| designblog | A topia of inspiring art and design for the modern-retro aesthete |
Scott G Cain is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Perth, Western Australia. Subscribe to Posts [Atom] Stumble it Technorati
|
Friday, 30 May 2008Etsy find: Wondercabinet's fantasy specimen In Wondercabinet's specimen series she manages to put together familiar botanical style images in new ways that always take a second glance to realise where they have come from. The prints blend beautifully and create something entirely new mixing fur, flower and shell. What adds to the authenticity and individuality is that Wondercabinet prints them on torn out pages from books, and the colour print interacts with the images and words on the book page beneath.Truly magical. Check out her Etsy page. Labels: art, Etsy, illustration, nature, print, retro, screen printing, Wondercabinet Thursday, 29 May 2008'Eames' wooden fox I found this little wooden fox in a second hand furniture store. I was instantly drawn to it's smooth lines and the way that it really looks like it is leaning forward, anticipating a chase. Then I picked it up and the solid, hard wood felt cool but somehow warm and inviting.It is reminiscent of the Eames house bird although I have not seen anything like this lovely fox before. If anyone has any ideas about where it comes from and how old it is, I would be very interested? Wednesday, 28 May 2008What do you Expedit? Yvestown: Retro patterned backing I came across Yvestown's expedit shelf on Ikea Hacker. What an elegant solution for the back of the shelves! I have my TV and dvd player etc sitting on my (4x8) expedit shelf and am always shuffling cords behind bigger things so I don't have to see them.  What do you Expedit?Topia7: Orange retro vases on red tiles Thanks to Damian Hopper for including a link to my blog on his! Labels: decor, expedit, ikea, interior Tuesday, 27 May 2008Re Jin Lee's adds art to the kitchen Artist Re Jin Lee does some lovely pen and ink work featuring flowing lines and heavy areas of black and white, mainly inspired by nature.She has taken her artwork a step further from just pen on paper though, and produced a series of cups, mugs, saucers and bowls with her simple line work cleverly integrated into the object. I would love to wake up on a Sunday morning and sit with the winter sun streaming in my window as I sip my morning coffee contemplating a lazy, relaxing day from one of these wonderful creations. Check out Re Jin Lee's website for more of her artwork or her Etsy page for products available for purchase. Labels: art, birds, decor, Etsy, illustration, kitchen, print, Re Jin Lee Friday, 23 May 2008Knitted art of Nina Braun I stumbled across the work of Nina Braun and it really captivated me. I love the scenic quality of this work, In the countryside, but it also looks like you could rub your face on it. There are not a lot of paintings you feel like you want to do that to... She really pushes illustration into a new direction using this medium. She inspires me to learn to knit!Check out more of her work at Nina Braun's website of if you are lucky enough to live in Hamburg, go check out her exhibition, Stick and move. Labels: art, craft, illustration, sculpture Thursday, 22 May 2008Gnomes in a cage I spotted these fella's while passing through a clothing store on my way to the carpark in Leederville. They have a little courtyard with a headless Snow white and other quirky little twists on kitch suburban gardens. These gnomes in the birdcage hidden in a corner were my favourite. Labels: art, decor, garden, leederville, perth, sculpture Wednesday, 21 May 2008What do you Expedit? Topia7: Orange retro vases on red tiles I just received the orange jug with little cup (front) from ebay and it was enough to put the rest of my orange vases, of this shade, together, separate from the other retro amber, red and yellow orange ones to make a little collection of their own. They are sitting on some red Bendigo pottery tiles that my Grandma bought in the 70's and I rescued from her old shed (with her permission). Expedit shelves from Ikea are great for making space for little collections. What do you Expedit?Labels: decor, ebay, expedit, ikea, interior, retro, vase Sunday, 18 May 2008Flickr find: Joel Pirela retro modern interior - with awesome chairs! I love the idea of having a set of classic mid-century chairs all lined up as interactive art sculpture pieces and Joel Pirela has done exactly that. Check out the rest of his inspirational modern retro interior design on his flickr page. Great stuff!Labels: art, decor, flickr, interior, sculpture Friday, 16 May 2008WonderThunder Cusion and MP3 Pocket After discovering and writing about WonderThunder's Clouds and Ghosts Pillow Cover I had to get one. I also bought this quirky little Thumbprint Face Ipod Pocket, which I really love. The thumbprint texture is really great and kinda' makes me think of exposed brains as much as hair, there is also quite subtle lines radiating from behind which can't be seen mush here, but it's really nice detail.Thanks WonderThunder!  Labels: decor, Etsy, illustration, interior, ipod, print, screen printing, wonderthunder Thursday, 8 May 2008Eva Solo Bird Feeder This modernist fish bowl-like glass bird feeder from Eva Solo is such a clean, pure design. I really like the idea that the birds can be seen from all angles, I can just see myself sitting on my balcony on a warm day in winter, watching wattle birds and willy-wag tails enjoying the seeds.The Eva Solo Bird Feeder is available in Australia from AboutStyle or in Perth, Western Australia from The Good Store. Labels: birds, decor, garden, nature Wednesday, 7 May 2008Threadless pick: Sasquatch In Disguise Of this weeks new release t-shirts on Threadless, the t-shirt I could defiantly wear would be Sasquatch In Disguise.I prefer the artier, more illustrative t-shirts on Threadless, as opposed to the silly or funny ones, and this is a great example. Check out more of the work of Sean Langedijk on his website: Hands for Eyes. Labels: illustration, screen printing, threadless Apartment Therapy: My 'Small Cool 2008' Favourite A website that I visit every day, Apartment Therapy, have been running a competition for the best apartment over the last few months or so. All the entries are in and they have given me so many ideas, really great stuff. My favourite though, is Bryan and Stefs green loft in San Francisco.The green, black and white colour scheme is so refreshing and modern and mixes modern with retro. It really has a lot of personality, not to mention space and natural light. Thanks for sharing it Brian and Steph! Labels: Apartment Therapy, decor, interior Monday, 5 May 2008Etsy find: Malabo's quirky sculptures These sculptures from Malabo are so fun and quirky and they sell out too fast! I am waiting for the combo of sculptures here to be available again at once so that I can buy them both together. Great stuff!Labels: art, decor, Etsy, sculpture Saturday, 3 May 2008Greens Cafe with paper lanterns! I met a friend for coffee in Greens Cafe in Leederville and enjoyed a few perfect flat whites. I really love the casual decor and especially the hundreds of white paper lanterns filling the roof. Such a great and simple solution for a memorable cafe experience.Labels: cafe, decor, leederville, perth Thursday, 1 May 2008Cathrineholm enamel bowls with citrus I have just picked up my latest ebay purchase, the small orange enamel Cathrineholm bowl filled with limes.I am really pleased with the way it works with the other items on my dinning table which include a print of a photo I took in Hanoi, Vietnam, a screen printed illustration that I bought on Etsy by The Little Friends of Print Making, a place mat made from recycled, weaved telephone book paper from the Philippines, that my sister bought me in Adelaide and a table runner that I bought from the lady who made it in a tiny village in Laos. The new orange bowl was definitely not a bargain. I ended up paying $63 for it (inc postage) which I guess seems kind of reasonable but compared to the green one, is extortionate. The green bowl I picked up at a thrift store for only $5! I am glad to have the orange one though, I do prefer collections of items rather than one off pieces. Labels: cathrineholm, decor, Etsy, illustration, Laos, screen printing, The Little Friends of Print Making, Vietnam Josh Cochran's Forecast. Behind my desk at work I have a print of Josh Cochran's Forecast.The use of colour, different scales and use of negative space really draw me in to this image and when I am day dreaming I get lost in the details of the image. Check out more of the illustrations of Josh Cochran. Labels: illustration, Josh Cochran, print |