Lightning in a Bottle

One of the most summertimey things in all of summer has to be fireflies.

They are such a uniquely hot-weather phenomenon.

Catching a mason jar full of them is a right of passage.

When we were little, my sister and I, squeamish and normally avoiding anything that crawled, flew, or fell into the general category of "bug",

would catch them and bring them to my dad.

But instead of putting them into a jar, he would pull off their lights

(I know, I know.)

and stick the little blinking butts onto our fingers.

For a few short moments, before the light faded and went out, we would prance around the yard

with our fingers glowing,

the queens of the night.

 

And fireflies are precisely what comes to mind when looking at the works in
Canadian artist Amy Friend's series of photographs she calls Dare alla Luce.

The altering of the vintage images using points of light is a wink and a nod
to the light from which the photographs had been created in the first place.
Friend describes the process as "giving the photographs back to the light."
Fittingly, the series' title is an Italian phrase that translates to describe
the moment of birth.

{All images Amy Friend}

 

Twinkle twinkle, my friends.

xo


Summer Lovin'

One of the great joys of summer is, undoubtedly, a good, juicy, beach read.

For me, this usually means becoming engrossed in a Patricia Cornwell novel.

Not exactly trashy, by most standards, but not exactly cerebral, either.

Just a mindless escape for a few hundred pages.

(After all, isn't the escape all we really want in a summer read?)

However, when it comes to warm weather reading, most, it seems, gravitate towards romance novels.

Don't believe me?

Take a look at the half concealed covers of those lazily reading on blankets in city parks; on beaches;

barefoot at the edges of fountains.

You'll probably find at least half of the word "Harlequin" and at least part of Fabio's face peeking out between fingers not quite wide enough to hide the whole cover.

That is, of course, unless that romance novel has fallen into

 the incredibly talented hands of Lauren Scanlon.

 

 

But it's what Scanlon, a paper cut artist, does with the inside of these books that really wows.

Using, fittingly, the floral motifs of vintage bedding as her inspiration,

she and her army of blades attack page after page of tales of burning lust and desire

with the same passion she used to read those same pages, given to her by her grandmother, as a child.

 

 

 

 

{all images Lauren Scanlon}

 Summer reading has never looked better.

xo

 

 

It's All In The Details

 

When it comes to clothing, I am an absolute sucker for a quirky detail.

I swoon over a perfectly off set pocket or pleat.

Gasp at the hem stitched in a color that doesn't belong...but really, couldn't be more perfect.

And if something has a clever tag? Particularly one with a scrap of ribbon or a tiny charmed doo-dad hanging from the end?

No question, that particular garment will be finding a new home in my closet.

So you can imagine the breathless squeal I emitted when I happened upon these beautiful Isabel Marnat pieces with dreamy landscapes printed by French artist Emilie Faif.

 

 

And though these gorgeous scenes are concealed inside the garments, you can place a sure bet that, were I to see them hanging on a shop rack, and had the deep pockets it would take to make them mine, I would most certainly do so.
And I would feel especially lovely every time I wore them,
despite the fact that no one would see the details that make the pieces so special.

{all images via Emilie Faif}

Like my own private art collection.

xo

Quiet is the New Loud

The world is a noisy place.

Traffic. Construction. Crowds. Other people's cell phone conversations. Horns. Bells. Whistles.

It can be hard to shut that out; even if it is managed, there's still the noise within to contend with.

All of the thoughts, the plans, the ideas.

The never ending list running through your mind of all the things that need to be done, the things that have already been done: were they done well enough? Could they have been done better?

Searching through all of the memories, facts, useless information stored in the deepest recesses of your brain, trying in vain to find the punch line to the joke you were in the middle of telling.

The fragment of song that has been stuck on repeat for your ears only.

Not to mention the distractions.

Finding a moment of stillness, of quiet and peace, is fleeting at best.

But that fleeting moment is just what Mexican photographer Miguel Morales (Oidos Sordos) manages to capture in his beautiful, double-exposed portraits.

Superimposing nature scenes, cityscapes, and sunsets over top of human profiles, Morales creates images of internal stillness and reflection.

 

 

 

xo

 

Dolla Dolla Bills

During his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh never made a cent for his artwork.

With that thought in mind, I bring you today the second in an unintentional two-part series on money as art.

Yesterday was change (Jacqueline Lou Skaggs' painted pennies).

Today, cold, hard, paper cash.

When it comes to dollar bills, I have to assume you are like me, folding your money in half, sometimes in half again.

Shoving it into pockets, wallets, and bags, without much in the way of care.

I have to assume all of this because the evidence is rather plain:

creases, wrinkles, and torn corners cover the green sheets in my wallet.

But not so with Japanese artist Hasegawa Yosuke.

When it comes to folding his cash, Yosuke takes great care, folding and bending the bills around the portrait at its center.

His money origami is cheeky. And largely brilliant.

xo

Pretty as a Penny

The humble penny.

Throw away currency, by today's standards.

They can be found laying scattered on sidewalks and streets, tarnished copper distinguishing them from the trash and collected debris.

Head's up, pick it up.

Collect them on shelves, in dishes and jars.

A stack of twenty five equals a single quarter.

A pile of five hundred, a five dollar bill.

You can't get very far on penny power.

But artist Jacqueline Lou Skaggs sees things differently.

Where we see the raised smoothness of Abraham Lincoln's profile, and the rough, textured ridges of the monument in his name, Skaggs sees a blank canvas.

Her series Tondi Observations is a collection of twelve tiny paintings, each done on a found penny.

{images}

A penny for your thoughts?

xo

Granny Panties

It's a stinking hot Tuesday following a long holiday weekend.

Somehow, these giant underthings by Yoshikazu Yamagata felt appropriate.

Stay cool, Darling Ones.

xo

Like a Prayer

Just outside of Calipatria, California, a technicolor vision arises from the desert sands.

But this vision ain't no mirage. It's Salvation Mountain, a man-made mountain/ art installation that has been spreading it's colorful message for nearly three decades.

Salvation Mountain is the work of one man, Leonard Knight, and over 100,000 gallons of paint.

Knight has devoted himself to covering his structure with biblical messages of peace and love. Why? Because, he says, he loves Jesus.

{image: salvationmountain.us}

{image: salvationmountain.us}

{image: angela carone/kpbs}

Funny what love'll make a guy do, huh?

xo

Killer Queen

Giving a charming nod to bygone eras, British artist Emma Block creates the sweetest illustrations:

fun, colorful, and drenched in vintage goodness.

 Her images of a wildly whimsical royal feature Queen Elizabeth II, profiled in old postage stamps and playfully sketched in pen and ink.



{must dash}

{her highness}



{a monarch of many talents}
{all images emma block}

xo

Come Dancing

Loving the "Dance" series by Jose Ignacio Romussi Murphy. The colorful embroidery on the old black and white photos is just so jaunty, don't you think?

xo

Little Lion Man

March is here, Dear Readers.

And, rumor has it, it comes in like a lion.

Which got me thinking about these little guys, created in pencil and pencil shavings by Hazel Terry.

{images and art by Hazel Terry}

Some people are just so clever, aren't they?

Roar.

xo

This Is All I Know

I am loving everything about these paintings by Portland based artist Amanda Blake.

The faces, the colors, the sweet backgrounds.

Lovely ladies, created in oils on wooden boards.

Blakes original works are available here, with limited edition prints available here.

xo

What's Your Type

Keira Rathbone is a British artist working in a most unusual medium:

the typewriter.

Portraits, still life, and landscapes all created with key strokes and space bars, on a typewriter.

A typewriter!!!

{images}

Bet they never taught this at secretary school.

xo

Around the House

While best known for his New Yorker covers,

artist Saul Steinberg also got sketchy with the furniture.

{images}

xo

Iconatomy

What, you may be pondering, is Iconatomy?

Funny you should ask.

Iconatomy (icon, anatomy) is Swedish artist George Chamoun's seriously cool series of collages of Hollywood icons, present and past.

Chamoun tediously fitted together the images of his cleverly combined subjects. No digital morphing whatsoever.

The results are absolutely brilliant, don'tcha think?

xo

Polar Opposites

Combining interests both feminine (needlework) and masculine (old cars), Lithuanian artist Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene proves the old adage that opposites do indeed attract.

Soft, delicately stitched roses.

Hard, road-torn metal.

Sublime.

xo