Tea for Me!

Tea Rex, $14, Fred Flare

We're on a new beverage regimen in the McKeon-Cueto household: TEA. We've given up coffee cold turkey (Well, Micky has, valiantly. I still sneak a small cup here and there. Shhh) and replaced our regular morning jolt with the gentle nudge of hot tea. I'm drinking two, sometimes three cups of tea a day now. And it's great! Really! I appreciate all of the health benefits that tea has brought into my life, and a hot mug on a chilly afternoon around 2 or 3 can be just the thing you need to pick you up when you start dragging. But I'm starting to feel a little tea fatigue, I think. I have exhausted the regular old Earl Greys and Peppermint Greens available at our local grocer, and I'm thinking I might want to try mixing my own blend soon. I know, exciting stuff! With that in mind, I started investigating tea infusers that might make this whole endeavor even more fun. I know what you're thinking, what is more fun than concocting your own signature blend of tea?! Why, steeping that custom blend in a super cool steeper, OF COURSE! Here are some that I've found that have made deciding quite difficult: 

Tea Sub, $18, Fred Flare

Robot Tea Infuser, $12, Kikkerland

Tea to My Heart Infuser, Now $9.99(!), Fred Flare

Chrome Tea House Infuser with Caddy, $5, The Tea Corner

That last little gem is just like one my mom had when I was growing up, only once the automatic Mrs. Tea moved in, it was relegated to decorate the dusty windowsill over the kitchen sink. But now I feel a change is a-coming! Electric tea machines and soggy tea bags should tremble and beware: I think it is high (tea) time the infuser reclaimed it's rightful place in mugs and cups everywhere! 


- Cathleen

Artist Spotlight: Ana M. Lopez

I usually leave the artist spotlight to Catie, but Ana M. Lopez's work speaks to me and she is a graduate of my graduate program. 

Ana M. Lopez is a metalsmith, educator, and decorative arts scholar. She works in metals and also draws. Her work is hard, raw, yet sensual and nurturing. 

You can view her full portfolio of work here. 

Good work, Ana!

- Grace

Artist of the Week: Deborah Zlotsky

Catch-22, 2011, oil on canvas, 36" x 36"

Painter Deborah Zlotsky lives and works in Albany, NY. She did her undergraduate at Yale, her graduate at the University of Connecticut, and she has exhibited at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts in NYC, as well as Pierogi Gallery. I discovered her painting "Waiting room" (below) while tripping my way through Pinterest last week and was immediately intrigued. Once I located her website, I found each painting from her recent series "Adjacent Possibilities"almost better than the last. There is something about her work that really pleases my eyes; the geometrics, the colors, the drips. Yes. Very pleasing indeed. 

Waiting room, 2011, oil on canvas, 48" x 60"

All that follows, 2011, oil on canvas, 48" x 60"

Unknown unknown, 2011, oil on canvas, 36" x 36"

- Cathleen 

[Images courtesy of the artist's website: deborahzlotsky.com]

Mug Shots Part 2

Completely reblogged from notcot.org yesterday, mug shots from Australia in the 1920's-1930's. These mugshots are art and are even more spectacular because they are unintended art. All images courtesy of Dailymail.co.uk

William Stanley Moore, May 1, 1925.

William Cahill, July 30, 1923.

Guiseppe Flori.

Sidney Keller.

Sidney Grant, May 2, 1923. 

Earnest Joseph Coffey, June 2, 1922.

Alfred John West, April 7, 1922.

I highly recommend you check out the rest on the Daily Mail UK. They are a little piece of awesomeness.

Enjoy your weekend!

-Grace

New Adventure!

Hi all! I'm excited to announce that I will be joining the team of writers at Decorative Traces. 

Founded by Jessica Stambaugh and Danielle Mastrangelo, DT aims to merge contemporary design with historical foundations. 

What a great idea! 

I will be helping to write the glossary entries which give a background and definition of various movements, historical figures, historical places, etc... basically awesomeness. 

Please check out the DT website. This should be an interesting adventure!

-Grace

Nice Chompers

Some of the very best packing I have ever seen. A travel toothbrush and toothpaste set designed by artist Emmelie Golabiewski.

You can see more of her work on her website here: 

www.emmeliegolabiewski.se

- Cathleen

I Spy...

the linenfold motif on the bedroom doors in Downton Abbey! 

Quick history from the book The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts:

"A conventional representation of a piece of linen laid in vertical folds, of c15 Flemish origins and much used by Tudor wood-carvers for the decoration of panelling and furniture (mainly chests and the doors of wardrobes)."

Linenfold motif

Linenfold motif again

Linenfold motif on the door in Lady Cora's bedroom (and yes, it was near impossible to find a good picture of the doors in the show). 

Look out for it next time you watch! 

- Grace

Artist of the Week: Hennessy Youngman

ART THOUGHTZ: DAMIEN HIRST

Brooklyn artist Jayson Musson performs as Hennessy Youngman in a series of videos on Youtube titled Art Thoughtz, giving gangsta-style insights into high-minded art concepts and artists' work through his on point pop culture references. His Damien Hirst critique above made me laugh aloud. And thoughts on Louise Bourgeois below made me nod in solemn agreement. Word.

ART THOUGHTZ: Louise Bourgeois

ART THOUGHTZ: How to Make An Art

Hennessy Youngman is currently a part of "The Virgins" exhibition at Family Business Gallery in NYC. Check it. 

- Cathleen

Animal Vegetable or Mineral

Rocks and Minerals, A Golden Nature Guide

Published in 1957, $0.49 Used on Amazon

On the hunt for stones and gems to use in my jewelry class, I've come across a bunch of cool old rock and mineral illustrations through my internet space travels. I especially enjoy the look of the drawings from 50s and 60s guidebooks.

Illustration from Rocks and Minerals

Stones and Minerals by Valerie Swenson 

Published in 1955, $9.95 from SouthernBliss on Etsy

Information on Copper and Gold from Stones and Minerals

1897 Native American Print - Vintage Book Plate Illustration

7.5"x 11.25", $15 from Holcroft on Etsy 

Mineral Specimens Mens Tshirt from Haeckel Illustration (circa 1876)

$16 from nonfictiontees on Etsy

To render something as boring as a rock so beautifully back then. Well, you can color me impressed. 

- Cathleen 

Symbols - From King Tut to Jesus

King Tutankhamun aka King Tut's Coffin Mask. This mask is solid gold and weighs 800 lbs. 

King Tut is depicted holding a flail and a shepherd's crook.

Why? 

I don't think King Tut was a farmer of any sort.

Since a king is responsible for his people and their well-being the choice to have King Tut featured with a flail and crook is to illustrate that he provides for his people. The flail is a symbol of providing wheat, aka food, and the crook illustrates that he provides meat for his people and is a leader. 

This same symbolism is later adopted by Christianity to help tell the story of Jesus. Since most people were illiterate missionaries depended on common and understandable symbols to convey the stories of Christ. 

- Grace

Artist of the Week: Faye Moorhouse

Forty Faces Print - 8/40, 10 GBP on Etsy

This week we bring you the work of UK artist and illustrator Faye Moorhouse: moody, expressive, and dark, with an edge of humor and whimsy. I like.

Mankini - Articulated Paper Doll Kit, 5 GBP on Etsy 

Arms for Dinner - Original Collage/Illustration, 75 GBP on Etsy

Grave Robber 001 - Original Illustration, 75 GBP on Etsy

Drawing from the Swimmers Series 

Illustration of Paralympic Oscar Pistorius 

surrounding the London 2012 Olympics

- Cathleen

[First four images via Faye's Etsy shop, Faye Moorhouse Illustration, last two via her website (fayemoorhouse.co.uk)]

Christopher Payne: Asylum

Christopher Payne is an NYC based artist trained as an architect but pursuing photography. I stumbled upon his collection Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hosptials and found the works haunting, vulnerable, tangible, and joyful in their colors. What do you think?

Buffalo State Hospital, New York

Bridge to Infirmary Ward, Taunton State Hospital, MA

Hall with Chairs, Taunton State Hospital, MA

Mead Building Lobby, Yankton State Hospital, South Dakota

Linen Closets, Traverse City Hospital, Michigan

Patient Toothbrushes, Hudson River State Hospital, New York

Bathtub, Fairfield State Hospital, Connecticut

Gurney, South Carolina State Hospital, South Carolina

Stairwell, Harlem Valley State Hospital, New York

Patient Suitcases, Bolivar State Hospital, Tennessee

File Boxes, Spring Grove State Hospital, Maryland

Matteawan State Hospital, Beacon, New York

Courtyard Gazebo, Concord State Hospital, New Hampshire

Slaughterhouse, Broughton State Hospital, North Carolina

Sheet Metal Forms, Willard State Hospital, New York

Electroencephalograph Machine, Clarinda State Hospital, Iowa

Beauty Salon, Trenton State Hospital, New Jersey

Bowling Shoes, Rockland State Hospital, New York

Autopsy Theater, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Casket and Grave Markers, St. Lawrence State Hospital, New York

Unclaimed Cremation Urns, Oregon State Hospital, Oregon

Cemetery, Connecticut Valley State Hospital, Connecticut.

I think it's poignant that he begins the series with the entering of the hospital, then daily life, and concludes with various death arenas. I also find it interesting that these are hospitals all across the US but they share similar qualities.

It took Payne seven years to put together this collection and as you can see the images are from a variety of institutions including two from the DC/MD area. This series is available in his new book with the same title as the collection.

You can view his work here.

*All images courtesy of Payne's website.

-Grace