All Imperfect Things

Cages and Carriages

Remember this post? Not an antique birdcage, just a decorative one, but for only a few dollars I wasn't about to leave it. I found it at an art and craft store tossed with clearance earlier this spring, the perch on the inside was broken and some of the bars were bent, but nothing that could not be easily fixed. I'm still undecided as to how I want to use this, the book storage idea is still being considered.

Speaking of finding things, this has been a really good spring/summer for me as far as stumbling upon awesome stuff for almost nothing. That's the fun thing about going thrifting, checking out yard sales, garage sales, flea markets and such (including ebay and etsy too!). It's kind of like a treasure hunt and when you find something unbelievable it's so exciting!

Oh, that just reminded me, not exactly in a good way, but a few months back I was at a market and this man was selling this awesome vintage baby carriage. If you have ever seen Tim Burton's 'Batman Returns' and remember the pinguin's baby carriage, it reminded me slightly of that. However this one was much bigger and nicer (IMO anyway, having seen the Batman one in person), very gothic, elegant, and victoren looking, cloth not wicker. All I could think of was "I NEED that for a fim!!". However it was way over my budget that day =(
This kind of thing is usually what happens to me though, not only do I end up gathering up things for myself, but also anything I could possibably use for a project as well. Which can be both a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

Perfect Day

"Some things don't last forever, but some things do. Like a good song, or a good book, or a good memory you can take out and unfold in your darkest times, pressing down on the corners and peering in close, hoping you still recognize the person you see there."
— Sarah Dessen

One of my favorite songs that I haven't heard in quite awhile, I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon it on YouTube. I use to watch this show all the time as a kid!

Full version of the song, here

Sewing Shed

 

Oh oh oh!! Is this not one of the most adorable work spaces ever?! I love this little sewing shed that belongs to tales of a jUnkaholic! As a kid I always wanted one of these outdoor sheds to fix up and play in and in recent years have always thought it would be nice to have one for crafting and prop building. This is quite similar to what I had in mind, only on a slightly smaller scale and for sewing instead.

And just when I thought it looked awesome in the day time...at night it's even better...

 

What a fantastic little way to escape into your own world and create!
I'm all for the idea of creating an environment around yourself that is truly your own little world. Whether it's just your studio or you whole house. For me, and I'm sure this goes for many people as well, I work and feel best when I'm totally comfortable, relaxed, and surrounded by things that inspire and motivate me.

Sometimes people ask me what to I do to stay motivated and inspired creatively, aside from natural curiosity and the fact that I'm interested and easily inspired by so many things anyway. One of the things that seems to help keep me motivated and inspired is to be able to come home and immerse myself in my own little world, having a cozy environment to work and live in, with the perfect creative atmosphere down to the smallest of details. To be surrounded by things and reminders of all that I find fascinating, inspiring, and beautiful. An escape from reality somewhat, although I feel it's more fitting to describe it as a way of creating your own reality and allowing yourself to delight in it. Taking the fascinations of the mind and working them into day to day life, making each day a little less mundane and a little more magical.

"The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”
    - Carl Jung

Palolem India

Palolem India from Phoric on Vimeo.

I was setting up a channel on Vimeo a few days ago (which I'll explain more about on my art blog later on), when I found this video. I thought it was breathtakingly beautiful! I've probably said this many times before, but I'd love to visit India someday.

Jose Duran 2010 Collection video

I found this tonight and my first thought was, "wow, this has a very Alexander McQueen feel too it". However aside from that and the reason why I'm sharing this, is that I really like this video. Very entrancing!

Little wooden shelf

This cute little shelf/cubby arrived in the mail today from Kim of ethanollie, who's Etsy shop is full of little treasures and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. If you like vintage items, both ordinary and extraordinary, definitely check out her shop. I was a bit disappointed today to see that someone else beat me to this laboratory centrifuge tube holder, which I had my eyes on as well. So my search for the perfect one continues (I think these tubes make fun little storage containers of beads and other tiny items).

Anyway, I randomly stumbled upon this shelf and just had to grab it up, not only because I love little nicknack's like this, but also because it happens to resemble a small chair my mom found at a market a few summers ago. Seeing them side by side, they look almost perfect together!

I think I'm going to use the little drawer to store my fountain pen inks in...

 

surprise goodies, I love when sellers on Etsy toss in little random extras like this...

Lastly, I just realized I used the word "little" far to many times in this entry.

Very cool stop motion commercial

While browsing around on Juxtapoz, I found this really neat Belgian Natural Gas commercial. Not only is it very well done but I like the concept of it as well.

The Appearance of Things

 

 

(Unfortunately I don't remember where I found any of these photos sense I've had them saved on my computer for awhile)

I don't have anything very interesting to post at the moment, but I'll share few favorite "room" photos from my reference/inspiration folders that I have been looking at. I've been really fond of white walls lately and have decided to go back to having white walls, rather than light blue, in my studio room. Not only because it creates a better environment for painting (because of the way white bounces light) but I'm starting to appreciate even more, the serene, zen-like, feeling it gives off. Though with art supplies and stuff strewn about everywhere, when I go into a serious work mode, I don't know how long that zen-like feeling will last, haha.

I use to find bare white walls (as with other very cool colors) to be too cold, being someone who feels most comfortable in warm and cozy surroundings. But it's not so bad as long as there are some colorful accents throughout the room, to warm it up some and soften the starkness of the white.

Kseniya Simonova Sand Animation

This video has been going around for awhile now, but I thought I'd post it here anyway. Definitely one of the most, if not the most, beautiful and emotionally powerful sand animations I have seen.

New Year and starting Project 365

A couple days late posting here but, Hello 2010! Last year was a pretty good one overall and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what this year has in store!
January 1st I made sure to start my 365 project. At first I was going to just post the photos on Flickr since..well..it is a Flickr project after all. However I'll post them here as well, once a week with all of my photos for the week in one post, rather than posting everyday, because that would be extremely annoying. I'm trying to go about this (the processing and posting of photos) as simple as possible, so this project doesn't become more time consuming than it should be.

So far this is off to an ok start; Day one It snowed a lot and it started off slowly with big lovely snowflakes, which would have made a nice photo I think. However this shot of mismatching, pillows, blankets, and striped pj's seemed like a more honest representation of this rather lazy day. Seeing as not only did I spend the whole morning and well into the afternoon catching up on sleep, but I also had a fantastic dream this morning that kept dwelling on my mind for the rest of the day. It was a nice little start to the new year.

On a random note I'm glad my bed doesn't appear to look like Mount Everest in this photo, I'm one of those people who sleep with piles upon piles of blankets and pillows in the winter. Actually all year around, but the blanket thing gets ridiculous in the winter.

Yesterday didn't go quite as well, but hey out of 365 days, off beat days are sure to happen as far as photos go. I did a lot of running around yesterday and unfortunately I didn't really think to take a photo until it was already very late. So I ended up just snapping a quick photo of my shopping bag from H&M, before the clock hit midnight.
I think I've learned something important about this project though, to make sure to get some shots in early on in the day, even if you don't end up using one of them as the "official" photo from that day.

Anyway enough rambling. Lastly, I forget where I found these photos (if anyone happens to know who they belong to, do let me know), but I think they're neat...and they're giving me ideas for a painting.