Etsy finds

I thought I'd share the work of two talented artists who have set up shop on Etsy. Strangely I found their work through Flickr. The first is Erin Tyner. Erin is a self taught photographer and I have been following her beautiful work on Flickr for a year. Then I realised I could buy her work...and I did and have again. Here is her Flickr page and her wonderful website. I'm totally blown away by her Half Awake series but don't miss the rest of her portfolio.
(Update - I forgot to mention Erin's new photoblog here.)

Monkfish is Robert Chunn. I found my way to his work just today when he made me a contact on Flickr. So off I went to investigate. "I mostly paint clutter. I like how objects cluster together on tabletops, in kitchen drawers, on my printer, etc. I try to take a documentary approach to the subject by painting things as I find them. Or, sometimes, I'll just pile up a bunch of old tins and cigar boxes in a haphazard way until something interesting happens. I see painting as an intuitive and sensorial process of balancing pictorial elements to reveal the poetry of color and form in the everyday objects around me. In other words, I just paint what I like." Check out more at his blog Alla Prima Painting (painting from life in one sitting). I love the beauty he finds in the mundane.

Encounter with a fellow blogger

I have known Jocelyn (via the internet) for about a year now, having met on Flickr. She lives here in Ottawa, and also has an interior design blog, decorate it darling. She recently posted photos of her new loft apartment on Flickr and blogged about it, and I recognized her apartment as being in an incredible historic building called the Wallis House. It started as a hospital in the 1800's, then a Catholic seminary, then was taken over by the military, then almost demolished until a developper bought it in 1994 for $320,000 with a promise to restore it. It became home to 47 lofts. When the Wallis House lofts went up for sale in October 1995, they were all sold in fewer than twenty-four hours. Jocelyn is fortunate to know someone who owns one of the lofts, and while the owner is in Haiti, she is renting it. She is one lucky girl let me tell you. The amazing thing is each loft is unique. They have different layouts, and each original owner chose the finishes. So here's a peek into Jocelyn's new loft in the coolest building in Ottawa.

Jocelyn was kind enough to invite me over to check out her amazing space, and to see her artwork that caught my eye when I saw her photos. They are her own creations, and she is VERY talented. I bought one from her, and I am ecstatic about it. It is GORGEOUS, and I was stunned to learn she doesn't really sell her art unless someone happens to ask about them when visiting her. Jocelyn, I have one word for you - ETSY. You'll recognize my new Jawcey original from her hallway photo. (I'm not sure where it will end up - in the photo below it's propped up on my thermostat). Thanks so much Jocelyn, and it was so much fun to finally meet a fellow blogger!

The art of Stephen Daggitt

My boyfriend is into martial arts, enough that he asked his co-worker Stephen Daggitt to create some martial arts-inspired artwork for his apartment. The first photo below is one of four he has so far made for Jeff (created in just half an hour). Now it's not something I would hang in my place (no offense Jeff, or Stephen) but then again, Jeff wouldn't want ceramic deer and poodles in his apartment so I guess we're even. Anyway, Stephen has mad Photoshop skills, and dabbles in all sorts of genres which shows how talented he is. See his blog for more.

Art as inspiration

The other day we received an email from Aja with a request:

I'm about to start redesigning my tiny apartment (I should say designing it for the first time) and I'm going to be using a commissioned painting from a friend as the basis for the entire redesign. Kim, I was inspired by your fireplace post the other day and all the amazing paintings featured over the mantles, and I was wondering if you guys could do a post featuring rooms designed around artwork as the central theme! The only direction I've really given my artist friend (who's amazing - she's fresh out of art school and doesn't have a website I can link you to yet but she will one day and it will be fabulous!) is that she should have fun with the painting, and the surreal, braindrain style that's all hers - and maybe indulge my love of orange.

This proved to be a bit of a tough request, having not seen Aja's painting (it's still in the works). I found some photos with art that had orange in it and included some with other colours as well (since the selection was minimal). Hope this helps you Aja, and please send us a photo of your painting when it's completed!

Selldorf Architects	Décormag
Image Interiors	Kelly Wearstler
e-Architekt	Bo Bedre
Alison Spear	Betty Wasserman
Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz	Met Home
Elle Decor	Homes & Gardens
Caldwell-Beebe	Image Interiors
White Webb	Domino

A wandering heart

down the drain

Stylist, photographer and blogger Pia Jane Bijkerk has an exciting new collective book project, my heart wanders a collection of subtle hearts in special spaces where ANYONE can enter a work. More details on Pia's gorgeous blog.