Looks Like Last Night's Dinner

I am so inspired by this video. It's an amazing stop frame animation called Spaghetti Western by PES. Thanks to The Look See for the posting it!images: eatPES.com

Cori Dantini

Cori was my very first cheerleader when I first opened my Etsy shop last October and I love her work. She's known for her sweet mixed media collaged artworks. Now she has a new shop that sells original acrylic paintings and prints that are more colorful and just as sweet, I love this bird one painted on wood panel.photos: cori dantini

2 Shows at Deitch

We finally made it to Deitch Projects to see the 2 really wonderful shows. The Os Gemeos show was a lot of fun, the whole gallery is turned into a street scene, it allows viewers to do lots of exploring and playing with objects. You can hit the keys on the piano and each key corresponds to one of the speakers that plays really good hip hop and funk tracks. The second show in the smaller gallery is called Contractions, it's a group show of conceptual art and sculptures. My favorites are these Op-Art pieces by Ara Peterson. The crumbled paper painting is made entirely of tiny dots.

Cocktails at Cooper-Hewitt, etc.

I am so glad that there is no chance of rain or storm today because Cocktails at Cooper-Hewitt is this evening from 6pm to 9pm. There will be live jazz, cocktails and tapas at the prettiest garden in the city.
And while I was on the Cooper-Hewitt website, I found a piece that Chad wrote about his glass-making workshop at the Glass Lab back in May, the instructor/artist made a glass Dunny (a bunny) and a Munny (a monkey) during the session. Other designers that participated in the workshop are Harry Allen, Boym, Work In Progress, and Tobias Wong. I wonder where all the finished products went because no one seems to know???
photos: Chad and cooperhewitt.org

Nice Branding

There are over a hundred thousand sellers on Etsy so in order to stand out is to make your shop look pretty with great looking banner and avatar, plus good photography. Jodii is a great example, I love the look of her shop, and some of her products are unique and nicely made. I hope she will get more attention which she deserves and would love to see more great things from her!photos: jodii.etsy.com

Early Holiday Shopping

Well not really, but when I saw these funny and offensive pieces from Subversive Cross Stitch, I immediately knew who I wanted to give them to. Go to their website for more profane pieces, they are sold as DIY kits or just the patterns. It's a good idea to get them soon to beat the holiday rush!photos: subversivecrossstitch.com

Nina!

I love using old-fashion craft technique as an art medium, and the challenge is to make them cool without looking too matronly. My newest obsession is Nina Braun's art, she knits, embroiders, sews, paints, she just does it all, with great sense of humor and attitude. Before Nina became a fine artist, she had a clothing label in Hamburg for skateboarding, which has a great influence on her work. I would have loved to get this Love Sculpture (second picture above) but would settle for the C print! Here are some of my favorite pieces, you can see all of her work here, and you can get a catalog of her recent exhibition at Helium Cowboy Gallery for 10 Euro here.photos: ninabraun.net

Is this a joke???
any thoughts?

New Stuff

Card sets with my favorite animal characters- the fawn, mr. seal, squirrel and goldfish, available here.

Five Whats with Bloesem

Good morning and Five Whats is back at last! I am so happy to introduce today's guest whose blog is really one of my favorites- it's Irene Hoofs of Bloesem. I'm so fascinated by her life in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and her frequent getaways to the neighboring countries like Singapore and Thailand. I would love to meet her in person because I admire her impeccable taste in art and design, plus she is super nice, which is sort of a requirement for being my Five Whats guest!
What did you have for breakfast?
This is clearly not a regular breakfast for me...but my dear friend Jenny is moving to Singapore this week, so I gave her a little farewell breakfast (top picture), including my favorites: scrambles eggs with coriander, spring-onions and some salmon and a croissant with some raspberry jam...but normally it's just some freshly squeezed orange juice, a homemade cafe latte and some bread together with my son on our balcony... this is where we have our dining table (pic above).

What is an average day like living in Kuala Lumpur?
I guess the same as in any other place, taking my child to school, do some work, sometimes have lunch with a friend, do some more work...and then.. this makes the big difference from all the other cities i have lived in...the evening is always fun, because there are many nice restaurants everywhere, people love to go out also during weekdays, like having a drink at the hotel Trader's rooftop bar, overlooking the Twin Towers ... the climate and ambiance here makes you feel like being on a long vacation.

What are the things that inspire you the most?
Books, magazines and vintage items, I'm not a reader, but I love looking at beautiful pictures in books about art, architecture, mid-century designers, illustrators and Japanese books about crafting, they are simply the best. ... I'm not so much into books about interior design or decorating, I rather look at single object, just the design from something can really inspire me...and vintage items especially from the 50-60-70...like these dutch magazines I once bought at a flea market or this incredible book: How They Work.
http://bloesem.blogs.com/bloesem/2008/06/how-they-work.html

What are your all-time Bloesem favorite finds?
I really don't have favorites, sorry, I only write about something when I really like it, of course not everything would be a fit for my own home...but in my posts are only items that somehow got my attention, because of the way it was made, the colors, the pattern or the design itself. Of course it's very rewarding for a blogger if you can show a truly unique, new and fresh design...so I always try to search for those, and hopefully people recognize this at Bloesem. But to give you sort of favorite post I must say it was a weekend read I wrote about Vintage Ceramics, because I love ceramics and especially tableware.
http://bloesem.blogs.com/wr_vintageceramics/

What sort of work do you do other than blogging on Bloesem?
I used to free-lance in web- and graphic design, but nowadays I work full-time for my two blogs, Bloesem and BloesemKids...and once in a while I also write for magazines, like the last couple of months for a Dutch magazine called Hide&Chic, of course writing about interior design, the section is called Back Home.
http://www.hidechic.com/hidechic14/683_Wonen

(bonus what) What are your plans for the summer?
We will celebrate our summer at home...Malaysia is the perfect place to be, we have a swimming pool in our condo, there are so many great restaurants here in KL and the city just has so much to offer, but we have just spent some vacation time in the Netherlands with our families.

photos: Irene (thank you so much for taking us for a tour of your home and your life!)

Little Thing That Made My Day

It doesn't take much to make me happy. I was reading about how to make your own vinyl toy display box on Apartment Therapy (coz boy do we have a huge collection of those 3" toys!!!) and was delighted to see my Dunbirdy (the Dunny with the bird and branch) on the display, AND it's next to Dalek's toy, oh wow!!! It means so much to me when I see my work living happily in other people's homes!
photo: apartmenttherapy.com

Alli Coate

I often like to see who left comments on my blog, and over the weekend I found a talented girl named Alli Coate. She is a RISD graduate who chooses embroidery as her favorite medium. I really love these pieces she plays with negative space and transparency, and the bottom is just as interesting as the front! Her plush animals are just too cute for words, they are available here. I hope Alli will be selling her embroidered art pieces soon. photos: allicoate

Good Job!

Last Saturday I stopped by Danielle's new shop "Fact and Fancy" in Brooklyn. It is a little shop on a lovely tree-lined street close to the busy Atlantic Avenue. It is THE place to find all those cool Etsy goods that you've been eyeing without all the wait! I got this stacked furniture print by Justin Richel, and I discovered Runny Bunny who makes these quirky ceramic figurines, I love the deer head lady and the retro owls, I'm so going back there for a house-warming gift this weekend! The faux bois floor that Danielle and her partner, Christine hand-painted, it's Sebastian Wrong-esque but still so fabulous. The shop has only been opened for a month and already I see a lot of potential, I would not be surprised that by Christmas this place will be jam-packed with holiday shoppers!Fact and Fancy
75B Hoyt St Brooklyn, NY 11201
Hours: Friday 12-8, Saturday 12-8, Sunday 12-7
photos: factandfancy, etsy