glass art

Wow, talk about fail! I thought I posted this ages ago and I only realized that I didn't because I was trying to find the photos again!

I saw the Dale Chihuly exhibit up in Boston last spring, but didn't take these photos of the exhibit, these were found online.  I really like Chihuly's work, back in the day he totally redefined glass as art, but out of all of his work I find his "baskets" the most inspiring.  Working and living in the Pacific Northwest, he fell in love with Pendleton trading blankets and Native American basketry (who can blame him?), and took inspiration in creating a series of glass baskets.





Cool right?

For more on the baskets go here.

shop: sky scarves

I love these scarves, called Come Darkness. Such beautiful skies captured to wear.

Found here via here.

adventure: falling water

craft: birds

I saw these birds on etsy awhile ago and they gave me inspiration for a stained glass wall sculpture. Just wanted to share.

clay

Maria Bosch Working from Toast Travels on Vimeo.

Watching this reminded me of my high school days in art class, trying out throwing pots and getting told off for always making 'abstract' pots. I couldn't help it, once I made something nice I would get an overwhelming desire to stick my finger into it as it whirled round, just to see what would happen.

Last weekend I was looking at the large god's eye in my bedroom at my parent's house. My Mom showed me how to make them one summer when I was 9 or 10 and I remember making a few small ones out of 2 sticks and one large one out of 3 overlapping sticks. They're really fun to make and I hope this summer I can make some more. It would be neat to fill a whole wall with them, you could even add other bits of material, beads, feathers, etc.

the addiction continues

My newest purchases? The two lovely Sherwin & Cotton Stag tiles.

How can you resist their majestic heads and desolate landscapes? I especially like the reflection in the pool of water on the left one. Can you resist?

I can't :)

tile

I caved, it was too beautiful to pass up :)

william morris

A while ago The Textile Blog posted some of William Morris' original artwork, and I just can't get enough...

Jasmine 1872

Acanthus 1874

Honeysuckle 1883

Rose 1883

I think these illustrations are almost even more beautiful than the finished pieces of fabric and wallpaper themselves. I wonder if there are any prints of these to hang on walls?

P.S. Yesterday they posted a great entry on William Morris' Holland Park Carpet

fairy tale living

Lately I've really been liking these alternative quirky homes, I think mainly because they remind me of fairy tales and children's books I read when I was younger (and not so younger).

Can you imagine living in a house in a hill (literally) or dug in like a cave or sandwiched between rocks? I can :)

Stone House in Portugal

Rogner Bad Blumau in Austria

'Villa Vals' in Switzerland

all seen on Black*Eiffel

apologies for the delays in service

Last weekend I stopped into Liberty (surprise, surprise), mainly to see their newest fabric collection. I was excited to see that they have expanded the fabric section and have added a lot more Liberty of London lines using both old and new fabric patterns.

teapots and toiletry bags and coasters etc

cutting fabric

new season fabrics

jackson pollack -style prints

rich coloured florals

the fishes

beautiful shawl (a mere £295 or so...)

Zucchini pancakes for Sunday lunch!

mm mmmm

Girls' night on Wednesday :)

Last night's Dark and Stormy

(yummy- I'm not a rum person really, but this is rum, ginger beer and lime, and it's good)

:)

morning components for today's breakfast biscuits

I couldn't resist the new LIberty fabrics, so I got a meter each of these three :)

And, last but not least, my newest tile addition-

Sherwin & Cotton circa 1900, I think it's reminiscent of a seahorse...

google

I went on Google this morning and it seems that they are celebrating the 71st anniversary of the Wizard of Oz :)

I really like that movie a lot, even today it seems magical to me when it switches from black and white into vibrant color. I can't believe the film is 71 years old. It will never date for me, and one day I hope my children feel the same :)

We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz, because because because because becausssseeeeee....

:)

Arts & Crafts

On Saturday when we went to Liberty I also stopped to take some photos of the annual Arts and Crafts (1850-1950) selling. This year they did not have it in the 4th floor rotunda, but in one of the side rooms, which I felt worked against the unique feeling of the sale.

But they did have a piece of original William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric (for a mere £2500). Mom- I think we did much better for you ;)

I like the different lines of Arts & Crafts furniture pieces. Much more interesting than a lot of furniture today.

As a fellow stained-glass person I found this very inspiring.

Talking about furniture with interest...

I really liked these inlaid wooden silhouette pieces.

very pretty.

And this year they had more of an emphasis on copper items. I do really like some of the hammered Arts & Crafts designs they use. There are some nickel plated Arts & Crafts finger plates in the shop and, sadly, no one has found them as inspiring yet.

Arts & Crafts meets chinoiserie?

And finally those typical Arts & Crafts themes.

This years show was a bit lacking for me. More of an emphasis on furniture instead of all the other nice details, and hardly any upholstered furniture, which are often the highlights for me. But I still enjoy going!

smattering of weekend photos

Here's a selection of photos from our weekend...

one of the amazing carved lion finials at Liberty

new union jack inspired display

(those pillows are quilted with Liberty fabric)

Sweet Charity!

I love seeing the musicals that aren't performed very often...

The last time I saw Sweet Charity was when I was about 12 with my Dad, how things have changed!

My recent tile acquisitions.

(sorry about the sidewayness, no matter what I do I can't get it to turn around)

Lovely, no?

(The big bird one was a gift from work :) )

Our found and semi-refurbished bench!

Yes, it came from the skips down the road, but after a very good scrub it doesn't look so bad anymore, and is actually surprisingly sturdy. We have a few more alterations planned for it, but in the meantime, it's free!

Our homemade pea shoot netting structure- I have high hopes for this.

Hand-knotted and designed :)

An arty photo of our garden

Cinnamon raisin bread!

(after I begged to make this Ste pointed out that our bread book says it is an all-American bread that Americans love with butter for breakfast, hehe)

nice weekend :) :) :)

carpet of flowers

giant carpet...

or wonderfully designed and clustered flower arrangement?!

How cool is that?

found here