It’s no secret that our relationship with our bedroom is an intimate one. Painter Karen Ann Myers is out to explore the psychological complexities behind that thought, while also inspired by the cult of beauty in mass media. Each overhead composition includes many of the same elements – a bed, a patterned rug, a wood floor, a dresser or chair, a bedside table, and oftentimes a phone – along with a woman in various stages of undress and emotion.
Flat-packed models have been gaining in popularity, and this trio of beetles from Assembli is exceptional! Choose from the Stag, Hercules, and Atlas species before selecting from a number of color options, then get to work putting together the cut paper and cardboard skeleton and wings.
Plenty of couples work together, but Irina and Silviu Szekely create across multiple disciplines – collage and photography. Today we’re highlighting the duo’s handmade collage work, which is made using scissors and glue just like the rest of us might grab at home. Each piece is full of completely disjointed bits and bobbles, and yet things end up ultimately harmonious. (I’m thinking we could all learn something from this, no?)
If you recall, I’m acting as a Sole Sister for Sseko this entire year! As a Sseko Sole Sister I’ve been connected to one university-bound woman on Sseko’s team in Uganda to help her reach her educational goals – and with every purchase made through our shared link sales will go towards her university scholarship.
Sseko recently launched their fall/winter 2017 collection and I wanted to share it with you. There are so many great staples to get you sartorially through the next few months, quite a few I’m eyeing to give as gifts this holiday season. First off, Sseko has launched an apparel line! Highly curated, the first season includes shawls, dusters, kimonos, and scarves.
They’ve also expanded their beautiful bags into the realm of travel. Four styles of varying size have all the space you need to make it through an overnight or a long weekend, and if you’re a light packer (or the weather is warm) you may even be able to fit a week’s worth.
Of course there are also some seasonal additions to Sseko’s already impressive collection of leather bags. Mulberry is shaping up to be this fall’s hot color and they made sure to include it – I’ve been carrying around the bucket bag below during errands for a few weeks and have received so many compliments.
The Fall/Winter 2017 Collection is a celebration of strength and resiliency. We are women who know that a dream without a plan, without action is merely a wish. We fall and fail because we are done playing small. We do hard things because we see the gap between the way things could be. We stand in the gap, we face the darkness and know that when we emerge we will be stronger and more resilient versions of who we are created to be. We do not just survive, but thrive.
Sierra Barber is a self-taught encaustic artist based out of Port Dover, Ontario. Her process involves a repetitive build-up of thin layers of melted wax that create forms specific to how the material was applied, allowing the material to gradually build and transform into something that appears to have happened organically. Sierra’s work has explored themes of preservation, the collection of memory, artificial memory, virtual nostalgia, and curiosities of time.
deerjerk‘s – aka Bryn Perrott’s – woodcut art hit my radar when I saw her incredible protest sign amidst the masses at the Pittsburgh Women’s March in January. Her work has been used as beer labels, band merchandise, tattoos, and more though she’s best known for the individual woodcuttings. Bryn’s high-contrast relief carvings feature themes like animals, death, and religion with a folk art feel that often mix cuteness with gore. The pieces are incredibly affordable and sellout fast, so you should go have a look at what’s currently in the shop!
Harriet Damave’s hand-painted porcelain cat brooches caught my eye several months ago and they’re still on my mind. Her technique – painting cobalt oxide on unglazed bisque – is rather unusual, she likens it to watercolor paintings because of the super absorbent surface. There are a number of other lovely items available in her shop – Harriet’s Blue and White – but I’m counting adding one of her pins to my jacket this fall.
I love thinking about what sort of inspiration and imagination goes into creating Horrible Adorables‘ hybrid creatures by husband and wife team Jordan Elise Perme and Christopher Lees. The colorful felt scales used to cover each hand-carved form means they skew more towards adorable than horrible, though there are notes of cartoonish eeriness present in each one’s humanlike expression. Each of their playful soft sculptures are brought to life in Cleveland, Ohio.
Wendy Downs, founder of Moop canvas bags, is making things happen. Her shop turned ten earlier this year and she’s constantly looking for new ways to improve, from seeking out quality materials from tested manufacturers to making sure each super-versatile bag is as mindfully made as possible. Each one is handmade from start to finish in Moop’s downtown Pittsburgh storefront by her small yet mighty team, who do everything from design to shipping. I very much admire her commitment to thoughtfully creating Moop’s line of fifteen bag designs while looking towards the future of not only her shop but small batch manufacturing.
