beauty on a grey monday

there is a brilliant article in ElleDecoration UK this month {april 07 issue} called out of the ordinary. the idea is to show how beautiful utiliarian things can be. the photos are inspired by giorgio morandi, one of my favorite artists.

photos by andrea garuti.

there is another article on ann shore and her shop called story. the article is very interesting and the photos amazing. the photos are the complete opposite of the ones in the first article, but i am equally drawn to them. they are bright and filled with objects, so rich and full of discovery.

photo by debi treloar.

more inspiration:
::manon gignoux:: {found via designer's block}::

::check out photos by alec soth in this month's w magazine::

inspiration friday

i got a really sweet email from rinne allen the other day. i have always been an admirer of her work and was so happy to see her light drawings in blueprint magazine this month. she has just put some beautiful spring photos from her garden on her site. if you have not already, you should really take time to look through her website, there is a lot of beauty to see. she seems to live a charmed life in the wonderful town where i went to school {makes me miss this place!}.

some links:
:: yamamoto masao. discovered these wonderful installations through rinne's site.
:: candace meyer. found via montmartre's sketchbook.

aren't these beautiful:


happy weekend!

reflect, learn, and grow

first of all, thank you all for the very sweet comments & birthday wishes yesterday-it made my day very bright! it was probably around this time last year that i started to read blogs regularly and am so happy to have found such inspiration, encouragement, and friendship. it is so incredible to have such a window into the creative minds of others and to correspond and collaborate with people all over the world.

so, as we officially welcome a new season and i start my new year, i would like to share some new things i look forward to doing this year:

1. to list my accomplishments. a friend of mine keeps a running list beside his bed. when asked what it was, he said, "it is a list of completed stories for a new book i'm working on." wouldn't it be nice to look at what we have accomplished rather than always looking at what we have "to do."

2. to revel in the moments and not always have to give everything a definition.

3. to hold onto the sense of momentum i am feeling right now and to keep creating.

4. to enjoy more walks outdoors for mere discovery, not just to get somewhere.

5. to continue to discover and be more of who i am.

go out today and enjoy the first day of spring, and maybe a cupcake.

another year

a little smushed, but still delicious. happy birthday to me.

for the love of the male

hi friends. happy monday!
lately i have been thinking a lot about what inspires me and have been taking a closer look at my own photography. i have noticed that a lot of my favorite food photographers have been male. there is something about the grittiness and the use of lights and darks that i like. they seem to be drawn to a darker, more neutral color pallet, which i really like as well. i try to achieve this in my own work, but it seems to come out much more sweet and girly. i guess there are certain things you just can't control and have to go with your own natural tendencies.

speaking of favorite male photographers, i LOVE the work of marcus nilsson. he often does the photographs for the road food column in gourmet magazine which i love. marcus embodies all the characteristics i described above and really inspires me.

on an entirely different note, i am off work today and decided to watch the martha stewart show. i think today's show was made for me. they dyed easter eggs with natural dyes, which i had just mentioned last week, and made two great breakfast recipes, ginger scones with cardamom and lemon-ricotta poppy seed pancakes. yum, i'll have to try those soon!

enjoy the rest of your day-i will!

simple things

here are some simple things that are bringing me joy this week:

~mrs. meyer's geranium dish soap.

it smells so yummy, it almost makes doing dishes fun.
~my new denyse schmidt dots & jots mini journals set.
~buying beautiful yellow flowers to brighten up my dark kitchen.
~thoughts of trying to dye easter eggs naturally.
~and especially making scones from this amazing cookbook. yum! see more here and here.
~the little taste of spring we got here this week.

bracing myself for another brutal winter weekend, hopefully the last.
have a good one...hope it is warm wherever you are!

inspiration:food and photos

i have made some great photo discoveries lately. take a look at this great set on flickr.

here is a description of the project behind the photos:

"The idea is simple, take one of the gray and eerie government meal packets (we found a surprisingly wide variety on ebay) unpack it, arrange it, light it and shoot it to look as scrumptious as it could ever hope to be. The work is a metaphor for wringing beauty out of tragedy and finding rays of hope amid grim misfortune.We are planning to put the photographs into a 2007 calendar. Money raised would go to help in the continued aid in rebuilding the region devastated by hurricane Katrina."

i don't know if they ever made a calender, but some of the photos are quite lovely. my favorites are these {by roland bello and manuel rodriguez}:

another recent flickr discovery: bijou. i am loving this and this. and i love her rotating gallery.

enjoy your wednesday!