The Magical Mastery of Blandini

Stumbled upon this beautifully designed & well written Little Book of 'Photo-shoppe' Trickery by Interbrand Australia, revealing tips, tricks and wizardry of Steve Bland, a skilled retoucher. Rebranded as 'The Great Blandini'. The piece is presented in victorian style photography and hand drawn calligraphic copy, showing tricks by the great man himself. From a woman sawn in half to the man who became a lion it is a beautiful and entertaining way of illustrating those tips us designer types really want to know. Tis on my Christmas list.

Sometimes it's good to just blend in...

I have a fascination with Peru at the moment being that I plan a trip there sometime soon. So it was with even more delight that I discovered that this body artist/ photographer was born in Lima, Peru. Her performances involve intricate design and detailed make up to her whole body in order to fit in with and become camouflaged to her background. In all she aims to virtually disappear and become one with her background. She says of her work,





"The illusion of 'disappearing' .. is a blending, she is now 'part of the landscape' in her quest of belonging. The theme behind it all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin."

The poses she puts herself in add to the drama, and where sometimes we see the whites of her eyes, you almost feel as if you are imposing on an intimate moment. However they are viewed, they are amazing.

Hungry for Art

Stumbled across this quirky 'Sandwich Art' project by Portland based artist Brittany Powell. So you can really get a taste for your favourite art work:

Piet Mondrian

Damien Hirst

Mark Rothko

Book Landscapes

My first post of the New Year, and it's been so hectic I have no time to reflect on last year & make predictions/ aims for the year ahead as one may traditionally do so.
I'll just jump straight in with showcasing these beautiful book landscapes carved & crafted by artist Guy Laramee. In the two series entitled Biblios and The Great Wall, dense pages of old books are excavated to reveal serene mountains, plateaus, and ancient structures across the cross section of the book. It makes contour maps far more exciting to look at than the dull pages of my geography textbooks back in the day..

Happy Holidays!

A very Merry Christmas to One and All!

An important thing to remember...

A beautiful illustration by Maira Kalman for a book entitled 'Food Rules' by Michael Kullen, a guide to the approach we should take towards food nowadays; that perhaps we should listen to advice from those elder & wiser than us rather than what is 'officially' advised by the government. If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're probably not hungry, and, Place a bouquet of flowers on the table and everything will taste twice as good. 
Sending out the message that food is as much about pleasure and communion as it is about nutrition and health.

Monsters illustrated

It seems one of the illustrators I love & and wrote about recently is the same person that did this print sold in The Hoxton Street Monster supplies, since it's opening last November.

'Zingoula Cudacuda' by BEN NEWMAN 

School term has started again, so I'll be back there the odd morning illustrating the wild & wierd creations the youngsters come up with, as well as mentoring on the Saturday project The Hoxton AM. I'm kind of jealous really as I'd have loved a place like the Ministry to go to when I was young, to have a go at being a journalist, or local press photographer. These are some of the great workshops held regularly at the small shop located on the market, including the recent re-write of The Awfully Bad Guide to Monster Housekeeping. Children from the local schools worked with some top writers and poets on various sections to complete this important guide on on areas of monster Etiquette. But they are in need of some funds to get it published. If you can donate anything please do so here.

The Awfully Bad Guide to Monster Housekeeping from Ministry of Stories on Vimeo.




Alternatively feel free to pop along and buy your next jar of Pickled Eyeballs and support a great project.

Is it a shoe or a sculpture?

Like most women, I absolutely adore shoes in all their shapes, sizes and colours. I make snap purchases, without even considering whether they'll o with anything, or the practicality of them..but these, yes these people are SERIOUS un practical shoes. But I love them! They fuse my love of shoes and art in one.
Created by Israeli born footwear designer, Kobi Levi, these creations are a visual feast, forcing you to look twice and work out how this object can actually fit a foot inside it. Levi says of his work, "The piece is a wearable sculpture. It is "alive" with or without the foot or body".

 Amazingly, all the shoes are hand made in his studio. Follow more creations on his blog.