Thursday, January 27, 2011

What Wood you Say

If you could carve a phrase or sentence into one continuous strip out of wood, what would you say? What Wood You Say is a project developed by artist Sighn who has made it his life's mission to handcut one million limited edition pieces. More of his work can be found here and purchased here.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Domestic Vacations

Captivating photography by Julie Blackmom. I particularly like her work entitled "Domestic Vacations" (seen below).
The Dutch proverb “a Jan Steen household” originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous family gatherings. The paintings of Steen, along with those of other Dutch and Flemish genre painters, helped inspire Julie's work.

Julie is the oldest of nine children and now the mother of three. The stress, the chaos, and the need to simultaneously escape and connect are issues that Julie explores in "Domestic Vacations".
"We live in a culture where we are both “child centered” and “self-obsessed.” The struggle between living in the moment versus escaping to another reality is intense since these two opposites strive to dominate. Caught in the swirl of soccer practices, play dates, work, and trying to find our way in our “make-over” culture, we must still create the space to find ourselves. The expectations of family life have never been more at odds with each other. These issues, as well as the relationship between the domestic landscape of the past and present, are issues I have explored in these photographs. I believe there are moments that can be found throughout any given day that bring sanctuary. It is in finding these moments amidst the stress of the everyday that my life as a mother parallels my work as an artist, and where the dynamics of family life throughout time seem remarkably unchanged. As an artist and as a mother, I believe life’s most poignant moments come from the ability to fuse fantasy and reality: to see the mythic amidst the chaos."

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Illustrations in styrofoam















Amazing illustration by Cheeming Boey, a computer techie by day and artist by name. Now this is a disposable you wouldn't want to dispose of! Read his interview with Don't Panic here.
















Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bunting stamps


Adorable bunting rubber stamps by Olive Manna. The fastest way to a handmade party invitation or personalised giftwrap, I say!