The ballroom of the eye...

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to come across the bubbly and refreshing work of Australian artist Kirra Jamison, but I'm so very glad that I did. Her work puts a smile in my heart and a skip in my step so much so that I am about to go out in rainy 4°C Paris weather full of motivation and pizazz.

The young Australian artist, working out of her Melbourne home, produces work that is very feisty and direct in its approach, yet so welcoming and uplifting once you immerse yourself in the colour and the dense world of her paintings. At first glance the approach may seem even a little childlike, perhaps haphazard and random, yet this is so far from the truth. In fact, every stroke, every colour, every thickness and texture of brushstroke is so perfectly balanced on the canvas that is simply allows the eye to be almost instantaneously at ease and attracted into the depth of the work as it dances from form to shape to curve... Below is just a taste of Kirra Jamison's work with pieces from her Cut Out and Love Me Two Times collections.

Images courtesy of - kirra jamison

Fresh and fearless fashion fun!

It's funny how sometimes we meet people we least expect to cross our paths. It's in this uncanny, quite unplanned way that I very recently met the very creative stylist/artist Camille Herry. Quickly falling into a conversation about design and art, a subject clearly close to both our hearts, she tells me a little bit about a project that she is undertaking with a group of friends, a group, I'm soon to find out, made up of very talented young artists, photographers and designers. 

Their project is called Isormagazine, an online magazine depicting different fashion and photography studies, each based on quite clear and researched concepts... and the work is simply mind-blowing, a concoction of daring and exciting concepts that leave you wanting more. If this young team have such guts and imaginations now, how exciting to think what they can achieve further down the track as they grow and sharpen their artistic pallets. 

Based in Paris and made up of a team of seven the Isormagazine talent pool is absolutely fearless. I'm taken by their work because there are no reigns holding them back in their exploration of themes such as femininity, sexual expression, tenderness, perspective, colour and sheer crazy, yet controlled, fun. Isormagazine is surely a website to keep checking back at. 

Images courtesy of - isormagazine

Thoughtful sense of beauty

Totokaelo, pronounced 'toh-toh-kye-oh, is a charmingly modern store situated in Seattle. The forward-thinking boutique first opened its doors back in 2003, bringing the likes of Yohji Yamamoto, Ann Demeulemeester, and Mary Katrantzou to the city's fashion world... and hasn't stopped attracting demand ever since. The store's neo-natural style is oh-so cool, and the light-flooded spaces hum with warmth and funk. The store's articles are so very simply arranged, and are like delectable lollies that the soul cannot say no to. Propped against a minimal and neutral-coloured setting, the articles speak and hold their own like colorfully timid gems whispering soft invitations to the viewer. The textures want nothing less then to be caressed and taken care of...

On the back of its success, Totokaelo has recently opened a new sister store, Totokaelo Art-Object, featuring art, objects, furniture, lighting, tabletop and textiles... and, needless to say, the work featured is just as exuisite as their fashion lines. More info, great images and modern style inspiration can also be found via the brand's own blog.

Source - totokaelo via wmagazine
Images courtesy of - totokaelo & pinterest

The female curve in a brush-stroke...

Sara Woodrow is a fabulously creative Swedish Art Director and Illustrator who also has one amazingly killer blog! I recently discovered her work through an article via another absolutely cult 'must-know' blog for any aesthetically aroused addict like myself, that of Emma Fexeus. 

Sara's work has such a lightness of brush-stroke and a tang of rebelliousness that I just love. The fact that she often explores the curves of the female form in her illustrations sees these strokes come alive with even more flare and life. I'm personally a straight line addict, one who feels it's very difficult to mark a beautiful curve, and yet Sara's work intrigues me. Her curves are seductive, fun and her style quite unique from other prints I've seen in recent times. I had some trouble culling back on the images to share with you below so do delve in and enjoy. If, like  me, you just have to have more, her work is available via her blog Smäm.

Source - smäm via emma's designblogg  

Nomadic & transparent Tokyo living...

This incredible project by Japanese architectural group Sou Fujimoto dates back to 2010 and made quite a wave of blog appearances earlier this year, but I'm picking it back up here again because it's very simply just so much fun and inspires creativity, and that very simply, is all that matters! So just take a look at this baby. WOW! Someone out there is thinking! This is not your 'safe' and typical house design, this is design born from a curious and fearless client merged with an architect who knows how to hit the brief's nail on the head and embody the pure essentials through simplicity.

The inspiration of this multi-storey, split-level abode is that of wanting to live like 'nomads', and do so in modern-day Tokyo. The volume and space exploration of this Transparent Tokyo House is based on the natural form of a tree, whereby every occupant has their own respective branch, however is at the same time in a position to see and communicate with other tree occupants. I find the house design has an amazing flow. There is a harmonious order in what at first appears to be quite haphazard and highly multifaceted. Occupants are showered with light and great vibes, and have the choice to occupy small private nooks of the house, while at the same time having the option of being completely visible and communicating freely with other occupants as well as their surrounding environment.

Would I walk around in this house in my favourite g-string? Personally, probably not? Is this house great thinking and fresh design? Hell yes!  What an inspiration towards thinking creatively, simply and with a big dollop of fun!  

Source - archdaily

Photography by - iwan baan