Category: Art & Design

August 3 2016

Beautifully Embroidered Scenes by Jordan Harmon

Artist Jordan Harmon has a gift for making beautifully artistic embroidery. Her scenes aren’t complicated, she often leaves a fair amount of negative space in her hoops but that’s what makes them so unique. I particularly love her ferris wheel one. Her pieces consist of embroidery, acrylic paint and thread on canvas.

As she states, “Each embroidery is completely unique, handmade, and one of a kind. Every tiny stitch is thought out and made completely freehand, without a pattern. The background set behind the stitching is handpainted using acrylic paint. These unique details help to create a special piece of art that is individual with its own story. No two will ever be exactly alike.”

You can follow Jordan on Instagram where she shows much of her work. You can also buy a piece of hers on Etsy.

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August 2 2016

Vogue’s First Ever Coloring Book

I’m a big fan of adult coloring books, I think they soothe the soul (and take you back to childhood). Vogue has just released its first one ever and you can now buy it over on Amazon.

“Twenty-six archival magazine covers from 1912 to 1932, by ten celebrated illustrators living here and abroad, take you back to a more playful and whimsical moment of boas, bows, hats and headpieces, fans, pearls and gloves, and even exotic animals. Coloring book fans of all ages can try their hand at the Art Deco patterns and letters from A to Z and the lively drawings of women dressed for the task at hand, whether it is driving their own car, pruning morning glories in the garden, feeding a dragon, steering a gondola, sitting on a crescent moon, perched on a peacock or riding a zebra—side-saddle, of course. This is the Vogue woman as liberated, stylish, and always dressed for adventure.

“At the back, don’t miss the twenty-six Vogue covers in their original colors with lively captions as well as a stunning six-page gatefold of twenty-one glamorous dresses from 1912–1932 to color, tear out, and display.”

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Vogue and Amazon

August 1 2016

20 Stunning Pieces of Celestial Jewelry

What better way to show your love of space than to wear one of these accessories. From necklaces to earrings, I’ve rounded up some of the most breathtakingly beautiful pieces of art you can actually wear. My favorite is the one immediately below, the solar system necklace. Talk about turning heads! Of course, I’m partial to anything that show off a rainbow of colors.

Dare I say that that celestial jewelry is a trend?

Hope you enjoy this list. P.S. I want them all!

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Perfect Alignment Solar System Necklace

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Planet Rings

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Galaxy Earrings

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Big Dipper Earrings

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Pluto Bracelet

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Gold Saturn Necklace

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Planet Necklace

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Stackable Planet Bracelets

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Planet Necklaces

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Galaxy Earrings

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Planet Earth Bracelet

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Planet Watch

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Moon Phase Necklace

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Phases of the Moon Necklace

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Zodiac Constellation Necklace

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Carina Nebula Galaxy Necklace

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Moon Necklace

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Saturn Bracelet

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Moon and Star Necklace

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Man Astronaut Necklace

July 29 2016

Fun Links of the Week

I just learned that Bill Clinton loves balloons. (This made me happy, for some reason.)

Tea and ink painter Carne Griffiths opens a new show. (Love the hummingbird paintings.)

Have you ever heard of a plotagraph? Photographer Trey Ratcliff explains how you can make cool moving photos like his mesmerizing Burning Man picture.

Is the world really getting worse, as many people perceive, or is our information about what’s wrong simply getting better?

I hope to do this with my kids’ drawings.

Small Cloud Rising is not a how to book for church. It is an imaginative and poetic literary portal into the past and the future of church.

Nikon users, isn’t this a beauty?

Looking for the ultimate LBD? (It’s sold out, already!)

Virtual reality stock photos are unintentionally comic genius.

Wow, this is an intensely beautiful version of Beauty and the Beast.

Did you see the eye-roll of the century? Made me laugh.

Obama and Clinton’s hug gets photoshopped.

I want this fireflies print by Ray LaMontagne.

45 designers were invited to create a pin or set of three pins in support of Hillary Clinton. (I like Jenna Blazevich’s and Arem Duplessis’ button sets.)

Love installations like this! French creative duo Mickael Martins Afonso and Caroline Escaffre Faure have installed a series of floating clouds inside a hidden courtyard in Montpellier.

I like this set of pictures. Bill and Hillary Clinton in their hippie days.

Photo via boy-so-pale

July 28 2016

Seek Magic Every Day

I love this! It’s an inkjet print of mixed media artwork that includes watercolor, acrylic, and Photoshop. It was created by Bend, Oregon-based Katie Daisy of The Wheatfield. The piece was handmade. I wonder if Katie arranged all those flowers herself?

Etsy featured The Wheatfield back in 2013. In that post, Katie stated, “Being able to create a business based upon doing what I love means I get to pour my heart and soul into the work, because the work is me. It’s this constant means of self discovery. I feel more connected with the world now, and it’s made me realize the effect we can have on each other as individuals. There’s this potential to the human spirit I think the majority of us ignore — the ability we have to encourage, and to bring hope and change into other people’s lives.”

July 28 2016

Soar Into the Clouds on Hawaii’s Daredevil Swing

My heart is racing just looking at these pictures. Thrillseekers, unfortunately you can’t ride this anymore. This amateur swing, which was set 2,820 thousands of feet atop a mountain, was recently taken down. Even the hike to it, called Haiku Stairs (a.k.a. Stairway to Heaven) is illegal. Haiku Stairs has been closed to the public since 1987, though many people seem to ignore this fact and still hike it. You can check out their pictures over on Instagram. Think you could stomach that swing?

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last one #stairwaytoheaven #haikustairs #stairwaytoheavenhike #kaneohe

A photo posted by whitnaywiles (@whitnaywiles) on

First photo: KHON2

July 28 2016

Surreal New Painting of a Fox and a Girl by Tran Nguygen

A brand new surreal painting by Tran Nguyen was recently unveiled. Created for a group show opening at Jonathan Levine Gallery on August 3rd, the piece shows a giant girl in a blue and white skirt walking with a fox through a small, flooded town. She calls the work “The Flooded Hour.”

The show, called Cluster, will feature new works by the following artists: Amandine Urruty, Anton Vill, Ben Tolman, Charlie Immer, Drew Leshko, Dylan Egon, Gary Mellon, Gary Taxali, Luke O’Sullivan, Marco Mazzoni, Nicomi Nix Turner, Ron English, Sam Gibbons, Smithe One, Tran Nguyen and Troy Coulterman.

Tran Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she is currently based. Her paintings are created with a soft, delicate quality using colored pencil and acrylic on paper. Nguyen has worked for clients such as Playboy and McDonald’s and her work has been exhibited at galleries in California, New York, Italy and Spain.

This new piece reminds me of some of her older work, where women are seen as much larger than life. I love the mysterious and surreal nature of these.

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Tran Nguyen’s website

July 28 2016

Voting for Hillary Clinton

One of my favorite illustrators, Emily McDowell, created this illustration out of words written by author Amy Ferris. Though I usually don’t write about politics, I thought this was a strong and effective statement that just had to be shared.

“The brilliant Amy Ferris wrote this, and I illustrated it. As a woman, I don’t support Hillary just because she’s female (as many people like to argue). I support her because she and her platform treat women like human beings, unlike the alternative.

“I’m having iron-ons (and possibly stickers) of this design made & will be selling them on emilymcdowell.com in the coming weeks. All proceeds will be donated to the effort to elect Hillary Clinton.

“I understand that the system is flawed. I understand that people are angry and I understand why many people want change. But please, not this platform of hate and fear. Trump is not the answer. #imwithher”

Over on Ferris’s Facebook page it’s written:

” we will rise
we will stand up
we will show up
we will show them
we will make a ruckus
we will be seen
we will be heard
we will win

we got this one.”

July 27 2016

Whimsical Illustrations About Love and Life by Laura Stoddart

I’ve been holding onto these illustrations by Laura Stoddart for quite some time, not sure of when to post about them. I’ve been struggling with what I should call them. I finally settled on whimsical though that doesn’t seem quite right. The blog Simple Pretty calls her work “elegant yet quirky.”

Stoddart creates beautiful pieces that often deal with love. A man hugging a magnolia tree, a woman and man feeling “fireworks” go off. They’re simply sweet illustrations with a touch of whimsy.

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Bernard and Ethel

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Fireworks

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Storm in a Cup

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Tea Under the Tree

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In Bloom Notecards

Laura Stoddart’s website

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