ordinary objects extraordinary art

 My dad recently sent me a link to check out and I was blown away by what I found there...brown packing tape portraits by Max Zorn.  Zorn uses a scalpel and packing tape and constructs these gorgeous pieces of street art in Amsterdam. I fell completely into awe with them and I think you will too. 

[this one is my favorite]

This video of Zorn's method is mind blowing. It's incredibly impressive that his mind sees things this way ("if I add one more layer and cut it away right at this spot, in this shape, it'll look like an ear"). Whoa!

Images and Video via My Modern Met. 

More amazing street-found art here.

holy smokes

Ok, this is a total trip. I thought you guys might enjoy it as much as I did. A Canadian graphic designer and photographer is doing a project to explore the genetic similarities in relatives. Check the rest out here.

Brothers...

Brothers...

Son & Father...

moving on...

Soooo, that list I wrote at the beginning of the summer is still in progress, cause it's still summer, until September 23rd to be precise! However, I said that finding a new place to call home probably should have been moved to number #1 and although it was always of our minds that we wanted to be in a new place, we weren't quite proactive about it until my man found a new job. We didn't want to commit to living somewhere only to find out that he'd have a longer commute than he'd have to. That said, since he was offered a job, that he was happy to accept, two weeks ago, went went in search, found a place we loved, applied, and were offered it. We are so excited to move and get settled there but I have to admit I am NOT good at this transition part. I want to move in and have it look and feel like home over night. I HATE the time of being in transition and want things to feel like home immediately. I'm going to have to learn to accept that things won't be that way. And, that'll be a good thing to learn, right???

Here some of my home inspiration from my pinterest.

Gorgeous light & white living room...

A great job in a little kitchen...

An office to look forward to working in...

A clean and cozy bathroom...

A garage that isn't dark and dirty...

Maybe if I keep all this images in my mind I'll be able to quickly get to where I want to. Maybe.

happiness in the little things

Sometimes the littlest things make me happy. My sister found this sea snail on our trip to Miami and we both loved playing with it. Look at the perfect little shell.

[photo for by way of ney]

los angeles smiles on you

[photo and artwork for by way of ney]

Sometimes Los Angeles smiles on you. There are plenty of things that drive a sane person crazy around this city, mostly trying to move about it, but sometimes there is such a bounty of things that make it amazing. Although I pass by this wall often, it struck me in a different way the day I took this photo than it does on most days. And the message is ever impressive and ever important. Mostly this is because it is true. It is true about you and it is true about me. Hopefully messages like these help us to keep it all in perspective.

a good reminder

[illustration by yellena james] 

"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith; and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety."

::George Muller

Yesterday was crazy. Straight crazy. My husband and I broke yet other glass (the cupboards might soon be bare, or the glasses replaced with plastic), I dropped my breakfast on the floor, I drove in the wrong direction for an appointment I was going to, so by the time (11:15pm) that my husband realized that he had left the pants that he needed for today's meeting (in Anaheim) in Santa Monica when we were staying in Hermosa Beach, we just had to laugh and make a midsummer night's drive out of it. Windows down, heater on, music up, wind in the hair. 

Days like this usually happen to me when I feel anxious about something. Right now that is just the question of what the next step of life will hold. Feeling like we're at a standstill and ready to turn the page and explore the next chapter fully. Today, in all the things that went wrong, the lesson was fully realized...SLOW THE HECK DOWN!

It's also days that this that make me appreciate art like this that is serene, peaceful, and pure. They are a good reminder to appreciate the simple and small. 

chipped wall art

One of the really cool things about walking around downtown LA is all of the things you don't expect to find that you do. Whether that is new street art, old hand painted billboards, a new favorite restaurant, a treat from some where far away, a street that makes me feel like I'm in any country except my own, downtown provides new and unexpected strikes of beauty that make life an adventure.  The weekend of carmageddon, walking through downtown, I stumbled on this amazing site on a wall on Spring Street near the old Pacific Stock Exchange. We were on this street going back to the stock exchange where my dad worked over 35 years ago. Just before we arrived at the Stock Exchange we looked up and saw this...

[photo taken for by way of ney]

[photo taken for by way of ney]

Apparently there are many like this one. They are done by a Portuguese artist named Alexandre Farto Aka Vhils. I think they are just beautiful. I love how the brick comes through where he has carefully chipped away the wall. 

creative web guy gets creative

My sister sent me a link yesterday...

I did a bit more digging and found out a little more about who they are. Jim Babb is the creator of Socks, Inc. (an Alternate Reality Game). Yes, you can make and create your own sock puppet who can continue to exist, live and love in this alternate reality.  Any way, check out the link my sister sent. So cute, so creative, so original.

truth

[photo taken for by way of ney]

a little reminder 

for everyone, 

everywhere, 

that no matter what 

there is always someone, 

somewhere, 

who loves you 

and that life is bigger 

than your day to day worries,

aggravations,

and limitations