michele pred mixed media sculpture

california artist michele pred creates three dimensional sculpture work out of confiscated items she has collected over the last five years from airport security checkpoints at the san francisco international airport. she collected these items to express the disruption we have felt in our everyday lives since the 9/11 attacks in a visual way. the works are open to interpretation of course, and to michele they represent the “arbitrary intrusion of disorder and all that is now lost and unrecoverable.”

what do they symbolize to you?

michele will be exhibiting her work in a solo chow at the john michael kohler arts center from june 15th - october 12th, 2008. if you can’t get there in person you can see her most excellent collection on her website.

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shooting target poster

i do believe that we who live in the urban environment can relate to this limited edition giclee canvas sometimes.

or maybe it’s just me.

pick it up at supermandolini (in poster version too).

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anna higgie illustration: let’s chat!

i am straight up crazy about these illustrations from anna higgie. when i browse through her portfolio i feel like there’s something for everyone here: contemporary and vintage influences, notable technical skills and just the right combination of sensuality and emotion that make me want to scan the whole piece of paper with terminator-like precision, just to make sure i don’t miss any detail. there is grace, youth and style, bold graphic abstraction and honest curves on edges of eyes, shoulders and faces that celebrate the human form. let’s have a chat with anna and find out more!

q: where do you live, and where do you create your art?
a: i was born in australia, but currently i live in bristol, in the south west of england. at the moment I make my work at home. i draw on a small scale (A4 and A3), so using my house as a studio is not a problem. i am thinking of renting a bigger space soon though, so i can make bigger things and make more mess.

q: what is your background, and did you study art formally?
a: i grew up travelling around with my family. my father was a diplomat so we we would go back and forth between australia and europe. most of my memories from childhood are from living in vienna, where we spent four years. when i finished school i decided to go to study art at the national art school in sydney, australia. i spent three and a half years there studying painting, drawing and art history, and then moved to london with my family and studied design there for about a year.

q: can you tell us a little about the techniques you use?
a: i work from photos a lot. i had some incredible drawing teachers at art school that really tightened up my technique. of course it was all life drawing at school, no photos. four hours a week every week for three years. i learnt that drawing is more a state of mind than a technique though. it is about seeing more than anything else, and about being highly critical and objective.

at the moment i love to use a pacer, which is one of those pencils that you click lead through. i haven’t used a pencil sharpener for years. i also love pantone ink pens, and i have to have nice paper, with a good thickness, and not too white.

q: do you think your work has transformed since you started making art?
a: i still have my sketchbooks from when i first started really getting into drawing when i was about thirteen years old. i hope there has been a lot of development since then, but i know that fundamentally a few things have never really changed. i have always had a preoccupation with feminine beauty, and in a certain type of clean technique and use of materials. i think i have gained confidence and learnt a few tricks since then though.

q: what is the price range of your collection?
a: i sell drawings for 200 - 300 pounds and giclee prints for 60 - 80 pounds. i do commissions at varying rates. it depends how much the project interests me.

q: what is the inspiration behind your collection?
a: my inspiration is the possibility that i might one day make something truly beautiful.

q: do you have a favorite piece you have created or a favorite theme to work with?
a: my favourite theme: poetic beauty vs. hard edge graphics. here are two of my faves…

q: i find many of the images in your portfolio provocative, and even when your subjects are at rest there is still a very powerful feeling that comes through - something dynamic and alive. is there a specific message you are trying to send through these pieces?
a: i am not trying to send a message at all. i choose my subjects because of something intangible that speaks to me in a face or a gesture. i suppose it could be called beauty, but i think it is a melancholic sort of beauty.

q: where can we go to see your collection in person, and is there anything else meaningful you would like to include here?
a: i am trying to find the perfect time and place for a show right now. if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, i would love to hear them.

select pieces of anna’s work are available for purchase at nucleus. see anna’s website to view her complete collection, purchase other original works and contact her.

thank you anna!

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supermandolini designs

tikanis, kala? let’s chat about the moderne hipster graphic designers over at greece’s supermandolini for a moment. they first set out making tee shirts, but that evolved into an intriguing product line which includes hand assembled and finished items like acrylic jewelry and prints as well. perhaps you have already seen the avant daily commuter necklace, but what about the rest of the line?

it’s all very urban to me, with a tiny salute to the late seventies and eighties. that humorous-but-foreboding tension flowing through all their work sets my teeth on edge, but i think that progressive emotional response equals success in art.

efharisto for the info, emanuel!

view the entire product line and purchase it on their website (they ship round the globe!).

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desk toys for the office

need to blow off some steam at the office and don’t feel like stealing an industrial copier as a prank? check out these fun desk toys:

office sign language sticker set, at the perpetual kid

handmade mean bags to chuck at people, at maybeyoushoulddie’s etsy shop, via cribcandy (oop sold out!)

squeezy faces on the moon stress balls by makiko yoshida, at moss

okay, so i had a rough day… sorry i could not resist!

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bulletproof rose brooch

if james bond and wonder woman had a baby, i think it would be canadian conceptual artist tobias wong. here is his kevlar brooch, sweetly styled as a petaled flower, in slightly intimidating black:

this beats a water-squirting one anyday.

i love how he’s manipulated the tough, seemingly stiff material into a pin someone would wear on their winter coat. it’s a profoundly impressive achievement for someone who says he doesn’t necessarily want to make art or design. he’s also a tad skittish about “preciousness” and “uniqueness,” which is why he favors the idea of design more than art.

non-updated website with other fascinating items from tobi right here.

the pin is available at the cooper-hewitt shop.

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intense toyme jewelry

very edgy jewelry from toyme of italy, whose chief designer, georgo phillip pecenikov (gogo) comes from a long line of traditional jewelry makers. all pieces are cast from silver and are plated with rhodium, gold and other metals, for long-lasting shine.

i think i like the space invaders rings the best because they’re the most benign…

check out other pieces in the line and purchase it at a + r.

via betterlivingthroughdesign

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