TRONKS&Co.

There was a period there when I was seriously searching for a jewelry box, and nothing was quite fitting the bill. I ended up finding the lovely one that I call my own today in Costa Rica about a year ago, but were I still looking today, the incredible handcrafted beauties coming out of Barcelona-based TRONKS&Co. would be at the top of my list.

Created from either solid walnut or maple, with some pieces finished in riveted leather and a perfect little mirror, TRONKS&Co.'s pieces are clearly made to last, and to be as special as the jewelry that goes into them. See more, and purchase, on their website.


(Via Design Milk)

while you were steeping - Geoff McFetridge

Okay, so I was a little skeptical of this video at first. The concept is a tad gimmicky - While You Were Steeping is part of a marketing campaign for Bigelow Tea, after all - but in the end, I was totally charmed. Unlike those of us who just sit around playing with their phones in the two minutes that their tea takes to steep, Geoff McFetridge spends his time a bit more constructively.


(Via The Fox Is Black)

the elastic perspective

I've always had a soft spot for architectural follies - their impracticability make them intriguing, with their general lack of necessity often paving the way for creativity. So of course, an impossible stairway, providing a means to get nowhere other than a nice view, is right up my alley.

Designed by NEXT Architects, The Elastic Perspective is beautifully winding folly of a staircase in the Dutch city of Carnisselande. As the firm explains about the project:

The design consists of a circular stair which leads the visitor up to a height that allows an unhindered view of the horizon. The path makes a continuous movement and thereby draws on the context of the heavy infrastructural surroundings of ring road and tram track. While a tram stop presents the end or the start of a journey, the route of the stairway is endless.

The continuity and endlessness have a double meaning, however. Because the stair is based on the principal of the Moebius ring, is has only one surface and can only exist as a three-dimensional object. Upside becomes underside becomes upside. The suggestion of a continuous route is therefore, in the end, an impossibility: Far away, so close.

Because of its structure the shape of the object is hard to perceive; every perspective generates a new image with which the design is not only a contextual but also a very literal answer to the given context of the local art plan: an Elastic Perspective.

See more on NEXT's website.


(Via CONTEMPORIST)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the baby edition: rainbows}

 

Grimm's Rainbow Boat Grasping Toy, available at Caribou Baby.

Wooden Baby Maracas, from Brimful.

An Arnold Circus Stool, from More & Co.

 A xylophone, from the Cooper-Hewitt Shop.

And a rainbow blanket, from Shak-Shuka.

Yusuke Oono - 360° books

360°Book Sweet Home (detail)

360°Book

360°Book In a Cheese (detail)

360°Book In a Cheese (detail)

360°Book Christmas Version

360°Book Jungle Book (detail)

360°Book Jungle Book

These magical scenes, part of a series of 360° books, were created by Japanese graphic designer and architect Yusuke Oono. Designed as a way to illustrate books in three dimensions, each can be viewed by both flipping through the individual pages, or the whole thing can be opened up to view as a sort of panoramic scene in-the round. See many more details on Oono's website. 


(Via Colossal)

daily needs

Developed with "social (back to basics), ecological (materials and function) and economic (local production) relevance" in mind, Studio Segers has designed the Daily Needs Modular Chicken Coop & Garden.

It's not every day that you see such a beautiful, multi-purpose product. With all the components you need to assemble housing for chickens and small pets, garden and vegetable beds, a composting bin, and a tool shed, all in a configuration of your choice, Daily Needs is a very well-designed, sleek solution for both the urban and suburban farmer. See more at Studio Segers.


(Via Design Milk)

yolkfish

Ha! Cute and clever, Peleg Design's yolkfish is a handy tool for separating eggs. See it in action below!


(Via designboom)

Erica Weiner

I recently discovered Erica Weiner's jewelry, and while she creates absolutely stunning pieces for her own collection (my favorites are these rings, these earrings, and this necklace), I'm particularly taken with her antique jewels. Some of my favorites are shown above, but you can see them all on her website.

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the tabletop edition: paperweights}

An apple weight, from Alder & Co.

J. L. Lawson & Co.'s the modern top paperweight.

A vintage brass bunny, from Salt and Ginger.

Bear paperweights from Rare Device.

And Oji Masanori brass paperweights, from Mjolk.

jimmy & the muppets say goodbye to late night

I'm sure that by now, you've seen last week's send-off performance of Jimmy Fallon performing the Band's "The Weight" with the Muppets, but if not, you're in for a real treat. It's a pretty spot-on performance from The Last Waltz, and the fact that it features the Muppets makes me a very happy girl - Animal does kind of steal the show, as usual - but it was also such a sweet way to say goodbye.

the silence beneath the bark / le silence sous l'écorce

Such a sweet, beautiful little animation, from filmmaker Joanna Lurie. Happy Friday!


(Via The Kid Should See This)

Lee Price

Strawberry Shortcake III, Oil on linen, 67" x 32"

I am totally fascinated by artist Lee Price's paintings. Not only is her subject matter incredibly evocative - she paints photo-realistic, birds-eye-view self portraits of herself eating and surrounded by food - but it's also kind of unsettlingly intimate in a really wonderful way.

Self Portrait In Tub With Lemon Slices II, Oil on Linen, 76" x 34" 

Butter, Oil on Linen, 66" x 44"

Blueberry Pancakes II, Oil on Linen, 64" x 31"

Lemon Meringue, Oil on Linen, 32" x 72"

Of course, that's exactly the point that Price is trying to make with her works. As she explains in an interview with Tshepo Mokoena for Don't Panic:

The paintings, on a literal (and slightly narrow) level discuss women's issues with food and compulsive eating...I think society plays an enormous role in regard to the aspect of my paintings that is concerned with how women relate to food. Often women are brought up to control their appetites. Not just for food but in many areas of life. We are taught to be givers, to nurture others at the expense of our own needs (in a way that men are not).  I think food, for some reason, is one way we have chosen to give back to ourselves- to attempt to nurture ourselves. This, mixed with the pressure to be thin, has caused many of us to consume in secret.

Pretty fascinating stuff, no? You can read the entire interview with Price right here, and check out more of her incredible work on her website.


(Via sho & tell)

if I had a million dollars

I would buy...{the tabletop edition: wooden cutting boards}

 A Culver Stovetop Cutting Board, from Gowanus Furniture. 

Fine Little Day's Birch Pot Mat.

A Black Walnut Trencher Board, from Kaufmann Mercantile. 

One of Herriott Grace's breakfast boards.

And an engraved wood cutting board, from AHeirloom.

Randall Rosenthal

A stack of newspapers may not seem like much to look at, but this pile of paper takes on an entirely new light when you discover that they're actually a sculpture by artist Randall Rosenthal. Carving each of his works out of a single piece of wood, Rosenthal then paints them to create expertly rendered, highly realistic pieces that, at first glance, are indistinguishable from the genuine article.

Pretty incredible, right? You can see more of his work, including some process pictures, over on Rosenthal's website.

(Via Colossal)