CasaSugar -- Home sweet home.

Coveted Crib: Laurel's Rainbow Bright Home (Part One)

casasugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:19:32 -0700

When I knocked on the door of Laurel's home, I knew I was in for a treat. Laurel, a visual artist who works in low-relief wall pieces, bought her two-bedroom, one-bath 1928 Craftsman home from her grandparents five years ago. Since then, the space has been extensively renovated and personalized. Laurel says, "I want people with really different aesthetics and visions to find some humor in my home and to be inspired by it." To come along on a colorful home tour, check out the slideshow. Here, I'll take you through Laurel's amazing collections of furniture and art finds showcased in her living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Artist of the Day: Miguel Ornia-Blanco

casasugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:15:04 -0700

Inspired by his travels through London, Manchester, and Buenos Aires, artist Miguel Ornia-Blanco paints urban landscapes full of movement, energy, and life. Contrary to the stark, gray skyscrapers, blacktop roads, and dingy sidewalks you might see in some of those metropolitan areas, Ornia-Blanco finds a vibrant color palette in the cityscape. He sees emotions, life, laughter, pain, and solitude in places where, on a whole, people seem to pass by each other unknowingly. His brushstrokes are free-flowing and his colors blend with no straight lines or distinct outlines, further evoking the reality that nothing is constant in these hectic terrains. Although his paintings seem to illustrate that the world is colliding in these places, Ornia-Blanco brings beauty to the chaos, and that's not an easy thing to do. Check out the gallery below and his website to see some more work by this London-based artist.

Source

Midday Muse: Everybody in the Pool

casasugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:00:30 -0700

Wondering where this cool, patterned pool is located? I can tell you that you'll be surprised by the answer.

To find out,

This Just In: Jeff Koons Sculpture in London Park

casasugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:30:00 -0700

If you're lucky enough to be in London right now, head over to Saint James Square to check out the stainless-steel sculpture "Balloon Flower (Magenta)," by artist Jeff Koons, who's known for his public art and whimsical, childlike sculptures. The giant sculpture, which does indeed look like shiny twists of balloons, will be exhibited for the next 10 days in Saint James Square in London, England. The sculpture, which has an estimated worth of around $23.6 mllion, will be auctioned at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on June 30. If nothing else, this is a great chance to get up close and personal with a rather pricey piece of art. Are you going to check it out?

Source

Etsy Find: The Idea Chair

casasugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:00:42 -0700

Apparently, my love for home furnishings runs so deep that I even hang it on my walls. I also have a friend who has successfully mounted legs from a bentwood chair in her living room as a sculptural piece, and I have to say, it looks great.

It should come as no surprise then that I'm enthusiastic about Jess Gonacha's silkscreen print, The Idea Chair ($15). Its combination of yellows and blues, a wallpaper-like background, and delicate India ink lines are wonderfully rendered. Oh, and then there's that chair.
Jess explains the piece this way: "There was a chair in my house in college that I used to sit in to do all my drawing and homework and relaxing. It was mustard colored velvety, and i so loved it. This piece reminds me of that chair." This piece is printed on archival white matte paper, measures in at 7.5 inches by 9.5 inches, and is based on an original painting. Definitely check out more of Jess's work on her website.

In Memoriam: Artist Phoebe Washer

casasugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:30:13 -0700

San Francisco artist Phoebe Washer, who was only 20 years old, died this past Saturday in a tragic accident, when she fell of a cliff when hiking with a friend in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco. Washer grew up in Petaluma, CA, and had already shown at a number of galleries. Please take a look at her beautiful art, and then visit her site to see even more images. What a tragic loss — my heart goes out to her friends and family.

Source

Home Away From Home: Denmark's Hotel Fox

casasugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:00:27 -0800

When the Volkswagen Fox launched a few years ago, the Hotel Fox in Copenhagen, Denmark, invited 21 international artists to outfit and design 61 rooms as they saw fit. The designs that emerged ranged in style from fairytale fantasy to cool modern art. Artists such as Miami's Friends With You and Australia's Rinzen worked to create rooms that would truly transport visitors from the everyday workaday world to a vacation fantasy realm.

Besides the amazing rooms, the hotel also features a bar and restaurant that work together to pair signature cocktails with healthy and innovative food. The kitchen concentrates on ingredients that are Nordic, seasonal, and free-range.

Additionally, the Fox will work with you to try to provide particular rooms as they are requested, though the hotel cannot always guarantee that your preferred room will be available. The Fox also does its best to answer any questions visitors may have. Staff members will advise hotel guests on their best options for everything from shopping to dining to art and sporting events.

Source

Dressing My Walls: Chair Painting in the Dining Room

casasugar — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:06:08 -0700

On this, the last day of Dress Your Walls month, I bring you another picture from my home. As you may know, my fiancé and I are currently in the middle of trying to combine our styles and belongings, which is always something of a challenge.

This painting, by Austin artist Brandon Petree, only received a so-so reaction from Peter when I hung it on the wall. But within a few hours, he'd already warmed up to it. Painted with regular house paint, this canvas sat in my mother's garage for four years, seemingly immune to my attempts to ship it across the country. Finally, just this past summer, my father drove it out when he came to visit. I missed it so much, and I—and now Peter—think it looks pretty amazing next to the dark wood of our Parsons dining table and the rich yellow of the walls.

Cool Idea: Green Graffiti

casasugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:45:24 -0700

I'm so grateful to Inhabitat for bringing me news of eco-minded street artist Edina Tokodi. This Brooklyn artist makes site-specific moss installations that sometimes appear in the shape of animals, and other times in fuzzy outcrops of green on streetlights and other urban objects.

In her artist's statement, she says:

I think that our distance from nature is already a cliché. City dwellers often have no relationship with animals or greenery. As a public artist I feel a sense of duty to draw attention to deficiencies in our everyday life. As a cultivator of eco-urban sensitivity, I usually go back to the sites to visit my “plants” or “moss”, sometimes to repair them a bit, but nothing more generally as they tend to get enough water from the air, condensation, and rain - especially in certain seasons. I also like to let them live by themselves. From the moment I put them on the street they start to have their own life. For me, the reaction of life on the street is also very important. I am curious about how people receive them, if they just leave them alone, or if they want to, take care of them or dismantle them. This is what makes my work similar to graffiti, although I am searching for a deeper social meaning and a dialogue with memories of the animals and gardens of my past in a small town in Central Europe. I believe that if everyone had a garden of their own to cultivate, we would have a much more balanced relation to our territories. Of course, a garden can be many things.

Source

Jill Bliss Native Herbs Print Set

casasugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:12:49 -0700

Not so long ago, Jill Bliss spent a month at the Strybing Arboretum studying native herbs. All of that erudition resulted in these beautiful limited edition art prints, which are printed on recycled matte cardstock with soy-based inks

By simply leaving a comment on Jill's art, you'll be entered to win this set of native herb posters ($45 value). (For the official contest rules, go here.) So comment away, Casa readers, and tell me how much you love Jill Bliss!