Frantown

I am still in a phase where I am not collecting any more junk, as cute as it may be. Having too many things is hard to keep track of and a big pain to move. Although other people's crowded rooms often seem more cozy to me due to their clutter, having a room like that would probably annoy more than comfort me. However, I think it's ok to be selective in what you collect, since things, especially art, are made to be enjoyed and/or used. One thing I am considering collecting is art tiles. I have one so far, a Rob Ryan one-color tile. It was expensive, with shipping from the UK, like $45! (But sheesh, he has since upped the price $14.40!) I have my eye on this one (see above) by Hazel Nicholls, who also has her prints up for sale at Keep Calm. Who knows, if/when I can buy a house, and depending on how much it needs to be redone, I can incorporate these tiles into a floor or bathroom wall. Creative customization that is distinctly me at not much cost. Just a little foresight!

I don't want to fall into the trap of fantasizing about my future/ dream house, but here are some other things I'd like to have:
- A bookshelf of Penguin books
- Stained concrete floors
- Natural ventilation
- Most of Brook's ideas (like incorporating the natural landscape into the house) :)

Of course, the level of customization totally depends on income level (and maybe if I know someone in the business), so hopefully this isn't all a pipe dream. I'd hate to have to settle for a cookie-cutter suburban David Weekly house. Blech.

Design*sponge has eyeball overload as it regards to interior design and beautifully crafted homes. They make a great photo, but my goal is not to have my house look like a piece of art one day. Houses are for living in, not for keeping immaculate. Even if you do pour all that money and time into making your house full of lovely things, you'll only get to live in it for a lifetime. Houses should be comfortable, but I think they should look a certain way from aging gracefully, not from an inordinate expenditure of resources early on. My cheap two cents!

A super cute from Rob Ryan, but I'm not sure I'd want to look at this forever (would I break it after I get married?).

Favorite links, 1st quarter

So, I deactivated my Facebook account because I had become enslaved to reading about other people's little life details in an effort to stave off boredom. It's like when you eat because you're bored, even though you don't need to, but there's nothing else to do and you just do. Bad, robotic way to live. I've also been cutting down internet time [especially the aimless wandering sort], and only using it to look up stuff, not surf. I still come across really cool things though that I'd like to share and remember. I use Google Reader to keep track of this, but it can also enable me to re-mutate back into a super-efficient consumption machine of culture, knowledge and images, so I am trying to be careful. So recently, I've been using these social networking sites to share great finds, but since I am backing off, I'll put them on here instead, for now. Enjoy!


Kitsune Noir
Brook [the person I have been seeing for the past few weeks] has been gently laughing at me ever since he saw that my new Macbook Pro [of a few months] still had the original desktop wallpaper on it. I had kept it on there for so long because in the past, I had just downloaded my favorite images from various websites, and then centered them with a black background on my desktop. Pretty lame, I know. But I finally replaced the stock purple galaxy image with the Jean Jullien one. Super cute, and I love how it's in gray and black, and not overwhelmingly colorful. If you know me, I love loud and bright colors, but lately, I've felt the need to tone everything down. [Life is being hard right now...]


Fun necklaces - Moustache
I think this would be uber cute to have, especially because moustaches are all the rage now, and I missed a rad moustache party because I didn't even have a fake one. And also because Brook has one. Hehe. But EFF high-end hoity-toity fancy-pants products. I hate how well-designed items can be so expensive. It's really not OK. Everyone knows the value of the materials and labor and even creative input does not add up to a small fortune. Sigh.. a big reason why I am repulsed by high design. Because good design should most always be accessible to everyone.


Benjamin Tousley Wilkerton
Even though his online portfolio is slim, I like what I see already. Less is more, ya know? I'm not a huge fan of modern design/photography [I'm more used to hazy, nostalgic holgas and 35mm], but his design of Grizzly Bear's "Friend EP" is fabulously dark and clean. They're one of my favorite bands, so I believe that he did well in matching their sound. Same with "Yellow House." Excellent vintage font that doesn't look cheesy or self-affected. His Canon Blue album art is pretty neat too. I'm really into images of outer space these days, and it looks pretty different from anything else out there.


Ill Studio
Talent + Over the top Ridiculousness Cheeze = Beyond Awesome
There are no words for their work besides that.






Keep Calm
Currently, my favorite poster shop, at the very top of my design links folder. Their design(er)s are classy, simple and some of the cream of the crop. It's a bit too British to be my favourite forever, and the prices [in pounds] will be out of my budget for a long time, but googling at them is always free, thankfully. [As is linking their images.] If I ever wanted to splurge on modern home decor, this would be the place I'd hit for my walls. Note that Alyson Fox, one of their artists, is from Austin.



Rob Ryan
A few months ago, I finally sucked it up and purchased one of his tiles ["My Adventure Is About to Begin" - good for this stage in life, eh?]. His papercuts are so beautiful and amazingly detailed. He also has a knack for words, as many of his pieces include adorable or heart-wrenchingly beautiful one-liners. Never sappy, always original. His Etsy shop

That's it for now! Happy to be share hardworking artists with you who make me smile.