It can be both reassuring and embarrassing to see parts of your life depicted in artwork. Not that it’s my life per se, but these illustrations by Yelena Bryksenkova sum up two of my favorite things about my home: plants and cats. I collect the former with reckless abandon and — were it not for my…
I love it when projects that start as a hobby or a side job turn into a new business. Francis Ooi, a creative director in Singapore and amateur photographer, needed to fill a wall in his home, so he started obsessing about taking botanical photographs. His obsession turned into a botanical portrait blog and brand…
I really love Andrew Holder’s work. It’s always bold and colorful and tends to include some sort of animal (my favorite). Andrew just launched a new website and has some beautiful new pieces online. The image above is by far my favorite; it’s clean and simple and gorgeous. As usual, his bird pieces make me…
If my shopping patterns are any indication, I’ll be living in an entirely pink home in the not so distant future. I tried swearing off bright pink for a while and then gave up. It was a losing battle. So right now I’m unabashedly celebrating little bits of pink as they seem to pop up…
When it comes to artwork, I try to save up as much and as often as I can to buy originals. But not everyone wants to go the piggy bank route, so I’m always happy that there are options for everyone who’d prefer a print, or stretched canvas piece that suits their budget right away….
I’m always interested to see what artist Molly Hatch is working on. In addition to being the maker of my beloved morning coffee mug (thanks, Kristina), she is one of my favorite ceramics artists on the scene. Molly recently debuted a new series of “plate paintings” at SOFA NY that use source imagery from the…
Typographic prints make me feel like dramatically throwing all the accessories off my countertops and embracing an uber-modern minimalist style. I never actually do it, but something about the simplicity of these bold alphabet prints lends itself to that clean look. These prints are from Hannah and the team at Yeah No Yeah in the…
A couple weeks ago, while working at the Stewart, Tabori & Chang offices (Did you know that if you’re late with a book project, your editor might actually make you work in the office? It’s like study hall. Or detention. For me, it was detention.), I passed these books in a glass display case. If…
Some part of my brain is totally unwilling to let go of my fascination with pink, peach and coral. Whenever I see those colors, my fingers get itchy, and I feel the need to write about, share or take the object home. This new print from Ian Dingman uses those colors beautifully, and it’s now…
This week has been all about bright color for me, so these new prints from graphic designer/painter/photographer Luke Flynt are right up my alley. Each print comes in a range of sizes, making them perfect for tabletop or large wall displays. The top print is my favorite, but you can check out the full range…
I’m slowly becoming something of a Matthew Shlian devotee. My last two posts contained images that have been in my desktop “inspiration” file for years. So when the team at Ghostly pointed out his newest colorful work, I was instantly hooked. Matthew is a paper engineer in the most creative, eloquent way possible. His work…
Textiles will always be my first love when it comes to design. There’s something about the idea of textured, tactile pieces that are woven or created by hand that is at the top of my list. The older I’ve gotten, the more interest I’ve taken in the actual techniques behind my favorite fabrics and weavings,…
I’m a big fan of public art, whether it’s planned or spontaneous. I love that it sends a message to every single person walking by and transforms something public and shared (like a street) into a giant communal canvas. These chalk-art pieces were created by artist Tommaso Guerra and are dedicated to spreading pro-bike messages…
I’m packing up this morning for a quick trip back to Austin for SXSW and our panel on the future of lifestyle media (stop by if you’re in town!). My brain is racing with things I need to finish, so I thought I’d start by sharing some amazing eye candy in the form of a…
My love affair with packaging has resulted in me buying an assortment of crazy things that I will probably never open or use. I own a beautifully illustrated box of Swedish tobacco chew that I will never consume, a small container of bobby pins from the ’20s with pink flamingo branding and Japanese rice paper…
I love it when artists embrace the way a specific tool or medium can shape the style of their work. These beautiful calligraphy pieces were done by Brigitte Schuster, a graphic designer who specializes in typography and type design. As part of a calligraphy workshop she took with Denise Lach, Brigitte collected materials from nature…
I feel like I’ve discussed my growing love and appreciation for minimal artwork ad nauseam these days. But I can’t stress enough how much every part of me longs to be surrounded by large-scale, super-simple artwork. My days of loving tiny gathered-artwork collections seem long behind me (though I’m sure they’ll return in a few…
Rachel Denny’s sweater trophy heads have been around the web for a while, but I love how she’s taken that idea and expanded it over the years. These new pieces are from her solo show at the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, starting this April. The show’s theme is “Works of Nature,” and she’s brought such…
Kate and I were talking about beautiful geological patterns last Friday when I remembered the gorgeous paintings of Clare Grill. Clare draws much inspiration from geological cross-sections and color palettes, and I had to check in and see what she’s been up to. Of course, she’s been busy creating beautiful new paintings. I wanted to share…
Giant cross-stitches have been an obsession of ours for a while now. Kate has been dreaming up projects we could do that play with scale in a bigger way, so we were thrilled to see these pieces from artist and art director Jessica Decker in Detroit. Jessica creates large-scale cross-stitches (she showcased one in a…
