Nosideup

11.10.08 0

Simon Henwood

Simon Henwood has been an influence for me since I found out about him (few years ago). I wrote my IB extended essay on how two artists portrayed contemporary teenagers, and one of them was him. I thought his works were vibrant and unexpected. He has kept going and I just wanted to share his works with you. Check his portfolio here.

PS: rumor has it he is Roisin Murphy's partner.

10.10.08 3

The Village petstore (Banksy)

Banksy (who surely needs no introduction) has just created the Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill in Greenwich Village (NY).
It is meant to challenge our views on animals and food and sustainability, whilst still being art. Or something like that. Judge by yourselves here.

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Josue Gamonal and Vicente Porres

It looks like this week is all about damn good talents.

You've heard about Josue before (see here). He is one of my best friends and a fellow graduate from CSM. When I met Josue, I used that "if you can't beat them, join them" saying. He is exceptionally inventive, has a very personal view on the world and has accumulated all kind of arty degrees (illustration, graphic design, product design) and awards. He is now in Spain and has just been awarded the first place in the Maria Martinez design competition for Träd, a project made with Vicente Porres (sorry Vicente, I only just met you, so the gloryfication goes to Josue).

Träd is meant to be a hidding place for kids, a place where they can hide and play and develop their inner world (Josue did not need one of those, his inner world is very much developed). It also has a parent-pleasing practical side: the branches can help storing toys away, and the greenery turns into cushions. Isn't he (and Vicente) ridiculously good? Congratulations!

To see Josue's portfolio, check here. For Vicente's studio, go here.

8.10.08 2

TesaPie

I have been doubting about telling you about TesaPie. I have been doubting because I am a bad, bad person. I have been doubting because she is scaringly good... and she sells at unbelieveable prices. So she's the worst kind of competition I could have: but I love her work. And so the little angel on my right shoulder has won. Here we go: TesaPie.

I have just received this set of magnets. As you can see they include a miniature painting of a face. Her work is absolutely gorgeous. And so affordable it hurts.

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Paper n stitch

Ladies and gents, the world is more amazing every day!

Paper n stitch is about to launch (the 15th is the official date). And it just happens to be "an online exhibition space that was created to promote talented artists, designers, makers selling handmade goods, and independent boutiques. The exhibition space is curated monthly and showcases the best of the best on an international level."

It is as good as it sounds!

And I've been invited to take part!

So behold, world, the wonders of Paper N Stitch!

(Thanks Brittni and Jeff)

7.10.08 1

J'adore The Storque

See this? My mum phoned me to tell me yesterday. I'm over the moon! Thanks, The Storke.

6.10.08 3

Edgar Brandt

I want to share a new discovery with you: Edgar Brandt. He was a French ironworker that made absolutelly stunning pieces during the Art Nouveau period. And how do I know? Well, thanks to Oxfam, really.

I do not tend to have shopping sprees (really, against any conclusions you might have drawn from this blog), except for Etsy (yep, guilty) and... cheap books. I am a disaster when it comes to holding myself back in front of a second hand book. And in England they have all this loads of charities with their respective charity shops... and Oxfam is good at opening whole bookstores.

And you get the idea of how today I ended up with a book on Art Noveau, one on stitching folk patterns from Transilvania (I am not lying) and a couple of needlework titles more (you might be seeing more of those at some point). I am such a sucker for patterns (as in 2D, not dress making patterns)...

I guess there are worse addictions...

PS: Remember the giveaway: it won't happen unless 50 people sign up. You can tell your friends to sign up and donate the print to you if they win :)

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Jan von Holleben

Jan von Holleben has an impossible name and a fantastic imagination. I first met his work at the V&A museum of Childhood, where his first "Dreams of flying" (pic above) collection was exhibited (there's a second series coming, I think). You can check his complete portfolio here.

5.10.08 0

Block prints almost ready

These block prints (see here and here for previous posts on them) have costed blood and tears (literally, I've rubbed my knuckles raw and lately stabbed my left hand repeatedly and badly with the blades) but THEY ARE ALMOST THERE. I'm still at a hit and miss stage with the paint thickness and the printing methodology (burnishing with a spoon), so it may still be a few days until they hit the shop. I am also testing (as you can see) different shades of grey. So far, the lightest grey is my favourite. I have also experimented with turquoise lettering on white paper, and white lettering on off-white paper (very, very subtle. So subtle that you have to look at it in an angle for the message to appear. This seems a bit too subtle for me). The size is an A3 (that is two landscape standard -A4- pages on a column). The writing is obviously Beatle-esque. How do you like them?

4.10.08 0

Chris Koens

Chris Koens is a dutch designer with a sense of humour. Thanks to him we can have a more prairie-like kitchen: the Dish Bunny i s simple, functional but cheerful dish rack. You can buy it here.

3.10.08 0

Fake Reflections

Have you ever had that "oh, I wish i had come up with that!" moment? It's bittersweet: you admire the simple grandess of someone else, at the same time you acknowledge your lack of it. Here are two pieces that remind me of each other (Front's was first), and both provoked me that pinch in my stomach:

Daniel Rybakken's Daylight emitting table:

Daniel is a recent MA graduate from Fine Art and Desing at HDK (Gothenberg). This absolute genius table projects the fake reflection of a window on the floor, giving the impression of a brighter day and of more windows. He claims it might help counter Seasonal Affective Disorder. Find out more about his work here.

Front's Reflection cupboard:

Front is an all-women design studio that has managed to put rather conceptual design on the mainstream eye. Whilst some pieces might be a bit of a shocker (remember the horse lamp for MOOOI, anyone?), other are just magnific. And this one is eerie and fascinating: the reflection shown on the doors of the cupboard is an illusion. It's not a lack of expertise of the photographer: it's the buzzing imagination of the designers. All cupboards come with this reflection. More on Front here.

2.10.08 2

Hollibobolli

Dearest all,

I have just found out about Hollibobolli. She has this tea sets fit for Marie Antoniette that make your girly side twinkle. They might not be the most practical cups in the world, but who cares when they look like you found them in Wonderland? My choice is the white rabbit and roses one.
Find out more about Hollibobolli in her personal website, where you can also check lovely pics of a baby bunny (see? Inner girl side has a sugar rush now).

UPDATE: I have an internet cable, and an internet room. It looks like a more stable situation than the budding internet cafe relationship.

THANKS: for bearing with me, for voting in the poll, and for entering the giveaway.

1.10.08 1

Taschide

Dear people of the blogosphere,
I am afraid I can only connect from an internet cafe for the moment. This means I have not much goodness or time to post. But Mr. M. and I are in Oxford. And we are alone (well, if you don't count the boxes everywhere). We are finding out how a flat of our own smells or looks. And we are happy.

I leave you with a pic of another new German design team, Taschide. In Designersblock they had this sea urchin woolen poufs. They also had stools with knitted "socks" and these animal shapped mirrors.

30.9.08 1

The best bathroom floor tiles EVER

Anna from Door sixteen is not only a very entertaining blogger I just found out about; but the owner of what we shall officially know from now on as "the best bathroom floor tiles ever". Check how her reforms and decor go in her blog, and see her house tour for Apartment Therapy here.

PS: I am moving today. This means a mad succession of chicken dances and supressed screams of joy. I am finally moving to Oxford to live, as they say in Spain, "in sin" with my boyfriend ("in sin" because we are not married). So I might not be able to post later on.

PPS: You know about the giveaway and so on. So behave yourselves and enter.

29.9.08 1

Lisa DeJohn perpetual calendar

This oh-so-cute naive perpetual calendar is very imaginative, and it's the kind of thing that makes you happy only from looking at it. Find out more about Lisa here and you can buy the calendar online here and in the Magma stores in London (I found these two, it is possibly sold in million other places. Well, it should).

And yes, remember to enter the GIVEAWAY, answer the POLL (both links to the left) and you can even become an official follower of this blog (right side).

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Miho Kaneno

Miho is a lovely lady with lovely products. She exhibited in this year's Designersblock in London and everybody went crazy for her pieces: Little, cute as a button handkerchiefs with prints of cookies and vintage plates. She doesn't have her own website yet but you can see more about her here.

PS: REMEMBER THE PRINT GIVEAWAY! ENTER HERE!

28.9.08 5

African textures

A peek into some pieces that can be seen in the British Museum section on Africa. The BM is so, so big it doesn't matter how many times you go by: there's always a new room to see, or an object you hadn't seen before.

So here's some images of textures, patterns and materials.

Carved wooden door from Nigeria, 20th century:

Brass head, Nigeria, 16th century

Wooden mask from Congo, 19th century

Swordfish mask, Nigeria, 20th century

Cowrie shells elephant mask from Cameroon, 20th century

PS: REMEMBER THE GIVEAWAY! Link on your left!

27.9.08 38

It's about time... BLOG GIVEAWAY!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen.

It is ON.

It is only fair that if I've been so very lucky this week (Design*Sponge, Modish, my first various sales, blog look updates, etc.) I pass on some luck.

So, I am having my very first giveaway.

How does it go?

Easy!

Visit my store; come back here and comment under this post: say what would you NOT like from my store and why. Make sure I've got a way to find you back (either by signing with your blogger ID, or by leaving the name of your etsy shop or by visiting daily so that you'll know if you've won. I would not recommend publishing your personal info, just in case). The result will be published on Saturday 1st of Nov (given that there's at least 50 comments).

What do you get?

Well, you can get any print from my shop. We could even arrange for you to have printed any of the black and white drawings available as originals at the moment of the announcement.

PS: Come on, be nice, answer the poll on the left <= Sholud I change the blog's name to No Side Up? There are quite a lot named Home is where the heart is...!

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Perlen by Woodloops

They hade these beautiful, sculptural massive pebbles made out of oiled wood (oak, others available; sustainable forest management) in Tent. They are made by Woodloops. Find out more here.

26.9.08 3

3 columns!

Ok guys, this is a bit the "must have" for the blogging season, and the only way I could possibly manage it was following this instructions. No other. If anyone is as HTML challenged as me, this is THE ONE.
How do you guys like it? (still little tweaks left to do)

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