Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Blinks (Quick Links to Blog Posts)

I wanted to archive a few finds I've made across the internet. Here are some images along with links to the blog post where I discovered them. Some amazing pieces of work here. And some great ideas!

Georgia Russell's Amazing Book Art - found on HomeStead


More images of her work posted here at the Rag and Bone Blog as well.

Tara Donavan's Hypnotizing Sculptures - found on Design DNA

This installation is made entirely of styrofoam cups. Her other sculptures are made from straws, fishing line, pencils, buttons, etc. and all look absolutely incredible. It is amazing what a little bit (or a lot) of patience can create...




Casa del Bosque - found on MocoLoco

There is something about this house that I love. All the windows make me want to simply sit in the house for hours and watch the nature around me.



Look at how they create privacy in the bathroom too. I love it!



More images of the house here

Monday, July 30, 2007

Still Got McClure On The Brain...And Introducing Daniel Wheeler!

I am in Westport, MA and on a mission to take a photograph that I can blow up and put on my wall. Today I took a picture that so much reminded me of Nikki McClure that I had to post it.



The way the leaves silhouetted against the sky reminded me so much of Nikki McClure's paper cut-outs. This might be the winning photograph.

A new series of artwork that I am completely inspired by lately is the latest work from Daniel Wheeler, a family friend of mine. His new works, GULP, is a series of phenomenal photographs that are so beautiful you just want to stare at them for hours. At first you can't quite figure out if they are photographs, oil paints, mosaic or a slice of mineral taken straight from the earth. They look so natural and mysterious.



The way he accomplishes these amazing images is by submerging himself in pools all across Los Angeles along with an underwater camera and one breath of air, which he exhales and then photographs. The effect his breath has on the water and the way the movement changes a calm and recognizable water pattern into a mysterious image, is just beautiful. I love looking at this series of photographs and imaging Daniel going around L.A. talking strangers into letting him jump in their pool! Here are a few more...







This last photograph points out something about this series that is particularly interesting to me. When looking through water, any modern man-made object is brought back to a state of nature. Everything is distorted in a way that reminds you of patterns in stone, especially granite and onyx. The wonderful connection is that water is always the reason for these amazing patterns in nature to begin with. Being able to look through a lens of water with the type of distortion that Daniel has managed and have the same affect on an image that would take thousands of years in nature, I find to be such a discovery.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Nikki McClure

My latest observation and inspiration, Nikki McClure. Last weekend after a wonderful respite from life and work at Dolores Park in the Mission, I walked over to Little Otsu with a few friends. This little boutique is what a young designer dreams of opening and soon realizes might be too hard to keep alive without a bit of luck on your side. Otsu obviously has a bit of that luck since it is a local favorite to many. The store is small and sweet and sells cute custom zines and art with a high attention to athstetics. (p.s. that is one of the hardest words to say, i swear. But so useful for describing beautiful things). The postcards and books are great but what really got me going were the Nikki McClure posters. McClure creates intricate design cutouts from a sheet of paper, creating a soothing sillouette of images. I bought my favorite one, 'Invest' (I laughed at myself for picking the one that most referred to work, but loved the juxtaposition of the seemingly stark nature of the word 'invest' and the beautiful peacefulness of the bird and flowers depicted in the print). I quickly went to BuyOlympia when I got back to my apartment to order her latest calendar. Looking forward to it's arrival.

After Otsu we went to the bookstore across the street. The woman behind the counter saw my 'Invest' poster and confessed her love for Nikki McClure. She told me that the man-hole covers in the streets of Olympia have Nikki McClure prints embossed in the metal. How wonderful is that?

She is a new favorite of mine. McClure that is...but the lady at the bookstore can be too.




About

I am a 20-something city girl doing my best to make sense of it all...and enjoying every moment of it. A graphic designer in a past life, and now a software start-up devotee, I currently work on finding balance with my tendency to be a work-a-holic. Today I decided to resurrect that part of me that so much enjoyed observing the world as a designer, and to begin archiving the people and things that keep me inspired.

Simply put, this blog is an archive of things. Things that I like, things that I find, and things that I want to know more about. As evolution always occurs (well, sometimes I seriouly doubt this when watching reality tv, but this is neither the time nor place to start contradicting myself) soon this blog became a space for me to also share what my wildly talented friends are up to, as well as a landing place for all those thoughts on life that I love to ruminate on.

Obscure Observations, although not always obscure, is my little list of favorite finds. Maybe it will inspire your day like it inspires mine.
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