I first learned of Joel Henriques through my wife. He is a stay home dad/artist who seem to be having a lot of fun making little side projects, usually a toy or craft for his kids then posting them on his blog. His projects include wooden toys, building doll houses, sewing stuffed fabric toys, buliding a backyard playhouse, even embroidered t-shirts. I really enjoy browsing through his posts and seeing what he is up to. This clip is just one of many little fun things he has created.
Interesting Discovery
Local company was relocating recently and happened to get rid of a lot of their old office furnitures. I happened to pick up a few chairs when I helped them move. The chairs I had picked up were sitting in my covered patio in the back yard for few months until I discovered, to my surprise, that they were actually Eames chairs made by Herman Miller. For those who like Eames chairs, these office chairs are not the kind that are usually sought after but I was still very pleased to find them in my own backyard. I am not sure what I am going to do with them and don't have any clue as to if they are worth anything. . . In any case, once I found out about them, I brought them into the house and cleaned them up. I think I will let them sit around the house for a while and decide what I should do next.
Buyer's Suggestion
Just recently, I received an e-mail from my previous etsy shop customer suggesting that I should do a portrait of poet/writer, Walt Whitman as part of my portrait series I've been working on. Since it has been a while since I created anything for my shop, the suggestion made me feel a little restless. So last night, I got in front of my computer and worked through the night and finished this portrait. You can check it out in my shop.
Beautiful Chairs from Tone
Creators of Tone along with their manufacturer/partner De La Espada are environmentally conscientious furniture makers and have taken extra steps to provide fine quality furniture made with certified timbers from distinct forestry. Tone creators have aquired certain traditonal Japanese parquetry techniques which enable them to really showcase the natural wood grains and the colors of the wood. I love their display of skill and craft taken from Japanese traditions combined with elegant modern design.
You can check out their other work here
Functional Sculptures by Artist Kevin Cyr
Camper Bike, a functioning sculptural piece, built in April 2008. A stand alone piece and the subject of a series of paintings.
Camper Kart: a pop-up camper constructed out of a shopping cart. The project investigates habitats and housing; recycling and ecology; exploration and mobility.
With ever growing problems of an affordable housing, I have always been very much interested in some type of inexpensive, creative solution/design that would challenge and give some real alternatives to what most of us would consider a conventional home. Kevin Cyr's projects really caught my eyes when I stumbled onto one of his "sculpture" projects on-line. For me, these projects and the ideas behind it really bring out many of the issues I have been thinking about. I also really enjoyed the artist's series of "Vehicle" paintings. You can check them out and the rest of Kevin Cyr's work here
