The Pencil by Bob Ban Breda

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View more images at JeremyriadI recently came across the pencil sculptures of artist Bob Ban Breda. Alas, I missed his most recent exhibition that was in San Francisco, but more googling resulted in closer views of Bob's work and his inspiring collections. Visit SF Electric Works for more great images.

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize Winning Economist {via Bob Ban Breda}

Free hexagon patterns!

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I love seeing how UPPERCASE magazine inspires creativity in others. Katrina of PuglyPixel is offering up these free downloads of beautiful hexagon patterns inspired by the magazine's colour palette. If you haven't visited PuglyPixel, be prepared to spend some quality hours looking at eye candy and learning a whole lot about blogging, web design, digital art, photoshop... Is it a great resource!

If you want even more, she offers premium access to special downloads and "blog bling" as she calls it. It's an innovative way to earn a living as a designer. Kudos!

Walls of Art and Commerce

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Supermarket Sarah is a interesting concept for a webstore. Sarah and other collaborating artists create walls—large-scale still life arrangements—of products for sale. You click on the item that interests you to purchase. The wall above features work by Manchester-based artist Tasha Whittle.

 

"Sarah's "walls" started in her living room but have now spread into public spaces; galleries, shop fronts, bars, receptions and most recently Sarah curated a 30ft high wall at Selfridges London Concept Store.

The walls have taken on collaborative formats and so far Sarah has worked with brilliant designers including Fred Butler, Patternity, Donna Wilson, Tatty Devine and many more, forming a super network of young talent. Supermarket Sarah has become the place to go for inspirational delights and is regularly featured in media across the board from Style Bubble to the BBC news."

Camp Firebelly

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Here's a really great idea for recent design grads looking for adventure! A design camp hosted by Chicago's Firebelly Design.

Camp Firebelly offers the next crop of socially-minded designers the chance to use their talent and creativity to make a difference, experiencing what professional life is like Firebelly-style. For 10 days, 10 campers live and work with us to craft a strategic design solution for a non-profit client, from initial research to final implementation.

Nick Adam writes, "Camp is a time where Firebelly stops all client work and closes the studio for 2 weeks. We bring 10 young designers into the studio and connect them with several nonprofits that are in great need of proper design. We house, feed, direct, and teach the designers to solve all the problems, and develop tangible artifacts within ten days. This is Firebelly's 4th year of camp, we are very excited for our next group of campers."

View images from last year's camp on Flickr. Applications are due April 29, click here to download.

Confidence

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Half a million people have already seen this video about The Sartorialist (an advertorial by Intel), but I hadn't seen it until this morning and found it quite interesting. I wish I had the confidence to stop people in the street and tell them how to pose for me! I wish I had the stamina to wander the streets with a heavy camera. I wish I had the time to just observe and record life.

I wish I had more time for the "digital park bench" and for posting to this blog!

A simple seed...

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Awe-inspiring art

"Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds challenges our first impressions: what you see is not what you see, and what you see is not what it means. The sculptural installation is made up of what appear to be millions of sunflower seed husks, apparently identical but actually unique. Although they look realistic, each seed is made out of porcelain. And far from being industrially produced, 'readymade' or found objects, they have been intricately hand-crafted by hundreds of skilled artisans."

Watch another video here and read about the exhibition on the Tate website. {discovered via Magpie and Cake, lots to see over there!}

A SIDE NOTE: I have been back from the Mossy Shed (such an amazing experience, will post more soon. Tif and her clan were such amazing hosts.) for a few days but taken over by boxes. Shipping boxes in and out, boxing orders, receiving the shipment of The Elegant Cockroach from China, notecard box designs, email inboxes... plus we're painting the walls and laying new floor in our house, so everything is in a state of chaos. Once the dust settles, I'll be back for a more regular posting schedule.

Let's colour

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BrazilIndia

You might have already seen this video/commercial by Dulux paints on other blogs recently, but it is well worth finding out more about the Let's Color Project. There are so many inspiring images on their Flickr site as well. It goes well beyond a nice idea for a television commercial into a program that truly affects positive change in places around the world.

LondonPainters' feet from around the world (set)Such a joyous project!

San Francisco: More reasons to love you

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"Oh weary traveler. Oh vagabond wanderer. You've found it. For this is the place you've been searching. A home for the pioneer and a place rich with the spirit of a job well done. Levi's® Workshops are for workers. A place to hone your craft or to reawaken a long forgotten one. They're where the grit on your hands is a sign of your mettle. We invite you, one and all, to explore this endeavor and look with new eyes on the craftsmanship, ambition and desire that is Levi's® Workshops."

Levi's has a pop-up workshop space in San Francisco with some interesting events planned. On my list of things to see in August!

Nathalie Lété

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I was honoured to receive an email from Parisian artist Nathalie Lété recently. I had seen her work on various design blogs and was taken with its unabashed exuberance. Through her website and photos of her studio, I immediately fell in love with her lush, feminine, eclectic style. It is an aesthetic so different from my usual design sensibility and just looking at these images and her paintings gives me a boost of creative energy. I'd love to do a profile and studio tour for a future issue of the magazine. Shall we all go to Paris and pay her a visit?

Nathalie Lété was born in 1964. She lives and works in Paris. She works in many ways, mixing different techniques and mediums, illustration, ceramics, textile and painting… She is inspired by her travels, but also by the mixing of vintage toys and old engravings of flowers and animals. Her work is colourful, naive and poetic, sometimes strange, to the point of tending towards art brut. Her world is nurtured by popular and folk art. She produces children’s and graphics books, knitted and stuffed toys, glass pictures, patterned dishes, but also postcards, ceramic sculptures, silkscreen printed t-shirts, rugs and jewels in limited edition… both for herself and for commissions.

Nathalie has collaborated extensively with Anthropologie. To view her collection of rugs, ceramics and even painted dresses, visit an Anthropologie store.