Archive for April, 2011
Even cracked sidewalks in Paris are magnificent. Juliana Santacruz Herrera has come up with a fancy way to dress up the cracks in the street. What a cheerful way to brighten things up! If only every sidewalk looked like these!! Happy friday everyone!
Calling all fashion lovers (especially those who admire Icelandic design sensibility): you must have a look at this Icelandic fashion video as well:
Icelandic Fashion is Inspired by Iceland from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.
Yes, I’ve got Iceland on the brain again! While diggin’ around the net, I came across this magnificent video by one of my favorite musicians, Emilíana Torrini (who happens to be of both Icelandic and Italian descent, by the way). This video manages to visually sum up exactly what it felt like to be in Iceland. Have a peek!
Inspired by Iceland Video on Vimeo.
Photo by Przemyslaw “Blueshade” Idzkiewicz.
I’m completely spoiled from the years I spent living abroad in Florence, Italy. When it comes to dining in Italian restaurants in the U.S., it’s a real challenge to find places with true authenticity. It’s not that most Italian restaurants don’t serve tasty cuisine, they definitely do, but it’s the disheartening disappointment I feel when a dish comes and it’s been thoroughly Americanized that deters me. How I wish I could just sit back and enjoy a meal without comparing things to the way they taste back in Italy! And talk about sounding snobby if I were to vocalize my feelings. So more often than not, I simply avoid eating in Italian restaurants, even though it’s one of my absolute favorite cuisines. A sad state indeed.
Enter Olio Pizzeria. I was thrilled to stumble across this tiny gem, hidden away in a quiet little plaza off Victoria Street in Santa Barbara. Just an hour drive from Los Angeles, you’ll find great Italian cuisine well worth the jaunt out of town. At Olio Pizzeria, which translates to (olive) oil pizzeria, you’ll encounter deliciously authentic thin crust pies prepared with abundant portions of olive oil and cooked in traditional wood-burning ovens just like they do back in Italy.
A balloon artist? What a unique concept! Today’s artist is quite an interesting character. I must say I have never come across an artist working with balloons…until now. Willy Chyr is both a balloon artist and an aspiring animator. A circus-lover at heart, Willy joined the local circus while he was a student of physics and economics at the University of Chicago. He performed as a juggler, unicyclist, and magician, and learned to twist balloons in the process.
As a watercolor artist, I love to incorporate watercolors into my graphic designs. French graphic designer Fabien Barral’s work introduces a similar artistic vein. I was most struck by the ethereal element expressed in his clean, art-inspired designs, which feature watercolor paintings created by his wife.
Heiko Windisch is an illustrator living in Heidelberg, Germany who has worked as an apparel designer, illustrated snowboards, and exhibited his work in numerous galleries around the world.
What’s the craziest cake you can dream up? Chances are the folks at Charm City Cakes can build it. This Baltimore cake shop produces crazy, innovative custom cakes to satisfy any sweet tooth.
A number of hotels are inviting artists to illustrate wall murals for individual rooms, a concept which I love! What a great way to sleep inside an artist’s drawing. The Artist Residence Hotel in Brighton, England has rooms with sea views that are decked out with painted wall murals like these by Matt Saunders, an illustrator and animator based in Leeds.
