Puces POP feat. Olivia Mew

Just got back from a long weekend way up north in Montreal with my honey, Micky. Since the trip was our Christmas gift to each other, we spent the last few days leisurely exploring the city's cutest neighborhoods and adorable shops together. It was great. While rambling up Boulevard St. Laurent on our second night there, I spotted a poster publicizing Puces POP, a holiday fair featuring more than 80 artisans, designers, and purveyors of all things handmade — and it was happening THIS WEEKEND ONLY!!   

Needless to say, we beeline-d it there the next day, prepared to get some serious holiday shopping done. The tables were set up in a big church basement right off The Main and the crowds were thick and craft-hungry, slowly snaking their way up and down the aisles so as not to miss one single odd or end. The whole thing felt very cozy and homespun, complete with a supervised DIY table where parents were encouraged to leave their kids while they shopped. Micky and I jumped right into the mix immediately, and came away with some great gifts for several loved ones that hopefully they will enjoy. I won't go into too much detail on that front—surprises are one of the best parts of Christmas, after all. But I did want to spotlight one particular seller that made it very difficult for me to walk away from her table empty-handed. Thankfully Olivia Mew has an Etsy shop called feverfew where she sells some of the beautiful scarves, jewelry, and shirts of her own design and illustration online. 

the perfect pair, wearing their wildflower crowns 

"fox and hound" printed silk scarf, $45 on Etsy

pretty printed bunting, a sweet handkerchief for teenagers in love (also below), 

and the most amazing bird casket pendant necklace, from youngcaptive's instagram

moth pentagram pendant

rat and raccoon pendants

gorgeous shirt above sewn by isabel hervieux 

with mouse printed fabric by olivia mew below

the cat who almost ate the canaries

"artemis" printed silk scarf, $45 on Etsy

Unfortunately, Olivia hasn't listed any of her fully-cool half-shirts or pendant necklaces anywhere online that I can find yet, but! she seems really nice, so I bet if you wrote her she'd work something out for you. Maybe you can get something with that Christmas money your grandma sent you. 

- Cathleen 

[All photos from oliviamew.com where not indicated.]

Vesa Sammalisto

First and Foremost, Happy Birthday to the Bestie of all Besties! Catie! Who turns 31 today. We've known each other so long that I went to her 13th birthday and wore a REALLY wrinkly vest. Yeah, that was hot then. We have only one photo of that day and you can see me with some EPIC eyebrows and Catie with some crooked liquid eyeliner. It was a pretty fabulous birthday party.

So onto art.

Vesa Sammalisto is a Finnish illustrator working out of Berlin, Germany. He creates clean illustrations that are a pleasure to look at. Here are some of his alphabet illustrations:

I can't lie, I'm confused by the letter U. When in the heck did Santa have anything to do with the letter U? Also W makes me uncomfortable with all those veins. 

Moving on! Vesa also does illustrations for companies and their marketing needs. Here are a couple of my favorites (sans U Santas and veiny Ws).

Pretty cool.

Enjoy your weekend!

-Grace

Hearst Castle

A girl in my class on Monday presented on Hearst Castle, pictured below. I was half paying attention until she showed a photo of the indoor pool.

Yep, that's the indoor pool. There's an outdoor pool too, but I think this one is more interesting. Completely covered in 1" tile from ceiling to floor, this pool took seven years to complete! 

Here are some quick facts about the Indoor Pool from the Hearst Castle Website:

- Decorated with 8 contemporary statues of Roman gods.

- Pool is styled after ancient Roman baths.

- Pool was heated. 

- The 1" glass tiles are called smalti, and are colored or clear with fused gold inside.

- The design of the tile was developed by muralist Camille Solon.

The castle was built by woman architect Julia Morgan starting in 1919 and was not finished until 1947. I strongly urge you to explore the website here.

Next time I go to California, I am definitely making a trip to peruse the grounds of Hearst Castle.

Enjoy!

-Grace

Artist of the Week: Henry Dalton

Another gem from the Museum of Jurassic Technology [This is the last one, I swear!], Henry Dalton's (1829-1911) micromosaics were also on view in one of the darkened galleries. Visible only through the peephole of a microscope, his tiny collages are made entirely from dried algae and the scales of butterfly wings. That's right, not even glue is holding these beauties together.  

When I first saw the work I thought they were intricately inlaid stones, which would have been impressive enough. But after discovering they were actually made from butterfly wings—and scales of wings, at that—I was bowled over by his use of the material. THEN I read about his painstakingly precise process on the museum's website, and my brain was totally blown:


"The microscopic creations of Henry Dalton were the fruit of extraordinary skill, remarkable patience and a keen aesthetic eye. After devising a design, Dalton would collect numerous butterfly wings of multiple species from all over the world. Carefully striping off individual scales with a needle, each scale was then sorted by color, size, and shape creating a extensive palette. Boar bristle in hand, Dalton would then transfer each scale to the slide. Positioning a scale was a laborious task, one that required the use of a microscope and a small tube through which he would breathe to gently move each scale over the glass to its appointed position. Once in place, Dalton would crush a small tiny spot of the scale against the slide, allowing internal oils to act as a natural adhesive. Many of Dalton's remarkable micromosaic preparations would require as many as one thousand individual scales."


Wow. 



- Cathleen 

John Russell Pope

What if the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. looked like this: ?

It almost did.

American architect John Russell Pope proposed this ziggurat inspired design in 1912.

Pope also designed The Jefferson Memorial, The West Building of the National Gallery of Art and The National Archives building. These were all built.

The Jefferson Memorial, the West Building and The National Archives building are all in the neoclassical style which was HOT, HOT, HOT in the early twentieth century. It was popular not only because our founding fathers wanted to create a visual vocabulary in the new independent country that referenced Greek democracy but also because Herculaneum and Pompeii had been uncovered in the late eighteenth century and it was still a hot topic in design.

Enjoy!

-Grace

Wives Tales

Another curious exhibit at the Museum of Jurassic Technology was on folk remedies and superstitions, the glass-enclosed displays for which held various vignettes illustrating the "vulgar knowledge" that was prescribed way back when to cure whatever it was that ailed ya.

For instance, mouse cures were apparently some of the oldest beliefs featured in the exhibition wherein mice are caught and prepared for a wide array of health concerns from whooping cough to chilblains (frostbite). It was thought that bed wetting could be controlled by eating mice on toast, fur and all (above). Another delicacy in the same display case called Mouse Pie was thought to straighten out children who stammered if eaten on a regular basis.

A case labeled Salted Teeth described the practice of covering extracted teeth in salt, then burning them to ward against an animal finding and chewing them and in so doing, turning whatever new tooth that grew in the child's mouth into a tooth that looked liked the animal's that found it. Quite a mouthful.

Apparently if a child had thrush they could put the bill of a duck or goose in their mouth and inhale their cold breath, correcting whatever mouth fungus or throat disorder that may have plagued them. I couldn't imagine finding a duck that would sit still long enough to let you put its bill in your mouth. Or a child for that matter.

Some of the displays offered warnings rather than health advice. The one above contained two disembodied wax hands clasped around a little bird to illustrate the knowledge that holding a dying creature during childhood would leave the offender with trembling hands for life. 

There were a few other interesting displays in the exhibition, but as you can see, it was so dimly lit in there that I couldn't get too many clear photos. It did help add to the unsettling atmosphere of the place though, which of course made it one of the best things I'd seen that week. I can't imagine a better treat than dead, stuffed mice spread on toast.

- Cathleen

Something Sexy

 Eye to Eye, 2008 

Oil on screen, 54 x 36 in. 

There is something very provocative in this intimate moment painted by artist Alexi Worth. I've never seen a portrait from this angle before, and I find the geometrics of it very pleasing. Oh yes.

- Cathleen

[Image from DC Moore Gallery]