For Father's Day this year, I gave my dad a solar-powered theremin kit that I picked up at Maker Faire. It took him a while to get around to putting it together, but he finally did it! I'm so happy that he took a little video with his iphone to share with me--and now you!
If you want to learn more about theremins, you can read about them here and on Wikipedia. If you want to purchase your own (totally affordable) solar-powered theremin kit, you can buy one from Clockwork Robot here. (Assembly involves some soldering.)
These were such a fun design to draw! I originally developed the Astronauts in Love for a custom cookie jar, but I heard lots of requests to put them on pint glasses. I listed one pair in our Etsy shop, but I can make more if they sell out.
There's also a new guitar design (also developed as a custom order), but I'll wait until the morning to list it. I have knitting that's calling to me! I hope you'll understand.
I'll admit that I'm not really a fan of the seed bead. I've tried to like those little glass pixels, but it wasn't until this weekend that I started to really "get it". One of the amazing people that I met was Teresa Sullivan, a Portland bead artist. To call her a beaded jewelry maker would completely miss the mark, however. Teresa creates sculpture and wearable art. She doesn't just string beads on thread, she really paints with her materials.
I had the pleasure of talking with Teresa about her work, and she got me excited about the inspiration behind her pieces as much as the work itself. The necklace above (along with other pieces of hers) was inspired by sci-fi pulp comics from the 1950's where bold, curvy women got themselves in and out of trouble without having to be rescued. She also likes to think of this woman as possibly being the mother of Zap Comic's Checkered Demon, which just adds new dimensions to the thought-provoking nature of her work.
The necklace above is titled "Wanted on Six Planets". You can read more about it and Teresa's other work here.
I made this jar for a customer as a custom request. The retro-style rocket ship was an image I already had, but I drew the astronauts specially for her. I wanted them to be androgynous, and kinda cute-but-not-cutesy. It was tougher than I thought it would be, but I really love the way they came out.
The rocket and astronauts were sandblasted, along with the heart-shaped hose connecting the astronauts, and most of the stars and moon. I hand-engraved the hose connecting the people to the ship, and added a few extra stars.
This was a lot of work! It was super fun though, and now I've got some fantastic astronaut stencils that I'd like to put on other stuff. I might make a small batch of limited-edition pint glasses with a smaller version of this design wrapping around them. They'd be kinda pricey, so I'm thinking of offering some with just the astronauts. I already have some with just the rocket (with flames!).
You can see a few more photos of the jar on Flickr. I'd love to hear what you think!
If you haven't ever been to the Donnie Darko website, then you should check it out now. Web designers are becoming more video-savvy and sites are more interactive than ever, but this was still a monumental website when it came out, and it still is.
Turn your pop-up blockers off, your sound on, and sit back for a memorable experience. It helps if you remember details about the movie, but it'll be fun even if you're just clicking around.
http://www.donniedarkofilm.com/
In case all this taxidermy stuff is grossing you out, today I'm sharing the faux side of things. Jessica Tamson makes mounted heads and stuffed critters purely from her imagination. If kitschy fluorescent faux-fur and glitter are your things, then check out her amazing Flickr gallery here!
Sometimes, the modern art and design scenes are a little discouraging to me. I don't always understand the meanings behind large-scale installations or performance pieces that are supposed to be profound. "Low-brow equals high-brow" is sometimes completely over my head. What's with people collecting antique milk bottles that have numbers stenciled onto them?
When I hear about something like the H.R. Giger Museum Bar, then all my faith in the design world is restored. Chairs that look like monstrous jawbones, and ceiling arches that look like vertebrae I get. The wall of contorted baby faces speaks to my soul, saying, "This is imagination. This is emotion."
As a bonus, the bar opens at 10am every day of the summer, so I could stop right in during my next trip to Switzerland, without having to adjust to the local time.
http://www.hrgiger.com/barmuseum.htm
I found this site while Stumbling recently. It hasn't been updated in a while, but the video is awesome! You can also watch it at multiple speeds (including single-frame) by clicking the ascii buttons below. I wish I'd come up with an idea this cool..
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