Teroforma

Italian artist Federico Pietrella who now lives and works in Berlin creates art using a wide variety of objects, flashlights, photocopies, resins and other found objects. Some of his most striking works are these paintings created with rubber date stamps. From afar they look like black and white paintings but upon closer inspection you can see the many many layers of dates  that make up the lights and darks. The pieces are really unique and beautiful, see more here. See the rest of Federico’s work here.

This week’s cocktail comes from our Design Director Dana. She’s had the opportunity to travel on many development trips that have taken her all around the world. A few weeks ago after another kind of development trip to our local liqueur store we brought back Zubrowka – a bison grass vodka from Poland. Dana took one look at the bottle and said we had to make “liquid apple pie” with the vodka. On a development trip through Poland she was served this almost every bar she went. We’ve all had shots that are supposed to taste like chocolate cake & a lemon drop so I was a bit skeptical that a bit of this vodka and some apple juice would taste like apple pie. Well after mixing up the liquid apple pie here in the studio we can say this cocktail tastes just like apple pie. It’s deceptively simple. Recipe after the jump. (more…)

Vase & Leute is a set of sleek multipurpose lamp/vases by German Designer Miriam Aust. (Side note – I know I know, we’re talking about another design from a designer that’s not based in the US. We’re working on that. In the meantime we still wanted to show these vases.) These lamp/vases let you create an moody hydroponic garden. The light bulb is sealed inside the inner part of the vase, while the outer area is reserved for water and plant roots. Illuminating the roots gives your typical house plant a slightly eerie, science project like feel but also highlights the intricate root systems & colors not typically noticed.  See more images here. (more…)

These are real goldfish.

No, not really. They are paintings of goldfish by Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori that at first glace (and a few glaces following) look like real fish. Riusuke paints these life like fish layer by layer on clear resin, this contributes to their life like appearance from all angles. His work is both a painting and a sculpture, really, really amazing. Watch the video of Riusuke painting here. And see more of his work here.

All of a sudden it’s become very wintery here in CT – brrr. This week we have made a fun cocktail that combines warm spicy flavors like cinnamon & cloves along with coconut & rum. We’ve found this makes a terrific dessert when combined with some crunchy butter cookies! Recipe after the jump. (more…)

Artist Guy Laramée carves amazing miniature scenes out of stacks of old out of date encyclopedias. He uses the thick layers of paper to create detailed landscapes & then paints them in a romantic style. The mountains become a metaphor for mountains of knowledge. His work originates from the idea that “ultimate knowledge could very well be an erosion instead of an accumulation.” The erosion of cultures – and of “culture” as a whole – is the theme that drives last 25 years of Guy’s artistic career. More pictures after the jump Check out more of Guy’s work here. (more…)

What happens when kids are handed thousands upon thousands of colored dot stickers and set free in a completely white room? Yayoi Kusama created this dizzying colorful installation, titled “The Obliteration Room” at the Gallery of Modern Art is Brisbane is past December. Yayoi created a large room full of everyday household objects, furniture, a piano, even decorative elements and then she painted everything bright white. Over the course of two weeks children who visited the museum were given dot stickers to place all over the “canvas”. As thousands of children came and went the blank white room was transformed into an explosion of color. More images after the jump. Also check out Yayoi’s most recent project “Look Now, See Forever.” (more…)

Eva Ziesel, groundbreaking designer died on December 30th, 2011 at the age of 105. Not many can claim to have worked 9 decades in any field. She designed and produced stylish but simple lines of tableware that were credited with bringing a sense of serenity and modern design to middle-American homes during the 50′s and 60′s. Eva is widely recognized as a master of modern design, her dish sets and salt and pepper shakers on display at the New York City Museum of Modern Art. Although many of her pieces seem to be form driven they are all lead by function.

There’s far too much to mention here about her life and accomplishments. Learn more about Eva and her life’s work from the Washington Post.

Form Us with Love has released a set of glass votive holders with an improvement, a slit in the side for the match. We’ll never burn our fingers again. It’s just one of those little things to give credit where credit’s due.

David Hanauer has modernized the art of oriental rug making, he creates area rugs from screenshots of google earth images. From a distance the rugs appear to have a bold graphic pattern – almost traditional, but upon closer examination you can see that they are comprised of repeating neighborhoods, highways and buildings. Hanauer has lots of other projects worth a look. See more here (more…)