The surgical precision of Richard Galpin

Found this on one of my favorite art-eye-candy blogs, but does it float (who quoted it from data is nature.) Whenever I'm filled with jealousy upon seeing someone's work, I know it's worth sharing...

From the artist's site: "Richard Galpin’s complex art works are derived from the artist's own photographs of chaotic cityscapes. Using only a scalpel Galpin intricately scores and peels away the emulsion from the surface of the photograph to produce a radical revision of the urban form. The artist allows himself no collaging, or additions of any kind - each delicate work is a unique piece made entirely by the erasure of photographic information."

It's like Disneyland for Designers

Actually, it's like Disneyland for anyone. Because, well, it is Disneyland!

Being new to Southern California, Mike and I got annual passes to the happiest place on earth, and we are having so much fun. In addition to being a total kid about all the rides, shows, and treats, I feel like I am in a candy store of fantastic design. Absolutely everything is done to the nines, from the signage, to the to the uniforms of all the "cast-members" (as they call all park employees) uniforms, to the freakin' trash cans.

At the end of our second trip, we finally made it to the "it's a small world" ride, and I must share the fun retro typography and environmental design. I was so busy taking it all in (it's a bit of a visual – and audio – onslaught!) that I didn't take any photos, so I google-imaged a bunch that show my favorite bits.

The crazy sun-clock-character sets up an awesome illustration style that is carried on throughout the wacky mid-century silver and gold façade:

Those numbers are just so fabulous. That typography is carried on during the ride. I particularly like these banners – though they predate it by decades, they're quite in keeping with the banners/flags/scrolls trend that's been going on for the last couple years!

And the little characters, especially the animals, are just so cute!

I could go on and on, but for now, I'll leave you with a final...

If I'd-a known you were comin'

...I'd-a baked a Four-Layer Lemon Torte with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting!

Yesterday my best-friend-and-sister-in-law Melissa turned thirty, so Saturday night Mike and I got the chance to test out our new apartment for entertaining. And, I got to test out my baking skills by making a full-on, fancy, four-layer cake!

Regretfully, I neglected to take a beauty shot of the cake with natural lighting, etc. (My friend Amanda was kind enough to send me these fun candids. Isn't Melissa a cutie? I hope I look like her when I'm thirty ... in eighteen months ... hm, better lay off cake!) But the cake came out quite nice, if I do say so myself! I was in a mad rush to finish it in time for the party, when I had the idea to forgo the painstaking piped icing, and just press some thinly-sliced lemons around the outside and sprinkle some curls of zest on top. The inside had three layers of red raspberry filling.

So now, I am in love with making cakes. It's the ultimate in creative baking – from concepting fun flavor combos to, of course, the decorating. And, better than any knitting or silkscreening project, it's got a yummalicious finale!

My next baking endeavor: Bakerella's Fourteen Layer Cake (shown to me by the birthday girl herself).

Or, maybe I need an intermediate project first...

Ninety nine cents well spent

I just stumbled across the coolest iPhone app: AboutTime by Chilli X. (This link will open the app page in iTunes.)

"Featuring beautifully rendered typography on a light parchment background," AboutTime tells you the time ... but in such an airy, nonchalant way!

At night, the type is reversed out of black:

As a bonus, you can flip the pages to read fun little quotes about time:

Beautiful typography. A leisurely, care-free attitude towards time. This app is right up my alley.

Black and white lines

I've been inspired lately by the crazy things artists can do with these minimal elements. Black and white lines – probably the simplest ingredients to use in a piece of art, but the perfect thing for creating the most complex imagery.

The thing I've been loving the most about these is how something can come out looking like just a little doodle that anyone could do, and at the same time, like it required an enormous amount of intensive effort and talent to pull off well.

I have some designs in mind for a few t-shirts and maybe some other things with artwork in this vein. I'll post them as soon as I can get them going.

These images are from: 1. Etsuko Fukaya, Core2003, via Yamamoto Gendai via but does it float; 2. Drawing by valentinadesign; 3. Detail of a woodcut print I found at a flea market (the signature is illegible); 4. Illustration by Yehring Tong, via Debut Art via ffffound!

I'm back!

You may have noticed my recent hiatus, which I'm glad to say is now over. We were moving all our things from Dallas into our new apartment – an event that makes me happier than I can tell!

In celebration of my return to the blog world, I would like to share this fun little piece of "handmade" entertainment:



(In case you're curious, this is a clip from a video by my friend and sister-in-law Melissa. She recently visited the Portland Children's Museum with my niece and brothers, and apparently they had some fun with the shadow-puppets interactive exhibit! Melissa will be joining us soon with some guest posts about cooking, one of her many creative passions.)

Neighborhood Sighting: Handmade nest planter

One of the things that makes me happy is stumbling across a neat little piece of handmade design when I'm not expecting it. This morning on my morning walk with the dog in our new neighborhood, I spotted this little piece sitting humbly on the edge of someone's yard:


So cute! Instantly I had visions of this person I'd never met patiently weaving together all these sticks they had gathered from various places. Perhaps they saw a bird building its own nest, and they were inspired to observe its methods, as if to take a lesson from a skilled master. Something to smile about as I "nest" in our new apartment!