As far as I can tell, medianeras are what is left behind when a building that is connected to another building gets demolished. A "ghost impression" if you will. Whatever the true meaning, this photo set has some absolutely stunning pictures included.
Tuesday
Medianeras (Party Walls)
Monday
Golden Age Comic Book Stories
Those of you who have been reading along for awhile, know that I love me some good illustration. I used to stare at Heavy Metal magazine on the newsstand when I was a kid, wishing that I was old enough to buy it and look at all the drawings. When I got older and could buy it, I spent hours trying to copy the illustrations inside. And so it went...I developed a serious love for pulp illustrations, comics, pinups, album covers, etc. I just love to look at drawings. Period. So when I found the Golden Age Comic Book Stories blog, I knew I had found a new favorite place to indulge my addiction. Check it out. link
Sunday
Mod Knobs
You heard me. The name of the company is Mod Knobs. Anyone over the age of fourteen who giggled at that, raise your hand. Alright, I did too. No matter the name,these folks make awesome doorknobs in that Mission Impossible/Green Hornet/Courtship of Eddie's Father kind of style. Of course, only people over the age of forty will get any of those references. The rest of you are free to ignore me and just look at the pretty doorknob.via design milk
Saturday
Leather Wings - The Work of Stephane Halleux
Friday
Electric Sheep Podcast
Recently, Katie (Hoxton Handmade) from the Electric Sheep podcast asked me for a short bit of writing regarding my thoughts about gender and crafting for her podcast. I just listened to the resulting show and I gotta say, it's fantastic. She's got a great voice, great delivery, well thought out ideas and made a half hour fly by. Head here to check out the episode on gender and crafting: Episode 12 - Slugs and Snails
Thursday
Hammermarks Blog
Sometimes you run across a craft blog and just say, ahhhh. Hammermarks is the blog of Wendy Edsall-Kerwin, a metal artist who is on her way toward making it a full time career. She does beautiful work as you can see and she blogs about a variety of art related stuff as well as her own work. Go check it out! I think she strikes the perfect balance between showing us her process, writing about art, and showcasing her work. link
Wednesday
Going to a Go-Go
I don't leave town much these days, which is sort of incredible considering how much I used to. The expense of travel coupled with the fact that I just love Durham, keeps me close to home. Once a year, however, there's an event that I would just never miss: Ashokan Music and Dance Camp. We've been teaching there for years and it's an absolute blast. This time, we're leaving a bit early to visit relatives as well. Point being, I will be gone until the sixth, but never fear! I have front loaded tasty links for your perusal that will show up each morning, so keep checking in! I will probably have sketchy access to anything resembling internet connectivity while I'm gone so I won't be nearly as prompt in answering comments and emails, but please, keep sending them! I promise I'll get to each and every one as access allows. Have a great week!
Paul
CyberFauna: The Work of Ann P. Smith
I am loving the animals in illustrator/sculptor, Ann P. Smith's menagerie. Make sure and check out the two top animals on her robot page. She has included stop motion animations of both of them. Cool! This from her site:
"Ann Smith spends her days making little robotic like figurines from broken electronics and machine parts. The sculptures are sold in stores and galleries throughout the US and have been published as illustrations in magazines and brochures. Her clients include Chevron lubricants division, Cricket Magazine, and Cicada Magazine. "link via Web Urbanist
Tuesday
Airstream a la Mode
At first glance, you might think you're looking at a page out of Dwell magazine. The spare yet posh interior, the recessed lighting, the clean lines... Nope. It's a 1978 Airstream that has been tricked out beyond all recognition by maker, Kevin Fitzsimons. Thirty-one feet of pure modern luxury. Amazing. from MoCo LoCo
Wood iPod
Diggin the Red Cedar iPod case I found over at Boing Boing Gadgets this morning. Nice work by Jozaeh, putting this thing together! link
Monday
Quick Draw McGraw
I've developed a very interesting lunch time ritual lately. I have an hour to get out, eat, and get back and since my studio is close to my office and next door to a burrito joint, I've been adding a little lunch time art exercise to the mix. By the time I ride my bike to the burrito joint, I'm down 15 minutes. Burrito=another 15 minutes. Then, I draw for 15 minutes. Just stream of conciousness stuff. No thinking, no judging, just what comes out of my head. Sometimes very orderly, sometimes scattered. Anyway, it's fun, challenging, and really stops me from caring about the quality. Beating the clock and filling the page are all that matter. You should try it.
Shepard Fairey Process Video
I have to admit, I have been curious about Shepard Fairey's process for his new-ish, layered style of paintings he's been producing. This video takes you "backstage" in his studio. Cool. via @wellerwishes on Twitter
Wristwatch Motorcycles
Weird Russian Plant Beautification
Ran across these photos this morning and was struck by the juxtaposition of soviet era industrialism and pastoral landscape painting. Here, as best as I can understand using Google translate, is the deal:
"in 1989 a man named Gennady Vlasov, who had worked at the time the plant designer designer, on its own initiative (working evenings and weekends) painted these cabinets, with about 100 landscapes, like his, and copying pictures Scherbakova, Aivazovsky, etc. As He told me in a telephone conversation: working dirtied these cases, and in the shop was dirty, his desire was to maintain cleanliness in the shop. Ostensibly razrisovannye cabinets will be working to take care of. "link via Dark Roasted Blend
Sunday
Pin Portraits: The Work of Eric Daigh
Saturday
In the Future...
We will all drive pyramid shaped electric/solar cars. You heard it here second. link via Boing Boing Gadgets
Friday
It's Not Enough to Walk
I suck at this!
When I taught High School and I would ask my students to do something that was outside of their comfort zone (which included almost anything they hadn’t done before), I was always amazed at how fast they would want to give up. They had extremely high standards and almost zero forgiveness for themselves while performing processes that were entirely foreign to them. “I suck at this!” was an all too common mantra in my class for the first few months. This biggest challenge for me in the beginning was not discipline or class management (I’m a big guy with tattoos), it was breaking down the belief that somehow, because they weren’t instantly successful at something, they were failures at life.
read more...
Typography + Skateboards = Awesome!
Love it. I can imagine the conversation around the skate park..."Whoa, did you see that dude on the Helvetica stick do that sick 720 McTwist?" link via Swiss Miss
Nice Journal
Totally digging on the journal of Van Occupanther. I'd love to do an extended post on illustrated journals and sketchbooks, so send me tasty links if you've got them. via Leslie Herger's blog, Comfortable Shoes Studio
Eames LEGOs
Awhile back, I had the Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Guggenheim here on DudeCraft. Now comes a piece of architecture even closer to my heart, Charles and Ray Eames' house, known as case study #8 from 1949. Check out all the pics in ToT-LUGS flickr stream. Thanks Pam!
Thursday
Painting with Hamburgers
I still prefer brushes, but what a fun video. Thanks @GregoryNg for tweeting this! From Angry Clam
Children's Drawings as Photographs
Wow! I love this. Some of these are really brilliantly executed and most of all, fun. Check out the rest at Yeondoo Jung. via Meet Me at Mike's
Cut Out Collection: The Work of Sarah Bridgland
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I've just been introduced to the work of paper artist, Sarah Bridgland. Totally digging on the vintage sources she uses to assemble these pieces. Well worth a trip to her site to see the rest of her portfolio. via Design Sponge
Wednesday
The Grey Islands
I think Mike's adventure that he is embarking on qualifies as extreme craft. This from his site: "The Grey Islands is a three-month interdisciplinary ceramic art project. During the summer of 2009 I will live alone on the Grey Islands while I make and document a site-specific ceramic art piece. The installation itself will be quite simple. I will build a wood-fired kiln according to a traditional design, only I will invert the design so that in principle the kiln will be inside-out. Therefore, in a conceptual sense, the entire island will be "inside" the kiln - when I fire the kiln I will be firing the island. Upon my return from the islands I will create an exhibition based on the documentation and my experiences there. The ultimate purpose of The Grey Islands is to say that even within the material-oriented craft genres traditional hierarchies of medium and concept need to be reevaluated. " link
Fantastic Model T
Found this gorgeous '27 Model T over at Woodworkers Zone. Check out the amazing interior and exterior woodwork that John has done. Beautiful. You can see pics here and here.
Room Room
I'm loving this concept for emergency housing from a collaboration between encore heureux + G studio. Lots of photos here. via design boom.
"Basic" Wicker Basket
I tripped over to Jon's Bushcraft this morning and found this tutorial for what Jon calls a "basic basket". Just collect your brambles in the winter time, soak for several days, dethorn them, and have at it. Love it. link
Tuesday
Talk About a Man Cave
I saw this house on T.V. a few years ago on some show about unconventional living and forgot about it until just now. Glad it resurfaced because it's pretty amazing. My only question is: Who cleans the 17,000 square feet? Seems daunting to me. See the photo gallery here.from Apartment Therapy
See the Sea - The Work of Jason de Caires Taylor
I'm totally digging on the underwater sculptures of Jason de Caires Taylor. There is something so peaceful and yet, creepy about the forms, like some Atlantian survivors who have started a new life below the waves. I'm not a diver, but I might take it up just to see these. This from the site:
"Jason de Caires Taylor’s underwater sculptures create a unique, absorbing and expansive visual seascape. Highlighting natural ecological processes Taylor’s interventions explore the intricate relationships that exist between art and environment. His works become artificial reefs, attracting marine life, while offering the viewer privileged temporal encounters, as the shifting sand of the ocean floor, and the works change from moment to moment."link
Joon and Jung = Kook and Kookier?
Just found these "Rocking on the Beach" chairs over at Design Boom. Apparently, the series of plastic tubes from which they are created makes the sound of being underwater. I wonder if you got pipes of varying lengths and diameters if you could "tune" each chair and create the worlds first rocking chair orchestra? Seems like the proles are evenly split in their opinions with "awesome" on one end and "looney tunes" on the other. Wish they had an MP3 so you could hear the sound they make. link
Monday
Barrel Monster Bust
Raleigh resident, Joseph Carnavale probably had no idea he was going to run afowl of Raleigh's finest when he had the idea to build his roadside monster. Probably just sounded like fun. But John E. Law came a callin'. Yes he did. This from the site: "charged with misdemeanor larceny for allegedly building his orange monster from materials pilfered from a construction site. According to an arrest warrant, Carnevale "destroyed three road blocking barrels by cutting and screwing them together to form a statue." Police estimated that Carnevale's artwork caused $360 in damages to Hamlett Associates, the North Carolina construction company that owned the barrels." Glad my tax dollars are going toward hunting down vicious criminals like this! link Thanks Lindsay!
Update: I just read this story in the News and Observer (Raleigh paper) and in it I was surprised to find that the construction company didn't want to press charges and the project manager is quoted as saying: "Next time just ask for the barrels. The company would have handed them over. " and "I kind of wanted the Barrel Monster back," adding that the monster and maybe a clone around the construction zone would be more effective than the existing barrels in deterring traffic. So, what exactly is going on here? Seems like the only real crime committed was making the streets of Raleigh a little more safe. Let's let this kid off the hook, shall we?
The Bau Bike
I know what you're thinking. It's only three short months until my birthday and you're wondering "what would be the perfect gift for the man who has everything?". I think a bicycle modeled after the Bauhaus design aesthetic would do nicely. Here, I'll even give you a link to make it easier. via ackackack
**Update: In a related story...please don't get me this.
Rone's Toothpick Skateboard
Artist/printmaker Rone made this crazy set of skateboard decks. Must be a couple thousand toothpicks in there. Details on his site.
Sunday
Soul Motivation
I have, perhaps, been in front of my computer too much this weekend. Throwing caution to the wind, I've been reading a bunch of articles on crafting under the guise of doing "research" for DudeCraft. There have been some bright spots (Sister Diane's podcast I wrote about yesterday) but, by and large, the majority of what I've read has left me with a less optimistic and, frankly, emptier feeling than I had on Friday (pre-emersion). Of all the things I've read, there's one topic that seems to be cropping up everywhere and is at the heart of what's got me thinking.
Monetization. How to make money from craft fairs, blogs, and Etsy (Oh God, is there a lot of talk about Etsy). Let me start by saying that I am a big fan of money. Money can be a huge problem solver and I fault nobody for trying to acquire some of it through doing the thing they love to do. What hits me though in all the reading I've been doing (perhaps it's just the kind of reading) is that money seems to be the first priority for a certain subset of crafters out there. Now, I'm not one to write posts lamenting the demise of art for art's sake or to pine for the good ol' days when Granny BoBo made rag rugs simply because she needed to cover her floors. I would like to put forth the theory, however, that the reason you craft is directly related to the potential you have to make money from it. For me, and not to be overly cutesy here, it comes down to the difference between a sole motivation and a soul motivation.
The best artists I know, the ones that make the most money, and the ones I return to over and over again all have something in common. They are more concerned with craftsmanship and an ongoing dialogue with their muse than they are about the acquisition of cash. It takes guts to live that way. They have all had periods of being less than solvent and none could be considered rich, even now. In the end though, because their creative house was in order, they have, every one of them, made a decent living from their labor. None of them are especially clever business people. Their work simply stands out as extraordinary and, subsequently, people want to buy it.
The problem that I see with crafters who are overly concerned with making an income is that they have shifted their reason for making things. The lure of a monthly supplement has surpassed the desire to become a better artisan and, by association, a better person. What comes out of their studios is a product with no context that is disconnected from the maker. Objects that may have once been a direct extension of the maker's feelings, personality, and skill are now reduced to baubles in a transaction. The resulting art/unit/piece is completely bereft of, what we in the business refer to as, "mojo"; and nobody really wants to buy a handmade object without any mojo.
The remedy, to me, is clear. Stop chasing the buck and concentrate on making things that feed your soul and improve your skills. Period. No reason to wonder if anyone will buy it; just make it as well as you can, learn from it, and put it into the world. If it's got mojo, somebody will pay money for it. Objects with mojo sell themselves. They have a curious way of finding the people they need to be owned by. All you have to do is set the wheels in motion by keeping your creative priorities in the right order.
"To have a chance to learn and grow
to be skillful in your profession or craft
practicing the precepts and loving speech -
this is the greatest happiness."
- Mahamangala Sutra, Sutra Nipata 2.4
Typographical Architecture
Happy Sunday, everyone. Getting together my Sunday post is always a bit of a challenge being that internet activity and, by association, cool links are at a weekly low. Luckily, people send me stuff. Big thanks to Pip for finding this crazy print to lend a little inspiration to our day of rest. link
Saturday
Numero Tres
This one's for you, Treble. I think I probably need to fill the middle portion with chain stitches or something, but I wasn't feelin' it when I tried it. Somehow, the weave pleased me. Probably won't go over with the crochet crowd. I'll keep at it.
Practical Advice for Craft Bloggers
I finally found a few minutes to sit and listen to Sister Diane's latest podcast which dispenses advice about getting started as a craft blogger. More than once (about ten times, actually) I found myself saying "Yes!" to nobody in particular because the points being made were so "on target". I'll not try to review the whole podcast but I will give you the short version of what I think are the two most important things to think about (This is me riffing on the podcast. I am not quoting Diane).
1. Value. Please give me a variety of things to be inspired by and/or some information that I can use and pass on to other folks. I'm thrilled that you have an Etsy shop and, yes, a blog is a fine way to promote it but, honestly, if I like your writing style and relate to you on a personal level, eventually I'm going to make it to your shop. You don't have to post exclusively about new things in your store. It's okay to post about other people's work, learning resources, and inspirational sites in addition to your shop listings. Same goes for Twitter. One of my favorite Tweeps is @designerpens. Know why? Because Randy is a dude who makes pens and hardly ever tweets about it. He tweets about all kinds of other interesting stuff and posts tons of cool links. Have I gone to his online pen store? You bet.
2. The blog is not about you, it's about your passion. The blogs I read on a daily basis are not personal in nature. A good blog gets its wallop from the blogger's passion and that passion can be seen permeating every post. Some of the most popular sites are like this. BoingBoing is a great example. I read it religiously and link to it often. Why? Because those people over there are awesome! I would love to be invited to a dinner party with all of them. Cory Doctorow, one of the main writers is a pretty famous author and although he does post infrequently about his books, BoingBoing is not about selling books. It's about the contributor's passion.
Okay, I'm off the soapbox. You should now head over to CraftyPod and check out the whole podcast. It's chock full of good advice and gentle encoragement. Listen here.
Friday
New Poster
Second in the series. I think I'll probably do a postcard set when I get five designs together. Feedback always appreciated.
IKEA Varde Sink Unit, Hacked!
David's post over at IKEA Hacker details how he took a standard Varde sink unit, outfitted it with a $25 RV stove and made himself an outdoor kitchen. Awesome! link
The Perfect Seam
I'm not a quilter, but I do appreciate a good seam and, to be honest, mine don't always turn out as well as they could. I'm hoping that this trick I found over at Craft will put my seams on the straight and narrow. link
Thursday
Sidewalk Art Funding
Now this is a public art project! On their facebook page, Wooster Collective asked: "If I gave you $50 today, with the condition that you had to spend it on "art", what would you do with it?" and it was Ché Francisco Ortiz who provided one of the best answers: "Buy a ton of sidewalk chalk and give it out to every kid i saw at the park or boardwalk." WC liked the answer so much, they decided to fund this one man project and the fantastic results can be seen here. Small thing, big fun. Thanks Wooster, for being so danged cool!
Knot Trivet
Found this easy tutorial for a knot trivet over at Design Sponge this morning. I imagine this would look great as a replacement for a bow on a gift as well. link
Wednesday
Handmade Poster
Inspired by the Russian matchbooks I featured the other day, I decided to do a craft themed poster in the same style. Would anybody be interested in a limited poster run?
Sweet iPod Dock from Old Record Player
Found this cool looking mod over at the Unplgged section of Apartment Therapy this morning. You'll need a modicum of electrical knowledge for this DIY project, but there's a pretty clear step-by-step on the site here.
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