vicki simon's deep sea felt rugs

mad for these felt rugs by Vicki Simon that Shelterrific's Allison has found. Fantasic. What inspires me is the line these pieces walk between abstract and figurative (just like the Zen Sekizawa photograph, below). Plus, they're so messy and scrawl-y that they poke fun at the seriousness of design, and I love that.

p.s: they really remind me of this amazing drawing that was posted last june on lena's blog that for some reason i haven't been able to get out of my head!

photography: zen sekizawa

this 2006 image by zen sekizawa is so atmospheric and leaves so much unsaid... i love how it walks the line between abstract and representational art.

louisville

I'm in Louisville today for the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture since 1900.



... have a great weekend & enjoy the Oscars! xx p

sartorialist... i must have been asleep

i. am. in. love.



love? yes. love.

dwr champagne chair contest

dwr via d*s.
o, que c'est génial!

color trend...: super baby pink

i think amy at the great new blog design dna is on to something: a color that she charmingly calls "super baby pink" as in "the super baby pink outdoor cushions are speaking to me." if you're looking for an alternate to the beautiful (yet already ubiquitous) bright citron colors of the season, you may want to consider it. (eg, as a ceiling color in an all-white room, say.)

(oh, and don't let its softness deceive you. nor should you be tempted to mistake it for the preppy irony of a jcrew pink. this is something else, a barely-there hue. maybe we should think of it as a subversive off-white.)




... will update you on this one!..


UPDATE! 4 april:

paperpony via d*s

UPDATE! 30 april:
Martha Stewart's guest house on the cover of the May MS Living...

small spaces at home: try a painting or photograph gallery

images, from top: david netto design; southern accents via style court; marie claire maison.



PS: confession-- as much as I love clusters of paintings or ordered groupings of photos, I am a bit of a perfectionist and thus take a verrrry lonnnng time in putting up art in the house. This time around I'm thinking of starting small, doing a gallery of my brother's amazing b& w photographs [H*A*P*P*Y B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y, JAMIE!] from top to bottom of one wall in our 'thirties b & w tile bathroom. Would welcome thoughts or suggestions! xx p

Susan Graham's wire animal sculptures

Beautiful wire animal sculptures from the Etsy shop of Susan Graham, spotted by the helpful Molly in her stint as the current d*s guest-blogger...

peter bauhuis: softened, textured metallic jewelry

oh! peter bauhuis's ring is like a beautiful correlative to this vase....




loving the glow and texture of his work.

the marilyn monroe, perhaps, of light switches

these light switches are so deco and glitzy, but in this simple, utilitarian kind of way. love them.


&
very
Happy
Valentine's
Day!

let your Freudian imaginations run wild on these.... :)



(from holloways of ludlow)

carole fakiel's drum-shaped storage table

the thing that gets me about these tables is the bit of storage- so useful! (reminiscent of this table) I'd love a pair of the black ones as a set of coffee tables... a little bit masculine, and so timeless. they remind me (in a good way) of film canisters...

see here for more of carole fakiel's beautifully industrial storage designs....


& here for her superb kitchen!

karenina fabrizzi, paintings

i admire the tension in karenina fabrizzi's work between its rough messy quality and its delicate softness....

molly symmonds's ebay and etsy finds

I'm already excited about molly symmonds's finds over at the d*s guest blog so far. adore this photo of thomas o'brien's desk, with the celestial map. mmm.


(and speaking of design*sponge... thanks grace, for the "around the web" link today, & welcome to those of you who have arrived via d*s!: to see more of beppe kessler's beautiful work, click here.)

"watercolor" pillow from habitat

designed by genevieve bennett for habitat. cotton sateen. (£25)

swoon!

unexpectedly dazzling: 17th century botanical drawings of magnified roots

These are 17th century botanical images of magnified sections of plant roots, from around the time, I'm assuming, of the earliest developments of magnifying instruments. Coolness of the science aside, I am imagining these as images on silk scarves, or as a series, printed on canvases. So beautiful. Reminds me a bit of this post that lena had up a while ago....

From The anatomy of plants. With an idea of a philosophical history of plants. By Nehemiah Grew, 1682. (love the name nehemiah. so old testament! up there with Obadiah for most beautiful old new england names...)


& happy friday!... xp

dutch artist worth watching: beppe kessler

I feel so lucky to be able to share with you the work of beppe kessler, a dutch artist who is fluent in so many different mediums. Her burned balsa wood brooches astonish me-- they are leopard-like, seashell-like, and yet wholly inimitable. Her commissioned work "Home" (2005) picks up the burned balsa wood motif, and turns it into something completely different-- small houses, gilded with gold leaf and color.

I love also the delicate rug that she designed on commission, and finally, this spare, perfect brooch (click "artists" to find the work).

Beppe Kessler. Wow.

at first, it seemed so innocent. on tuesday, joy posted a request for suggestions about a nice worktable for herself.

but on wednesday lena posted this picture of her own desk, covered with orderly stacks of paper...

& poor grace with a cold has been posting longingly about bed linens since monday.

yes, it must be february.

happy february all. here's to hard, good work in the day and warm, sweet nights.

xx p