adam normandin paintings

beautiful textures in these acrylic on wood paintings from los angeles-based artist adam normandin. adam is attracted to the beauty and subtle details in things people pass by on a daily basis, and is inspired by old and worn industrial objects. these freight trains are a perfect example. the cars, weathered by non-stop travel for years, possess just the right amounts of unique individuality, rich history and grace that adam seeks to expand on and show us.

see more of adam’s work in a variety of places: gallery 33 east in long beach, george billis in los angeles, and finer things in nashville.

contact adam and view more works online on his website.

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light box by jo meesters

what a beautiful light by dutch designer jo meesters. it looks more like a substantial credenza or other piece of furniture from the way it is crafted. made of wood, 8,000 holes have been carefully drilled and plugged with resin so that when lit from within, the pattern resembles low growing trees.

what a gorgeous, glowing room divider this would make, on or off.

see more from jo on his website.

via pan-dan

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mummy chair

this bright beech wood and stretchy ribbon-festooned mummy chair, from dutch designer peter traag for edra, certainly looks like it will wrap you in comfort the moment you sit in it.

see what i did there?

find it at moss.

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here there designs lamp collection

i am still sick but i think i have enough energy today to hop back up on the saddle and ride for a little while, which is a positive thing. please enjoy these pretty and delicate looking lamps from the folks at here there designs. do you like how these pieces look like pods? i do. they are made from abaca fiber, concrete and steel. in addition to these materials being non-toxic, renewable and sustainable, the collection is completely recyclable. that’s good enough for me!

see more and place an order through their website.

via the ecosalon

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sixth and elm wood accessories: miniview

we are circling back to some lovely burned wood boxes and frames i featured back in march for today’s miniview, since i loved them so and i think you all did too! these tactile pieces are made by toronto artist tellie finley. i think her collection is so pretty, collectible and timeless, and was curious to know more, so i asked three quick ones…

q: how did you get into this type of craftwork?
a: i got into woodburning as a child with a cheap kid’s woodburning kit and i was horrible at it. almost anything i am good at it seems that i have to fail at the first time, and it isn’t until i pick it up again that it starts to feel right. in a fit of boredom one cold winter i thought longingly of the cheap woodburning pen that used to burn my fingers after a while and, seeking some warmth since my husband refused to turn up the heat, i dug it out and started to burn a design on some scrap wood. then i burned on a blank wood picture frame. then our spice rack. soon my husband was hiding all our wooden items, sure that i was going to brand every piece of wood we own.

although i have graduated from the child’s wood burning pen, this was a recent upgrade and many of my original designs were done with nothing more than that children’s woodburning kit from 1989.

q: what inspires you to create these pieces?
a: i am inspired by anything lasting, timeless. the first (and most popular) piece i created was the french script box, which uses the text from love letters that are almost 900 years old. i love the lasting impression the written word can have and i try to create pieces that compliment the age of such.

nature is another thing that inspires me with it’s permanence. to look at an ancient redwood tree and try to imagine how many lifetimes of men it has stood sentinel is quite an experience. i think that is why i am drawn to wood as a medium, and woodburning as an art. i try to use wood from earth-friendly sources and i feel that i am giving wood a way to live on as art after it’s life as a tree is over. and i can’t deny that i love having my house smell like a permanent campfire.

q: do you have an arts background?
a: i did go to arts school, but it was for performing arts. i learned vocal, violin and drama for nine years, but i still think it was relevent as it meant i was surrounded by creativity. i don’t think being classically trained in a particular art is a requisite for being an artist, however.

every artistic technique i have ever learned was from the internet. a lot of great advice and some really bad advice all cobbled together to form the core of my “formal” training. a little success and a lot of failure has sufficed for my apprenticeship. time, more than formal instruction, made me the artist i am today. my official advice to beginners is simple: just keep doing it until you don’t suck at it anymore.

you can find tellie’s beautiful creations at her etsy shop, and see what else she is up to on her blog.

thank you tellie!

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monseigneur collection by philippe starck

yeh, i know philippe said a few very negative things about being a designer just recently, but i am willing to turn a deaf ear to it when i look at this monseigneur sofa he has made for driade.

very glamorous design from a guy who said that design is a dreadful form of expression, don’t you think?

find the collection here.

via trendir

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handmade wood beacon bookmarks

keep your place with these supercute $6 wooden bookmarks from the beacon bookmarks. jon and kristy try to use scrap wood whenever possible.

i so need that yawn one right now.

see the full collection at their etsy shop and say hi to jon and kristy on their blog too.

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cool lamps and lighting (round up)

let’s celebrate the longer days and brighter afternoons that are coming with a fun selection of contemporary lighting for the home…

graphic printed table lamps from catherine david

ceci n’est pas une lampe pendant by sander mulder

montana table lamp

twitchen silk lampshade and meridian jumbo pendant lamp

paso doble table lamp from sabine leuthold

page marker floor lamp with scrunchy paper shade from andrew aloisio

droog’s 85 lamps chandelier (i don’t care if this is from 1993 i still love it)

inflatable orca pendant and bubbles chandelier from puff-buff

pendant lamps from modiss

napoleon by the nile table lamp by tore ahlsén

oz lamp from romain duclos

cubix lamp and the celebrity lamp (yes those are sunglasses!)

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little critters exhibition at uppercase

thanks to her great eye, janine from uppercase gallery in calgary has given us lots of fun and funny things to stare at in the gallery’s current show, little critters:

digital igor beaver print from renata liwska

jason blower’s wooden elephant 7″h x 6″w x 6″l

fox digital print by mike kerr

local singers print from julie mclaughlin

this colorful (and very affordable!) show runs through the end of april. you can view all the pieces and purchase them online at the gallery right here.

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sixth and elm wood accessories

i think these wooden frames and boxes from toronto artist chantelle finley, aka etsy seller sixthandelm, are just lovely. the words and designs are burned on to each piece using a pyrography pen, then sanded and stained.

purchase these items at chantelle’s etsy shop and see her website too for more info!

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sea urchin table lamp

if you enjoy the shapes and textures of the ocean, you might like these sea urchin lights from california company lacor. they are crafted from chopsticks placed in cast resin.

simple and stylish.

see more products and contact lacor on their website.

via contemporist

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poppytalk handmade market - march

spring is nigh and look at the colorful reminders we have at the handmade market from poppytalk:

sterling and resin jewelry from melanie favreau

sweet office accessories from simple song designs

fun prints from cate anevski for her bees knees industries

polaroid sx-70 print photography from aly and rob for their isofoto

check out the rest of the market out right here.

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