Cars!

Calvin's car drawings have become fairly recognizable of late:

Sketch-o-rama

Miss Lucy and I had a sketching party this morning, focused not on making a perfect drawing, but on drawing what we actually saw instead of what we thought should be there. She drew me, and I drew her. Very fun!

For my rich days

Things I'm loving right now:

 

Dwell Studio's Hans Leather Chair (and matching ottoman, since I'm splurging) 

 

This "Croissants de lunes" mural by Bartsch (it makes me want to re-do Calvin's room)

Annie Vought's "Paper Cut Letters" series

 

Luke Lamp Co.'s unique up-cycled lamps

I love TED

Favorite TED talks of late. (For you to watch in all your spare time :)

For sheer fun and beauty: Marco Tempest's "The Magic of Truth and Lies (and iPods)"



For thinking about the relationship between algorithms and their potential for changing the actual, physical earth: Kevin Slavin's "How Algorithms Shape Our World"



And, just in case you want more and you never watched Jill Bolte Taylor's "Stroke of Insight", which is a must-watch in my opinion, here it is:

Paint as paint

An artist I admire, Paul Ferney, recently redesigned his website (it's beautiful). While flipping through, I came across his description of painting, which I really like:

I like the way paint feels, the look of paint. If I'm painting a tree, I'm not trying to make the painting look like a tree; I want it to look like paint—to never forget that it is paint. I like how primitive painting tools are. I use hair tied to a stick to spread oil mixed with plants and dirt on cloth.

 That last line is fabulous.

The Force

In honor of the rapidly approaching Father's Day, a few items that may or may not be on Mr. Nick's wish list. (Ok, probably not. But he's as good an excuse as any for a Star Wars-themed post.)

1. Cleansing Carbonite Soap (the link has a link for the how-to on this one)

(via Craft)

2. The Vader Project: artists interpret Vader's bust for an exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh

(via Fubiz)

3. And finally, my favorite option: vintage-y minimalist Star Wars tourism posters designed by Justin Van Genderen of Chicago

(via LA Weekly)

Funny bone

These all made me laugh recently ...

1. The Daily Bunny: daily shots of, all together now—bunnies.

2. The NYT's Heads of State: hair portraits of our presidents. Who do you know?

(art by Christina Christoforou)

3. (Warning: if you're not ok with slightly irreverent humor and/or lactation, skip this one). Behold, The Miracle of the Lactation.

(available here; by Alonso Cano c.1650)

Also known as "The Vision of St. Bernard." Apparently, St. Bernard knelt in prayer before a statue of the Virgin and asked her "Show yourself to be a mother." Why he was doubting her mothering abilities at this point in time, I don't know. But in response, the statue became alive just long enough to squirt some breast milk into his mouth. What's not to love about this?

4. These photos from Unhappy Hipsters, with their accompanying captions, elicited a chuckle. (As to the debate regarding whether U.H. is now "done" due to its increasing popularity, I vote no. It's been 2 months people.)

"She’d been begging her parents to swap out the gravel for a real lawn, with chairs and everything. She hadn’t counted on their literalism."

"Flipping the pages hurriedly, he sensed that the potted plants were advancing."

5. The Hill Hut. I know it's serious, but it makes me laugh all the same.

(found on Dinosaurs and Robots; images and full (serious) story at designboom)