Baths: Lovely Bloodflow

Lovely Bloodflow from BATHS on Vimeo.

Yelena Bryksenkova: Sketchbook

St. Petersburg-born, Midwest-raised Yelena Bryksenkova creates storybook-style illustrations full of a certain folklore nostalgia. Her sketchbooks reveal a lush inner landscape brimming with musings, portraits, meals, notable fashion, historic figures, and the view out the window. They remind me of Maira Kalman's illustrations, both in aesthetic and theme, as they remodel everyday subjects into curious delights. Thank you for letting us be a part of your world, Yelena.

Vintage Radios

Emil Dudek (South Wales) runs the online index Vintage Technology, a website dedicated to chronicling antiquated calculators, clocks, radios, advertisements, ephemera, and general bric-a-brac — gorgeous! Check out the fabulous vintage calculators on Makezine.

Lee Price

There is something plainly private about the photorealistic figure paintings of American artist Lee Price. Her subjects are all women, in varying degrees of dress, often in closed spaces, surrounded by food. The aerial vantage suggests secrecy, as if we the viewer are getting a privileged look inside the darker parts these women's lives.

Lee graduated from the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.

LEGO MoMA

I love when art imitates art.

As an excuse to spend a little time on a Friday afternoon playing with Legos, we decided to whip up some pieces in [New York's] MoMA’s collection in Lego form.

A Quick Look at the Morton's Salt Girl

I love seeing how logos evolve over time, especially when they're as iconic and illustrative as the Morton's Umbrella Girl. On par with the bare-cheeked Coppertone girl (1953), this little lassie has been a favorite for Halloween costumes, tattoos, and craft projects for decades. She got her start in 1914, and proceeded to update her image every 10 years on average — "Whenever we start to show our age, we do a little face lifting. Isn't that just like a woman?" reads a line from a 1968 advertisement. Uh, right, Mr. Morton.

I will say that the company has done a great job of preserving its logo's history. You can see a wonderful collection of vintage advertisements and read more about the Umbrella Girl evolution on their website. And I simply must add my own personal bid to the Morton Salt company: start selling "collector" canisters with the older logos (above)! Mugs are cool, but the real deal is even better. More classic logo goodness at Neatorama. When it rains, it pours.

Shinya Kimura: Zero-Style Bikes

I just posted this over at CRAFT. Witness: the vintage craftsman glory of a man and his machine. Japanese-born custom motorcycle builder, Shinya Kimura, made a name for himself as founder of the shop Zero Engineering, where his streamlined aesthetic turned vintage bikes into a "no frills minimalistic" functional artistry known as Zero-style.

A Zero-style bike is typically based around a rigid gooseneck, a pre-1984 Harley Davidson engine, springer front end, spoked wheels and often includes parts of the bike remaining in bare metal. The inspiration came from wabi sabi (austere refinement) and the beauty of the raw materials and incorporating the essence of wa (harmony) into his designs.

Today, Kimura runs his own workshop, Chabott Engineering, in the California desert town of Azusa. Watch more Kimura videos here, and follow him on his blog.

Bodkin: Autumn/Winter Collection 2010

It's just barely summer here in San Francisco, so I am in no way ready to recognize fall. Though for you, Bodkin, I will relinquish my grasp on this city's false sense of sun and welcome back the requisite warm knits and wool leggings that already fill my closet. A girl simply can't have enough chic comfort, and if I had any money at all I would thin 90% of my closet and make this collection my uniform, shoes included.

The Brooklynn-based Bodkin was founded in 2008 by one Eviana Hartman. The business focus is on sustainable designs, incorporating new technologies — such as post-consumer recycled polyester — with recycled and salvaged textiles, creating "transparency and a conscious and curious approach" to the brand.

Bea Szenfeld: Sur la Plage

Swedish fashion designer Bea Szenfeld's latest, Sur la Plage, is an extension of her 2006 Paper Dolls collection. In this latest work we find a dozen handmade paper costumes inspired by seaside folklore and ambiance -- water spirits and sea nymphs, the nets of fishermen, crashing waves, seaweed tangles, glimmering shoals, deep sea pearls, and shellfish clusters.

The compact cardboard is cut and folded into tiny architectural concoctions, which are assembled together by hand into incredible creations that lead your mind to Jules Vernes fictitious sea demons.

Photos by Ulrich Lofgren. [via Beautiful Decay]

The House of Stone: A Casa do Penedo

The coziness factor is questionable, but the epic coolness meter is off the charts. This two-story hobbity dwelling — A Casa do Penedo, or "the House of Stone" — is impossibly carved out between giant stones in the Fafe Mountains in Portugal, replete with glass windows, fireplace, swimming pool, and shingled roof.

The house was built in 1974 as a family's rural retreat, but in recent years it has attracted the attention of tourists and architecture enthusiasts alike for being so perfectly integrated into its natural surroundings. Interest in the stone house has grown to the point that the current owner, Vitor Rodrigues, has had to move to find solace from the curious visitors.

Sadly, recent popularity and media attention has warranted safety measures such as the addition of bullet-proof glass and a steel door. More at Tree Hugger, where you can see a video taking you inside the house! [via Black Eiffel] Thanks, Candice, for the link.

A Thing For ... Inspiration, Concept, Color

If you don't already know about Maritza Teodoro's inspired eye candy blog, A Thing For ..., you're in for a treat. These expertly curated mood boards combine subject, texture, and color in endlessly exciting ways, creating little pictorial vignettes that each capture a unique ambiance. I feel like I've just stepped out of the book, through the museum, into the wood, onto the Paris streets, and beyond the shore. Be sure to also check out her fashion blog, [design relevant].

Shane Waltener: Lace Webs

Many moons ago I found the above image in a Tumblr feed without any luck of locating the artist. Finally, Lovely Textiles has the answer: London artist Shane Waltener! This piece, Auntie Peggy Has Departed, is a great example of his body of work, utilizing lace doilies and audio as part of an installation focused on memory, place, and craft. Apart from these knitted web installations, Waltener also takes photographs and makes sculpture.

Deth P. Sun: Sketchbook

Berkeley, CA., artist Deth P. Sun is one of those kids that has no doubt been doodling since conception. He was probably the extra quiet guy in the corner of class, head down, meticulously filling in the margins with a continuous brain dump of characters, words, and random compilations. I covet this sketchbook. I also (not so) secretly wish Deth did children's books for adults.

Deth is part of a group show, Look Alive, at Double Punch right now if you want to see some of his work in person. I also encourage you check out his food journal zine, The Various Things I Eat, and all his illustrative goodies on Etsy. On a personal note, Deth and I worked together ever so briefly at Utrecht in downtown San Francisco back in the day. My favorite moments were when Deth answered the phone:

"Thank you for calling Utrecht, this is Deth."