Clare Elsaesser

This morning while I was drying my hair I was thinking about my bathroom for about the one millionth time, and it occurred to me it might be perfect to do a water theme. Coincidentally (there are no coincidences, right?) I came across this artist's Etsy Shop, Tastes Orangey, today. I love the darker, greener tones. These images sort of remind me of some of the older Samantha French paintings. Also these. And these.

I want one. Which is your favorite?

1. Undertow, 2. My Home is the Sea, 3. Married to the Sea, 4. Summer Girl

Tugboat Printshop.

"BARRACUDA"
Series: THE DEEP BLUE SEA
12x18" Color Woodcut Print on Pale Pink Arturo Paper
by Paul Roden & Valerie Lueth, 2008.

Saw this booth at the Renegade fair and I can't stop thinking about this print! I want it. Actually all these sea prints I am taking quite a liking to. I'm gonna have to check if this one fits the bill for bringing "fish" into my "wealth". Read more about this print shop and the process to make them. Amazing!

drawing.

printing.

"THE ICEBERG"

So cool. Also can be found on Etsy.

Renegade Craft Fair.

This looks like it might be good. I've glanced around at some of the artists doing it, and I'm pretty sure I'll find a gift or two for people on my list. (Lucky People). If you're free Saturday or Sunday, and in the area, check it out? Then go eat brunch at Flo or get the burger from Branch 27.

Leah Giberson.

I had to order one of these prints. Can you guess which one I picked? The Jealous Curator has been knocking my socks off lately. When I saw this artist (and others – this spider web repair is unbelievable) on her post recently on SF Girl by Bay, I just got lost in the looking. Blogs, flickr pages, personal sites, etsy... The world wide has made so many artists out there accessible and I truly love the internet for connecting me to all these amazing creative people and their work.

Pool season, summer, is slipping away from me, and glancing at this little reminder of good things to come might help me get through the winter ahead. Love that the pools appear to be empty.

It's dark again when I wake up and I keep thinking as my eyes are opening, It must be because it's raining. But then the sun rises through the window in the shower and I feel a little despair. Oh how I love Summer. The light, heat, humidity, cicadas singing, bonfires, fruit and vegetables, and an excuse to let all things just... SLACK. Thank god for September, who lets us ease into the holidays slowly. I'm actually looking forward to you too!

New Adds.

There are so many interesting people and things on the world wide I can't stand it. My mind feels like this car.

This particular car came through Automatism after Lori linked me to Zoobezoobezoo. I remembered seeing something like it on Simply Photo.

I thought they were just so great and random, then I wondered who did them, and what for? Turns out they were designed for a resale store in Paris called Merci, that sells all kinds of things from clothes, book and fresh flowers and furniture. Remodelisa also blogged about Merci here. All these things connected make my head spin. There is so much to look at and read about.

Last night Dave sent me to Lena Corwin's blog ~>O<~ for a look at Elizabeth Schuppe's studio. I've seen that blog link around but never clicked on it before.

I poked around a bit and realized that she collaborates with Port 2 Port Press making some books called Lines & Shapes. She also designed the flaps and inside cover for the book Wallpaper Projects, put out by the people who run The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco. All super cool projects.

Just a coincidence, one of her posts included this image of a card, which you can buy on Etsy, and it reminded me of today. Funny.

I have a lot more people to add to my list of likes. Even more than these:

3191.
2 or 3 Things.
Remodelista.
Simply Photo.
Zoobezoobezoo.
Port 2Port Press.
Lines and Shapes.
~>O<~

And this guy just makes me smile:

Pacing the Panic Room.

Sharon Montrose.

It's official. I am completely crazy about these Sharon Montrose prints on Etsy. It's embarrassing how often I look at them. It's also embarrassing that now I read her blog and look at her professional photography website, too. I'm drawn to the complex simplicity and design of all of it, but I get immense pleasure out of looking at these animals for some reason (the colors, the compositions, the textures, floor boards, the expressions). I really love them.

The Goat was the first one that got me. Now I have the Single Sheep, the Chick and the Owl hanging in my room trying to pick my favorite so I can order it. I can't do it for myself yet, but my Mom's birthday is next week so I think I'll pick one out for her. I thought these three would be pretty good options. The Goat would strike her sense of humor, the Silky Chicken because she has a few ceramic pitchers, bowls and artwork of chickens in her kitchen, and the Geese because water fowl art seems to be pretty prevalent around my parent's house.

Vote for one of these or tell me which one is your favorite. I think I will order it tomorrow.

Katy Elliott.

Kyle, Katy and I stopped in Mig & Tig on Friday to browse around. I was still feeling ignorant about those "cushion buttons" so I wondered again aloud about what that type of upholstery is called – while I was pointing at examples. Apparently Kyle didn't get what I was asking about before because he casually blurted out, "Tufted," without a pause.

So later that night I Googled "tufted" images, and the first one I clicked on brought me to this: Wide Awake Thinking About... Tufted. What a total fluke to have stumbled upon this new blog, Katy Elliott.


Ok, so these two pics really have nothing to do with Katy Elliott other than they were the first ones on her blog, at a quick glance, to cause me to pause. That first one? It's 3-dimensional to me. I could stare at it for a LONG time. These are QUILTS. Then glancing down this (seemingly) simple blue one had a similar effect. It's remarkable.

These quilt designs are by Liz Jaff, posted by Katy Elliot, via New York Times. I hope I am crediting everyone involved (the links aren't working and/or are getting redundent). I totally had to screen grab and remake all the images! so sorry to whoever cares.

I haven't had any time to really poke around in Katy E's blog, or even Liz Jaff's website, but a quick scroll through Katy E's posts and the titles of her side navigation (with accompanying images – brilliant!) led me to these:

Affordable Artwork – bicyclepaintings: Bike Prints


Artists – Elizabeth Shuppe: Painter

via All Stripes

And House Renovations...


...among so many others! I really like this blog and I am excited to see what else I will find here.

Girl Hula.

Winter is killing me. I knew something was up because normally I can run out to start the car without my coat even though it's freezing. Today was worse. I noted it with an expletive. On my drive in I heard it was 2º with a -8º windchill. For some perspective, it's been so cold here that last weekend it was 35º out and I was walking around all psyched because I could have the zipper on my coat open. It felt fantastic. When 35 feels fantastic, it has been very very cold for a very very long time.

So I decided to daydream about warmer days and I kept thinking how wonderful it's going to feel to have the windows open again. I kept imagining windows with sheer curtains blowing and sunlight streaming in. I did some random searches on Flickr to see if I could find a shot of what I was picturing. I was surprised to discover I couldn't. I got off-track and just started looking at pictures of "warm" and "sun". When I entered "summer" something interesting happened.

The first image that came up was this...


...and I recognized it!

Girl Hula is a photographer/blogger/mother/artist/creative person living in Portland. She takes the most incredible photos. They are always very colorful and warm with great light. When I saw this image, I thought, She's going to have what you're looking for. She totally did.

That first image above gave me what I needed. Perfectly.

I can not wait to see green growing again. Girl Hula also has a great blog, Hula Seventy, and Etsy shoppe, Hula 70.

Rachel Austin.

I was just reading about crop circles in 2012, and it reminded me of these "aerial farm" paintings I'd found on Etsy. When I looked I was surprised to see they were by Rachel Austin, who also does some very memorable and recognizable paintings of crows, poppies, lanterns and paper airplanes, that I have also admired.

The synchronicity of remembering and finding these paintings and her blog Paper & Planes again today comes in the fact that it appears Rachel has just sold her 1000th item on Etsy. So until January 31st, she's offering free shipping and kicking in a magnet with orders. Unfortunately I am on a spending moratorium indefinitely, so I can't take advantage of this sale. But, my birthday is coming up! You can get my gift now and surprise me later!

Daisy Mae Designs.

Every year, a group of my girlfriends and I have a grab bag at our Holiday Party. We tend to do different methods of the gift exchange, and this year, we all brought 10 of the same gifts to stuff each others stockings. I thought it was going to be hard to find something affordable that would also be cute and special, until I found Daisy Mae Designs magnets on Etsy. They came packaged 6 to a set in wonderful little silver tins with clear lids. Each one was adorable! They're tiny (about the size of a dime), but super strong so they can actually hold stuff. I ordered an extra set for myself and honestly couldn't decide which one I wanted to keep.

I plan to place another order just to have them on hand when the need for a little gift or special surprise comes up in the future. They're also a great way to get rid of all the lame magnets on your fridge and replace them with mini pieces of art. Contact Kristy at Daisy Mae Designs if you're interested in a "little" something special.