Waking Up With Dan Golden’s ‘Positive Energy’

Tags

Art, Colour, Contemporary, creativity, culture, Dan Golden, Humour, Interior design, Photos, Pillows, Positive Energy, Rugs, Social Commentary, Textiles, Tom Waits

'Positive Energy' Rug

OK – now that I’ve woken you up with Dan Golden’s ‘Positive Energy’ rug (are you feeling it, yet?), let me tell you a wee bit about the man and his quirky, fun and fabulous work…

Dan Golden and his partner in crime, Jen Huh make up the art & design team that is Dan Golden Studio, based out of New York. The firm specialises in concept development and is currently designing new textile, lighting and furniture collections. They recently launched a range of home decor products for CB2 (which now ships to Australia!).

Dan Golden’s art and design work has been featured in many magazines and websites including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Fast Company, Interior Design, Veranda, The LA Times, Shelter, FORM, Angeleno, David Report, Behance and MoCoLoco. And now, it has been featured right here in This Sydney Life, too! 

While I was tinkering about preparing for this post, I came across a CB2 interview with Dan.  Two things jumped out and really stuck. 1) the man is a massive dog lover.  He has a dog named Nutley (who is clearly massively loved), and 2) Apparently, years ago — when he was a waiter/aspiring singer-songwriter – he met Tom Waits. HE MET TOM WAITS! Dan says that Tom’s advice was to “be original and not try to be like anybody else. This advice was simple and true, and applies equally to being a designer.”  Looking at Dan Golden’s work now, I rather suspect Tom Waits’ advice was heeded.

The Dan Golden Studio pieces all have a recognisable design handwriting to them – for me, they are contemporary and clever, fun and humorous, uncluttered and, sometimes a wee bit ironic. I think it’s all great.  But then, I kinda’ like anything that looks good and makes me smile or think…

Check these out:

'So Long Suckahs' Rug

Safe Place rug

I want me one of these 'Jazz Superheroes' pillows

'Morphine is the Best Medicine' pillow

'Hole to Another Universe' Wall Sticker

Do you have a favourite Dan Golden piece?

(All images sourced from Dan Golden Studio)

I Love my Rosenthal Paperbag Vase…

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Arts, Crafts, Finnish Design, Floristry, Flower, Iconic, Paperbag, Photos, Pop art, Rosenthal, style, Tapio Wirkkala, Vase

Years ago, my Dad gave my Mum a Rosenthal Paperbag Vase. She then gave it to me for my birthday one year because she knew how much I loved it. I still do. Looking at it makes me happy. It’s a little whimsical. It’s a little charming. It’s stronger than it looks (and has moved countries with me).  I think of my Mum when I look at it. And, given my incredibly bad flower arranging skills, the hapless way flowers fall in this vase (and still look good!) – it is perfect for me.

Image from here

The porcelain Paperbag vase was created by Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala for Rosenthal in 1977.  Today the Paperbag is one of the best-selling articles in Rosenthal’s collection. It reflects Wirkkala’s ability to find a little poetry in everyday life and, at the same, provide an amusing nod to the 1960s Pop Art movement.

Clearly, I am not the only one who loves their Paperbag vase.  Some have become almost obsessive about collecting them…

Not sure I need quite so many!
Image from here

If you decide life would be better with a Rosenthal Paperbag vase, you can order one (or more!) online from the Finnish Design Shop and it will even be delivered to your door!

Emily Barletta and Her Red Thread…

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Artist, Colour, Crafts, creativity, culture, Design, Emily Barletta, Exhibition, Fiber art, Fine art, Maryland Institute College of Art, Photos, Stitch, style, Thread

Fresh after her recent exhibition at the group showing, ‘The Sum of the Parts’ at the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, the very talented Emily Barletta has just added some new works to her portfolio.  I think they are gorgeous in their simplicity, especially when compared to some of her more complex (yet equally fab’) pieces.

Have a look some of the new stitched pieces and see what you think:

Untitled (big circle) by Emily Barletta (2011)
thread and paper

Untitled 2 by Emily Barletta (2011)
thread and paper

Untitled 10 by Emily Barletta (2011)
thread and paper

Apparently, Ms Barletta has loved needlework and crafts since her childhood in Utah.  After graduating from Baltimore’s Maryland Institute College of Art with a bachelor’s degree in fibre arts, she embarked on a path utilising techniques she had previously used in her hobbies and applying them to fine art.

I love the way her work has an organic feel to it, and the way she interprets old home-style crafts into incredible and detailed modern works of fibre art.

I would love the ‘untitled 10′ piece for my wall.

Alternatively, a bowl of these would make me happy:

Untitled (rocks) by Emily Barletta (2010)
thread, felt, and rocks, mixed sizes

Go and check out some of her other work at EmilyBarletta.com.  It’s amazing!

(All images sourced from Emily Barletta’s website)

Pat and Stick’s most excellent ice cream adventure…

Tags

Auckland, Australia, Brisbane, Canberra, Farmers Markets, food, Gourmet, Home Made, Ice Cream, Ice cream sandwich, Melbourne, Pat and Stick's, Photos, Small Business, Sydney, Travel

One of the wonderful things about going to the Farmers Markets every week is that you meet some fascinating people in the business of a-makin’ and a-growin’ great food.  LM laughs at me, but I love the opportunity to chat to the people directly responsible for the produce I am buying (and then eating).  I have been known to share a recipe (strange but true, Shira!) and I know I go back to the stalls and spend more where I have established a level of rapport with the providore.

Last week was no exception – the boys from Pat and Stick’s were dispensing their wares at Eveleigh. I had absolutely zero intention of picking up any form of ice cream on Saturday but then we bumped into Stick (who is a very tall and extremely happy and chatty chappy) who was doing the selling when we strolled by…  (we bought four sandwiches AND were on the receiving end of a great dry ice story)

Here's Stick himself at Eveleigh (pic' taken by the lovely ChocolateSuze)

The Pat and Stick story is a goody.  The boys are mates and got to chatting over a few beers.  They share a love of food and, after agreeing that the ice cream offerings in Australia (at the time) were pretty ordinary, started mucking about in their home kitchens with a Breville ice cream maker.  Out of this, the idea of their ice cream sandwich business was born. They chucked in their jobs and started up, initially just selling at markets.

They are committed to using only the finest ingredients like Belgian chocolate, real vanilla beans, espresso coffee, real butter, and fresh Australian milk and cream. In their words, “you won’t find any preservatives, artificial whatevers or fake fillery. It’s real food, made by real people, right here in Australia.”

Flavour combos are delish’:

Pat and Stick's ice cream sandwich combo's (they have since added a Peppermint Choc-chip number to the range)

There is something extra appealing about two good mates who are clearly so enthusiastic about their product.  They have a great wee vid’ about their history:

Now, if you live in Sydney and have yet to try a Pat and Stick’s ice cream sandwich, get thee to a stockist at your earliest convenience…  If you live in Melbourne, Brisbane or Canberra, there’s a list of where you can buy these gourmet ‘Eskimo Sammies’ (aka ice cream sandwiches) on the Pat and Stick’s website (here).  AND, if you happen to live in Auckland, you can get a Pat and Stick’s at Sarge’s, a well cool-looking Airstream at Britomart. Everyone else, Pat and Stick have yet to achieve world domination, but it does give you another reason to come and visit sunny Sydney!

Kristi Malakoff, I salute you…

Tags

Artist, Canada, Colour, Currency, Design, foreign currency, Kristi Malakoff, Money, Paper Cutting, Photos, Proekt Fabrika, Sculpture

I have just discovered Kristi Malakoff, the hugely talented and multi-faceted visual artist who hails from Canada. Her portfolio of work is amazingly diverse and includes paper cutting, sculptures, flower installations, (postage) stamp pieces and money pieces…  Yes, that reads money, as in currency.

She gets around, too. Studying or working in Germany, England and Iceland. Most recently Malakoff has been in Moscow, where she participated in a 2-month residency at Proekt Fabrika.

Her work is intricate, beautiful and quirky. Here are some images of her wonderful money pieces:

Polyhedra Series - 'Honeysuckle' (2008)
8 bills of foreign currency (Cambodia, China, Costa Rica,
Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Russia, Brazil, Peru)

Polyhedra Series - 'Iraqi Bloom' (2008)
3 Iraqi dinar bills

Polyhedra Series - 'Dodecahedron' (2008)
3 bills of foreign currency (Peru, Argentina, Cambodia)

Polyhedra Series - 'Desert Cactus' (2008)
8 bills of foreign currency (Cambodia, China, Afghanistan,
Yugoslavia, Bolivia, Iraq, Paraguay, Russia)

Polyhedra Series - 'Snappy' (2008)
3 bills of foreign currency (Zambia, Brazil, Peru)

If you have some time, go and check out her website (here) which has a far more comprehensive image gallery of her work.  It is amazing.  Truly.

(All images sourced from here)

The art of ‘Thank You’…

Tags

Able and Game, Benjamin Disraeli, Etiquette, Graphic Design, Kate Spade, Letter (message), Letterpress, Manners, Photos, Post, Snail mail, Thank You, Vera Wang

I feel a very unusual sensation – if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude. (Benjamin Disraeli)

Call me old fashioned, but I love a hand-written thank you note.  I probably know I don’t write them enough.  I also know how much I love to receive them.  There is something very special about someone taking the time to pen a personal message and send it by snail-mail.  E-mail is nice, but snail-mail is so much better.

Opening the letterbox to the sight of a hand-written envelope sandwiched between all the bills and direct marketing is a small joy, especially because it means that somebody has been thinking (nice thoughts!) about you…

I guess you don’t need a card to say thank you – a hand written letter will do the trick nicely. But, there are so many gorgeous choices in stationery that just seem to scream out to me.  I am building a wee collection, but there’s always room for more…

Here are some that I particularly like:

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

Found here

And, not strictly a thank you card, but a range that I particularly like:

Found here

Are Flight of the Conchords flying to Sydney?

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Academy Award, Auckland, Australia, Bret, Concert, Flight of the Conchords, Humour, Jemaine, Kiwi, Lifestyle, Muppet, Music, New Zealand, Performance, Photos, Sydney, Tour, Travel

It’s confirmed!  Hot on the heels of Bret’s Oscar win, Flight of the Conchords are going on tour…  in New Zealand (sigh!)  As yet, no Australian dates confirmed, but a girl can hope…

Bret and Jemaine – are you coming across the ditch to visit your many fans over here? Pretty Please.

{Seriously considering flying to Auckland to see the boys…}

While we wait and see if Australian tour dates are to be announced, a wee something to whet your FOTC appetite:

(Top image sourced from FOTC website here)

Breaking News (10 April 2012): Confirmation of July tour dates out today. The boys are coming to Australia. Jemaine says, “We are finally returning to Australia. Mostly to apologise.” Check out the FOTC website for details.

Blog Stalking ‘Were I So Besotted’…

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Blog, Blog Stalk, Blogging, Brooklyn, craft, creativity, culture, Design, Embroidery, Fibre Artist, Iviva Olenick, London, Photos, Pratt Institute, Social Commentary, Stitching

When I lived in London, I remember walking home from work in the wintertime after the sun had gone down.  I loved it. It was dark enough for lights to be turned on, but not late enough for curtains to be drawn.  I could see into the windows of houses as I walked past. Those small snap-shots into other people’s living rooms were fascinating to me.  It was especially wonderful at Christmas-time…

I suspect many of us in the online world take the plunge to enter the blogging fray after a period of blog stalking*.  I will admit to my share of this.  It’s a little like looking into other people’s living room windows.  You get a wee taste of their world.

One of my earliest blog finds was Were I So Besotted.  Brooklyn-based Iviva Olenick is a hugely talented fibre artist who creates the most beautiful and original narrative embroidery.  She calls her small-scale, usually autobiographical pieces her ‘hand-stitched blog’.  Her work is both charming and honest.  I love it.

'Williamsburg Hug'

'How We Met Sunset Park'

'Fulton Park'

'Cowboy' (for friend, Sarah's birthday)

'Sweetie'

Iviva is active within the embroidery community.  She runs workshops at venues like the Textile Arts Center and teaching stitching at the Pratt Institute.

If you have some time, go and check out her blog, Were I So Besotted.  It’s gorgeous.

(All images sourced from Iviva Olenick’s blog here)

*blog stalk: to religiously check a particular blog of interest for any new content

Cinnamon Lee Designs Covert Jewels

Tags

Art, Australia, Cinnamon Lee, Contemporary Jewellery, COTA, Covert Jewels, Fashion, Gallery, Jewellery, Metalab, Photos, Shopping, Silver, Strand Arcade, strand arcade sydney, style, Sydney

'Flutter' by Cinnamon Lee

'Turbo' by Cinnamon Lee

I love the work of Cinnamon Lee, a Sydney-based contemporary jewellery and lighting artist.  I particularly love her Covert Jewels range, where she creates beautiful works which conceal intricately worked secrets for the wearer, rather than the viewer.

A recent exhibition of these rings featured an inspired custom-built illuminated display system incorporating pre-programmed LEDs, which was specially designed to light up the detailed interiors of each ring.  How great is that?

Cinnamon is part of the fabulously creative team at Metalab.  Metalab also runs COTA (Courtesy of the Artist) as a side project.  In Sydney you can find Cinnamon’s work at both galleries.

Metalab Studio + Gallery 
10B Fitzroy Place, 
Surry Hills, NSW 2010

COTA (Courtesy of the Artist)
 Level 2, Shop 124, 
The Strand Arcade, Sydney 2000

(All images sourced from Cinnamon Lee’s website here)

Tony Ogle, you bring the West Coast of New Zealand to Sydney…

Tags

Art, Auckland, Bethells Beach, Childhood, Design, New Zealand, Photos, Surf Beach, Sydney, Te Henga, Travel, West Coast of New Zealand

New Zealand’s West Coast is famous for its rugged beauty and black sand surf beaches. When I was little, we spent many family holidays at Bethells Beach (or more accurately, O’Neills Beach, which is just a short walk north of Bethells) on the West Coast of New Zealand.

Picking mussels fresh off the rocks and having mussel sandwiches on white bread with butter and malt vinegar. Swimming in the surf after racing down black sand so heated by the sun your feet felt like they were on fire. Building forts and spending hours in role play. Sliding down grass slopes on Nikau Palm fronds. Being bribed with chocolate to go ‘wombling’ (that’s code for collecting rubbish off the shore-line). Going to sleep with the sound of the surf crashing.  It’s a magical place, especially for a child.

Tony Ogle is an iconic New Zealand artist whose instantly recognisable works capture the beach-style of the west coast.  When I was in my twenties and newly returned from a stint in London, my first art purchase was of one of his screen prints.  I still have it hanging in (a very difficult to photograph part of) my home.

What I can show you is a more recently commissioned (2009) piece by the fabulous Tony Ogle. It’s a painting of a hill above O’Neill’s looking south towards Bethells and I love it.  It hangs over our family dining table and it brings me pleasure every day. It is the next best thing to being there.

And, here is a pic’ my Dad sent me while on a recent trip out to Bethells…

If you are so inclined, go visit Tony’s website here. It’s a great story of an artist who’s passionate about New Zealand. I think this translates wonderfully into his work.