Trying to find inspiration for my Halloween costume, I am going as a peacock, I came across this photograph of a fabulous peacock-inspired ballerina costume!!!


I also came cross Elsa Mora's blog looking for bird costume ideas...her paper cuts are amazing, some are pictured below...

Free Spirit Spheres

"There are a lot of trees here on Vancouver Island although the majority of them are second or third growth. The majority of first growth forests have been logged. Even when city folk move out into the country the first thing they do is clear at least a 30 m square piece of land to build their house on. Then they build a concrete foundation and up from there. The destruction mounts quickly.

I wanted something different. To enable people to move into and inhabit the forest without taking it down first. To live in and among the trees and to use them for a foundation. In this way the foundation depends on maintaining a healthy ecosystem. It also gives me back a magic environment right outside my front door. Like a bird in a nest."

-Tom (Inventor, Manufacturer and Distributor of Free Spirit Spheres)

Over the past two months, my design class has been working with paper and MDF. MDF isn't the best material, but it is cheap and has given me new insights into using wood as medium and using it to understand new concepts in design, such as spatial relations, space, flow, foreground, and transitions.

Here is a spatial exercise that we completed using MDF and wooden cubes.


Wood Pixel takes the kitsch idea of pixel pictures and turned it into an activity of arranging wooden cubes. It reminds me of the spatial projects from my design class. By arranging the six different kinds of wooden cubes on a wooden grid base, you can make patterns or pictures reminiscent of childhood characters, symbols of just fun patterns.


Here are a couple other projects from design studio, one is a self-portrait...


Torafu Architects' use of wood in design is fun. The Boolean Cafe at the University of Tokyo-designed using circular cut-outs of wood which form a seating area and partition pictured below.



I found this image by searching for wood and design. I loved the assembled and layered look of the table.


The photographs of Kenshu Shintsubo are simple, quiet, and stunning. I really enjoy how he showcases and contrasts two photographs side by side to show changing seasons and subtle similarities between nature and humans. Beautiful!!

I love summer!!
Here is a new painting I finished yesterday...

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

Here are some postcards I found in an antique shop in Saskatoon. I love the muted colours and that some of the postcards have writing on them...

Here are some shots of another fashionista I am working on ...




Here is one I have completed ...

Some shots I took in a bar in Rosebud, Alberta ...

Some more illustrations I am playing around with - here I combined an illustration of a bird with some organic patterns ...

Here are some pictures of illustrations and ideas I am playing around with ...

"But really, I just want to migrate for the next few years, following warm weather and photographing the train hopping youth of america. I think it's one of the most important, overlooked, and temporary underground cultures of modern times...." Mike Brodie

Hobo style! I really admire the work of Mike Brodie aka The Polaroid Kid. You can see his hobo-esque photographs here.

Below is Mike Brodie's Artist Statement...

Maybe I've just become obsessed with dirty cloth & dull rags, objects that have been touched by a million different hands then set back down--right there--just for me. Things that are made by chance or found on the side of a road, rather than bought or sold. What's a story anyways? Why do people tell them?

My first memory was when I was a year old. Imagine that. Lyin' by a river bed, Arizona is hot in the summer, and even worse when you have an earache. One-year-old with no pants on, screaming and crying like it would help or something, my face bright RED. The blanket I was lying on, made of prickly pear green wool. If that cloth was still around, it would tell you a story. But its long gone, underground somewhere, tired.

I've been shittin' and pissin' for 20 years since that day. Most of the time I miss, but I "make photos" now, valued by some. Who are these people? One of my favorites is still that one my mom took, my dad cuttin' into a turkey like a man--in prison since, my grandma laughin' drunk in the foreground--dead now. I still have that one. As for why, who knows? This is where I am and what I'm doing. Everyone I've ever met is responsible for it, and those eyes of theirs--never blank--always tryin' to focus right there on the pupil. It's always difficult to get a good look at both of 'em. Go ahead and try. You'll just end up starin' right at the bridge of the nose.

The photos. I want people to see 'em just as you'd want to tell someone a good story. Nobody enjoys boredom. And when I'm good and dead, maybe my lungs'll still be around, with some words beneath. Everything comes as a surprise--thank GOD.

Mike Reynolds is an American architect that has dedicated his professional life to ecological and sustainable architecture. He uses discarded items, such as pop bottles and tires insulted with dirt to build his Earthships. With rising concern over global warming, Reynolds has become a pioneer of the green movement, practicing these innovative methods since the early 70's.

Edward Gorey has undoubtedly inspired the imaginations of many artists and especially the macabre-style of Tim Burton. His style is very dark and his stories quirky. Here is a sample of his illustrations.

Some pictures I took around the house today....








Riu Tenreiro's illustrations for the book The Celebration are amazing! I love the simple colour scheme, his quirky style and the story board look of the book.

I also really like the the simple illustrative style and limited colour use of Brandon A. Dalmer's work.

I think public art should have presence in the space it's occupying, and for me public art is most effective when it changes the way people react to it, for example the way they move around a sculpture and how it impacts their emotions and sense of space. I think the sculptures of Richard Serra are an excellent example of how public sculpture can alter a person's perception of space. This video shows the installation of Serra's sculpture garden at the MOMA. The shear size of his work is incredible. It is amazing how he challenges a person's perception of space with such simple concave and convex bends in shapes.

My favourite public art space is the Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Mayle is my newest favourite fashion. I love the Fall 2007 collection. It is all about layering boxy shapes and legs!

Here is something I drew, dreaming of the west coast....

I have recently finished making some new bracelets and necklaces. A few of them are pictured below. Right now, I am putting gold leaves into all my bracelet designs and trying to work in vintage items as well. I am perusing antique stores for items, and have found such things as vintage buttons from the 40's and 50's and an owl pendant with green rhinestone eyes. The love me, love me not necklace is fun to wear, because I left the chain longer. And as the dial spins around the heart, its reminiscent of youthful wishes.

Graniph Tshirts Store is a clothing company that accepts Tshirt designs from artists. The designs are incredible and can be viewed on their website. They are accepting designs from Februay 1st to March 31st 2008, so I may be submitting one!

Here are some of the artists whose work I really admired from the Graniph Tshirts Store. I linked to their Tshirt designs and to their websites as well.

Rui Tenreiro or here and his tshirt designs

Florence Manlik and her wallpaper and her tshirt designs

Kev Speck's tshirt designs

Karen Ingram and her tshirt designs


I really admire the work of Daisy Fletcher. Her work is so delicate and pretty. I am a sucker for illustrations with birds and flowers. I love that her detailed pencils sketches have splashes of colour only in certain spots, like in the pattern on a skirt, in the flower, or in the birds feathers.

Stephen Crowhurst is an Artist, Illustrator and Surface Designer. His website HELLO HELLO has nice big pictures of his work. I really enjoy his work because he incorporates so much pattern and repetition into his designs.

The Canadian-made ecodesigns of posch inspire me!

They have designed cute handbags using upcycled fabrics and material. I especially love the bird motif on each bag, which no doubt reflects their ecofriendly designs!

Lately, I noticed their reusable wrapping 'paper' biota, which is simply a piece of square cloth that has been printed with terrific patterns and screens of wildlife. Inspired by biodiversity and endangered species, they have printed four different designs, each featuring a Canadian endangered animal. They were inspired by the Japanese Furoshiki wrapping technique. In recent years, this technique has seen a renewed interest as environmentalism has come into the forefront. Here are some simple Furoshiki folding techniques.

“It is extremly useful, to be able to wrap almost anything, regardless of size or shape with a little creativity in folding. When you are done, unlike traditional bags, you can fold it up with a small footprint.”

Furoshiki has the potential to replace grocery/shopping bags, back packs, hand bags/purses, and lunch bags. It reminds me of other Japanese wrapping and folding techniques, such as the folding of origami and the wrapping and folding of kimonos.

Just a little side note...candid photographs make me smile. One group I like to check in on every now and then is the hardcore street photography pool.

I love the city at night!

Here are some pictures I took on my walk home this evening...








I love how everything looks lit by fluorescent lights.

Here is an older picture I took last year in Vancouver...