heysusy

CUT AND COLOR {elsita + we dream in colour}

There was something about this new papercut work by the incredibly, mind-bendingly talented artist and craftsperson Elsita, which inspired me to think about heading into nature...getting lost in the woods...living my own little fairytale in a dark story with a sweet ending. I have been a huge fan of hers for a while...and also posted about her flower girls on HS* back in April.

I absolutely love how each of these items brings with it a touch of something natural...old...mysterious...yet uplifting and oddly thrilling.

I also could not resist the pull of all of these gorgeous light chartreuses, tans and glowing turquoises...as a continuation of yesterday's post, perhaps. Anyway, I hope it soothes, refreshes, and inspires everyone into the weekend and beyond...

I'm sticking around NYC this weekend, and really looking forward to it. Hopefully soon, I will have some exciting news to share with you all, trust me, it's in the works. If you're wondering, no...It isn't a baby or a wedding! Have a splendid weekend everyone. And thanks for visiting! xx sus

In greater detail
Elsita's Blog-- definitely visit if you are interested in the stories behind her work...wonderfully informative.
Elsita's flickr -- her latest work...a great archive too
Elsita Shop! -- some wondeful papercuts for sale here...love the bird mask, in particular.
We dream in colour -- don't miss the new assortment of colorful patinas (red, pink, green)  to pick from.

 

COLOR ME SOFTLY {brights with subtle detail}

So...like I said a couple of days ago, it's been pretty busy around here! A little blog mention on Design*Sponge, and a little product feature on the newly re-designed decor8, and products selling out on See Jane Work have me going a little bit nutty...seeing as I'm not the best at focusing, I've been jumping from task to task, like a spastic office girl. Nutty in a good way.

Still- I have had a couple of moments of focus...some of them spent looking at these beautifully colored, leathery, sketchy objects. I guess I'm enjoying the expressive line meeting the soft and comfortable...the bright color...with sophisticated and complicated forms...Sorta feels like how I'm living. Oh Exuberance!

In greater detail...

Perforated Men's Laceless by Common Projects   via Seeking Designers (I am in love with their shoes)
Illustration (so lovely!) by My Girl Charlie
Fuchsia gloves-- I can't get enough of this color by Ines Glove
Soft suede booties..with a little retro heel (!) at Coclico
And, last but definitely not least...this GREAT nest drawing (love the blues and tans with that dark charcoal...by Groundwork.

Enjoy! And a big hello to anyone who is arriving via any of the links I wrote about up above. Hello! 

SELF COMPOSURE {lillianna pereira collage}

Okay, so I *promise* not to turn heysusy into an illustration-heavy blog-- but when lillianna pereira added me as a flickr contact, I just couldn't resist doing a quick post about her excellent collage work.

I'm a big fan of surrealist collage-- it has this really considered, yet completely accidental quality, which I adore. Anyway-- Lillianna's work is at once delicate and dark...and I love the way you can see how each one is created-- the layers are left rough and often, the edges are left jagged, and not squared off.

Many of her pieces are named for Greek myths, including Persephone, Ariadne, Theseus and the MInotaur. In a way, they remind me of constellations-- images that we see in other things...as Lilliana herself says of her myth series, 'The personal becomes collective and conscious once the stories start to emerge."

To see more of Lillianna's work, visit her Flickr Page. There is also a post from February about her work at Nahcotta over at design*sponge. She will also have work in Uppercase's 'Old School.' Which I can't wait to see.

WATER LILIES {fashion illustration by david downton}

Bueno everyone!!

I'm sorry, I don't have a great deal of time to create a post today. That being said...I wish I had the talent with watercolor that David Downton has. Well, maybe in another lifetime...I'm too busy to cultivate that in this one!

But, I wanted to showcase some of his work here, so that I don't forget to go back to his website and look further, and read the Interview that's there. I love to read interviews...especially with people who have achieved a modicum of success with their unique style. It's always so enlightening.

Anyway-- sorry for the puny post. The next couple of days are crazy for me...but I'm going to try and get into Hey Susy* here and there! I hope all of you had marvelous, fabulous, out of this world weekends! I personally stayed in. It was WAY too hot here. But, it was still a pretty good time.

HANDMADE WEEK {lauren nassef}

Probably the best compliment I can give an artist is that looking at their work makes me want to make work of my own. And Chicago-based artist Lauren Nassef's Drawing Portfolio does just that....not to mention I'm almost unable to decide what to include in this post...all of her drawings are top notch.

For me, her work walks the line between contemporary illustration and the the slightly character-cartoon-daily-observation style of the 1970's. They're tinged with a little teensy bit of roughness and vulgarity-- like a Pushpin Studio cartoon, or a Philip Guston sketch.  I love the way her sketches of daily life...radiators, pasta strainers, and rides on the subway, take on a gritty yet refined feel. and it reminds me of the gorgeous descriptions that R. Crumb or Harvey Pekar would draw between creating their better-known comix.

Lauren has a great sense of raw color, shape, texture, and play-- and to see this most plainly, check out her series of Collages, where she combines beautiful, pigment-y brights with neutral fields of taupe and putty colors. BUT...if you really want to see this wonderfully productive artist in action, take a wander through her A Drawing A Day image blog...you won't be disappointed!

Lauren also sells her work on Etsy, for those of you looking to add a refined yet rough authenticity to your art collection. 

HANDMADE WEEK {lucie summers}

Handmake week seems to be experiencing a British Invasion! Somehow, I'm finding myself really inspired by artists from across the pond. And today, I'm happy to feature Lucie Summers, an incredibly prolific and creative individual who creates wonderful collage and craft-inspired paper quilts, patterns, and prints. Not to mention-- the fun and playful styling in many of her shots is definitely inspiring and worth checking out.

As with Olivia Jeffries, Lucie keeps a really great flickr photostream, which chronicles several varietes of her work and projects, as well as goings-on in her country home in the U.K. I really enjoy perusing her different ideas and applications for her textural, layered style. Like this gorgeous set of hand-embroidered pinbacks which go so well with her ACEOs....collectible original artist cards sold at her etsy store.

Anyway-- I correspond with Lucie-- and it's a total joy. Lucie, if you're reading this, I owe you an email...big time. For anyone else who is interested in Lucie's goings on, check out her wonderful and often hilarious blog Blu-Shed.

Sidenote--even though I know this (above) is just one screen in one of Lu's multi-color prints...I love the pattern happening here...Personally, I think this is done already...Love the play between the shapes.

 

HANDMADE WEEK {lizzie finn}

Someday, I want to commission Lizzie Finn to make me a giant blanket. I absolutely love her jagged yet refined style and talent with typography and shape.

This artist/designer/illustrator uses a really wonderful combination of fabric, thread, and imagery to create beautiful and explorative collages and imagery. For more of her work, definitely check out her website,

I'm a huge lover of the unfinished-- and in her work, thread is left to hang and edges are left frayed...but there's also this really incredible, meticulous quality...it all comes together to produce quite an interesting effect.

HANDMADE WEEK {olivia jeffries}

Many of you may know Olivia Jeffries as the mind behind restless things , the beautiful illustrations often seen gracing Etsy's front page. Lately, I've been pretty much obsessed with her Flickr photostream where she seems to be uploading a bunch of new ideas. In fact, I love this image of one of her works-in-progress--and thought it was a great start to Handmade Week here at HS*-- beautiful hands that fall down the page.

This artist's studio must be full of activity-- I, for one am so happy to see her finally drawing faces to some of the characters in her work-- I don't think they lose their memory-meets-nostalgia-meets-dream quality at all....rather, they have an even more compelling and personal snapshot quality.

I also love how her drawings occupy the page. She offers some really great explorations of ways to use white space-- and you can really see how she employs that as a tool to fragment the would-be narrative in her illustrations and create a dreamlike, disassociated image.

I can't wait to see more in these newer, more involved explorations, where she's obscuring other parts of the body...arms legs, and working with scraps of paper, and even her own paint test-sheets (love that, by the way.)

Olivia was always talented-- but now, I think she's really hitting her stride!
More about Olivia can be found at her Blog, Sweet as a Loon Bird.

I also love this fortune-telling device she's come up with! Gorgeous. What a sculpture.

OVERDOING IT {these colors don't run}

One thing I always try to keep in mind when designing is that nobody's perfect. I love design where a real personality shines through, without the veneer of an 'ideal' look or style. I love designers who are not afraid to be themselves, take a risk, show their love, and shout it out.

I was absolutely floored when I came across an the art-brut meets fashion drafting work of artist/illustrator kime buzzelli (who also owns the LA boutique show pony) on the wonderfully curated art-interview blog my love for you is a stampede of horses; and when I did, my focus for this post cohered completely. I love courageous creativity-- and the beauty and individuality that comes with taking risks.

Emilio Pucci. A true original. I love everything in all of his unapologetic collections, and also his involvement in 'special projects', where his unique patterns are applied to everything from jeans to downhill skis. Romo wallcoverings have several great shots on their site where they add a pop of color or wild pattern to great effect. Even more wallcovering and pattern inspiration can be gleaned at the encyclopedic vintage wallpaper site (and store) 5QM, and worth checking out is the poetic and expressive furniture embellishment at Moda.

One more thing-- everybody loves anthropologie...but I wanted to point out the design team behind their incredible asthetic...Wary Meyers. WM was the consultant not only behind their store interior, but also the design of Urban Outfitters. This team has a wondeful eye for combination, color, texture, the esoteric, and the unexpected...I'd love to get my hands on some of their inspiration boards! My personal favorite, the hot, hot, hot radiator they painted up in one of their residential projects. Enjoy!

SEEING DOUBLE

Absolutely LOVING this print by Leesa Leva who I found while experimenting with pimping myself on a VIRB, a social networking site. Well, as one of my favorite male muses, Jack White, says 'you can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too.' So, I don't think I'm cut out for the myspace, facebook thing....but Virb showed promise...and hopefully soon, they'll have more robust sections for fashion, art, culture...right now, they're centered on music. So I'll give it a try in the spirit of experimentaiton...but all that really happened was I ended up killing 4 hours trying to figure out how to make my page look good, only to still have no friends. sigh.

But! More Importantly!! Onto Leesa. I'm loving her new work-- and I would definitely hang this in my apartment.  I'd love it in a larger than life size. To me, this piece does something really important. Something I always look for in art. I ask myself 'Could this Have been made at any other time in history??' Well, with this piece, I say nope. It's today...in a nutshell.

The siamese-splitting of the Olsens is pretty ingenious, I think. I love the way she's really concentrated on the difference in their faces. Also, the rorschach bloom in the back is really great. I just adore this powerful and arresting piece.

Below are more pieces of Leesa's work, and you can read more about her on her VIRB page, I love Birdy.