itSnice

Jazz Books

2011-02-14T13:14:00.003Z

Helping to clear my boyfriend's late-Grandad's house last weekend we came across a whole stack of vintage niceness. He loved jazz and also had French family so these things combine in a whole collection of fantastic book covers, vintage ephemera and gorgeous postcard books.

Unfortunately my camera battery gave up fairly quickly but next we journey up to Birmingham I will adding a whole stack of lovely vintage postcard-book covers like those below to the Flickr set.

Mike Perry

2011-01-23T23:14:00.001Z

Mike Perry, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

An exciting envelope arrived the other day stuffed with lovely printy things from Mike's studio. Lovely stuff!

Pummelvision

2011-01-09T11:55:00.003Z

Pummelvision takes a whole stack of your photos from the web, whether from Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr or a few others, and turns them into a frenetic vision of your life flashing before your eyes. This version is simply taking my 2000 most recent public photos but you can make it more tailored either by using individual Flickr sets, or Facebook tagged photos. It's interesting to see that it really highlights what my most frequent subjects are - flowers, landcapes, and food!

London Glassworks Open Weekend

2010-12-03T13:31:00.003Z

The fabulous London Glassworks are holding an open weekend from tomorrow so if you like glass, if you like handmade, and you like a bargain, make sure you check it out! This place is a little gem so I'm planning on getting down there and treating myself to something that looks nothing like my own wobbly efforts, and perhaps some lovely things for Christmas presents too if my budget will allow!

You can find them here, on an industrial estate near Black Horse Road station (Victoria Line & Overground).

High Society

2010-11-11T14:07:00.006Z

There's some lovely print to see, from fascinating little bottles of potions to somewhat modernist, positively Burrill-esque simplicity in the new High Society exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, if this Guardian gallery is anything to go by. It opens today and is on til the end of February.

Letterpress Calendar

2010-11-09T13:56:00.001Z

Letterpress calendar preview - web site, originally uploaded by fabienbarral.

Check out this lovely typographic calendar from fabienbarral. Love the typeface and colours. I don't think it's available to buy yet but check letterpress-calendar.com for updates.

Pier Neon

2010-10-31T21:21:00.005Z

Lovely type turns up in the most unexpected places sometimes. These were all in the arcade at the bottom of Southwold Pier. The Pier has the infamous Under The Pier Show which is brilliant, but possibly means the lovely neon in the arcade gets even more overlooked than it would anyway. Looking at the photos now, feeling somewhat detached from their context, the decisively glowing phrases seem to take on an altogether more existential meaning.

Genius Debossing

2010-10-27T13:24:00.001+01:00

DolcePress 2010 Holiday Cards, originally uploaded by dolcepress.

Spotted this fab card on Flickr today - that snow-angel deboss is brilliant. I wish I'd thought of it!

Bookshopping

2010-08-29T21:59:00.003+01:00

I found these fantastic book covers in a second hand bookshop in Lichfield - there were so many, but I think these were the choice picks. Lucky for me, Penguin Plays seem to be pretty unpopular in Lichfield.

My Shared Items

2010-08-26T13:03:00.004+01:00

Hi! Things have been a little quiet here recently, but no matter how busy I am I'm always reading, and sharing. You can see a stream of all of the things I think are interesting/lovely/funny/beautiful over in my Google Reader Shared Items. If you like the kind of things I post here, you might find those interesting too!

Among other things shared recently are Josef Schulz's stunning photography;

Daniel Freytag's gorgeous typography for Frey & Ford;

and Peter Slight's beautiful shadow boxes;

Blackberry, Blackcurrant & Cherry Gin.

2010-08-24T14:45:00.003+01:00

Make your own very delicious gin in a few easy steps.
It makes your kitchen smell brilliant too.

You might find, if your sieve is as rubbish as mine, that you need to strain it twice. After straining mine the second time, I also added a bit more gin - once it's cold you can just add to taste. A very yummy taste.

I Absolutely Must Have...

2010-08-18T19:23:00.002+01:00

...this dress, from Anne Sophie Back. I love the hood, the sleeves, the material, the length, the photo....

Glassblowing

2010-08-10T18:33:00.000+01:00

I was lucky enough to have a glassblowing lesson a few weeks ago and it was absolutely fantastic! I work for a creative company and we work with glass as a medium, but we are used to working with entirely different processes to the traditional hot glass techniques. It was such an exciting experience, I thoroughly recommend it - and if you find glass fascinating as a material anyway, it's pretty much a must! We went to London Glassblowing Courses based in Walthamstow, North London. Incredibly in one day (a fairly hot day, it has to be said!) we each came home with four complete pieces we'd made ourselves.

The first thing they get you to do is really more about convincing yourself not to run away from the furnace immediately (which your brain is insisting is what you really should be doing) and actually concentrate on moving an iron rod in through the little door of fear and gathering some molten glass from the huge ceramic pot-full inside, carrying it out and across the room, not dropping it on the floor, not touching it, and using your hand (with only damp newspaper to protect it) and a tool to shape it. The result is what they kindly term a 'snowman'. It could also be called a wobbly blob, a thingy, a doorless doorhandle, or a nipply thing, depending on how your mind works I guess.

Next you progress to a traditional spherical paperweight, decorated with air bubbles and delicate floating petals of coloured glass inside. At this point, this looks like the pinnacle of glass design and utterly mystifying in it's production. They guided us through it really well though, starting with gathering some glass as you do for the snowman, then gathering another layer to build up the quantity. You then round the shape off again, before one of the instructors helps you add a soft, molten stringy bit of coloured glass onto either side, flattening it down to a blob. Then you do the fun bit - squishing a sharp tool into the centre of the coloured blob, now soft and maleable with a bit of resistance, like caramel. This makes the decorative petal shape and creates a space to trap the air bubbles when you then gather the last layer of glass, round that off and finish the piece.

In the afternoon, the glassblowing begins. Task one is a tumbler or drinking glass. I will never look at one the same way: this is a real challenge. Just look at the mess I made;

This time you need to get your skates on. Take too long getting between the furnace and your seat and the glass will be too hard to blow (sorry, couldn't think of any other way to say that...) But go too quick and your blob of glass goes all lopsided and you really can't blow a bubble into it until it's nice and balanced and shaped nicely - otherwise the finished piece will be thin on one side and all chunky on the other

Although, describing the process as 'blowing a bubble' doesn't quite do it justice - think Pob-esque faces and ears popping. So now you have your glass, you've coaxed a bubble into it - first by re-heating the glass in the glory hole (yes it's really called that) and coaxing one-breath's worth of air into expanding for you, followed by more re-heating and more Pob-facing. Once you've got a decent-sized bubble, you shape it into a nicely spherical shape...

Lovely. Now, add another iron rod on the opposite end, and break the glass off the blowing rod. (Yes! "Break it off"! I know!!) I don't seem to have a photo of that bit - perhaps because it felt particularly nail-biting and I couldn't take my eyes off it every single time. So now you have your bubble attached to a rod, with one open end from where you broke it apart from the blowing rod. This is re-heated and you shape your tumbler into an elegant and delicate shape (*hahahahaha*)

Corinne's actually looked great. Like a glass a normal person might even buy. Mine is the tumbler only a mother could love. It even has a half-resealed crack up one side, where I broke it away from the blowing rod a little too enthusiastically.

And finally, the pièce de résistance - a glass dish (some beautiful examples of which - like these by ,Stewart Hearn - we had been admiring in their small gallery upstairs). We stuck to one colour - which was complicated enough to add, so they did that bit for us; I think the really saturated coloured glass rods that are divided up to add to the clear in small quantities are particularly expensive. It started off much like the tumbler, except bigger of course, and with an exciting addition of a glass foot, for which you need a few pairs of eyes;

BUT! One of THE most exciting parts of the day, I have to say, was the amazing way the dish took shape. From when you get to the stage of what is essentially a big wobbly tumbler on a stick, you then take the whole thing and stick it back into the glory hole. Utterly insane. I know. But THEN!!!! It goes a bit soft and saggy. You can see it melting, and when it almost falls in on itself.... you SPIN!

...(and then you make sure you can still get it out through the hole) and then you SPIN SPIN SPIN LOADS MORE! It really is that exciting!!!!

And if you wanted a dish with scalloped edges, at this point you just turn the whole thing down towards the floor, and there you go, gravity is your friend.

I kind of like the jaunty asymetric quality mine has...

You can contact the guys we did it with at glassblowingcourses.co.uk.

Tragedy at Sea

2010-08-06T00:24:00.001+01:00

Tragedy at Sea, originally uploaded by tom gauld.

This made me a bit sad, in a lovely kind of way...

Bake More Cake

2010-07-08T14:26:00.001+01:00

Bake More Cake, originally uploaded by jacqui sharples.

My thoughts exactly.

Find out more about Jacqui (or Jax) at PRINTforLOVEofWOOD and Letterpress In The UK and buy from her Etsy shop

Infinity Symbol by Veronica Salazar

2010-07-02T17:14:00.002+01:00

Infinity Symbol, originally uploaded by Book Of Art.

Beautiful sculptures made out of books. She seems to favour typography but this infinity symbol says so much. Amazing!

(spotted at Rag & Bone)

Staircase 2

2010-06-26T13:02:00.001+01:00

Staircase 2, originally uploaded by mozzling.

Lovely colour

Playful Type

2010-06-08T13:33:00.005+01:00

Well, I was planning on writing a post telling you all how great these Uniqlo Playful Type tees are. But then I realised all the ones I bought 2 days ago at full price are now in the sale. So I don't think I want to tell you how great they are anymore. I want to sulk.

Whoever heard of Gestalten anyways.

January to March 2010

2010-05-28T14:00:00.002+01:00

January to March 2010, originally uploaded by wil_freeborn.

Great work from Wil Freeborn - take a look at the detail and colour full size. Well worth a look through the rest of his Flickr stream.

Natsko Seki

2010-04-30T13:10:00.004+01:00

Public Bath, 250 x 250mm, 2008

I went to see the Pick Me Up show at Somerset House yesterday and was really overwhelmed by the amount of great work on show. One artist that really did stand out to me that I'd never seen before was Natsko Seki. Her work is amazingly detailed (which is difficult to get across here) and really fascinating. It's joyful and happy but also quite subtle, and the range of techniques she uses in the pieces she showed seemed to blend together seamlessly, and gave an energetic feeling of depth. Really beautiful stuff. I wish I could of afforded one of her larger pieces, but I did manage to pick up an (unlimited edition I think) print of the gorgeous 'Kite' from the shop for a meagre £20.

It was amazing to see Rob Ryan in action, carefully and determinedly drawing away with an automatic pencil, while one of his glamorous assistants sat cutting away with a scalpel. The room was packed and actually kind of claustrophobic. I would of loved to talk to him, but he was so engrossed I didn't want to disturb him. Also, what am I going to say?! "Hi I'm a huge fan. it's really great for me to be able to meet you. And I'm definitely more important than the other 100 megafans also in here. I can't afford to buy any of your work though." YAWN.

ATMOSPHERE

2010-04-07T14:18:00.002+01:00

ATMOSPHERE, originally uploaded by wearebrainstorm.

Atmosphere
18" x 24"
5 color silkscreen print
$30

www.wearebrainstorm.com

The Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction

2010-03-26T13:28:00.003Z

I saw this on a really interesting BBC4 program last night called The Secret Life of Chaos and just had to share it, it's so beautiful! Almost magical. It's the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction.

It led to a whole section of beautiful images brought about by feedback loops Definitely worth a watch!

Rob Ryan - light and space

2010-03-16T18:02:00.003Z

Rob Ryan posted these quite beautiful snaps on his new(ish) blog this week. Papercuts aren't just for hanging on walls you know.

Cabin + Cub

2010-03-15T13:36:00.004Z

Spotted this on the Etsy front page today and loved it straight away! There's something about the slightly angled cut-out and rich swirls that contrast really nicely. A giclee print of an original collage, you can snap up Constant Bird Talk for only $15, from a limited edition of 100 prints.

See more sweet things at the Cabin + Cub Etsy shop and read more about Valerie, her work and her inspirations at the Cabin + Cub blog.

Beth Pohlman's Jewellery

2010-03-12T13:27:00.009Z

I discovered Beth Pohlman's jewellery recently, absolutely gorgeous pieces. She does a fantastic range of modern organic designs, but the ones that particularly stood out to me were these 'Pyramid' styles and the 'Sphere' necklace. I love the geometric structural quality, contrasted with the handmade silver construction. Beautiful things! If anyone would like to buy me one from her Etsy shop I'd be really grateful. Thanks.

formspring.me

2010-03-08T18:33:00.002Z

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/itsnice

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

2010-03-01T13:29:00.001Z

oooo pretty. Spotted on ebay.

Drypoints, from Minu

2010-02-26T14:12:00.003Z

My Jumper, originally uploaded by sissT.

This new series of drypoint prints from Minu are just lovely. Great characters, and beautiful printing. See more on her Flickr.

The New Forest

2010-02-02T13:27:00.002Z

a winter walk in The New Forest...

Lots more on Flickr.

enormouschampion

2010-01-20T14:32:00.003Z

Not a hugely stocked Etsy shop but some interesting bits and bobs, enormouschampion are a duo with some lovely printy stuff.

Charting the Beatles: Working Schedule, 1963-1966

2010-01-19T12:19:00.002Z

Charting the Beatles: Working Schedule, 1963-1966, originally uploaded by ChartingTheBeatles.

Charting The Beatles

Polarizing Filter

2010-01-11T17:43:00.001Z

I'm starting to play around with some filters on my camera. I'm sure this isn't how a polarizing filter is supposed to be used but I like the inky lo-fi look it gives to this picture I took in the park yesterday. Nice and grainy but still with a decent amount of detail in the trees...

Some Lovely Things...

2010-01-10T21:51:00.004Z

Although I should warn you not to look at this if you are in any way trying not to buy things, stuff, or whatsits after Christmas, because you'll be whipping out your credit card faster than you can finish ooo-ing.

Mostly useless things i want is an impeccably curated wish list put together by Jessica Hische (yes, that Jessica Hische).

Snowy Walk Home

2010-01-06T13:57:00.003Z

This is about as snowy as it's gotten in SW London so far...

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T21:23:00.001Z

Didoni Biscuits

2009-12-07T11:54:00.004Z

Lovely letters + biscuits = genius

From ToveLisa via decor8

Shake It

2009-11-23T14:43:00.004Z

There's quite a lovely Polaroid exhibition at the moment at Battersea Park's Pump House Gallery, featuring a fetching David Hockney composite Nicholas Wilder Studying Picasso, some gorgeous Guy Bourdin images and André Kertész's intriguing portraits of glass blobs. And I never knew that Andy Warhol was responsible for those endless Beauty features in glossy magazines - you know the ones - lightbox + perfume bottles = feature...

I need these in my life.

2009-11-11T14:10:00.002Z

Letter Coasters & Number Placemats from Little Factory.

Lubalin Now

2009-11-06T14:03:00.004Z

Jessica Hische

TV Land, Gretel, Matt Owens.

This is what you might call my cup of tea.

I'm not sure whether this is at the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography or Cooper Union’s gallery, or both, but it doesn't really matter unless by some miracle someone hands me a free ticket to New York. That would be nice, though.

Tom Gauld for the Guardian 187. Eric Gill

2009-11-04T14:10:00.001Z

187. Eric Gill, originally uploaded by tom gauld.

Banksy's Steam Roller

2009-10-07T13:25:00.003+01:00

I'm not sure the point of this recent Banksy work is to bring to mind Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but I'm afraid that's what I'm getting...

Tom Gauld - Robot 22

2009-09-29T09:51:00.002+01:00

Another lovely robot, this time created with Odosketch.

Whippy

2009-09-01T12:14:00.001+01:00

Love this ice-cream inspired light fitting design from Mixco, the 'Whippy'.

does anyone know who painted these?

2009-08-25T12:50:00.002+01:00

does anyone know who painted these?, originally uploaded by kweezy mcG.

Mystery solved! It's the talented Graham Carter, and limited edition prints are available online here.

My New Favourite Blog

2009-08-04T13:09:00.005+01:00

Bakerella might just be the best thing ever (besides actually eating cake). Concerned not only with making A LOT of very yummy cakes and other sweet lovely things, the posts are as much about imagination, decoration, colour, styling and photography. A feast for the eyes. eh? eh?! (sorry, had to...).

Topshop Totes

2009-07-28T17:42:00.004+01:00

Topshop.com are giving away one of these cute tote bags with every online order at the moment. Rather tempting...

Walk on the Beach #1

2009-07-23T17:14:00.001+01:00

I love the softened glass you find on the beach...

Apollo 11

2009-07-23T11:48:00.005+01:00

A little bit slow off the mark I know but I only just had a look at this, and the images are too good not to share... Boston's The Big Picture with another astounding collection of photographs from the Apollo 11 Moon landings.

Joshua Covarrubias

2009-07-14T14:42:00.005+01:00

I saw the fantastic flowchart below from the Pipeline, designed by Joshua Covarrubias (through a tweet from @yellowgoatetsy) and it made me smile. I'm glad I Googled him and found his website (bit mean of them not to link to it I thought?) as it has some lovely pieces, particularly the image above (for Kalina Magazine).

The Sartorialist

Pattern People

2009-07-07T10:15:00.003+01:00

I've just discovered the great Pattern People blog. Written by Pattern People Jessie Whipple Vickery, Valerie Mathus and Claudia Brown, the posts pull together inspiration and trends from the world of fashion and textiles, alongside everything from interiors to art exhibitions they curate themselves.

Image above from Hervé Léger for Max Azria post. I love the organic shapes the contrast of these harsh linear patterns create.

Below, Janine Rewell's "Tan Lines", originally seen here. A fantastic idea, although it would definitely make me feel less squiffy if it was a spray tan. Not sure anyone really needs encouraging to use sun-beds...

Looking Into The Past

2009-07-03T09:58:00.004+01:00

Portland Oregon, Then and now, originally uploaded by Tinflower.

The lovely Looking Into The Past Flickr pool juxtaposes old photographs with their contemporary original locations.

Via Wired

Tate St Ives

2009-06-30T16:58:00.002+01:00

Tate St Ives, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Just got back from my jollies and now I'm ploughing through the ridiculous amount of photographs taken. In the meantime, St Ives is lovely, Tate St Ives was really rather nice and there were some great bits of handpainted type bobbing around.

More to come on Flickr, and normal service (ie. sporadic and random posting) will return soon...

Faber 80th Poetry Series

2009-06-19T13:53:00.001+01:00

Faber 80th Poetry Series, originally uploaded by Faber Books.

Lucky me, I have some very pretty books to dig into over my holiday.

Featuring fantastic lino-cuts by various artists, credits for all on Faber's Flickr stream, and more info on the books here.

Joanna Rutter

2009-06-17T12:40:00.005+01:00

Gorgeous jewellery from Joanna Rutter, soon to be stocked by Soma Gallery in Bristol or you can buy direct.

You can also keep up with Joanna's new work on her blog and Flickr stream, currently featuring some lovely surface pattern designs and pretty leaf cut-outs too!

Salvaged Garden

2009-06-15T14:16:00.001+01:00

Fab salvaged garden, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Bit quiet on the blogette at the moment I know, trouble is when 2 out of 3 of the design department are off on maternity it gets a tad busy.

Anyway, here's a snap of a great garden I saw on Friday, every time I look at the pictures I spot more things...

We Love You So

2009-05-18T14:14:00.003+01:00

'Wildcake' from Coco Cake Cupcakes, worth a look for some sweet sugary goodness, and also cat cakes.

Blogging the inspirations, influences and building blocks of the Where The Wild Things Are film.

via Binky

So jealous...

2009-05-14T14:00:00.000+01:00

... that my friend got to meet these guys today!

Beach Balls & Balloons

2009-05-14T10:57:00.004+01:00

TOBYhouse is primarily an interior and retail design consultancy, but they also produce a small number of lighting and housewares products. The Beach Ball and Balloon Lamps particularly stood out to me; the beach balls so much fun, happy bright and joyful, and the balloons are just such beautiful colours, they have a great depth and warmth to them. Apparently the products are available in boutiques in London and Milan, or you can find contact details on the TOBYhouse website.

Rob Ryan. Yes, again.

2009-05-13T15:15:00.003+01:00

Bristol's Soma Gallery brought some lovely lovely new prints to my attention. (How is this guy not writing songs?)

Cherry Blossom

2009-05-13T09:24:00.003+01:00

A friend of mine forwarded me an email full of pictures of Japan's cherry blossom season today and I had to share it. The contrast of the softest soft pink and the bright orange here is beautiful. To see the cherry blossom has to be one of my dream trips.

The pictures seem to be watermarked from wusjp.com but I have no idea what that is as I can't read Japanese, and apparently neither can google translate to any useful extent. A quick search through Flickr finds plenty more great examples.

167. Francis Bacon

2009-05-06T11:47:00.001+01:00

167. Francis Bacon, originally uploaded by tom gauld.

Cartoon by Tom Gauld for the Guardian (Saturday Review letters page)

Buy it!

Kuniyoshi

2009-05-05T13:45:00.002+01:00

I went to see the Kuniyoshi exhibition at The Royal Academy last week and thoroughly recommend it. One of the most influential and prolific creators of Ukiyo-e, Kuniyoshi was not only a highly skilled craftsman but also an innovator, developing the use of tryptych. His work covered so many areas, from his famous Warrior series, to political satire (not easy to get away with at the time), narrative, landscape, portraits of actors and popular stage productions, and even his own line in pretty surrealistic shunga. If you can then go when there's a guide to take you round, we tagged onto the group a few times and the guide was really interesting. I hadn't realised that prints of this kind were very mass-market, costing not much more than a couple of bowls of noodles apparently, and were also copied by rival print-houses - there's even a counterfeit version of one of the prints on show for comparison.

Now I'm pretty clueless when it comes to manga and other comic books, but just looking at Kuniyoshi's warrior prints you can clearly see a forerunner to the modern graphic story-telling of Japan, so much so that some of the compositions are deceptively modern, only the slight fade of the ink and wear of the paper give away their age.

There's a (much better written) in depth review of the exhibition here, and more info here.

Yulia Brodskaya

2009-04-16T13:58:00.004+01:00

The quite prolific Yulia Brodskaya has updated her website with even more yummy papery goodness. Check out her news for lots of recent commercial projects ranging from Starbucks, to t-shirts, more for The Guardian and lots more editorial.

Thanks for the tip, FormFiftyFive.

"New York's in Love" by David Bowie

2009-04-08T20:43:00.001+01:00

"New York's in Love" by David Bowie, originally uploaded by frogers.

Just came across this in my Flickr contacts - a painting for the Ace Hotel in New York by Jeff Rogers.

Miura

2009-04-03T13:21:00.001+01:00

Miura, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

I spotted some shots of this on vial3tt3r's Flickr , and just harassed him till he sent me one. And I'm so glad I did, it's really beautifull! And it came with my name on it, hand drawn, I can't tell you how fab it is :)

You can see more of it on the Miura website too.

GLAM

2009-04-03T10:13:00.001+01:00

GLAM, originally uploaded by pam sattler.

Something pretty to get Friday going...

UK Wired

2009-03-31T13:44:00.004+01:00

Possibly a bit weird that I'm quite as excited as I am about seeing this. It's looking good I think, some nice type - I like the squirmy 'start', it's a good springboard, and that header sans is lovely (not sure what it is though, I'm not very good at type-spotting). Some great illustration too, although I'm not sure about the clash of that orange with the orange-toned photograph on screen, but perhaps it will make more sense on paper. Nice portrait too with some lively colour (even with the floating punch-in-the-face arm). The article doesn't mention credits for these unfortunately.

Original article at SPD.

Plundered from Binky the doormat.

LEGO Twitter Fail Whale

2009-03-27T20:14:00.001Z

LEGO Twitter Fail Whale, originally uploaded by tveskov.

Full marks for effort.

Aoyama Hina

2009-03-27T16:40:00.001Z

sacla-fee600, originally uploaded by hinaaoyama.

Some amazing papercuts...

More here.

Picasso: Challenging the Past

2009-03-23T13:25:00.003Z

I went over to the National Gallery a couple of weeks ago to see the new Picasso exhibition there. I'd really recommend seeing it, it was so interesting. His painting is so full of expression, even when his works vary to such a huge degree stylistically I feel he could not help but communicate a sense of how he felt about the subject. For instance, portraits of his first wife from the beginning of their marriage and a couple from later in their relationship certainly betray a lot of feeling about her beyond those of her being a muse. One felt even sarcastic. I can't say I've felt that about a painting before.

One of the more obvious questions the exhibition presents is that of originality and authenticity - these are all paintings openly based on other artists' previous work - and what that means. What is inspiration, and what is, frankly, copying? Picasso presents a range of works where he more than successfully demonstrates that a confident personal style and vision is what shows through beyond subject matter. I think spirit matters too. A lot of this work felt like it was produced for the enjoyment of painting and exploring the concept first and foremost. Anything slightly more commercial just would not, by it's nature, communicate this spirit.

Olga au col de fourrure, Pablo Picasso, 1923.

Words Are Pictures

2009-03-11T13:43:00.004Z

I came across some fantastic work by Craig Ward today. It's so inspiring, and also really interesting to be able to see the work in progress on his blog. I find other people's work processes quite fascinating, perhaps because I'm not all that confident in my own; it helps de-mystify these fantastic finished pieces a little. Sometimes I don't feel like I exist in the same universe as some of the amazing artists I guff about on here.

Cartoon by Tom Gauld for the Guardian

2009-03-10T14:38:00.001Z

110. 3d Friends, originally uploaded by tom gauld.

Lovely lovely things.

The Face

2009-03-10T14:34:00.001Z

The Face 10.87, originally uploaded by nevermindthepollocks.

Ahh, the good old days. A whole Flickr pool of The Face.

The Nature of Things

2009-03-04T13:17:00.004Z

A lovely bit of surface pattern by the very talented Helen Dardik. I noticed this whilst catching up on my blog reading after my holiday. Helen often posts brand new ideas and patterns on her blog but this one really stood out to me. I love how it doesn't over-sentimentalise our connection to the natural world, but celebrates it in a positive way.

Helen's blog.

I'm back!

2009-03-02T15:43:00.001Z

View from Sears Tower, originally uploaded by ant217.

I've been off galavanting, but I have my feet back on the ground now. Plenty of posts in the offing, I promise...

It's bun o'clock

2009-02-02T15:22:00.001Z

It's bun o'clock, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Perfect to warm you up after a snowy lunchtime walk. (May have overdone the butter slightly though...)

Giant snowman in progress outside

2009-02-02T12:56:00.001Z

Giant snowman in progress outside, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

Front Garden. 1130 hours.

Life in Technicolour (nightmares)

2009-01-24T13:03:00.003Z

I don't get around to watching a lot of music videos, but this just appeared on my tv screen for a few minutes, and now I feel like Chris Martin is going to haunt my nightmares forever. Or a Chris Martin puppet, specifically. I have no issue with puppets, cute puppetty music videos, or puppets in rock star likenesses even. I once saw Beck play an entire set behind a small stage of Jim Henson Studio puppets, and that was bloody brilliant. The main problem I had with it was, aside from the general creepiness of the puppets (possibly a deliberate attempt to avoid being too cutesy, but really, who can tell?) is that it's SO bizarre, SO disturbing, (eerie, frightening, ghoulish, gruesome, hair-raising, horrible, menacing, nightmarish, ominous, shuddersome, sinister, terrifying, threatening, unpleasant, weird, etc...) that not only does it sit very uncomfortably with the song - Life in Technicolour, quite a classic Coldplay-being-amthemic, optimistic type of song - it actually completely distracts you from it. It insists that you don't listen to the song at all.

So, to sum up... it's rubbish.

Thank you. That is all.

Beck puppets = good. Just for your own reference.

Beck's Puppets, originally uploaded by Samuel Stroube.

The Most Depressing Day of the Year...

2009-01-19T17:57:00.002Z

...apparently.

Particularly so, now the world is without Tony Hart.

Boo, world. Boooo.

Colourful & Wintery Shopping

2009-01-19T17:38:00.003Z

Lunch-time multi-cheese sustenance from Paul, possibly my new favourite Saturday lunchy type place. Good cuppa too.

Shopping

2009-01-19T17:38:00.002Z

Some shops are just really nice to be in aren't they? Take Uniqlo - their clothes are, well, ok. I don't buy them often because they never seem to fit me very well. But I still love to be in there, which means even though I know their clothes aren't normally the best for me, I still find something good occasionally. Whereas most shops I I have that experience with may as well not exist to me - they're just not on my radar. A lot of shops in my price range turn into something very very depressing not unlike a jumble sale at this time of year, and Uniqlo feels even more like an oasis. A very organised, colourful oasis. I wish more of them paid this much attention to the actual experience of shopping, rather than swinging manically between TRENDY and CHEAP. And yes, they do shout.

That is all.

Topographic Ice

2009-01-07T16:55:00.000Z

topographic ice, originally uploaded by Camilla Engman.

How weird is this?!

Reading List

2009-01-05T18:46:00.003Z

Lots of exciting reading to do after my big pile of similarly shaped Christmas presents. New year's resolution number 1: actually read all of these. Even the ones with lots of pictures. I will let you know how they are (if I'm not the last person in the entire world to have read the 79 essays that is).

79 Short Essays on Design - Michael Beirut
The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford
The Olivetti Chronicles - John Peel
Print Liberation: The Screen Printing Primer - Nick Paparone & Jamie Dillon
Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles - Paul Gorman
The Invisible Man - HG Wells (Invisible: apparently I have to wait til the boyfriend's finished it before I can borrow it.)

Polaroid Pogo Printer

2009-01-05T18:39:00.003Z

My new toy. Nice prints, not fantastic quality but then that's never what Polaroid things are for really. You can peel the back off them and they're sticky so I think they'll be good for sketchbooks and things too. The prints are 3x5" to give you an idea of scale.

The printer would be so much better if it came with some kind of very short cable, or even better, some card readers built in. As neither of my cameras have bluetooth I have to rely on this cable, which kind of ruins the gadget-prettiness.

colour theme test

2008-12-19T16:15:00.001Z

colour theme test, originally uploaded by toxi.

A screenshot of something I don't entirely understand. I think it's quite beautiful though...

Frosty Patterns

2008-12-09T18:07:00.000Z

IMG_5441.JPG, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

I've been neglecting my blogging a bit lately due to my job going COMPLETELY MENTAL but I'm back now.

Noticed these lovely ice patterns on my way to work this morning.

If You Could 2008

2008-11-25T17:55:00.001Z

Print Series Catalogue 2008, originally uploaded by ifyoucouldflickr.

The full print series - available here for a bargainous £10.

Poladroid

2008-11-14T17:48:00.001Z

IMG_5212b-pola01, originally uploaded by hello.vickibrown.

An easy polaroid faker app available at poladroid.net. Pretty good I think!

Mibo Downloadable Calendar

2008-11-13T13:57:00.003Z

A beautifully illustrated calendar is available to download for all subscribers to Mibo's mailing list right now. Check out the rest of their website for some lovely prints and gift ideas all featuring the distinctive Mibo illustrations.

Apak

2008-11-11T14:01:00.004Z

Some psychedelic cuteness from Apak. Available to buy on Etsy. They're also featured on the, erm, charming, Charming Wall gallery.

Good Shape Design

2008-11-10T13:55:00.002Z

Some nice posters available at Good Shape Design, the work of Wayne Pate. At $30 a pop for silkscreen prints I think they're pretty good value, even though they don't appear to be limited edition.

Via Design*Sponge.

Gocco for Sale

2008-11-10T13:29:00.001Z

I'm selling my trusty gocco, if you're interested...

Callie Shell: Obama

2008-11-05T09:36:00.003Z

© Callie Shell / Aurora for Time

Callie Shell first encountered Barack Obama when she was producing what turned out to be an award winning photo essay about John Kerry's presidential campaign. According to digitaljournalist.org, she ended up turning in more photographs of Obama than Kerry, saying "I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road."

The full photo essay.

Time Magazine's selection for Barack Obama: Portrait of a Candidate.

Today's The Day

2008-11-04T14:01:00.005Z

Celebrate Change limited edition print by AngeliArndt

I'm not going to say a lot about the whole design + Obama thing, as plenty of other people have already posted much more eloquent points than I think I could squeeze into the last bit of my lunch hour (see below). But it has really struck me how everyone seems to be getting involved. Maybe it's more of an indicator of the design trends in general and the surge of designer/makers and craftspeople facilitated by things like etsy, folksy, dawanda. Whatever it is, it has to be good in terms of people actually getting out and voting, whoever they decide to vote for.

Hand printed lino cut by Jason Krekel at HandcrankedUSA
Wooden inlay pin at Obamastuff

Hope silkscreen by mmsuperstuff
Photograph © Marisa Allegra Williams

American Presidential Wrestling letterpress poster from YeeHaw

Just a couple of many more eloquent posts I mentioned;
Michael Johnson's Design Week/Thought For The Week article
Steven Heller

Typocalypse

2008-11-03T13:23:00.003Z

Subliminal messages fonts give as you scroll down that list... They pretty much all made me smile. By Lars Willem Veldkampf.

Paul Catherall

2008-10-27T15:20:00.004Z

I saw some of Paul Catherall's work, and an interesting short film about his linocut process, at the London Transport Museum this weekend. He has a really distinctive style and uses colours in an unusually poetic way that grabbed my attention - I remember seeing these out and around on the tube.
This particular series, Four Seasons, is available to buy at the Transport Museum Shop.

Beau Ideal Editions Calendar

2008-10-21T16:14:00.004+01:00

A gorgeous new calendar from Beau Ideal just popped up on my reader. Hand screen printed in limited edition, it's slightly pricey at $48 plus delivery but there's obviously a lot of work and love gone into it. A simple idea that's been designed really consistently and effectively, with loads of yummy hand-drawn type. Yep yep.

Saw Your Face

2008-10-13T13:54:00.002+01:00

Saw your face, originally uploaded by alistairh.

Something, somewhere in Amsterdam.
It made me smile.

Update: This work is by Marijn van Kreij and Alistair has more info on the exhibition here.

Wellcome Award Images

2008-09-17T18:07:00.004+01:00

Lovely abstract stuff from the Wellcome Image Awards. All microscopic scientific imagery, some of it is surprisingly beautiful. The Silkworm Trachea above I thought was lovely, and the red blood cells are particularly arresting too.

Full gallery.

Lotta Bruhn

2008-09-17T14:15:00.004+01:00

Lovely Christmas patterns from Lotta Bruhn. Those birds definitely have an edge of Charley Harper about them - no bad thing...