Author Archive
In Singapore’s Little India district there’s a stylish boutique hotel making waves. The Wanderlust Hotel is a haven for contemporary design, filled with funky, one-of-a-kind rooms decorated around cool themes like outer space, bling, a tree, and a typewriter.
This Android wedding cake is so much fun! A little background behind it: the wedding couple work for T-Mobile and LG—and love Android.
Mindy Shapero is an artist based in Los Angeles who creates sculptures and installations that are filled with funky shapes and forms evocative of elements one might find on another planet. Mindy is extremely talented at composing surreal forms that have a captivating organic quality about them.
These lush mixed media illustrations by self-taught Brussels-based illustrator Raphael, aka My Dead Pony, are influenced by fashion, street art, and graffiti. Raphael mixes digital techniques with more traditional art forms like drawing and watercolor. The result is a stunning world of ethereal illustrations filled with splashes of color.
Erik Sommer is a contemporary artist based in New York City whose work reflects his urban environment. Erik paints with cement, and his canvases are filled with interesting textures derived from mixed media applications.
Envirosax, a company that creates designer reusable bags, commissioned recent design grad, Amit Ayalon to create this lush couture dress out of their collection of unique bag fabrics.
Knitted facial hair? That’s right! Keep your face toasty warm with these ingenious bearded hats by Beardhead. These funny caps come in “Viking,” “Lumberjack,” “Pirate,” and “Grandpa,” which translates to blond, brunette, black, and distinguished, respectively. You can buy add on mustaches too! How cool is that? For the ladies there’s also a pink “Bunny” version, but I prefer either Pirate or Viking myself.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Here’s a little lucky green-inspired art to brighten your day!
The first time I came across the art of Nancy Mungcal, aka Pretty Little Thieves, I was smitten. I love the way Nancy’s fun illustrations and stylized drawings evoke an aura of distinct playfulness. Her work is delightfully whimsical and I love the way she’s built up a personal repertoire of iconography that is seamlessly threaded into each of her characters throughout her compositions. From drawings to paintings to illustrations, Nancy has a way of creating beautiful shapes and patterns in the most dynamic way. Her art has an appealing folksy charm about it that makes it really unique. So I tracked Nancy down to ask her more about her art process…
Gayle: How did you get started as an artist?
Nancy: I have the typical drawing and making things as a child story. I never really stopped. A few years ago I decided to put my work out there. 
Ancient cavemen would be charmed by the Gamirasu Cave Hotel, modern cave dwellings set in a restored thousand-year-old Byzantine monastery in Turkey. The hotel’s got some cool highlights, such as Turkish cooking courses where you can try your hand at Turkish wine-making or bake artisanal breads in a stone oven.
But perhaps the most unique perk is the chance to witness the meditational dance of Whirling Dervishes. This Sufi worship ceremony, formally known as the Sema, is performed with the aim of reaching religious ecstasy. The spinning of the body in repetitive circles is said to be symbolic of planets orbiting the sun.
