Squiggly lamp and Morning sketching

I am trying to get back in the habit of sketching each morning
As an illustrator it's so important to keep the drawing muscle flexy and also to do personal work along side commissioned work.

This morning i stumbled across this fabulous squiggly crunchberry lamp by Straydog Designs.
Immediately inspired me to  do some sketches - and to also hopefully make time this summer to do some paper maché which my heart has been longing to do.

The Crunchberry lamp from Stray Dog Design.

Isnt it fabulous?

So squiggly.

Morning sketches.

Collab with 1925 Workbench at IDS 2016

I'm doing a little collab with furniture makers 1925 Workbench at IDS 2016.

Some of my prints will be featured in their booth.

Come Visit Booth 2128 in the Makers section.

1925 Workbench specializes in gorgeous barndoors as seen in photo above!

Sketch: Tolix chair

Below: a sketch from last week. 

 

Here is the chair the sketch was based on.

I love drawing chairs and learning about the history of furniture.

The Tolix chair was created by Xavier Pauchard in 1934.

It was originally meant as an outdoor cafe chair but is now often found inside 

- in a rainbow of colours - in very styley kitchens!

Tolix also makes great industrial looking stools.

the chair is part of collections in the MoMA in New York, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Vitra design collection in Weil am Rhein in Germany. - See more at: http://themustardceilingblog.com/2012/04/tell-me-tuesday-bam-or-slam-14.html#sthash.mv9dRUq0.dpuf

Ingenious Double Duty furniture

So I have been in reno mode for a few weeks now....
I have been trying to figure out how to accommodate my huge map drawers (where I store my prints) plus have a guest bed.
Et Voila:  The solution below!
Just love this very smart piece built by Fugitive Glue in Toronto.

Man i love sofa

by Jonathan Adler

LOVE the juicy colour, vintage design + high back.

One of my all time fave interiors designers Ilse Crawford believes all couches should have high sides + backs. She says they're like "a room within a room where we can feel protected + safe". Agreed.

ps. When did Jonathan Adler start designing furniture?

One of the best examples of recycling ever

Isla and Andrew at the studio helping Jeff recycle skids

Just had to tell you about this ingenious recycling idea carried out by my printing friend Jeff Garcia. Jeff takes the wooden skids that grocery stores regularly throw out (tsk tsk). He then rips them apart, sands down the wood and then fashions them into benches + other usable furniture for his studio. You can watch a little video of some of the process here. Just love that he recycles found material and saves the skids from going to landfill.
I think Mother nature is smiling down at Jeff.

New Work: Drawings for Target

Back in the fall Target commissioned me to do some line drawings for their Earth month website. Art director Amy Eian combined them with photography and they are now live on the site.
Fun fact: This is the fourth time I have been asked to draw an Arne Jacobsen egg chair. Have also drawn them for Style at Home, the LCBO and Italian design week. Thought that kinda funny. Since I'm taking a history of furniture course can't resist telling you that this chair was originally designed for a hotel in Copenhagen in 1958. (Trust me this will come in handy one day)

IDS 11 Opening Night Party

Janet, Jennifer, and me


Me goofing around in front of my mural which I created for the Style at Home booth

More goofing with Margot Austin

The lovely Arren Williams with a fabulous orange pocket square
and one half of the talented Brothers Dressler duo.

John + Julie from Mjolk (what a gorgeous couple!)

Erin McLaughlin, Kevin Austin, and Vanessa Bottoni at the very colourful Style at Home Booth

and the wonderful + always dapper Tommy Smythe.
Just love those tortoise shell glasses.

The IDS Opening Night Party tonight was a complete blast.
Highlights included checking out the booths with pals Kim, Jenn, and Janet, enjoying the Thompson Hotel's mac and cheese, (yum) admiring Arren William's orange pocket square, goofing around with Margot + Kevin Austin and meeting Tommy Smythe.

ps. I will write a post on the process behind creating the mural in the next few days.

Inspiration: Cindiloowho/Jaiden's Petals

Shop Exterior. Can't ya feel the soul?


Interior.
The floors are a great example of the owners' ingenuity with humble materials and belief in living within one's means. They look very ' vintage scandinavian' but are in fact just plywood painted white!

Love love this mix of textures: Tin ceiling, chalkboard and gorgeous cabinet with leaded doors.

A gorgeous floral arrangement.

Custom table built by Stefano.
He also makes harvest tables, sideboards, console tables, hutches + cabinets. Yum.

One of Stefano's custom cabinets. Love this piece.
Would love to have a piece like this for storage in my loft. A nice contrast to the cement!
(However with my slobby tendencies the glass doors are probably not the most sensible option!)

Was excited to learn from Stephano's flickr stream that he was the one responsible for all of the furniture for the beautiful Quaff cafe!

The long counter below looks straight out of a Parisian patisserie.

The tables made from reclaimed wood.
Look great juxtaposed with the modern chairs.

One of my favourite shops to visit in the city is Cindiloowho/Jaiden's Petals at 130 Ossington Ave. Jaiden's Petals is a floral boutique run by Dani Elwell. In the back is the furniture shop Cindiloohoo which carries flea market finds + beautiful furniture pieces made by Dani's husband Stefano Dalbello. All of the pieces are made from reclaimed lumber from dumpsters, auctions, and demolished farmhouses and barns. (love that)

On her blog Dani lists 'a walk in the past/head in the future' and 'living within our means' as inspirations. She also encourages her readers to reclaim, re-work, re-make and re-adore! These values come through loud + clear in the shop and imbue the space with a wonderful, soulful feeling.

Dorothy Draper: Brash + Bold

Because Draper's furniture is full of swirls + curves it is extremely fun to sketch.

Reproductions of these pieces are now available through Kindel furniture.

I'm continuing to work on my project for the IDS in January.
The client requested some illustrations with a 'Dorothy Draper' sensibility.
A quick trip to wikipedia filled me in that Dorothy Draper was the most famous decorator in America from the 1930s to 1960s. Her style was big, brash, + bold, and bordered on what some would consider gaudy. She used her trademark cabbage-rose chintz and neo-baroque plasterwork to create innovative + dramatic interiors for hotels, restaurants, department stores and private homes.
It's fun when illustration assignments connect up with my interest in design history.

Hollace Cluny Window

The black and red versions of my Brooks Brothers suit print are currently on display in the Hollace Cluny window. I love how they are paired with two beautiful Knoll MR chairs for a very MO-DERN MAN look.
To see: 1070 Yonge St. Toronto.

Brothers Dressler: Wasting material is taboo!

Brothers Dressler: Jason and Lars

Their slab cube shelf made from salvaged materials. Wonderful.

"Let's Dance": Table made from reclaimed wood and found shoe lasts. (!!)

Janet's desk made from reclaimed wood from a bowling alley.

Janet's shelf.

I was introduced to the work of the Brothers Dressler last December when my friend Janet showed me the fabulous desk they had built for her out of a former bowling lane! I now wonder what took me so long to discover them - as their work seems to be popping up everywhere these days.
The twin brothers believe passionately that wasting material is taboo (yay!) and have created a thriving business out of repurposing and upcycling salvaged material into useful + beautiful objects. Last week they were featured in an article in Now magazine in which Andrew Sardone referred to them as the reluctant poster boys for the sustainable design movement. Not a bad moniker to be given!