CasaSugar -- Home sweet home.

DIY: Ceiling Medallions as Wall Art

casasugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:00:55 -0700

Since I was recently fawning over that ceiling medallion light, I couldn't help but stop in my tracks when I came across these ceiling medallions used as wall art. Do It Yourself offered up this creative idea in its collection of quick home projects. The lightweight urethane medallions were simply painted in subtly varying shades of yellow and easily mounted on the wall of this living room. The medallions are affordable, around $20 to $30, so it's quite an attainable way to bring "art" into your home. Another thought? Pick up a medallion with a circular opening in the center, and have a glass cutter make you a round mirror to size, and you'll have an ornate mirror at a fractional price.
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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.

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Ask Casa: Claude Lalanne Sheep Sculptures

casasugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:15:03 -0700

Hi Casa,
You featured some imitation Claude Lalanne sheep sculptures in June. I have been looking for these for 10 years, since they were featured in an issue of House & Garden in September 1998! Can you let me know where I can purchase them?Thanks!
Stily

To hear my response to Stily,

Love It or Hate It? Thorsten van Elten Still-Life Bowl

casasugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0700

The Thorsten van Elten Still-Life Bowl ($100) is a fruit bowl made from a glazed earthenware dish outfitted with an oak frame that can be set horizontally or vertically, so you can create your very own still life without even getting your paint brush wet. Yeah, you might prefer a van Gogh, but you can't have everything, can you?

Love It or Hate It? Thorsten van Elten Still-Life Bowl

Love It

Hate It

Undecided

This Just In: Vipp and Helena Christensen Team Up For Charity

casasugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:30:37 -0700

Danish design company VIPP and supermodel Helena Christensen have teamed up to hold a charity auction of Vipp pedal bins that have been given a fashionable makeover by fashion, design, art, and entertainment leaders. The bins have been made over by the likes of Bono, Michael Stipe, Mario Batali, Michael Bastian, Simon Doonan, Frederic Fekkai, Karim Rashid, Jason Miller, Todd Oldham, Alice Temperley, Mena Suvari, and more, and will be sold in a silent auction benefiting the Food Bank For New York City and Chernobyl Children’s Project International. An installation of the bins will be on display for public viewing and pre-bidding at The Conran Shop in New York through Thursday, Sept. 18, when an evening auction event will be held at the Winston Wächter Fine Art Gallery. Bidding for the bins begins at either $500 or $750, and you can learn more details by calling a bidding specialist at The Conran Shop at (866) 755-9079. To see more of the designs,

Inspired: Maui Dozing

casasugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:30:05 -0700

I love the balance of glorious, warm tones in Etsy seller Laura Marie W's Maui Dozing (sold) oil on canvas painting. The combination of orange, green, lilac, and yellow is such an unusual one, but it really is breathtaking. The painting's landscape itself is actually what hit a soft spot in me, though. While I assume this is a Hawaiian scene, to me it summons memories of the dusty, purple, country roads that I spent many Summers cruising along in Vermont growing up, dotted by tractors in wide open fields set against a regal mountain backdrop. To see my ideas for creating a room around this painting,

Cool Idea: Manetone Pantone Painting

casasugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:25 -0700

Graphic designer Tim Fraser Brown created a reproduction of Édouard Manet's "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" entirely out of old Pantone chips. He painstakingly color matched over 5,000 chips onto a blank canvas over the course of four nights. The result is a bit Impressionism meets Pointillism, taking PMS to a new level of literalism. I love how all the details of the original painting, like the beer thought to cater to a British clientele, much debated by art cronies, are blurred. And, it's been said that Manet's painting is modern paraphrasing of "Las Meninas" by Diego Velázquez. I guess, in a way, "Manetone Pantone" is modern paraphrasing of "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère." It's certainly a heck of a lot cooler than my paint-swatch weaving . . .
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Gifted: Art For Newlyweds

casasugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:30:09 -0700

Welcome to my new feature, Gifted, where I suggest home- and garden-related gifts that are chic, economical, and lovely. For my first post, I was inspired by my need to buy a present for some friends who just tied the knot. If you, too, need to purchase a present for some newlywed friends, consider buying them a piece of art. This is the kind of gift that you should probably consider only if you know their taste; if not, it might be best to stick to the registry. However, if you know them fairly well, you can probably pick out a piece of art that the couple will adore. I'm a fan of the site 20x200, which offers affordable, high-quality prints from emerging artists at low prices. This piece, from artist Linzie Hunter, seems like a cute, unsentimental, yet sincere way of telling the newlyweds "Congratulations on finding each other!" With some matting and a simple black frame, this is a gift that will look lovely on any wall in your friends' new shared home.

Prints start at $20, but hurry — there are only 40 left. You can get yours here.

Cool Idea: Graphite Sculptures

casasugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:30:23 -0700

ASB Workshop's Graphite Objects, created by San Francisco-based artist Agelio Batle, are olive branches, asparagus, calla lilies, raven heads, shells, quills, and other delicate shapes carved from graphite. The art pieces double as writing utensils when you don't have a pencil handy. The small sculptures transform the ordinary into the extraordinary and the art collector into the artist, whilst serving as an elegant artifact in your home. It's no wonder the objects are lined with remarkable, intricate details; the artist studied biology in college. Set one on top of a stack of books, use it as a paperweight, or arrange it in a vignette with other souvenirs and beautiful things. Available at Bluehouse ($34-$38) or contact the studio to purchase.

What Would It Take?

casasugar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:30:55 -0700

Maybe you really love boxed up bloody hands, and have been on the hunt for the perfect one to display in your foyer, right next to the photos from your family reunion. But my guess is that's not the case, and you wouldn't even re-gift The Gift by Annalu ($12,500). So, what would it take for you to put in your home?

What Would It Take?

A blank check, written out to me, from Bill Gates.

It would have to be Halloween, and only then.

Hey! I kind of like it. Granted, it is a bit eccentric.

I am speechless. I would never ever ever!

Where is it from? I want to order it right now!

Nice and New: West Elm Art Inserts

casasugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:00:38 -0700

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one to purchase mass-produced artwork (unless it's a Saul Bass poster), and I've never been impressed with it — until now: The new West Elm Art Inserts ($14, $19) are quite good looking. West Elm is pushing customers to purchase all of their art inserts, which were made to fit their gallery frames, by suggesting they "create their own gallery show." Good sales ploy. The designs include butterflies, multicolored stripes, a crown, an urn, antique telephones, some graphic prints, and the word "Brooklyn." Aside from the Brooklyn print (cough. lame!), I'm liking what I see. However, l have my doubts that they'd stand up as well on their own. What do you think? As much as I'd like to give West Elm a pat on the back, I still prefer original, unique artwork for my own home.

Casa Quickie: Kids' Art on the Wall, Not the Fridge

casasugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:00:10 -0700

In Amsterdam, a Dutch couple based its décor on a range of noncolors, using blacks and whites, asphalt, variations of gray, earth tones, and light — skillfully (and daringly) playing with blends and mismatches. In the playroom, they used the dark colors but made a bold move by wallpapering with their children's drawings. Rather than letting their children run loose with fabric markers on a muslin sofa, they made large-format, black-and-white photocopies of their children's artwork and adhered them to the wall in a repeat, much like traditional wallpaper. This technique gives the children a sense of involvement in their home, without sacrificing taste. You may not have kids of your own, and maybe you find the drawings a bit unpolished. But, you can still use this technique of wallpapering photocopies with illustrations or imagery that's more refined. Just make sure there's a theme that runs through each image uniting them, such as the color scheme here.
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Etsy Find: "Black Dots" Print

casasugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:00:01 -0700

I'm seeing spots, and I'm loving it. Marie M Vlasic's Black Dots ($40) print is a somewhat disorienting play on perspective and light, but in the most pleasurable way possible. Perhaps taking a cue from New York Fashion Week, Vlasic's polka dots may be trendy, but they also have universal, lasting appeal. This high quality artwork is printed on heavy Fuji Film Crystal Archive paper, and Giclee prints are also available.

Artist of the Day: Melissa Moss

casasugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:30:38 -0700

Los Angeles-based painter Melissa Moss makes artwork that seems fit for a children's fairy tale. From her graceful, curtseying trees to her odd little nubbin creatures resting beneath the splayed gills of gigantic mushrooms, these paintings beg for a fanciful storyline. And her use of color? Visually arresting, to say the least. As Melissa writes in her artist's statement,"I use color as my primary artistic element. I’ve studied the meanings and associations of colors and their subtle shades and tones and use this knowledge to convey the mood of each painting."

Melissa's work can be seen in galleries in Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago, among other cities. If, like me, you find Melissa's work enchanting and would like to get a print for yourself, you can pick one up at 2Modern, Indie Fixx, or Little Paper Airplanes.

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Midday Muse: The Secret's in the Sculpture

casasugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:00:44 -0700

I spend so much time looking at furniture and accessories that sometimes I forget that what really builds a sophisticated home is having unique, original artwork. In this dining-room photograph by David Giles, I'm loving the free-standing botanical sculptures that resemble children's drawings made to scale, a bit like Yeondoo Jung's photographs. The room is otherwise very minimal, painted entirely bright white, furnished with a simple white table, and accessorized with fruits and flowers. Although the lace-backed chairs are unusual, they really bring nothing to the table; it's the plant-like sculptures that cultivate the room's captivating style.
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Casa Verde: Waste Management, One Man's Trash

casasugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:00:22 -0700

Justin Gignac, a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, picks up trash off of the streets of New York City. But, you won't find him in a sanitation department uniform. He actually fills bags with subway passes, Broadway tickets, coffee cups, phone book pages, and other NYC junk and carefully arranges them in plastic cubes, which are then signed, numbered, and dated in slick Helvetica typeface and sells them for 50 smackers — "making them perfect for anyone who wants their own piece of the NYC landscape," he says. Gignac has sold over 1,000 of his trash cubes, each unique, leak-free, and smell-free. The initiative to repurpose trash spawned from a conversation with a colleague who said package design wasn't important; "I figured the only way to prove them wrong would be to try to package something that absolutely nobody in their right mind would ever want to buy," he rebutted. A fresh way to look at recycling . . . or exporting: his cubes can now be found in 41 states and 91 countries.
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Casa Verde: KS Rives Transforms Trash Into Art

casasugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:15:12 -0700

I'm all about making something out of nothing, and artist KS Rives takes that philosophy one step further by making something beautiful out of nothing anyone wants: trash.

Whether through the use of old maps of Paris, discarded rubber bands and public transit tickets, or even cigarette butts, KS Rives takes something that no one wants and transforms it into a highly desirable work of art.

To see some of her art, including her hand-painted wallpaper, just

Weird Furniture: Louis Vuitton Electric Chair

casasugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:00:08 -0700

Artist Peter Gronquist opened a solo show,"The Revolution Will Be Fabulous," at LA's Gallery 1988 this weekend featuring his designer knock-off weaponry. NotCot was there and got a peek of his Louis Vuitton electric chair ($4,500), a "traditional" wooden electric chair printed with company's monogram and made with LV buckles used for wrist and ankle straps. The general consensus seemed to be that the quality of the chair, as well as other pieces like PacMan hand grenades and a peacock-feathered Gucci gun, didn't meet the standards of the brands they tried to emulate. To hear what I think of this artwork,

DIY: Paint-Swatch Weaving

casasugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:27:51 -0700

In part inspired, part stingy, and part needing fresh air, I decided to take a walk to the hardware store this past weekend and pick up some (free) paint swatches to use for an art project. Aside from being gratuit, a benefit of using paint swatches for an art project is that you can choose the exact colors you're looking for to bring your room together or just to add a touch of color. How you use the swatches is up to you, but I figured I'd let you in on how I executed this little masterpiece (ha).

Supplies:

Paint swatches
Scissors
Rubber cement
Frame

To learn the steps, and see this DIY hung on the wall,

Artist(?!?) of the Day: Pete Doherty

casasugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:38:04 -0700

According to Daily Mail, Babyshambles rocker, incarceree, and Kate Moss's former flame, Pete Doherty debuted an exhibition of his bloody paintings at the Chappe Gallery in the Montmartre district Paris last week, despite the fact that he's currently serving time behind bars.

The gruesome exhibit features 30 paintings by l'artiste, including "one blood and pencil image of the supermodel, entitled 'Miss Moss reclines', shows her topless lying on a sofa," one self-portrait scribbled with "with the baffling initials S.K., V.I.C., a Star of David and a swastika," and in another, the known drug offender "signed his name in blood from one of his
needles," giving a whole new meaning to the term "needlework." While I do think people should have the right to decide what constitutes art, and it's always interesting to see boundaries tested, I must admit that I find this quite macabre. It'll be interesting to hear how the turnout goes; the exhibit runs until May 11. Do you think he is a genuine artist or do you think he should stick with singing? Once he rides out his jail sentence, that is . . .

Source and Source

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.

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Cool Idea: An Update on Crochet

casasugar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:08:30 -0700

Even though crafting has become cooler, the art of crochet is still seen by many people as belonging to little old ladies with big bags and crochet hooks. Even knitting is now vastly cooler than crocheting. Leave it to an innovative lady to turn that idea on its head. With her crocheted sculpture work, Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has added a touch of the avant-garde to cotton crocheting. I love how crocheting around these complicated animal shapes livens up the household doily.

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Found It! Flowers Painting

casasugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:00:17 -0700

Studio Annetta recently posted photos of the home of Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie Chantal of Greece, originally from the November 2006 of the now-defunct House & Garden, and something inside it caught my eye. The flowers painting on the wall above the fireplace of the couple's living area was irrefutably familiar. But where had I seen it, or something like it? To find out,

In the News: The New York Times Explores the Art of Home

casasugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:00:45 -0800

What do you do when you've been priced out of your New York apartment? Well, if you're playwright Brooke Berman, you translate the unpleasant experience into artistic expression. Brooke, whose play “Hunting and Gathering” explores the subjects of home, transience, and character, was partially inspired by her experience of living in more than 30 homes in 20 years. Read the whole story — and check out the audio slideshow — here.

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Etsy Find: Birdcages Print

casasugar — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:01:37 -0800

Birdcages print ($22) by Traci Edwards is, according to the artist, "inspired by The Birds, Victorian ghost stories, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and the little parakeet my great-aunt had during my early childhood."

This print measures 11" x 14" with a one inch border. It is printed on white archival matte paper and signed and dated by the artist.

Give the Gift of Art: Untitled, Thrift 2006, by Brian Ulrich

casasugar — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:15:19 -0800

As a furniture enthusiast, as well as an avid flea marketer, I am loving Untitled, Thrift 2006 (0635), by Brian Ulrich, available on the site 20x200. This digital-c print has sold out of the larger available print sizes, but there are still some 10-x-8-inch prints available for $20 each. Throw an Ikea Ribba frame around one of these and you have a smart, sophisticated holiday present for all of those interior decorating junkies in your life.

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Artist of the Day: Yellena James

casasugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:15:41 -0800

Yellena James is a Sarajevo-born artist and graphic designer who lives with her musician husband and two cats in Oregon. During the civil war in Sarajevo, Yellena had to "sneak past numerous snipers to attend a high school that was dedicated to the arts," where it was, she says, that she really grew passionate about her own art. She lived in Sarajevo until the end of the civil war in 1995, and then moved to Orlando, Florida, where she received a BA in graphic design from the University of Central Florida. She's "obsessed with markers, pens, inks, paper, patterns, good design, wallpaper, cacti, vintage fabric, empty journals, and anything little." Her abstract botanical drawings and paintings are dream-like, magically colored, and what I see as the uncanny love child of Jill Bliss, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Barabarella — in a good way. She even has a drawing called, "Bliss." Yellena's attention to detail is painstaking, yet her lines are very free flowing, which makes for drawings that are inspirational in both a raw emotional and chemical way, as well as in a technical, artistic sense. Archival quality prints of these wonderful drawings are for sale in her Etsy shop at very reasonable prices, in case you're looking for a Seuss-esque gift this stolen Christmas.

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Have You Had Your Artwork Custom Framed?

casasugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:00:02 -0800

If you're starting your art collection, you've probably encountered the need to have your artwork framed. Unless your piece is a standard size, your bank account is in for a rough ride, since custom framing can be costly. Have you made the plunge? Source

Have You Had Your Artwork Custom Framed?

Yes.

No.

I'm going to.

Wall Murals for Kids

casasugar — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:01:14 -0700

Artist Devon Holzwarth created Mural Studio in 2003 with the intention of applying her fine art training and imagination towards creating murals that can transform a space. I especially love Devon's kids' murals, and would've been thrilled to have one of her underwater murals decorating my bedroom as a kid.

To find out about how to buy one of Devon's murals, and to see images of her fabulous children's murals, just

DIY: How to Mat Your Own Prints

casasugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:03:30 -0700

If you've started your art collection, you've probably encountered the high costs of having your first pieces framed and matted. Or, if you're thinking about starting your collection, you may be anxious about those costs. Either way, don't be fearful. Although a beautiful frame can really make a piece of art stand out, if you've chosen something that is unique and that is unequivocally "you," that alone will make the artwork. So, all you need is a simple, inexpensive frame, and to learn to mat your own prints.

To get the supply list and learn the steps that I learned from the small object,

Great Art Online: 20x200

casasugar — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:30:08 -0700

Getting your art collection started is often limited by your pocketbook. The only way I could afford my first large art purchase was because I bartered an artist friend for it. So what to do if you're art-friend-free and low on the benjamins? Why, turn to the internet, of course. One site that I'm in love with is 20x200.

To find out more, just

Commissioning a Painting...of Your Dog

casasugar — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 06:58:18 -0700

Sometimes I worry about walking that fine line between being a responsible pet owner and an obsessive pet owner. ("Your dog is wearing a backpack," my sister recently observed.) Still, that concern didn't deter me from commissioning a painting of my dog, Ozzie. Portland, Maine, artist Elizabeth Fraser, whose work I'd found on Etsy, started out with a photo of Ozzie, and two weeks later, the painting arrived in the mail.

The painting's diminutive size, at at only 5x5 inches, made me feel like less of a weirdo for getting my pet's portrait commissioned. But as more of my friends saw the final result (framed and placed on my fireplace mantel) they stopped thinking that I was slightly nutty and began to realize that I was on to something really cool.

Fraser, who works primarily in oils, was a delight to work with, and I thought that $75 was a major steal for an original piece of artwork of my pet.

What do you think? Would you get artwork commissioned of your pet?

Artist of the Day: Had Matter

casasugar — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:15:47 -0700

Reader Arielb38 wrote to me saying, "This last weekend at Crafty Bastards I got an awesome, functional piece from Had Matter. I think she would be a great addition to this month's theme!"

ArielB even sent in a picture of the new piece in her home (love your wall colors, Arielb3.

Erika Rubel is the Had Matter, and she makes awesome functional wall that she creates from recycled materials and vintage images. Functional art, in case you're wondering, simply means that each piece has another purpose beside prettiness. For instance, a lot of Erika's pieces are keyholders, and others also hold mail and have shelves and clocks. Prices generally range between $55-$150, so these are all quite affordable.