URPLE

iris tsante

2011-05-08T10:07:00.001-04:00

Colored pencils + shavings

Iris Tsante

silke spitzer

2011-05-08T10:07:00.000-04:00

Wood + veneer

Silke Spitzer

direct sunlight

2011-04-27T00:34:00.004-04:00

Today's weather called for shorts. And for that, I am thankful.

Scan from American Denim: A New Folk Art by Peter Beagle, 1975.
Found on: Wary Meyers

resting place

2011-04-27T00:18:00.004-04:00

I am loving Wynde Dyer's bench!
Anyone have tips on how I could DIY this -- specifically attaching wood to acrylic or plastic?

Found on: Design For Mankind
Originally on: work.place

mnz

2011-03-31T00:59:00.004-04:00

Spring is (hopefully) right around the corner -- which means exposed wrists -- which means I don't have to worry about my bracelets getting caught in my damn sweater! This Dragneva cuff would cradle my wrist bone into sweet dreams.

sibling

2011-02-09T21:17:00.002-05:00

I got a very nice surprise in the mail the other day -- this ring that my little brother made for me! I knew he could draw, but I didn't know he could do this!

little dragon

2011-02-02T00:06:00.001-05:00

Celebrated one year in New York by seeing Little Dragon perform at the Bowery.
I'm girl crushing on Yukimi Nagano hard.

P.S. She even has her own blog and sometimes she posts about her favorite jewelry designers. Swoooon.

Images via Brooklyn Vegan

new pins

2011-02-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

Pippin never lets me down!

heir to all

2011-02-01T09:49:00.001-05:00

What I spill in a dream
runs under my door,
ahead of my arrival
and the year's wide round,

to meet me in the color of hills
at dawn, or else collected
in a flower's name
I trace with my finger
in a book. Proving

only this: Listening is the ground
below my sleep,
where decision is born, and

whoever's heard the title
autumn knows him by
is heir to all those
unfurnished rooms inside the roses.

From Book of My Nights, by Li-Young Lee

snuggle

2011-01-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

The lovely Elizabeth has just added these perfect little sweaters to her knitwear line Primoeza. I love everything about them!

Available for pre-order here.

swimming in my own pool

2011-01-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

According to French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), the universe operated as a continuously running machine which God had set in motion. Since he rejected Newton's theory of gravity and idea of a vacuum in space, Descartes argued that instead the universe was composed of a 'subtle matter' he named 'plenum,' which swirled in vortices like whirlpools and actually moved the planets by contact. Here, these vortices carry the planets around the Sun.

via World Treasures of the Library Congress

christian hölscher

2011-01-20T01:07:00.000-05:00

More here

marta miguel martínez-soria

2011-01-19T21:37:00.001-05:00

More here

lucy hutchings

2011-01-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

Concrete colors + red rings + bright nylon

More here

pull it together

2011-01-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

Kiel Mead and Sarah Boatright's table that has a crack sewn together with a tennis racket string

via Sight Unseen

medusa

2011-01-10T22:49:00.000-05:00

Emma Cook cocoon dress at ASOS

Emma Cook cardigan at Matches

Emma Cook Abbie Dress at Opening Ceremony

satomi kawai

2011-01-05T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am fully frilled, brooch, 2009

More here

judging a book by its cover

2011-01-05T16:57:00.000-05:00

La Canne de Jaspe, Pierre Legrain, 1925

Carmen, Rose Adler, 1928

Trois Contes Cruels, Rose Adler, 1928

Quelques fables de la Fontaine, Pierre Legrain, 1928

Lediadé me de Flore, Pierre Legrain, 1925

Book bindings from the Art Deco period via Grabink

citrine clutching

2011-01-04T15:59:00.001-05:00

Anntian pillows

freeling

2011-01-04T07:56:00.001-05:00

Made by Karl Fritsch in New Zealand

via Gallery Funaki

twilight

2011-01-04T07:42:00.000-05:00

Rising and shining

subtlety

2011-01-04T00:15:00.002-05:00

My favorite scene of Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi in I Am Love.

The way the bracelet curves and ends around her wrist and how it is partially obscured by her sheer sleeve is aesthetic perfection and also a very telling analogy for the character.

It also made me realize that I've stopped wearing my silver bracelets. So I wore some today and wow, how I've missed the way they sound when they clatter against each other. I'm definitely no Emma Recchi.

tanel veenre

2010-12-28T10:11:00.002-05:00

More here

cassiopeia

2010-12-26T18:23:00.000-05:00

1. "Cassiopeia" by Joanna Newsom, from The Milk Eyed Mender
2. 'Heart and soul' nebulae in the Cassiopeia constellation via
3. Cassiopeia from Urania's Mirror via
4. Andromeda from Urania's Mirror via
5. Cassiopea andromeda via

creeeak

2010-12-01T22:02:00.008-05:00

Tell me, Mr. Wind-Up Bird, do you ever get obsessed with these delusions? Not to boast or anything, but I do. All the time. Sometimes, when they're really bad, I'll spend the whole workday wrapped up in a cloud of delusion. Of course, I'm just performing these simple operations, so it doesn't get in the way of my work, but the other girls sometimes give me strange looks. Or maybe I say crazy things to myself out loud. I hate that, but it doesn't do any good to try and fight it. When a delusion wants to come, it comes, like a period. And you can't just meet it at the front door and say, "Sorry, I'm busy today, try me later."

...

Please don't worry about me. I'm good at doing all kinds of things even when I'm in the middle of a delusion.

From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

jamie mcpartland

2010-12-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

Two, 2009

From here

put a ring on it

2010-11-23T16:14:00.000-05:00

With a raised, hexagonal setting and delicate hand engraving on both the setting and band, this ring is a breathtaking combination of Deco's bold geometric design and traditionally delicate details.

Art Deco Diamond Ring from Doyle & Doyle on Anthropologie.com

sunday morning

2010-11-23T16:04:00.001-05:00

mondrian to mantra

2010-11-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

Left: To The Adi Buddha, c.1968-70
Right: Invocation to The Adi-Buddha, 1968-70

Left: Gouache #147: The Chakras, 1961
Right: The Chakras, 1958-68

Left: Mandala of the White Arrow, 1963-64
Right: Gouache #220: Mandala of the Diamond Scepter, 1964

via Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

shipyard

2010-11-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

Sucker for the number eight in all forms

Discovered on an ambitious project collapsing, originally on Archival Clothing

ACL

2010-11-01T21:32:00.000-04:00

October 9 & 10, 2010

peenahpple pahnts

2010-10-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

Discovered via Style Bubble, image via Diane Pernet

helena lehtinen

2010-10-21T21:04:00.000-04:00

via Ornamentum Gallery

sara borgegård

2010-10-21T21:03:00.000-04:00

Almost everything in the urban environment that surrounds me is constructed, arranged. Things that I take for granted, things that have become natural to me. It is as if objects and spaces around me have always been there, but they are artificial. Applied. Even the landscapes are arranged. Buildings are placed like jewellery in the landscapes.

I construct, I arrange.

via Ornamentum Gallery

iris eichenberg

2010-10-19T23:26:00.001-04:00

From 'Pink Years Later'

Sexy and repulsive at the same time – you need to touch them – wear them and they transform… being placed on the body but also long for the person standing in front of you, triggering the voyeur in the other.

via Ornamentum Gallery

figments

2010-10-14T00:20:00.001-04:00

"To my mind, 'monsters' are just hints of shapes, fleeting visual cues that trigger the imagination to complete a shape. Aren't monsters often seen on very dark or very foggy nights?"

- Laurent Milon via Sight Unseen

portable treasuries

2010-10-04T22:30:00.000-04:00

Bummed that I didn't get to go back and see the Nadler's collection of jewelry at MAD before it closed. The Nadler's have an enviable collection of silver jewelry from their travels throughout "North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and the hill tribes of Southeast Asia." So amazing.

The Miao jewelry is always my favorite.

betty cooke

2010-10-03T21:26:00.003-04:00

Neckpiece via MAD

lisa gralnick

2010-10-03T21:26:00.002-04:00

Earrings via MAD

gijs bakker

2010-10-03T21:25:00.000-04:00

Circle in Circle from chi ha paura...?

trying to be smrt

2010-10-02T22:10:00.000-04:00

via Asian Models

lapis

2010-09-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

I love Arielle de Pinto's 2010 lookbook

we are floating in space

2010-09-22T14:55:00.000-04:00

The Island of O'ahu by Astronaut Douglas Wheelock

The Island of O'ahu by Astronaut Soichi Noguchi

via make it easy

need not be

2010-09-22T03:33:00.001-04:00

Julie Mehretu: Grey Area on view now at the Guggenheim till October 6

Julie Mehretu in Chapter 2, 3 and 4 of "Systems" from ART:21

Watch the full episode. See more ART:21.

My earlier drawings and paintings had this map-like, diagramtic element to them. As the work has shifted to being more atmospheric or painterly, I refrain from trying to explain what's going on in the paintings as much because they're not this kind of rational descriptions or efforts to articulate something in that way. I'm not trying to spell out a story... you feel the painting, and the reason you read the mark is because you also feel the mark.

Julie Mehretu

lynn batchelder

2010-09-22T02:28:00.000-04:00

Non-things (gray pins), 2009. Sterling silver, leather, thread.

Lynn Batchelder via AJF

cleo thorpengata

2010-09-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

Knitted & felted creations by Cleo Thorpengata

moving picture

2010-09-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to his stint as Wallpaper* guest editor this month, [Robert] Wilson’s [!!!] video portraits have taken on a new guise on the pages of the magazine. With the help of a nifty piece of acetate and the pre-cinema technique of OmbroCinema, many of them now animate the pages of our October issue. ‘What we’ve tried to do with the magazine is to make it more dimensional,’ he explains. ‘The new technology we’re using brings the images to life, creating something that’s more interactive and allowing the reader to be a participant in the composition.’

More here

FNO

2010-09-14T18:24:00.001-04:00

Brief summary of my night

zoey

2010-09-14T02:39:00.001-04:00

She was looking at the world upside down, so I thought I outta, too.

i had it all along

2010-09-10T00:09:00.000-04:00

My excuse was that I didn't have any leather or waxed cotton cord. In actuality, I had it bagged up in my box of supplies the whole time I've been in New York!

Generally, I don't take inspiration from anything in particular, but tonight this image from a play directed by Robert Wilson has been lingering in my mind.

And, oddly enough, Fleetwood Mac (Rumours era) and Fever Ray on shuffle have been really doing it for me lately.

So after I sifted through some supplies given to me when I still lived in Hawai'i, I busted out two necklaces. One for me and one for the roomie. I was planning my outfit for tomorrow night around a pair of crazy pants, but I might have to plan it around this new necklace of mine. Or do crazy pants and new necklace. I think I'm FINALLY getting my groove back.

poring over

2010-09-09T01:42:00.001-04:00

For the past two Tuesdays, I've spent a good amount of time in two different used bookstores and walked away with these books.

From The Book Cellar at the Webster Library: Robert Wilson: The theater of images and Man Ray in Fashion

From Mast Bookshop: The Makioka Sisters and The Key, both by Junichirō Tanizaki.

Becoming engrossed in a book is one of the simplest of pleasures that I'm getting back in touch with. I'm used to seeing information fly before my eyes, whether holding down the space bar on Google Reader or scrolling to the bottom of the article to get the summarizing paragraph. Setting aside a few hours to sit in a coffee shop or lie in the park just to read a book seems absurd to me when I really think about it. No more just reading on the bus or subway!

farewell final

2010-09-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing

You're gonna spread your wings and take the sky

From George Gershwin's lullaby Summertime

Photo by George Caddy from his 1930's series Beachobatics, via L Plater's flickr

farewell part two

2010-09-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

Went home where it's pretty much always summer.

Now back here at the end of my first seasonal summer.

farewell part one

2010-09-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

Lipstick traces on a cigarette.
Every memory lingers with me yet.
I got it bad like I told you before,
I'm so in love with you,
Don't leave me no more.
Won't you come on home?
Won't you come on home?

personalized

2010-09-01T15:11:00.000-04:00

I'm having a ring that I sketched made for me by the awesome folks over at Paul J. Armbruster in 'Aiea, Hawai'i.
Even though I could've went crazy with it, I opted for a simple design that incorporates my astrological sign and my favorite number.

+

2010-09-01T14:35:00.000-04:00

Apolis Activism Philanthropist tote

mrs. hare

2010-08-13T00:22:00.001-04:00

Oh boy, these Mr. Hare shoes just made me wet my pants.

image via Surrender

come together

2010-08-13T00:02:00.000-04:00

Etudes from the Sounds Between Us
by Corey Lico Wolffs
from his BFA Thesis Show at the California College of the Arts

images via AJF

video via CCA

captured

2010-08-10T02:15:00.000-04:00

Second time watches by Itay Noy.

weather permitting

2010-08-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

Local yellow peaches are best enjoyed on a lanai with a best friend.

angles of time

2010-08-06T00:34:00.011-04:00

I was instantly intrigued by this sideways Elgin watch that I'M REVOLTING won on eBay, and have honestly not stopped thinking about it since. I had never seen anything like it before and thought it was such an unusual design, given that it wasn't a style typical of this watch company.

Just the other day, I had to pull some definitions from this book, and got super excited when I came across a teeny section on these offset watches that were only produced from around 1915-1925. Much to my disappointment, but utter delight, the design has nothing to do with aesthetics, but is actually a result of the transition from pocket watch to wristwatch!

image via eBay listing, image via eBay listing

Pocket watches are built with the crown at 12:00, so as the wristwatch started gaining popularity around the time of WWI, lugs were just soldered on the sides of pocket watches at 3:00 and 9:00, or at a diagonal at 5:00 and 11:00, thus, contributing to this awesomely awkward dial orientation.

image via eBay listing

Another intriguing design element that you rarely see now are these little cage-looking shields. Pocket watches were not meant to endure long periods of exposure to external elements, so there were early concerns about the vulnerability of the crystal face when worn as a wristwatch. Thus, pierced covers were used on WWI military watches to protect the face, while still allowing soldiers to easily check the time.

images via bigbusiness: time-keeping

I absolutely love coming across information like this.

image via Timely Classics

fragile

2010-08-01T23:51:00.000-04:00

Moonyean McNeillage, Soft Rocks, 1976

via Craft Australia's Flickr

order

2010-07-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

I'm intrigued by the various ways in which Allyson Gee displays butterflies. The geometric forms that mimic a standard display case really play off of the abstract patterns that are featured on each pair of symmetrical wings.

preservation

2010-07-28T01:22:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I wish I could capture entire moments, with all five senses intact. I would especially like to remember how (naïvely?) optimistic I was about moving here. I need that wide-eyed feeling again! Anika Smulovitz interprets this "human desire to label and collect all aspects of our surroundings" through her herbarium specimen rings that encase an element of nature in glass to preserve its qualities... though the feeling is short lived. I guess I'm better off with present moments, anyway. Time for me to move on forward!

Oh, and this won't be the last time I'm posting the work of the talented Anika Smulovitz -- she executes her thought-provoking concepts extremely well!

aliyah gold

2010-07-21T00:18:00.001-04:00

Boa Constructed and Defense Mechanism from her MFA Thesis for SUNY New Paltz Graduate Metal program

via AJF

tied up

2010-07-21T00:03:00.001-04:00

Just spent about an hour going through the old posts of a favorite tumblr of mine, ՇᏂᏋ אᏫՊᎪᎠᏐᏣ ᎦᏌՌ ◉. And I have come to the conclusion that I MUST find a hammock this summer to nap in.

pal kepenyes

2010-07-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

1,2

i'll be back in two ticks

2010-07-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

1, 2, 3 via Aaron Faber Gallery

shovel

2010-07-08T18:02:00.000-04:00

Paul McCobb chair, circa 1950's

fifth of july

2010-07-05T21:24:00.001-04:00

It's not too late for this, right?

P.S. This is NOT me.

vested

2010-07-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

1, 2

otto

2010-06-24T01:40:00.000-04:00

I got a jewelry buzz when I saw the first necklace pictured below on Anica Boutique's blog. A little Googling later, and I was clicking through Otto's acrylic necklaces, which are designed by New York based Roula Nassar. I love getting jewelry highs.

david watkins

2010-06-20T08:04:00.000-04:00

The issues of scale, colour, placement on the body (and off the body), conditions for jewellery as sculpture, jewellery as object of contemplation, the body as site-specific location, notions of jewellery’s wearability and boundaries were germane to artists at the time and were all very much to the fore in Watkin’s work.

He began his career as a jazz pianist and sculptor, and his practice and understanding of these two disciplines reverberate throughout his work, bringing to it unexpected directions and innovations. At a formative moment in the 1960s Watkins had worked on special effects for Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, the film 2001, designing and creating model spacecraft to high levels of demand and precision.

via VADS and Victoria and Albert Museum

susanna heron

2010-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

De-centering the wearer of ‘normal’ jewellery; playing with the theatrical, voyeuristic and narcissistic nature of social bodies; producing wearables and photographables rather than objects of the goldsmith’s art and asking questions - not giving answers - were some of the notions being explored through the medium of jewellery...

via VADS and Susanna Heron

trio

2010-06-20T07:50:00.000-04:00

With New Work Pierre Degen had put together a provocative exhibition of brilliant work which, by virtue of his having been known as a jewellery maker, was considered a jewellery exhibition. Everything could after all, be ‘worn’ or at least attached to a body. And it did focus concern upon issues of the body and the delimiting of received notions of ‘jewellery’. Consisting of witty, provocative and fun assemblages of sticks, ladders, ready-mades, over-size balloons for ‘wearing’, and pieces like "Large Silk Propeller", "Tourniquet", "Coffee Bag and Stick", "Personal Environments" and "Large Loop" he investigated in one sustained effort the pressing question being asked at the time by advanced jewellery thinkers, namely: what are the conditions (minimal or maximal) for an object type known as a piece of jewellery?

This one exhibition (together with The Jewelery Project) was a bridge too far for many in the jewellery community. Indeed, these shows had quite a divisive effect, which was no bad thing with regard to breathing new life into any relatively inert practice.

The convergence of these three exhibitions had an immense impact on thinking jewellers everywhere in the western world (though repercussions were also felt further afield, for example, in Japan). And it was the substantial circulation - not of the actual works themselves, but of their representation in catalogues and photographic images - that effected such international attention and conceptual authority. But the huge reaction to New Jewellery was decidedly mixed – in varying proportions it was revered, enjoyed, supported, understood and seen as a source of great inspiration, if not objects to copy, and on the other hand the reaction was dismissive, hysterical, angry, appalled, disgusted and loathsome.

via VADS

tuesday with elizabeth

2010-06-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

I had such an amazing and relaxing Tuesday with Elizabeth who was in town from Australia. We started with lunch at The Smile and then did some window shopping. One of the highlights for me was stumbling upon Lee Bul's beautiful sculptures, pictured above, at Lehmann Maupin on Chrystie Street. I'm such a sucker for strong forms that incorporate wood and silver! You can see more images of the day on Elizabeth's blog.

planetary valleys

2010-06-06T23:42:00.000-04:00

Originally designed by Björn Weckström for Lapponia Jewelry, George Lucas bought this necklace to be worn by Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher, in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

via

svetozar radakovich

2010-06-02T11:41:00.003-04:00

Make your finger bellydance

sun kyoung kim

2010-06-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

Interaction

eun yeong jeong

2010-05-30T07:01:00.000-04:00

"Natural forms, processes and movement inspire me to make jewelry. When a natural form emerges from its environment, it follows no exact model as it becomes visible. Forms from nature have mysterious origins which are incomprehensible to the human mind. We try to understand how and under which circumstances they acquire a life yet the creation of these forms remain invisible to the human eye. My jewelry investigates the mystery of creation, capturing the moment in which the void and fragment become substance." - Eun Yeong Jeong

chilly

2010-05-26T23:01:00.001-04:00

These Ono Pops would be so perfect right now -- the weather here feels like I'm about to walk into a sauna. Oh, tradewinds, how I miss you so!

via Kokua Market's Twitter

wishlist

2010-05-21T10:43:00.000-04:00

Gypsy Water by Byredo Parfums
I have mayk to thank for introducing me to this fragrance when I first moved to New York a few months ago. She is SO good at breaking down scents and describing them. She told me I would like Gypsy Water and she was right -- I spray it on every time I go to Barney's. Now I just need to find $200 and buy it.

Castañer Darling Espadrille
Made the mistake of not buying these in navy right when I tried them on at Maryam Nassir Zadeh. Went back a few days later and my size was sold out! Luckily, they're available online, though not in navy. It's like the hippie version of the A.Wang Trish wedge mule = so me.

metalsmith

2010-05-20T00:48:00.001-04:00

Finally made it to the Brooklyn Museum and got to see the Art Smith exhibit. Amazing jewelry, as expected. But, um, I was not into the lighting, showcases and kinda stale feeling that the room had -- someone that's not a fan, would've walked right by.

wonder

2010-05-20T00:48:00.000-04:00

Didn't have time to buy fresh flowers, so my shaka pen and little friend will have to do for now.

Milk bottle vase by Beth Mueller from The Store at the Museum of Arts and Design. Get yours here.

spices

2010-05-13T21:37:00.001-04:00

There is a big void in my life and I need to fill it with khao soi from Spices in Honolulu. This particular bowl was one of my last meals in Hawai'i before I moved. I've already tried the khao soi at Rhong Tiam (not enough umph in the flavor; too fancy/trying to be hip interior). Next up is Talent Thai this weekend and I'm hoping to have found my go-to for khao soi here in New York.

wooden fingers

2010-05-12T00:03:00.000-04:00

Susanne Klemm via Klimt02

interaction

2010-05-06T01:29:00.002-04:00

"What's more important? The object you wear or the flesh that wears the object?" - Naomi Filmer

"Psychologists believe assuming a posture or gesture will make one feel as they would if they did the gesture naturally." - Jennifer Crupi

collarbone

2010-04-27T00:27:00.000-04:00

My favorite piece by the incredibly talented and eloquent Kiwon Wang that highlights one of the sexiest parts of the human body.

oozing from the ears

2010-04-25T20:51:00.000-04:00

A little over a year ago, I asked my readers whether to buy octopus tentacles or claw earrings. Most said the octopus tentacles and I didn't listen (which I do often when it comes to any kind of advice). I bought the claw earrings about a week after that post and haven't taken them off since, not even to shower or sleep. Lately, I've been itching to switch out my staple jewelry items (see previous post), so these earrings were the next obvious choice:

Curvaceous and Legs Up To Here Earrings by OctopusMe

While I was searching for my earrings, I saw this artist's newest ring style:

My brain immediately told me that I need a new go-to ring, NOW.

I wish I could say that this story ended happily for all, but I just got the earrings and passed on the ring. Maybe a year from now it'll be mine.

gnarls

2010-04-21T23:44:00.001-04:00

My go to chopsticks necklace is starting to feel old.

I need some woodsy CHUNK in the form of Terhi Tolvanen

twinkly toes

2010-04-16T20:28:00.000-04:00

I almost didn't walk into Daha Vintage because the interior was a little too sterile for my liking. So glad I retraced a few steps and gave it a try because now I have two new pairs of spring shoes! I was so psyched on my buy that I proceeded to walk 70+ blocks. Not only am I really picky about my footwear, but I have bitty feet -- so finding two pairs for under $100 was, literally, an instant pick me up! Just hoping that the feeling in my big toes will return soon.

luzia vogt

2010-04-16T15:11:00.000-04:00

elfenbeinweisser Kamm, 2005. Plastic comb, gold 750.

Floraison II, 2008. Synthetic material, gold 585, silver 925.

Rings, 2003. Wood.

Luzia Vogt

going bananas

2010-04-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

Back home, I ate an apple banana with peanut butter everyday. If you've never had an apple banana before, you are missing out on the Best Bananas. They're sweet, slightly tangy and firm; none of that mushy crap. I refused to eat any other banana variety, even if they were cheaper by the pound. When I lived in Oregon for a year, I got used to eating 'regular' bananas, though never by itself (that's just gross). I always kept my eye out for apple bananas, thinking that I'd stumble across a booth at a farmer's market selling these short, fat bunches.

After a few years (and lots of apple banana gorging at home in Hawai'i) I'm living in New York City and am pretty certain that I will never come across an apple banana on this side of the continent. I still eat a banana with peanut butter everyday (I'm so predictable when it comes to breakfast), but it's just the regular kind.

UNTIL NOW:

Two weeks ago, Holly's parents mailed us not one, but THREE, bunches of apple bananas from Hawai'i!

They made sure to buy them extra green, so they wouldn't be brown by the time they arrived in New York.

No matter, because apple bananas are awesome in all forms of color. You can eat them green, yellow or browned.

How I missed their slightly pink insides.

The last two.

Now, it's time to return to normal living.

circle of life

2010-04-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

Again with my living jewelry.

Vice, The Fashion Issue 2010
Death Becomes Her
Photographer: Ellis Scott
Stylist: Aldene Johnson
Jewelry: Dominic Jones

but elephants never forget

2010-04-03T12:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I forgot to buy this perfect dress on Etsy.

wallflower

2010-03-30T20:31:00.005-04:00

Beautiful wallpaper in the elevator at work makes for great small talk. (Oooh! Ahh! So pretty!) This particular design, Half Plaid in Amethyst Earth, was created by Amy Lau for Maya Romanoff's 40th anniversary and the only other place you can view it is on the 7th floor of Bergdorf Goodman till, my apologies for the realllly late notice, the end of this month.

Make good use of tomorrow New Yorkers! Or, if you can, buy it for your own house!

kristi patten

2010-03-23T09:55:00.001-04:00

Usually my rings are the ones to snag my clothes, but I think everything I come across would end up snagging this delicate & earthy ring.

banana hammock

2010-03-22T21:02:00.000-04:00

"This range is a world first in underwear -- it is made from the weave of the bark from the banana tree, and soft organic cotton, ensuring ultimate comfort, with an eco friendly flavour that will keep you coming back for seconds."
- Aussie Bum Banana Briefs

SOLD!

crawly

2010-03-15T15:54:00.001-04:00

Another post that contains very lively matter.

Wouldn't mind this on a wall (on my side of the room of course; don't worry roomie!)

Insectopedia by Kiff Slemmons

Definitely want to see this
Entomologia: A Group Show of Insect Art at the Observatory in Brooklyn.

Jewel Beetle by Joianne Bittle

Sex (after) by Catherine Chalmers

Victorian Fancy (detail) by Jennifer Angus

image 1 via Carla M Fox; images 2-4 via Curious Expeditions' Flickr

this feeling

2010-03-10T05:17:00.002-05:00

Recently, I've been fascinated with jewelry and accessories that use live or formerly alive materials. Static, tragic, beautiful, frozen in time, given new life.
What I find most interesting is the abstract use of animal parts in a way that still remains organic. Typically, I would recoil at the use of pig intenstines in a necklace or birds as brooches, but this time I'm very intrigued.

Catarina Hallzon necklace made from pig intestines and silver

Julia deVille brooch made from a sparrow, silver and gold

I'm starting to think my brain is evolving into this sick little thing since I don't even eat land animals, yet I find myself drooling over jewelry made from horse teeth. But, and a big but, I do use leather bags, wool sweaters and cashmere cardigans. Hm, hypocrite, much?

Warwick Freeman brooches made from horse teeth

Sebastian Buescher is one artist that I was continually drawn back to. Each of his pieces need closer and frequent inspection. He uses a variety of mediums, mainly aquatic creatures and elements of nature, that give his jewelry a clustered look; brimming with life and ideas. As I was going through his search results, I found his personal blog and another called Walking the Gray Area. Reading through his blog was a pick me up in the middle of the day because it's filled with positive reflections and quotes. The latter posts the dialouge of 23 pairs of studio jewelry artists, which Sebastian is one of, along with a few of my other favorites like Terhi Tolvanen and Jorge Manilla. Walking the Gray Area let's you know what these artists are experiencing, thinking and feeling, and how all those factors are then channeled into their jewelry.

Here are some images of Sebastian's Hadal Realm collection:

The Balance (wood, starfish, crystal, urchin spines, silver)

Encrustathon (granulex, rubber, crystals, urchin spines)

Mountain Range (stingray skin, moonstone, epoxy, metal)

Encrusterium 8 (unknown materials)

White Death (ceramic, shark jaw, epoxy putty, metal)

"The Hadal Realm, also known as the Hadal Zone, is the deepest part of the ocean. I am comparing this place with the human subconscious mind and find that the two have far more in common than you may suspect. It is the vastness in both that fascinates me, along with the quantity of stuff that is collected and stored in its 'darkness'. Everything we see, smell, hear, do, think, and whatever else we encounter through any of our senses, is stored in our subconscious mind. It is all there, perfectly in tact." - Sebastian Buescher