Color, Patterns, Tiles, Gaudí, Barcelona

Photos that I made in Parc Güell, Barcelona. I deliberately oversaturated these images, which might make them seem a bit kitschy, but I guess they convey the overall atmosphere of the place.
Gaudí was a genious. Decorating with broken tiles is such a good idea. And it's recycling. A green way to home decor. And it can be real art, too.

Inspiration: Decor Trees

Bringing nature into the house in whatever way is a good idea.
Images from emmas designblogg, fine little day (cropped) and purple area.

Inspiration: Surface Interest _ Tucks

I find these really inspiring.
(Middle image from Sartoria Vico via grijs.)

Wannamake: Loose-fitting Tees

I love these loose-fitting tees, and wanna make my own.
Some credits for these: Totokaelo, Alexander Wang via Purpleweed, Bodkin, feber.se

New Aquisition: Mini Playing Cards

I wanted to buy these since Christmas.
I don't want to play with them... I'll just set them aside, and I'm going to use them for some DIY projects like making a necklace, brooch or buttons maybe. They would make very interesting buttons I guess.

Wannamake: More Ideas for DIY Accessories

Some other inspiring pictures of stuff I (or anyone else) could make:

* Straw brooch.
* Necklace made of beads and cloth rope. (both images from the Stil in Berlin blog)*Emboidered necklace or brooch. (source unknown, sorry, but I'm rather sure you can find these somewhere on etsy)The idea of crafting really keeps my mind active. Instead of preparing for my exams I keep thinking about things I could make. We'll see if i'll ever get to really making things. Lemme hope I will.

Inspiration: Quote

I'm rather tired of all those "Keep Calm and Carry on" posters and various versions of. It's nice and all but too widely spread.
The reason I put this version up here is to inspire myself to really get to making things. I'm very good at thinking about what beautiful things I would make or do, but most of the time I'm rather reluctant to start making or doing those beautiful things.
Getting really excited about something is a good way to start and I think that excitement is something one can generate in ones self.
So, let's get excited and make things. (An do the house-cleaning.)

Wannamake

There are quite a few things I'd love to craft. A few of them are:

* A wooden necklace. (I think the one on the left is from Dries van Noten and the one on the right is from LuaLua.) As a teenager I would make a few odd necklaces... One from a little book on economics, one from the counter of a digital clock, one from little branch pieces tied together with copper wire, one from a smaller straw puppet, and so on... most of these were just repurposed stuff that I would wear as pendant on a leather string.
* Sewn little friends. (I guess I got these images from ffffound.com)
* A nice tote bag for shopping. I've made a few of these as Christmas presents for some family members. Only, I really ran out of time so I just couldn't make one for myself. I made them from heavy IKEA fabrics lined with yellow-white gingham.* Some kind of an apron. Though I might end up buying an apron from IKEA, as that's where I have most of my kitchen towels too.I'm not very crafty nowadays, so there's a possibility I'll never make any of the above.
I remember never finishing any of my knitting projects as a kid. So in the end I had one sock, one glove, and at least 3 or 4 half-knitted vests and sweaters. Oh I did finish a really long scarf that I couln't wear beause the yarn I made it from was too harsh on my skin.
My sewing projects turned out to be much more of a success. Even tho I've always had a few half-sewn or cut but never-sewn items in drawers or closets, the were a lot more I actually managed to finish. I started sewing at the age of ten or so. And ever since my sewing skills grew (I hope). I've made numerous clothes for myself and some for others. I like sewing. So much that about 8 years ago I made a living from custom sewing bridal and evening gowns. It was rewarding, but after a few years I got tired. And it's just now that I'm again getting into the mood of wanting to sew. So, we'll see, whether it's back or not.

(I am so, so sorry that I'm not able to give due credit to the copyright owners of the pictures displayed. I have a huge folder of "Stuff I like" and with a few exemptions I make the sloppy job of simply downloading the photos I like instead of renaming them with the correct source so later I would know. I guess most of the above photos are from ffffound.com but I can't be sure.)

The Playful Search for Beauty

Inspiration: Dot Dot Dot

Beautiful! Dots are so simple and so perfect. I'm kind of in love with dots. I might say I like dots even more than stripes. ;-)
I guess I found theese on ffffound.com.

Inspiration: Paul Cézanne

I cannot say that Cézanne is my favourite painter. Frankly, I don't even think he was a very good draughtsman. I think he simply could not draw. But what he could, was paint!
What I feel for him, is some deep respect. I think his approach to painting is really what a painter's approach to painting should be. He was thinking in terms of specks of color. In my opinion, that's what a painting is all about. Specks of color.

I WANNA PAINT :)

I've been considering taking up painting for quite a while. Really.
What keeps me from really doing it, is some fear from mediocrity and amateurism.
But, I gotta start somewhere, so I decided to get over this debilitating fear. I kind of have to understand that at the outset, I, most possibly, won't be as good as I want to be, but that this fact simply should not make me stop or even worse, not start at all.
The reason I'm putting this out, is that I hope this would put some responsibilty on me, to really start. This post is like a promise to be kept. Well, I'm not very good at keeping promises, but nevertheless... The promise is there, and I have to keep it sometime.
I post some still lives from Paul Cézanne, that I find inspiring.

Inspiration: A Gem from Whistler

Taken from Mr Whistler's Ten O'Clock Lecture held in 1885, February 20th. Whistler is among my favourite painters. His approach to Art is really close to me.

The painting that kinda illustrates the quote is his Nocturne in Black and Gold.

You can click on the quote to enlarge it.

Book: Making and Breaking the Grid (Rockport Publishers)

Among my favourites is this book by Tim Samara.
It gives really good examples on grid construction as well as grid deconstruction.
Some typical spreads:Picked it up at amazon.com.

Inspiration: A Quote from Eva Zeisel

A favourite of mine from Eva Zeisel's On Design: The Magic Language of Things.

Inspiration: Drawings and Sketches by Degas

Full of restatements... and I think that's what makes them so beautiful.

Young Degas once met Old Dominique Ingres. Old Ingres told him he should draw and draw and draw. So, he would draw and draw and draw. To my greatest joy.

Inspiration: Degas

Just look at the rhythm. Needless to say, I love Edgar Degas.

It can be clearly seen, that the first painting is an earlier one.

In my opinion, this is a tendence that we see with great painters: as they grow older and more experienced, they don't bother to say more with more, instead, they manage to say more with less. And I think that is why the lower two are so fabulous. I just can't get enough of them.

I'm sure that sooner or later I'll take up painting.