Confessions of a Recovering Monochrome

As you may recall if you've been taking notes, I have only recently started to wear colors other than black and grey. It has been a revelation and a chance to apply color theory outside of my studio. I knew that design degree would come in handy eventually! If you want to see some examples of folks who live and breathe fantastic technicolor and cute style, take a look at these style blogs:
StyleBytes yet more proof that the Scandinavians are more stylish than the rest of us, and always will be
Smaggle Style daily updates of Antipodian chic
Some Girls Wander (aka The Black Apple) fabulous DIY style, be sure to check out her artwork too!

Artist Roundup!

I must say I had a very satisfactory Valentine's Day. The Boy took me to a lovely romantic dinner at a French restaurant and then to the theater for a performance of Cirque du Soleil. I had never seen them live, and it was beautiful. . .although I do think the song lyrics may owe some small debt of inspiration to an overindulgence of cough syrup. I hope all of you had a wonderful time as well, or at least made it through without incident.

I wanted to show you some artists that I have been keeping my eye on. First is Blaine Fontana, who has a very well-designed website and a graffiti-meets-classical-technique style that I love. This is one of my favorites.



You may have seen Irene Suchocki's work already as she has been featured on several design blogs (I wish I could remember exactly where I saw her linked from!) She is absolutely worth a second round of mentions. Her photos are simply amazing -- she has an incredible eye for composition. They remind me of traveling in Germany when I was young.


If you're in the mood for something a little NSFW, check out Symon Chow's burlesque sideshow images. Rrrrrr. He has some very well done image manipulations as well. Either that or he has the world's largest porcupine made into a hat.


I've been watching Jonathan Wayshak for a few years, and his macabre, sketchy style just keeps getting better. He has a massive online portfolio that you can happily spend hours poking around in.



No list of my favorite artists would be complete without Phil Borges and his breathtaking portraiture. I was watching Kundun a few days ago and I was reminded of his work with displaced Tibetans. The personal stories of the monks and nuns caught up in the struggle are truly profound.

Obsess Much?

I have found more -- yes, more--fabulous white orbular things. First is White Forest Pottery (thank you Apartment Therapy!)
I absolutely love their collection. Small, imperfect, very delicate. These teeny little vases are my favorite. It reminds me of coral and sponges.


If you are in need of something a bit edgier to kick up the tone of your collection, check out Melabo's shop on Etsy. She makes surreal slipcast figurines that, while not orbular, are certainly cool enough to hang out at Studio 54 with the rest of Andy's girls.




I also found out that Crate & Barrel is rerunning Eva Zeisel's Classic Century dinnerware. I first saw her work at a vintage ceramic shop on Polk St. in SF, and have been lusting over her work ever since. Eva rocks my world -- she is truly the queen of all that is white and orbular. People, she can make a sauce boat look sexy. This gal has some serious talent. I feel an upgrade to my dishes coming soon.

A Land of Milk. . .and More Milk

Everyone in the Home of Bones likes cheese, in the same way that the sun is a little warmish. Last year for Christmas, the Boy bought me a mozzarella making kit, and I (slacker that I am) waited until just yesterday to try it out. I have made my own paneer for years and somehow the idea of adding fussy enzymes and things to my usual method (heat milk - add lemon - remove cheese) seemed unappealing. But after reading blog after blog of newly born cheese addicts, I put my misgivings aside and went for it. Result? Almost too easy. It confirmed my suspicion that all milk secretly wants to be cheese, like all little girls secretly want to be princesses. Fortunately for cheese, a few chemicals will do the trick, while royal succession is usually a bit more work. You can buy everything you need (and then some, seriously) here. And if you do happen across any enzymes that will turn someone into a princess, please let me know because there is a five-year-old of my acquaintance who is willing to donate all her Pop Tarts toward this end.

Is It Spring Yet?

Well, no. Not around here, anyway. But I can feel it beating it's wings in the air when I go outside. I recently bought a new dress form to replace a very old and decrepit model I have had since college. Which was older than I am. It had started to implode into a body shape that matched no one I had every seen outside of a nightmare. So to begin flexing my sewing muscles, I have been doing a lot of poking around online fabric stores and I will now pass the fruits of this search on to you:


Mendels
Mood Fabrics
Fabric.com
Emma OneSock
Baron Boutique
Pixie Dust Decor
Wish Upon a Quilt
Dakota Cabin
J. Caroline Creative
Glorious Color
Purl Soho
ReproDepot
M&J Trims

Green Fairies

As some of you may have heard, the EU has recently begun to regulate absinthe production once again. For those of you who have not followed this breaking news story as closely as you could, the upshot is that genuine absinthe is now legal to sell in the US. Hurrah! I have had many, many home-brewed versions of this concoction, and some of them were very good. Some of them were, um, disgusting. The key seems to be in the freshness of the wormwood. Or something.

If you are at all interested in adopting absinthe as a hobby, I highly recommend Fee Verte, which has hundreds of types and lots of reviews. He has written a very interesting article on thujone, the active chemical in wormwood.

The site also sells many different styles of glasses, spoons, and drippers. You can get some very nice spoons and other accoutrement here at POSH. (There is actually quite a lot on that site, well worth a look. Their flea market finds are amazing.)

Get some for Valentine's day and break the red-and-white tradition!

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

Okay, okay. You know how showing that you love one child more than another automatically makes you a crap parent? I am back to tell you I AM GUILTY. If websites were children, this blog has been my redheaded step child for at least a month. Because Flash? It takes a long time. I fully admit to lavishing all my love and attention on my other two websites. "What?" I hear you gasping. "There are more?" Yes, people. I now have my portfolio mostly online at www.manitouart.net and I have my steampunk jewelry shop up at boneflowers.etsy.com. I will be adding more pretty things to my Etsy shop every week so check back to see what fabulousness I have for you!

So I should be back to more regular posts here. Really!

"Yes, sweetie, we'll get you a pony as soon as we finish paying for your sister's dance lessons. We promise."