Inspiration: origami paper crafts ...

I spent a good portion of yesterday evening folding colourful paper into origami hearts. I know it's a little late for Valentine's day, but I thought it would make for cute garland if I strung them, or perhaps incorporate them into wedding favours or decorations ... a little premature, but if I can get it done early I might as well!

{image courtesy of Paper Source}

Paper Source's How-to: recycled origami hearts offers some great ideas. Click here for their tutorial.

Some of my next origami projects ... These are all how-to videos, if you want to give them a try ...

Cherry Blossom Ku-Kusudama
Kusudama Flor
Flores de revista
Cherry Blossom Plate
Origami pouch {part 1} Origami pouch {part 2}

If you care to read the article I wrote for UPPERCASE magazine, Issue 8, you can find it here.

In Uppercase Magazine Issue #8, I wrote an article on Heather Benning's Dollhouse ... Here is a preview of the article ...

{image courtesy of Uppercase}

I am far more self-conscious about writing than I am about showing my artwork, but here goes ... Here are three lyrical-type poems I've written over the years ... I know, I know, poetry, but really I see it as another way to make imagery, just in minds and not physically on paper or canvas ...




Mateus - Swedish design and genuine Portuguese craftsmanship. What I love is this company's gallery ... their images, their table designs and their botanical inspired tableware amaze me ... Here are some of my favourites from their collection ...

I am reading this book: Maps to Anywhere by Bernard Cooper. I am pleasantly surprised by this book of short essays, his work lyrical and poetic, written as though he is painting imagery, not merely describing ... He is an art historian and his short works are autobiographical, but obviously influenced by his art background.

I read this essay last night and it made me wonder if he is referring to Marc Chagall's paintings. Here is an excerpt from the essay:

Saturday Night

Can Mother muster enough thrust to leave the earth in a sudden leap? Does Father need words of encouragement, a rabbit's foot, a running start? Will they rise above our suburb at dusk and see it studded with lights? Wind must play havoc with mother's dress, her stole blown back like a vapour trail. Father's suit, diminishing, dark, will become part of the night. What instinct helps them scout for the house, find the right street, land on their feet? ...

It especially reminded me of Chagall's Au Dessus de la Ville (shown below)

Hello! This evening, I finished doing a simple sketch/storyboard of my little story: "look up, look down" ??? I haven't really decided on that title yet, but I'll use it for now ... The entire story can be found below with the page breakdown as well ...


I'll tell you a little about the story - it is meant to show the cyclical nature of growth and seasons ... shown in the growth of a tree. This theme is reflected in the design of the book as well. The book is meant to have no beginning or end, the illustrations bleed into the next page, including the last page that starts the story again ... When printing, I don't think I'll print as a typical book with turning pages, instead I think an accordion style is more appropriate, so that the book can bend and circle back on itself.


Here is the story:

1.Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

2.Onto a seed that grows and grows
With the warmth of the sun that glows and glows
From way up in the sky

3.This is the tree that's growing and growing
From a little seed that grew and grew
With all that help from the sun's glowing and glowing
From way up in the sky

4.These are the branches, reaching and reaching
Up and up from the tall, tall tree
That has grown and grown from a tiny, little seed

5.These are the leaves, shiny and green
That have sprouted from those branches
Of the tall, maybe tallest, tall tree

6.All that growing and growing takes a lot of energy
The tree has gathered it up all this time
From when it was a small, maybe smallest, small seed
From the glowing, glowing sun way up in the sky

7.Now, raindrops collect in those lofty leaves
And the water drains all the way down
The branches of the biggest tree of trees
The tree needs all this water to grow and grow
and with the warmth from the sun,
The tree is sure to, you know!

8.But after some time, it turns icy and chilly
And those leaves shiver and wither away
They fall one by one from the tree

9.That is still reaching, but empty-handed today
The tallest tree, all bare now, still stands proud
And the sun embarrassed hides behind a gray snow cloud

10.Look down, down on the ground

Those tired withered leaves
All around the tree surround
Like a giant comfy blanket
Keeping the tree's roots warm in the ground

11.And so the tallest tall tree
Through winter stands warm and proud
[Well maybe a little chilled]
Through the chilliest season
Until the sky is once more sun-filled

12.Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

13.Onto a new seed that grows and grows
Under the shade of the tallest tall tree
From the branches that reach way up high
Sprouting new leaves in the warm sunny sky

14.That wave and dance

15.Or drain rain down when its gray and cloudy
Down and down the tree
To the newest new tiny seed

I have started painting sheets and sheets of paper with many different colours and textures, which I plan to cutout and assemble into the book's illustrations ... I will show the progression of the book from start to finish ...

Inspiration: Botanical names and illustrations. Here are some maidenhair ferns that I picked on our nature walk. I have scanned them, I like the light and dark effects created by scanning, especially with anything botanical ... Click on image to view ...

Adiantum capillus-veneris (maidenhair fern)

I am reading this book: 100 Flowers and How They Got their Names by Diana Wells. After all, "Weren't names designed to enhance the matter in which they referred? (Bernard Cooper, Maps to Anywhere, 1990, 4) I wish this were true - I am finding that most botanical and family names of flowers are Greek origin with mythological stories to match; which is interesting. Whereas the common names are often named after botanists and not relating to the flower's characteristics or habitat or cultural context; this is not so interesting.

However, the Foxglove's common name, it's meaning and history are not only interesting, but quaint. Wells (1997) writes:

Foxgloves, native to Britain and Europe, have always been considered fairy flowers. There are dozens of fairy names for them, as well as some more sinister ones like the Gaelic ciochan nan cailleachan marblia, or "dead old woman's paps". The name "foxglove" comes from the Old English foxes glofa, and the flowers do look like the fingers of a glove. Foxgloves tend to grow on woody slopes where foxes' burrows are often found. Foxes are wily creatures who may have needed magical gloves when they slunk out of the shadows and spirited away chickens... William Curtis, whose illustration of a foxglove was the frontispiece to Withering's book, compared the flowers to spotted wings of butterflies, which "smile at every attempt of the Painter to do them justice"... (77-78)

(Foxglove -photo courtesy of Old Varieties)

Last weekend we went to the lake. It is always nice to get out of the city, and anything to get out of the house when you have a little one is especially nice!

Check out this post by Blair Marie Photography ... pictures of my little man at the cabin! Here is a sneak peek - one of the pictures she took of Leo.


I was really taken by this post by Lisa Solomon (her blog: Lisa's Musings) She is an artist and a mom, and her post on the subject put everything I have been thinking and feeling for the last year and a half in words. Here is an excerpt from the post:

people sometimes ask me what it's like to be an artist and a mom. this was something that i thought about - A LOT - before deciding to have a child. i knew that being a mom would become the most important thing and that i would have to learn how to juggle and struggle in new ways. in all honesty - it wasn't even possible for me to fathom how this would all work - even on my best days of guessing. there is no way to know what temperament your child will have [on a day to day basis let alone overall] - there is no way to know how you will respond to demands of parenthood. i was determined from the get go that i would still make art. and i'm managing to do that, but it feels like it's by the seat of my pants and the skin of my teeth.

She doesn't paint motherhood as rosy. She is telling it how it is and I feel for the first time some relief that I am not alone.

It is amazing to witness a baby grow before your eyes. Leo and I have had three photo shoots, all being very different. Here are some of my favourite photographs from them. I love seeing the changes between them ...

(sleeper is Marimekko)

Christine Jordan wrote this about Leo about two months after he was born. Check out her blog Growing Up Toronto

Little Leo Walker

He’s Little Leo Walker
He’s got a shiny quarter
For helping out his Mommy and his Dad
He really thinks it's awesome
This isn’t his first one
He’s even got a special place for his change

On top of Leo’s dresser
Is a majestic tree
It’s made of glass from the beach
And the salt from the sea
It’s a lovely thirsty green and it's almost see through
And when he drops his change in
It’s like he’s planting tiny seeds

When it fills right up
He’ll have his first money tree
And there are lots of great things he can supply
A chicken for his coop
Or some candy for his tummy
Or a bell for his little doggie's collar
Maybe groceries for families who really seem to need it
Or some paint to create-another something great
Or new tires for his really fast bike-might be nice
Or nothing is quite alright too!

He can give, he can share, or just save some more
Since this world is his planet
There's nothing good he will ignore

Today it's all about kids...

Here I found inspiration in this circus themed boy's room styled by Kate Dixon. My little guy's room is already circus + cowboy theme, so I love this design, ferris wheel toy box, chalkboard wall and all. See the pictures below.

artistic living spaces

Bloesem Kids is my absolute favourite blog for children design and crafts. Check it out for amazing designs, designers, products, crafts and other lovelies geared towards children.

For example, I found this awesome design on the Bloesem Kids blog: this tree bookshelf was designed by Shawn Soh from Korea, picture shown below.


My favourite photo shoot has been a simple one - white sheet backdrop and taken outdoors with natural light. Here are some shots from the photo shoot - simplicity and the first signs of spring!



I made this funny puppet/rattle in university last year, it was a self-portrait. All the parts were designed to move when you shake it- the hair, the eyes, the head...it makes me laugh...it has been suggested that we start making these as kids toys. I'll see if I can find the jigsaw...this could be a fun weekend project!


The radiating converse shoe!! The converse is timeless, I keep reiterating this shoe in designs every so often, this time it's radiating!!


And finally, here is a short story I wrote about three months ago. I am trying to show the circularity of life. Now to work on some illustrations for it...I would love to illustrate it in the style of Eric Carle's work, like the caterpillar we all know and love!!!

Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

Onto a seed that grows and grows
With the warmth of the sun that glows and glows
From way up in the sky

This is the tree that's growing and growing
From a little seed that grew and grew
With all that help from the sun's glowing and glowing
From way up in the sky

These are the branches, reaching and reaching
Up and up from the tall, tall tree
That has grown and grown from a tiny, little seed

These are the leaves, shiny and green
That have sprouted from those branches
Of the tall, maybe tallest, tall tree

All that growing and growing takes a lot of energy
The tree has gathered it up all this time
From when it was a small, maybe smallest, small seed
From the glowing, glowing sun way up in the sky

Now, raindrops collect in those lofty leaves
And the water drains all the way down
The branches of the biggest tree of trees
The tree needs all this water to grow and grow
and with the warmth from the sun,
The tree is sure to, you know!

But after some time, it turns icy and chilly
And those leaves shiver and wither away
They fall one by one from the tree
That is still reaching, but empty-handed today
The tallest tree, all bare now, still stands proud
And the sun embarrassed hides behind a gray snow cloud

Look down, down on the ground

Those tired withered leaves
All around the tree surround
Like a giant comfy blanket
Keeping the tree's roots warm in the ground
And so the tallest tall tree
Through winter stands warm and proud
[Well maybe a little chilled]
Through the chilliest season
Until the sky is once more sun-filled

Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

Onto a new seed that grows and grows
Under the shade of the tallest tall tree
From the branches that reach way up high
Sprouting new leaves in the warm sunny sky
That wave and dance
Or drain rain down when its gray and cloudy
Down and down the tree
To the newest new tiny seed

I don't know what to make of this little poem I wrote years ago, it has such an oppressive tone, which could either be an adult telling a child to stop daydreaming or our own voice telling us to stop make-believing, as it may be seen as a childish act...nothing could be more untrue... The tone at the end also hints at uninspired or unoriginal ideas being rewarded...This little ditty is so negative, but I seem to remember it whenever I am discouraged in my creative endeavours!!

Tsk

You must stop child,

Children only dream dreams by matchsticks,

and not by pocketbooks.

To hear the clink-clink in your pocket,

Is better than grumbles from your tummy.

Asking for more…

Asking for more…

Dreams are worth poor.

Lie it down,

It’s only as good as it ever can be,

But only if it's not your own.

I love spring!!Here are a couple of picture poems I made years ago...

I have failed to post anything all summer, I have been busy making jewelry, reading and looking into applying for my masters in environmental design. Here are some things that I have been admiring over the past few months...

I made very little art during the summer, but instead made bracelets whenever I had some free time. Pictured below are two of my favourite bracelets. My bracelets are being sold at Capitol Clothing on Broadway.


I have recently fallen in love with French artist Fafi's work!! She has been featured in the last two issues of Nylon magazine. She started off as a graffiti artist, working her way into galleries and now her images are appearing on products for adidas and LeSportsac. She calls her work "girlie art", as the female characters or 'Fafinettes' she paints are extremely feminine and appear in an imaginary world of their own. Pictured below is one of her 'Fafinettes'.


This summer I read two books by Jonathan Safran Foer: Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Becoming a fan, I was interested in his inspiration and style of writing. Similar to his books, Safran's website, the project museum is both visual and non-linear. Foer uses unconventional methods for inspiration, asking participation in different projects. In one particular project, he asked readers to submit pencil-sketched self-portraits, which he later framed to examine at home. I heard one story where he was having writer's block and wrote to renowned authors asking for advise. Most replied with generic letters, but some replied in their own words. I found influence from this in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, where the main character, eccentric child Oskar Schell writes to many notorious people asking if he could work under them. In the first chapter, for example, he writes to Stephen Hawking asking if he could be his protege.

I have been looking for architects and designers that I really admire for their ability to incorporate and concentrate on nature and environment, in both the physical and designed context. Here are three that I have found so far:

Site Architecture, Art & Design

One of my favourite designs is their 2004 plan for a residential building in Mumbai, India. It is a multi-tiered structure with landscaping on each level, inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, including terraces and water features, and maintaining Vastu principles in historic Hindu architecture.

A-Z (Andrea Zittel)

Out of all their designs, A-Z 'Living Units' are my favourite, because of their minimalistic quality. It reminds me of the philosophy of tailoring space to humans' basic needs, similar to that of pioneer-architect Le Corbusier. To deal with housing shortages in urban Paris, Le Corbusier designed 'Immeubles Villas' in 1922 that...was such a project that called for large blocks of cell-like individual apartments stacked one on top of the other, with plans that included a living room, bedrooms, and kitchen, as well as a garden terrace.* Pictured below is an A-Z 'Living Unit'.

Inscape Architecture

For a long time, I have been infatuated with the idea of movable walls, mostly in the residential setting. Inscape Architecture has designed movable walls for the corporate setting. I love that they are glass and allow for natural light to diffuse, while still allowing for versatility in space and privacy needs. This simplicity of design reminds me of the exposed framework and the use of glass to enclose and define space of pioneer-architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Pictured below is an example of Inscape's 'movable walls'.


Inscape Architecture is brilliant at designing office settings, keeping to clean lines and simplicity of materials, and working towards good use of space. Here is another example of their designs, a meeting area and space for filling and storage is pictured below.


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier

This is one of my favourite drawings I have done in the last year. It is based on The Gladys Elegies by Barbara Nickel. The book opens with a sequence of letters back and forth between two twin sisters. These letters are sonnets based on the fictionalized lives of twins Gladys Muriel and Marion Carol Rungee. I liked how the author wrote about the relationship between twins, as it is an unknown relationship for most people. Nickel uses very feminine and pretty words, but the entire story is quite violent and dark. It is beautiful!

Here is the original sketch of the twins, as I see them from Nickel's work.

Then I added the girls into the forest... The first letter Marion, 1935: To My Twin Sister reads, "The Hudson River, where we used to fish in freckled rushes damp against our skirts; its water like a silk scarf wound a hush around our guarded chatter, laced with hurt. I fashioned our escapes. We slid from naps unnoticed to the woods and narrow path; the junipers whose crusty tears of sap seemed like our own. . . We clasped our hands and cast for rainbow trout. You hauled one in-I raised the stick and hit its judging eye, like Father's, shot with soot. We battered it a hundred times in mud; out petticoats emblazoned with its blood."

I want to illustrate all the letters, I think there are about eight in total. The letters are written back and forth between the twins throughout their lives; from the first one as young girls and eventually into old age.

This little story is about a small Island I went to visit years ago. The island is called Ile d'Aix. I had written this story and then pasted it on top of this background of hollyhocks. This was one of the most remote and beautiful places I have been to. There were tons and tons of hollyhocks everywhere on this island! Click on the image to view the larger version.

This is the full story: L’ile d’Aix

This tiny island reminds me of my grandmother’s home and yard, vulnerable from all sides, its homes chipped and worn from the ocean winds. It has a natural charm decorating-type magazines seek to imitate. Hollyhocks, hundreds upon hundreds are sagging from fences and homes, and swaying, and reaching out sideways. Their bright fleshy tones for petals, pinks and blood reds ready to blossom, burst out, flowing forward-my tongue reaches for the taste this season brings. We sat on a patio made of stones, sunk deep into the dirt. I satisfied my thirst on a sugary mixture of Orangina and grenadine and played with the tiny sugar cubes wrapped in paper packaging imprinted with pictures of great cathedrals. This island’s colour is sweetness, and so pretty it hurts the eye like a sweet tooth.

Ever wanted to visit La Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris? Here is a link to a 3-D virtual tour of the graveyard and visit such grave sites as Ingres, Descartes, Corot, David, Delacroix, Ernst, Morrison, Chopin, Seurat, Gericault, Wilde and so on.

This is how I remember the cemetery and other places in France:

09.08.97
L’ile d’Aix

This tiny island reminds me of my grandmother’s home and yard, vulnerable from all sides, its homes chipped and worn from the ocean winds. It has a natural charm decorating-type magazines seek to imitate. Hollyhocks, hundreds upon hundreds are sagging from fences and homes, and swaying, and reaching out sideways. Their bright fleshy tones for petals, pinks and blood reds ready to blossom, burst out, flowing forward-my tongue reaches for the taste this season brings. We sat on a patio made of stones, sunk deep into the dirt. I satisfied my thirst on a sugary mixture of Orangina and grenadine and played with the tiny sugar cubes wrapped in paper packaging imprinted with pictures of great cathedrals. This island’s colour is sweetness, and so pretty it hurts the eye like a sweet tooth.

10.08.97
Mass and Market

It was a very quick family trip to both mass and market today. In both venues, everyone is free to come and go. You can come just long enough to secure either your salvation or sustenance


18.08.97
Soirées Mousse

If I were to describe this evening using paint, I’d blow liquid paint through straws, effecting splatters all over my paper, and let it dry with my saliva bubbles. It was a sadistic evening, where the bar staff filled the dance floor with foam every half hour to the anthem “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” by U2. Big black shiny tubes pumped and churned out soapsuds, filling the room foot by foot until it was high above our heads. I was drowning on soap as I sputtered and flailed my arms, but to others it must have looked like a dance of complete elation.

20.08.97
French movies

We had a quiet evening watching movies. We watched the entire Godfather series in French dubbed voices. As well as the movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise. I am amazed at what a dubbed voice does to change a person’s personality. Tom Cruise’s character now seems halfhearted to me, yet to Marie he is very passionate.

29.08.97
La Père Lachaise

The man at the gate sold us a map of the cemetery,so we could find our way easier to famous grave sites, such as Chopin, Descartes, Ingres and Jim Morrison. We still got lost in a maze of stones and immense vegetation. Paths leading to paths that led to nowhere, but back to the path we were on. Instead we found the enshrined tombs buried in letters, flowers and candles - as markers of the most cherished grave sites.

30.08.97
Les Catacombes

We descended spiral stairs down and down into the bowels of the city. It was literally the intestines of Paris, where sewage lines leaked and seeping green ooze dripped down above our heads into the tunnels. The tour guide suggested using umbrellas if we had brought them along with us. This is where they once emptied old Parisian cemeteries to solve problems of overpopulation and space. Stacks of human bones and skulls lined the walls of the passages. It was a subterranean “Day of the Dead” in the gut of Paris, and I wondered if the souls of the dead had returned and were all around us now.