I love this project 'Hearts on Vivian' ... members of the community were invited to loop and tie yarn, creating these bright and colourful hearts on a rather drab chain link fence ...

{Hearts on Vivian - photographs courtesy of Outdoor Knit}

I also love this window display of miniature houses aglow for the little winter market...

{photograph courtesy of little winter market}

I am really excited that winter is drawing to an end, and we are getting the first glimpses of spring, time to get the spade out and plan the new garden ... my most favourite thing about springtime! Here is some gardening inspiration ...

Quirky garden blogs - gardening in heels and terri planty. Shown below are just a few of the unique ideas featured on their blogs ...

{San Francisco's Alamo Square Shoe Garden - photograph via Glue and Glitter}

{Flora Grubb Gardens}

{Set of three vintage garden markers by emerald + ella}

Inspiration: cloudy skies, cityscapes and chaotic illustrations.

This afternoon Leo and I walked down to 17th Avenue so I could photograph my project site. It was a cloudy day, but I like photographing when it's overcast best, its like a natural filter so you don't have to worry about harsh light. Here are some shots I took along the way ...




This amazes and inspires me - I read this article 'Favela Painting by Haas and Hahn' by Frame Magazine:

Haas and Hahn create a community driven artwork spanning over 34 houses, by painting the favela Santa Marta.

In the heart of a favela in Rio de Janero – called Santa Marta – a huge art project has given colour to the streets. The artwork aims to brighten up the neighbourhood, giving the community a boost by educating and employing workers. The project is an initiative by Dutch art duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn.

Haas en Hahn (hare and hen) as the artist call themselves, made a flexible design of colourful rays that can easily be expanded, to paint the houses around the central square. A group of locals were trained as painters to work with scaffolding and different materials; during the month it took to paint the buildings, they received training as well as a pay check.

The final artwork is a monument to the community living in the slum. The artists’ goal is to transform the whole hillside favela into one big colourful area, turning it into a community-driven artwork and helping inhabitants on the employment ladder.

(Photos courtesy of Favela Painting)

Natsko Seki is a Japanese mixed-media artist who creates these cheery, fanciful and chaotic cityscapes. She finds inspiration in antique and vintage culture, as well as nostalgia. I love the aesthetic of her work - it is inspiration for my own cityscape project. I especially like these works by Natsko:

(Map of Clerkenwell, 2009)

Mike Perry's illustrations and designs are chaotic -a mix of graffiti, graphic design, poster and street art ... I love it ... there's a sample of his work below and see more here.


Tomorrow we are off to Bragg Creek, so I'll share some pictures from that day trip soon ...

These days inspiration for me has been flowers and gardening ... maybe it's the gloomy weather ... the rain is good for growth!

We have been planting our garden this last week, mostly in pots on the patio. This year we planted: rosemary, parsley, coriander, dill, oregano, and chives ... also, three varieties of tomatoes, kale, lettuce, rhubarb, beans, onions ...

For inspiration, I have just started reading Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. I borrowed the book from my brother and I am excited to learn more about sustainable gardening practices, especially techniques when planting native species, grey water recycling and techniques to increase biodiversity in your own backyard. Reminds me of this project I worked on in school.

Edible landscapes are so practical and delicious, but I am a flower child at heart, so I have to have colourful and showy blooms in the garden, so I planted scads of zinnias this year as well.

I was really amazed at this flower I spotted at the farmer's market last week - the 'dinner plate' dahlia...I have never seen this variety before and I was impressed, the bloom is huge, literally the size of a dinner plate!!!

The rooftop of Chicago's City Hall was often brought up in lectures at University and it is true inspiration for sustainable building and gardening. It is a Greenroofs.com project. Have a peek at these amazing shots of the garden ...

What is truly amazing is how public gardens like this one can encourage social capita - community building. What is community and why do we need it? Broadly, the word "community" is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift"), it is a broad term for fellowship or organized society. What is important is that it is a gift and that it is rewarding to give and receive. Here is a friendly poster - How to build community:

Flowers, flowers, everywhere - I have the most amazing boyfriend, he brought home a beautiful bouquet of lisianthus, peonies, sweet peas and leucadendron ... mmm, lovely fluffy flowers!

I came across these photographs by Amira Fritz, they are humorous. These pseudo-fashion photographs are in strange contexts, and made even odder with funeral-esque arrangements taking the place of the model's head.

Who doesn't love to look into a artist's studio - I love photographs of this subject in its own right. Photographer Rachel Whiting snaps this shot. I love the colourfulness, the collections in jars and the stacked shelving all the way up the wall.



I read an article in UPPERCASE about Three Potato Four, a family business started by a love of collectibles. Their online business sells unique collectibles from wedding wares to kids kitsch, from signs to paper and prints. The name derived from their family of three growing into a family of four. This business name reminded me of a haiku my friend wrote for me when I was pregnant:

seedling to soft kicks
inside-out, hugs and kisses
two cups become three

(image: Claire Coles Design)