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)

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

New portraits in series - a lot more darker than the previous portraits. These took me a little more time than the others, but I am really happy with the way they turned out, the extra effort paid off. Again, I am combining flowers with portraiture, but these are more macabre. I used Kristian Wåhlin's The black flower as my inspiration. I made more variations with this portrait as well, you can see more here.

It feels great to be back in the swing of illustrating - over the past few evenings, I have made portraits inspired by MARUMIYAN's art + design *see May 26 post*

Here are the first two I have worked on. You can see more colour variations here. More to come...

What a lovely + delicious day...

My family went to the Lilac festival this morning and I found the cutest vendor - COCORO WORKS run by Noriko Kimura, a crafty mom living in Calgary, originally from Aichi, Japan. She creates cute homemade goods and delicious looking desserts. I bought a 'baby in car' scented car plate to go in the back window, which is the cutest thing ever!

I really like Virginia Echeverria Whipple's artwork. It is colourful, humorous and great collage work! See some examples of her work below...


I bought some delicious bath and body products from this vendor - BOVINE BUBBLES. They are located in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Their products look delicious, like the Sinfully Strawberry Buttercream shown below. I can't wait for these treats to arrive in the mail. Check out their homemade products, including jams and jellies as well.

Wishing you a lovely + delicious day as well...

I love the lampshades of LUSH DESIGNS. Watch the video below of Marie and Maria talking about their work...I love these ladies!



Garden of delight is MARIEKE VAN DER BRUGGEN's graduation project (2008)

Imagine a world where nothing is what it is...
A world that stimulates your fantasy and let you taste the sweetness of paradise.

Garden of delight is an inverted nature element of candy that spawns, like a sculpture, from the ceiling. This object exist of abstract branches, twigs and leaves in different colours and tastes that can be picked and eaten.

Garden of delight is an event on it’s own in a shop, gallery, restaurant. The consumer feels like Eve in paradise when they pick a leave.

BEATRIZ MARTIN VIDAL's portraiture work is amazing, especially birdchildren. Shown below is one of her works.

Finally, check out emma's designblogg (her personal guide of stockholm + design)

I love portraits + I love flowers, so the combination of the two is delightful! I can't believe I haven't stumbled on the work of MARUMIYAN before now, but I am glad I have. Here are some of MARUMIYAN's works that I admire.

「朝霧の花」

MONGREL

LUXURY GARDEN/HARMONY

motif × MIRUMAgraph

otoko-to-onna

Princess Lotus

華・森・音・草・機・鳥・蝶・和・殻・廃

We took a day trip out to Drumheller and discovered the wonderful mural at the Royal Tyrrell Museum ... it keeps children occupied, as there are so many layers and nooks and crannies for them to explore ... Here are some pictures I took of the mural ...

Just sharing some funny pictures...

Peek-a-boo...it's lovely watching a child grow ... there are small changes everyday!


Here is a hilarious thing - an Obama chia sporting a skullet! We gifted this to my brother's girlfriend who is obsessed with Obama ...I was amused to find his hair growing in this state!

On our walks, Leo and I often go downtown. I have been loving the windows at Holt Renfrew lately, especially this one. I love the cotton candy pompadours on these mannequins!


Finally, something delicious - I made this pansy pistachio cake, I found the recipe in the globe and mail, and I recommend this cake.

I am finally getting around to it...

I want to start another series of portraits, more specifically portraits of women in my life. They will be fabricated in the same manner as my vanitas series - scans (whole and parts) pieced together to form a portrait. However, my vanitas series was personal. And this go around, I would like the portraits to reflect personal stories of each individual woman. The portraits will feature face, hands, etc. and objects relating to her life's stories, memories, etc. Think of these items as a still-life making up a moment or defining who you are.

Quite possibly, I can do a sitting a week, so please email me or message me if you are interested. I plan to have a showing once completed, so portraits will be made public, but you will of course get a copy of your portrait.

I have a slight obsession with anything miniature...I really went nuts photographing/scanning myself with miniature items a few years ago for my Alice in Wonderland/vanitas series...so when I stumbled on this, I flipped!

Miniatures by Annina
slideshow of her work



Diffa Dining by Design Benefit - some pretty amazing tablescapes, if only dining always afforded these kinds of experiences!

Phoenix Commotion in Huntsville, Texas has an amazing business - building low-cost homes out of reclaimed material.

The Phoenix Commotion is a local building initiative created to prove that constructing homes with recycled and salvaged materials has viable place in the building industry. This process uses only apprentice labor and teaches marketable skills to anyone with a work ethic who is willing to swing a hammer. By keeping labor costs low and using donated or found materials, the homes created are truly affordable. No two are alike due to the myriad of materials used, so there is an artistic element that makes Phoenix Commotion homes truly unique. We target single parents, artists, and families with low incomes. We require the homeowner to be involved with the planning and construction of their own home. The result is a person who is empowered, not only by the use of knowledge and building skills, but by the opportunity to become part of a community as a vested participant.

phoenix commotion blog



Wish I had known about this place when I lived a little closer! ALL CITIZENS in Bruno Saskatchewan...is exciting! Perhaps the smallest music venue in Canada, and a great supporter of the ARTS!


BIKO - fun jewellery, like the kaleidoscope necklace pictured below.


a fun fashion designer....then all kinds of artists and illustrators....

EVE GRAVEL BRUNA ZANARDO JODY MORLOCK JESSICA HISCHE DEEMA BAYRAKDAR ALEX CHIU DOO NANNY

and, a couple canadian photographers....

KRISTY-ANNE SWART CAREY SHAW

Finally, colette paperie - hand printed paper gifts, every single item is handmade. Her blog Colette Paperie: handmade favorites is pretty fun too! I like how she colour coordinates her blog posts!