spelt power muffin. Why so healthy you might ask? well these little treats might be full of natural goodness but I'm sure they are very high in calories, hence my guilty pleasure, yummmmm. And c'mon folks, at a buck seventy nine for organic, sweet, take-me-to-my-happy-place goodness! that's a DEAL!!!

Go WEST.

We've all seen the use of mid-century design in décor but it takes a special eye to interpret and adapt the sensibility of the period for our times. Kudos to the designers and marketers at West Elm! They have managed to interpret all existing design/material trends like nature/organic, craft, industrial, minimal, use of bold colours etc, all anchored in a mid-century aesthetic. I especially applaud their choice to collaborate with artists and crafts people, it's a win-win for everyone! It's one of my favourite stores to walk through and be inspired, and the staff is so polite and cheerful. West Elm keep doing what your doing! ...and if your looking for a future artist collab, I'M IN:)

Toy Culture

Dunny's are not as popular as they used to be but I still love these little guys. Cute and whimsical and also provocative and twisted -  that's how I like my toys. The latest release in the Dunny series is Azteca 2 which features many artists from Mexico, of which Saner's "Sicarii" has to be my favourite.
Here's how Saner describes his inspiration for the  "Sicarii" Dunny: "The sicarii (man-dagger) is inspired in the violence that's affecting Mexico right now, and the war between drug cartels and government. The way we are losing control of our territory is without doubt, one of the main problems that we are facing as a country, and with this piece, I try to portray exactly that, but in a funny way. Death coming from a hit man, is now part of a cultural element: power, revenge, fear, respect, lidership, hate...on that, everything seems to be blending." (as featured on Saner's blog)
Check out Kidrobot's microsite to see the other Dunnys from this release.

Shut the front door!!!

When I visited Florence a few years ago my bed & breakfast was located at the heart of the Duomo, and the Baptistry was right outside my front door.

Tonight I went for a lecture on Lorenzo Ghiberti (and Flippo Brunelleschi) and was reminded of how much I love the city of Florence and it's art. This image is but one panel by Lorenzo Ghiberti which is part of a set of doors from the Baptistry known as The Gates of Paradise. 

Maybe it's the Catholic in me, or maybe it's the artist, either way I'm a Believer!!!

(image taken by Ricardo André Frantz as found on Wikimendia)

The Sacred and the Strange right here. right now.

I have a romance with historical exploration. In 1898, the steamship Valdivia left Germany on a voyage to explore the deep sea. Professor Carl Chum lead this voyage of discovery and contributed to many publications based on his scientific adventure.
Although the possibility of aliens from other planets is exciting I often find things right here on earth strange, bizarre, and fascinating. Why not explore the nature of what we already know to exist (or to have once existed like dinosaurs). I know so little... and there's so much to explore.

Cephalopoda image from BibliOdyssey, an awesome historical resource blog on a wide array of obscura.

Dreaming of Spring.

I kinda like the cosy quality of winter but I have to admit that I miss the freedom of warmer, brighter days. Ahhh Spring time, so far away.... here's Devon (Aoki) to tie us over till then. She's perfection!

(Image seen on Fashion Gone Rogue, if you love anything fashion related you need to go to there.)

Stamp of approval

This beautiful piece of art by Ann Carrington is based on one of my favourite stamps.
My grand uncle "fighting papa" as we called him (not sure why) collected stamps and left us with tins upon tins of his collection. However it's been challenging to come up with ideas on how to showcase them well. Stamp books are a good option but I'd like to display them somehow. This piece has inspired to revisit at my uncle's collection and try and come up with a way to use the stamps as a jumping off point and make some art, Wish me luck!!!

Think about it.

I like this poster that was created by Francesca. These kinds of sayings get thrown around a lot and I guess the power is in the value and meaning we place on them, and how we apply and integrate this kind of thinking into our everyday lives.

I love the Sartorialist! still one of my favourite blogs, so inspiring!

Food and Photography.

I come across a lot of foodie sites with great photography but this one is something special. C'mon already, I don't even eat beef but just look at this gorgeous shot!
check out Katie's work at whatkatieate

Fantastic Movie!

I've been meaning to see the stop-motion animation film Fantastic Mr. Fox based on Roald Dahl's novel since it came out, and finally did over the Holidays, WOW!

There are so many qualities of this movie that appealed to me, the delivery of dialogue (all those great pauses), the vintage looking set design, the wardrobe, I could go on...

I'd love to live in this movie!!!

There's beauty out there - look for it!

"The Concert" originally thought to be by Giorgione, later attributed to Titian (although I think it's a bit of both), in all it's pastoral beauty is a remarkable testament to refinement and beauty. Holy colour and tone Batman!!!

It's a Grand World out there!

It's only the second day of the New Year. It's grey outside and the January slowdown will come upon us soon enough. So here's an image to remind one of how BIG and WONDERFUL things are, so put your best foot forward and blow your own horn this New Year!