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Various works by Maya Hayuk. Brooklyn, New York.
There's something about the pure spontaneity of vibrant color paired with her devotion to an awesome array of geometric symmetry that evokes a feeling of pure joy, in Maya Hayuk's work.
For more about Maya's work visit her website www.mayahayuk.com.
This weekend we get to ditch our own personal style and persona and step into someone else's clothes for the night. While scanning my favorite blogs for inspiration for my Halloween costume, I got lost in the imagery and glamour of it all.
Edie and Twiggy-Source: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right
Diana Source
Bowie Source
Stones Source
Cher Source
Stevie- Source
Have a safe and happy weekend!
Lately I've been intrigued by the story of heiress, muse and fashion legend Marchesa Luisa Casati. I'm reading her biography Infinite Variety. Although her history isn't well known to most, she's inspired many a modern fashion line and photo shoot. To read about her life is to enter a world of the strange and marvelous...
She dazzled everyone she met and shocked turn-of-the-century Europe. She wore live snakes as jewellery and was infamous for her evening strolls; naked beneath her furs whilst parading cheetahs on diamond-studded leads. Nude servants gilded in gold leaf attended her. Bizarre wax mannequins sat as guests at her dining table, some of them rumoured to contain the ashes of past lovers.
Everywhere she went, she set trends, inspired genius and astounded even the most jaded members of the international aristocracy. Without question, the Marchesa Casati was the most scandalous woman of her day.
According to her biography, the marchesa’s personality was captured in one form or another by nearly every important artist of her day: Guiglio de Blaas, Gabriel D’Anunnzio, Giovanni Boldini, Catherine Barjansky, Kees Van Dongen, Augustus John, F.T. Marinetti, Erté Alberto Martini, Baron Adolph de Meyer, Roberto Montenegro, Joseph Paget-Fredericks, Man Ray, Hans Henning von Voigt (the famed Alastair), Cecil Beaton and Dali. Whew!
For Cate Parr, inspiration comes from many places ~ Ealing Studios, French and Italian Cinema, couture design, along with music, photography, theatre and dance.
Check out her coloful fashion inspired watercolors in her etsy shop and on her website. C'est Magique!
(photo above is of Flora Bowley's art studio, check out her amazing little line with Papaya! here)
I want to pass on this fantastic article by treasured writer Anne Lamott (Author of Bird By Bird) that focuses on ideas and the true worth of making time, in the midst of our hurried lives to go to the depths of our creativity.
I begin with my core belief—and the foundation of almost all wisdom traditions—that there is nothing you can buy, achieve, own, or rent that can fill up that hunger inside for a sense of fulfillment and wonder. But the good news is that creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.
Then I bring up the bad news: You have to make time to do this. -Anne Lamott
It's ok to give up a night of watching the news, cleaning the house, or an hour of websurfing social media sites, to give yourself back the time we all complain we don't have enough of. Time to write a page of that novel, time to cook a gourmet meal, time to garden, time to make art. The things that inspire us, are the things we will remember 20 years from now, they are the true riches that we are all sitting on.
Anne Lamott's full article via sunset magazine on time lost and found.
I'm always on the look out for clever ways to display artwork, prints, and cards. I fell in love with this image of a cluster of artwork displayed over a rich green damask wallpaper, and found this genius DIY use of cloth hangers to hang prints without frames. (via: elements of style blog featured on the style files)
Love this clothespin line card display photo (via Poppytalk), I have a similar thing going on (below) in my pink office here at Papaya. I think the wooden clothespins take the look up a notch though!
This summer Mindy and I have been painting quick watercolors together. It's been a great outlet for us to keep our creative juices flowing. I wont' be too shy to admit that my results have been both good, bad, and sometimes really ugly... the best part for me has been the process, art for arts sake.
When we first started our goal of making 100 paintings. Mindy showed me this great post by Lynn Whipple who wrote a memory of one her teachers theories on mastering painting.
“…you are going to make 100 bad paintings, so you had better get started! You can insert anything you are working on, as in 100 bad songs, so you better start singing, or 100 bad drawings, 100 bad cupcakes, 100 bad boyfriends..humm….What really happens is, it frees you up to play and not worry. now you can enjoy the process. the truth is you get better really quick, maybe even by #19. try it!“-Lynne Whipple
Here is my #15. Anyone care to join us?!
Recently I came across The Graphics Fairy a great resource for free vintage images and craft ideas. I especially love this Plume image, and all of the other great ideas her site offers.
Check out her collaboration with (another favorite design resource) Pugly Pixel for a fun ephemera set, and a tutorial on seamless website backgrounds.
Artist Danny Roberts illustrates photos of bloggers to feature on his site Igor + André. I really love how he captured each subjects unique personalities! To see more of his amazing illustrations and explore the blogs of his featured style makers, be sure to take a visit his portrait series.
Grady McFerrin, and I almost crossed paths during art school. So close! Same school, same art program, same years of study. I would've loved to see his work in person. Luckily I discovered his illustrations a few years ago through Chronicle Books, and have been hooked ever since!
Now he's based in Brooklyn, and besides his amazing work with Chronicle (as seen above) he's also rockin' out some amazing Band Posters, Wine Lables, and other beautiful projects.
In his interview with Communication Arts, he gives us some great quips about his process, inspirations, and how he overcomes blocks.
He also gives some stellar advice from Max Fischer's character in "Rusmore".... “I guess you’ve just gotta find something you love to do and then do it for the rest of your life.”
To see more of Grady's Portfolio visit his site: http://www.gmillustration.com/
