ARTSY FARTSY

READING RAINBOW

Photos: GrainEdit.com

I love the look of graphic book covers. I do believe that you can judge a book by its cover. Fact: some are just better than others - long live Chip Kidd!, and while roaming around a bookstore recently, I realized how similar it was to roaming around a gallery. There really is some great art on the covers.

This is remarkable realization for me since I'm not really the biggest reader, and rarely make it past the periodicals in any bookstore. I'm glad a ventured out. 

I now have this great idea of collecting these amazing books with their amazing covers and starting a graphic library! I've been to houses with rooms full of books and am always in awe (assuming that they have read every one) and shame (I have no intention of ever reading that many books) and jealousy (I do love the aesthetic of a library).

Now I can visually justify having one. Suck it, nerds.

 

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WALTER KNOLL CIRCLE

DESIGN:UN STUDIOS/BEN VAN BERKEL

Vier Teile bilden den Cricle, je zwei einen Halbkreis, gemeinsam die kreisrunde Plastik. Die Neigung Ruckens und die Sitztiefe vanrandern sich flieBend vom aufrechten Sitzen biz zum entspannten Liegen.  Konstant bleibt die Hohe.  

Exactly.    

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KT LINDSAY

Peter: Forget them, Wendy. Forget them all. 

Come with me where you'll 

never, never have to worry about grown up things again.

A friend of mine just introduced me to a phenomenal photographer. Never in my life have I looked at a photo and wanted to jump into it, then out its window more. Enjoy more of her work at her blog HERE.

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BARBARA AHLBRAND

EDDIE & STEVE 38" X 40"

BAROMETRIC CHANGE 48" X 50"

Recently at a Cincinnati arts event, I met the most amazing artist.  As I wandered the dozens of studios, I couldn't take my eyes off her incredible oil paintings, particularly her portraits and her ceiling fan series (sampled above), and she proved to be just as terrific.   Ms. Ahlbrand sat behind a large table as I entered her 4th floor studio, and we started to talk.  She tried on my rings and let me rummage around.  Along with the canvases, she had remarkable works on wooden folding screens and paper drawing.  All of her work has this abstract boldness that is just intoxicating.  Out the window, the rain was clearing up just enough to let the sun set against an old brick wall.  It really made for a special moment.  I was elated when my ring got stuck on her finger, "I get a PAINTING!" I thought.  Sadly, she was able to slip it off  as I took my last long looks, and continued on my way happy to have met her.  Sigh...If only my fingers were a little smaller!  Until I have my own, I can look at Barbara Ahlbrand's work here.              

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YART

I'm a fan of Yard Art. I think it is amazing when people have the balls to put ridiculous things around their houses. (hice?) I admire the people that can pull it off because, in reality, it is a super tacky thing to do. I think about 99.999% of it misses the mark. But when it is done right, man is it inspiring. Both of these winning homes are on the same street if you can believe it. One has a permanent concrete blue squirrel in the back yard; the other an ephemeral inflatable Easter chicken in the front. Both are quite big. I think that is what makes it so good. Don't sweat the small stuff, and just put one big crazy thing in the yard. It makes it look less like crap is trying to run away from home, and more like a sculpture garden. Very Jeff Koons.

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FONTS

I love cool fonts.  The whole idea of the Crystal Goblet fascinates me.  Recently, while looking for a cool font for a friends web page, I stumbled on a few sites that can totally help you find the RADEST fonts around.  

fonts.com has a really cool application that asks you questions about how you like your numbers and letters to look and narrows the fonts down for you.

justmytype.com has vector files for AI (like the one above) that are very, very nice. 

 

Check them out and see what you can do with 'em.  

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JOSEF ALBERS

So, I am going to reread this book over the weekend. I forgot how much I loved it...Not only are his images the most amazing things in the world, but the ideas behind them and what they bring up are really cool. The whole idea of objective reality put in the simple context of color permanence makes me really scared. I like that. Take the passion even further and try this activity...

Go get one of these...

And one of these...

And try the concepts out for yourself. They are fun, and creepy, and educational, and when you are done you have these cool projects that you can leave on your coffee table and freak people out with...Make it even better by keeping them on this bauhaus nesting table by the man himself. Hoodie Hoo.