Lots of love for Lotta

I've spotted an incredible stylist who has my heart completely today! Lotta Agaton is freelance stylist in Sweden who has styled images for some of my fave places like H&M Home and Elle Interiör where it doesn't matter if you can't read Swedish, you can just enjoy the visuals!
Lotta has a portfolio of stunning images which you can view for yourself here but I have gathered some of my faves together.

 I am so in love with this room. Often a black and white room can appear stark and cold, but the 'lived in' look of the sofa cushions as well as the hints of green leaves make this feel like a very liveable room. Don't even get me started on the wall too. I want everything there!

These images almost could form an inspiration board for me. I am totally in love with the simple black and white palletes used in most of these images, and the typography - swoon! I also love the dusty pink of the chair in the bottom right image. It's a little bit retro and not a too 'girly' pink that it makes it look too feminine. I've no idea where the incredible typographic prints come from, but they are a constant feature of Lotta's work.

 

More typography and prop wonderfulness! Again I love the shot of greenery which brings these scenes to life and gives them a scent. I also have total envy for all the beautiful, quirky and fun accessories in these shots. I think that is one of the strongest draws for me to Lotta's work, there is always something fun, whether it's a great quote in a print or a wooden hand flipping the middle finger!

Anyway, I hope you like this tiny glimpse into this talented ladies work. Please check out the online portfolio as it is jam packed with amazing images, you can also read Lotta's blog here where you will see her inspiration sources. Finally you can become a fan on facebook (search Lotta Agaton Interior Stylist) and check out some behind the scenes of some of her photoshoots. It actually has made me miss my previous life as an assistant stylist!

create in serenity

I've enjoyed a little whirlwind of inspiration this morning, starting with a post about hand carved stamps by Ez on Creature Comforts. I **really** want to try this and followed a link through to a tutorial here. While I am still excited about stamp making, it quickly went to the back of my mind when I spotted this photo...

I was taken at the thought of being able to look down at such a beautifully set up table for painting, plus the little work-in-progress birdies are lovely! Then I clicked on the next photo and saw what it must be like to sit at this table and gaze out for inspiration.

This table setting is from very talented Mexican based artist Geninne and she has shared them on her flickr account here. Sitting at this table in an open landscape is such an appealing thought to me. To be able to do it from the comfort of home is an added joy I'm sure. A place to create is something I have wanted to create, but never seem to find the time to make an artistic space, let alone use it! The fruits of Geninne's wonderful surrounds are evident in her beautiful work.

 One of her favourite subjects is birds and this print above Bird No. 30 and many more like it are available in Geninne's etsy store. She also sells pillow covers featuring her prints here.

My favourite is this Birdcall print. It showcases both Geninne's fine art and graphic design background.
If birds aren't your thing, you can check out some other subject matter in the etsy store.

I'm quite partial to this Pile o Wood print. If you visit the etsy page, you will see the inspiration image and really get a feel for how Geninne translates images into her own artistic style.
For more from this lovely artist check the blog, flickr, etsy store or big cartel store.

pretty eggs - mizu designs

Have you checked out Holly from Decor8's 2011 calender round-up yet? It is absolute eye-candy - almost to the point of being overwhelming! I took a quick minute out today and just so happened to pick-out an Australian artist to look into further. Kylie Budge's Mizu Designs has a beautiful range of prints with a few different techniques such as woodblock, lino and Giclee. There is a strong Japanese influence in her technique and subject matter, with tea being a recurring theme. You can also see the influence of native Australia in Kylie's designs and colour palettes. It is a stunning series of egg Giclee prints which has had me gasping today.

 

  

I just love the texture, tone and colour in these prints and they are straight into my etsy favourite list! You can purchase these lovely prints from the Mizu etsy store here. They make me want to reach for my watercolours!

 Also have a look at the calendar which was featured on Decor8 here. 

Other places to find more about Mizu Designs - website, blog and flickr

ink inspiration - Iain Macarthur

I love doodling with black ink and anyone who has seen any of my notebooks knows that they are covered in swirls and curls. My favourite 'tool' is a sharp, crisp black fineliner. I get a real thrill when my pen hits the paper and I create a perfect curve or pattern. Today I have been entranced by the portfolio of English artist Iain Macarthur.

This beauty is from his Enchanting Series which I found on Behance. I love the change in tone used for such dramatic effect - from the soft pencil strokes of the ladies face, to the rich, solid black ink used in the clothing.

Another in the same series, this image has such incredible intricate detail in the mask and jewellery that you need to pop over to the Behance page here and see it nice and big!

This lovely lady is from another series called portraits part 2. I ADORE the detail in this bonnet. I can get lost in all the swirls and feathery patterns. All I can think of is how much fun this would have been to illustrate!
A wonderful talent indeed, you can find more of Iain's work in online portfolios here or here, as well as keep track of him through his blog.

collectables

A little while ago I shared my family trait of collecting things and was inspired to create beautiful images of my mums great collections. Today I thought I would share more, creative people who turn hoarding into beautiful pieces of art. It is difficult as someone who loves objects, to maintain a balance between tasteful amounts of things and a house full to the brim with bits and pieces that need dusting.

The self proclaimed human magpie, Jenn from Quercus Designs has the most amazing eye for collecting objects and then preserving them in beautiful images, like the one above of sea glass.

Jenn has found an outlet as well and sells both the subjects and photographs of her collections through an etsy store. This one above, Beachcombing Series No8 is for sale currently as are bits of sea glass. I love the idea of spending a day out beachcombing and coming home with little goodies to turn into art.
Here are a few more creative collectors that are amongst my flickr faves.

I love this nautical themed image by bricolagelife. Another collector who collects and creates - check out the Flickr gallery here and etsy store here

These lovely objects were destined for an eco-friendly mobile by Yummy!INK but at the same time make a wonderful image.

Another sea collection, I really like the composition by Camilla Engman. I particularly like the little aqua cross in the top right. Check out more of her organised collections here on flickr.
Finally, a non-sea collection but super pretty and girly.

Described as a " lovely collection of girly, nostaligic treasures" this print is from The Light Fantastic etsy store. This resonates with me as I have my old ballet shoes hidden away somewhere along with other memorabilia from my early life as a dancer. This is a very space effective way to hang on to little pieces of nostalgia, without having to find the space to keep them all and move them from house to house!

a forest of birch

One of my favourite Finnish 'things' is a forest of birch trees. There is something so elegant about the white trunks and they are equally picturesque in Summer when they are crowned with bright green leaves, as in winter when they are coated in snow. It seems I'm not the only when inspired by the birch tree. Here are some etsy treasures that pay homage to birch.

I love this view captured in this print from an original artwork by Dream Gallery. I love the blue sky seen filtered through the birch leaf canopy and can really relate to this view from my recent summer holiday in Finland.

This piece by Garry McMichael is another print from an original artwork. This time the brich tree is captured in pencil as the Autumn leaves are yellowing and thinning.

To round out the seasonal variations, this Winter image is a silkscreen print created by Strawberry Luna.

Both the above artworks are by Lucia Johnson. Top: 'daisy sun print' Bottom: 'birch grove in blue' I love the colour palettes of both these pieces - especially the bottom combination of a dirty blue with taupe and olive natural tones.

Rounding out the collection is this stunning woodblock print by Viza Arlington. For me this image captures the view I remember travelling in a car or train through the Finnish countryside in Winter. I think this is my favourite of all, but they are all wonderful!

pretty out - emma kisstina

You know all the things that make it fun to be a girly girl? Well talented swedish artist Kristina Hultkrantz, aka Emma Kisstina, has captured them all beautifully in her fun and light style.

A pretty perfume, like Miss Dior Cherie? - Check

Hot red lipstick? done

Killer Heels? Check

Nail polish in pretty pinks? got that too

Anything missing? Oh what about a cocktail to sip on.

Raise your Cosmo ladies - here it is!

Check out the etsy store, as well as the blog and flickr for my female fabulousness!

design inspired - posters

It's been a while since I had a browse around the world for graphic design inspiration. Over the weekend I picked up some copies of IDN magazine which I buy quite regularly but never get as much time as I would like to pour over the pages. It's with this in mind that today I share with you some cool poster from London based designers Binary & The Brain.

These guys have some really cool pieces in their portfolio, but I particularly like these 2 posters (which they sell). The Birds and Better Than Nothing posters have an Escher-esq factor which I like. My grandfather was an engineer and very mathematical man who introduced me to the works of  M C Escher at a young age. I used to love finding all the intricacies in each piece. I can see the influence in the birds poster particularly, but love the way the guys have added a typographic twist. I'm on the look out for a cool, but grown-up poster to frame for a wall on our stairwell. I would like something with personality but also is a cool piece of graphic art.

pretty escape - Daria Jabenko

I love finding talented ladies out there who are making a living being creative. Today I invite you to escape into the lovely world of Illustrator Daria Jabenko.

Daria has a lovely, elegant and feminine style that has seen her work commercially as an Illustrator for clients like Conde Nast Germany and magazines Cosmopolitan and Madame. I often see illustrations, like Daria's in magazines and wonder who is behind them. What a great way to earn a living!

I am particularly fond of the jewellery featured in all these pieces. My mum used to make big ornate earrings just like these which I'm lucky to have these days. I always enjoy drawing this type of jewellery as it's full of swirls and curls. See Daria's editorial work on her website and enjoy the prettiness of it all!

a pretty escape - freya art

Today I want to share something that I think is just so pretty and a lovely escape for us all on a Monday. Let's step into the darling world of illustrator Freya from freya-art

{Garden - Let's plant our dreams in this garden and entwine oursleves like vines}

I like a good inspiration poster and places like etsy are full of them, but with all the "Keep Calm and Carry Ons", it's nice to come across original, beautiful prints with a message so sweet as this above.

There is just so much to like in Freya's work. I find her style to have a lovely innocence to it. I like the idea of surrounding yourself with little messages of hope and happiness at home and even at work (where it may be needed more). I adore this bottom piece, Skimming Stars - "We came to sit and dangle our feet off the edge of the world and skim stars across the sky". Just beautiful and delivered through the lovely hand drawn typeface.

The other prints shown here are Without You I Would Be Lost and All The Most Beautiful Things.

I discovered Freya's work through her website, but you can purchase her piece from the etsy store too.

These artworks and more are available in large and medium prints as well as greeting cards. I think these would be lovely gifts - perhaps for mother's day!

the art wall

I stumbled across a new little creative corner of the web the other day - The Art Wall
It is a curated collection of wonderful artworks by wonderfully talented people. I love the presentation of them in illustrated rooms.

The above is the current collection on display in the Dining Room. The wonderful room illustrations are by talented artist Jessica Swift - who has a wonderful portfolio to check out. Each room is based on the Art Wall's proprietor Katie. I really appreciate the effort Katie goes to pulling these collections together. You get to see a variety of artworks in various mediums from many different artists. I really like the common cool colour theme running through the above collection. All the artworks are for sale, often through the artists own etsy store and the price range is capped at $500.

 The Art Wall is certainly going to be a new place I drop by regularly for a dose of inspiration.

 Today I have fallen for this Galoshes and Skirt Print by Jen Hewett, currently hanging in the Kitchen.

10 years of Inside Out

Iconic Australian interiors magazine Inside Out is celebrating their 10th year with an amazing Art Market. The magazine asked a bunch of their talented contributors to create an artwork representing 'Heart and Home'. They have then given everyone the opportunity to bid for one of these pieces with all proceeds going to charity.
Here are my favourites:

 Ceramics by Kylie Johnson 

I love this lady's ceramics, especially the tags with lovely saying and phrases like... "If you have two loaves of bread sell one and buy a hyacinth" . See her website here. This 3 piece work features a poem by Kylie. 

"We holiday in the spaces of our home........ in soup
&; conversations

in washing up bubbles

& zucchini

in doorsteps
rotting &;
beds unmade...............

&; cups of tea with flowers dripping........."

I could find a home for this certainly but would have to hurry as the auction is on now for this piece - ending April 16th.

Mixed media by stylist Shannon Fricke

A styling star, Shannon has created her piece using ceramic samples from her own line of ceramics called Free Range. I haven't seen any of these - but knowing Shannon's style I'm sure this rage will be lovely. and I'll be keeping my eye for it.

A more colourful pick is this next piece by Lizzie Buckmaster Dove.

 This is an incredibly creative use of paint swatch cards. Each piece is swatch cards combined to form an image - one as the base, the other as the shape. I'm blown away by this is a great use of colour swatches. I've always loved the paint swatch walls in hardware stores, but never would have been this creative with them!

My last, and possibly favourite pieces are these fashion illustrations by designer Akira Isogawa. It seems I'm not alone in my desire, as the first piece is already up to $596 on ebay and out of my league. Neverless it's fun to dream and appreciate these beautiful pieces.
See all the available artworks here and also check out the 10th Anniversary Issue of Inside Out.

Kitchen colour

This week will be a series of short and very sweet posts as I have a bit of a shortage of time...
Today I would like to show off how Kris from Kris's Color Stripes blog (which i blogged about here) uses her colour pallettes.

 {Pomegranate}

She has created a series of Kitchen Prints featuring fruit and veg in a quaint and colourful way.

{Watermelon}

{Apple & Spice}

You can check them all out in the etsy shop. What a nice way you to add something pretty to your kitchen!

Summer Loving

For Sydney-siders yesterday was a quick blast of Summer and even though the temperature has dipped a little today I still want to show these amazing artworks I came across yesterday.

This is Sea Dunes by Cathy Nichols  and it is by far my favourite ever beach painting. As a pattern-aholic I love the detail in the surfboards. It is an original painting on wood that you can purchase in Cathy's etsy store 

Cathy has created a series of surfing artwork and these are not the typical surfing images which tend to have a masculine feel. Each has an element of pattern and colour which makes these a celebration of summer I would like in my home. The best part is as well as original art there are prints of each available in her shop

Off Duty

 Beach Day

Check out the entire surfing collection and get some yourself some Summer loving!