Creative Crush ~ Isamu Noguchi

It all started with a coffee table.

My fella sent me a text with some pictures of a table his dad was getting rid of and offered to me for my new apartment. The table is gorgeous and I immediately knew I wanted it. I also felt that it is so beautifully designed it must be a designer table. I turned to Pinterest with half a mind to find out who designed it, but also just to figure out how other people styled coffee tables with a glass top and wooden base. And behold! Within a 10 second scroll I discovered the exact make (or, at least, the inspiration), and began learning about the incredible Isamu Noguchi.

Isamu Noguchi was born in LA in 1941, on November 17th (hellooo fellow scorpio!) and passed away at the age of 84 in 1988.

Noguchi is my kind of creative: he never limited himself to a single medium or field, he was a modernist/formalist/whateverist who worked with great abstract shapes and subtlety, and he wasn't all about being in the spotlight. He just created prolifically and consistently - from what I can tell. He was inspired by his travels around the world, as well as the first 13 years of his life living in Japan. Noguchi started his schooling in pre-med, and slowly gravitated towards the creative world of sculpture instead.

I love that Noguchi dabbled in sculpture, set design, landscape architecture, art for public spaces, and furniture design! What a great way to apply your skills and creative eye to multiple disciplines and spread it farther than you can just through one medium. This fluidity in mediums really speaks to me - there are some days where I want to do it ALL. I've never been comfortable sticking to just one medium.

There are also some funny Noguchi anecdotes out there. Apparently he was quite reserved and private - though there are stories about a brief affair with Frida Kahlo (which Diego interrupted once, oops!), and that he was intermittently part of the Andy Warhol group in New York in the era of New York cool kid artists. He also designed playgrounds, but none were ever built as far as I can tell. I read that he believed in the power of play which I whole heartedly believe in (another blog post anyone? I keep promising new ones the more I write.... ha!).

So back to the coffee table. The table was distributed through the Herman Miller company along with other modern furniture including another favourite of mine - Charles Eames! It's gorgeous and I am so pumped to have one (or the rip off of one?) in my home-to-be. I'll have to find a way to discover if it's authentic or not. I'll get back to you on that one! But for now I'm excited to have the very cool Noguchi's design around me and to learn more about the artist. Hayden Herrera, who wrote biographies for Frida Kahlo and Arshile Gorky (two more favourites), also wrote a biography for Noguchi and even speaks about it in a lecture you can listen to online. I'd love to read this biography some day! If you want to learn more along with me, here are a few starting points:

- The Noguchi Museum: Biography
- Wikipedia: Isamu Noguchi
- Listening to Stone: Hayden Herrera Lecture
- Look at his work on Pinterest!

Noguchi inspires me in his curvy shapes and forms, his love of play, texture, and craftsmanship. What do you like most about his work?


xx

Creative Crush: Mark Bath

I am thrilled to be featuring the work of one of my former classmates, the very talented illustrator and printmaker, Mark Bath. I remember sitting in one of the classes I had with him and seeing his work for the first time and thinking: damn. Intimidating and inspiring! Mark's art is so technically pleasing and thematically intriguing and 100% the kind of work I'm into.

Also, Boobs. Ya know I love me some boobs.
I also love the creepiness contrasting with the whimsy of this above piece, titled "Crabwise", and I really dig what Mark has to say about it on his website:

"The image is about dislocation, and the unusual "dance" (that of a crab; left to right; never going forward) required of an individual who feels alienated from a beautiful place because of particular interests and sexual orientation."

It's hard not to appreciate a beautifully composed piece that also conveys a strong and unique message. Here are a few more pieces of Mark's that I have always been into:

Be sure to take a look at Mark's portfolio website to take a peek at his other beautiful work!


xo

Creative Crush: Andy Dixon

Andy Dixon is a New York based artist who comes from Vancouver, Canada. I love, love, LOVE, his use of colour and his use of line! The playful (and somewhat awkward) way that he captures moments really draws me and I end up taking the time to look at the whole image and all of its details and quirks.
Another very fun aspect of his work I've noticed while following him on instagram (@andy.dxn) is the inclusion of his own paintings in the backgrounds or settings of his other paintings - it's like finding little easter eggs!

I really relate to this particular series of four vases (Four Expensive Vases - the four most expensive vases to ever be sold in an auction) and the appreciation of decorative detail, and repeated objects. I also adore the background colours!

And of course, I have a definite appreciation for his Canadiana series. It's really nice to see work about my country - as so often the work I appreciate and admire and soak in, is not about home. I chose to share this painting of the Canadian Goose. Sure, it's just a goose (OK, two geese!) but it brings up such a multitude of stories for me - primarily about Goose poop and their violent tendencies and the time my sister had to smack one with an umbrella just to get past it to get to class... but anyway!

Check out Andy Dixon's portfolio website here

Who have you been crushing on lately?

Creative Crush: Matthew James Kay

Matthew James Kay is an artist I found on instagram (because where else do I find artists nowadays?) through his diagram poems account. I find Kay's word and diagram couplings so meditative and pleasing. They really resonate with me; there's something magic about the simplicity and happenstance and creative pairing that goes into this work.

Things also get real groovy when pattern and image collage elements come into play. And if you happen to know me, you know I love me some pattern and some collage so - win win!

Be sure to check out Kay's portfolio website, as well as his etsy shop to see which pieces he's willing to part with!

By the way, how would YOU read these poems?
I instinctively start at the top then work my way around clockwise, but sometimes my eyes jump around unintentionally! Curious to see how others interpret these!

xo

Creative Crush: Manjit Thapp

Manjit Thapp is an illustrator based in the UK. I stumbled upon Manjit Thapp's work on none other than instagram (that's normally how it happens) and was immediately drawn to not just double tap, but to actually check out her website (which doesn't normally happen).

The sense of design in Thapp's illustrations is divine. The balance of colours, the way her lines intersect and overlap, and the geometry - I am so into all of it. It has been a long time since I have looked at pieces of art and thought: I want to turn them into a room and exist in it. Do you ever get that feeling, when something resonates with you just that much?

Take a look at more of Thapp's work on her website.


Who have you been crushing on lately?

Creative Crush: Sergio Mora

Sergio Mora (aka Magicomora) is an artist from Barcelona whose magical characters and scenes never cease to appeal to both my inner child and outward adult. The naivety of some elements is matched with a wonderful, masterful use of material and technique, which always yields pleasing, playful results. His work is fantastic in all senses of the word!

"There are people who do not settle with what is generally called reality. Due to this their life becomes complex and therefore is enriched extraordinarily, by having an attitude of not limiting themselves to accepting reality without questioning it,"

Mora's bio on his website is just as fun and magical! I love this quote from the very beginning of it. The bio discusses Mora's desire to re-create and define his own reality - an idea that I think most creatives can relate to.

Be sure to check out more of Sergio Mora's work on his website and follow him on instagram.

 What creatives have you been crushing on lately?
 

Creative Crush: Kent Williams

Kent Williams is a contemporary painter in LA. I'm a big fan of his raw, colourful, collage-like paintings and the way he paints the human figure. Take a look at what I mean!

He has some beautiful drawings/mixed media work on his portfolio site, that I also really enjoy. The following are part of his Lord of The Flies series.

Williams' work really has me wanting to ditch all the work I have to do and PAINT! I won't, of course, but there's something inspiring about work like this. Maybe something to do with being able to see the strokes and see the honest pencil lines and wonder what kind of marks my hands could make.

Check out Kent Williams' portfolio site for more!

What creatives have you been crushing on lately?

Creative Crush: Andrea Castro

Textured paint splotches, portraits, muted colours, patterns, and tactile bead work; Andrea Castro's paintings are everything that I love!

In this particular piece, I adore the hits of greens and pinks in the skin that echo the colours of the paint splotches. The solid black hair is also a really nice balance to the soft muted tones every where else!

Castro's work also obscures the identity of each model for the most part, which I find extra intriguing and leaves a lot more to the imagination. Everyone loves a little sense of mystery, right? These paintings make me want to get painting myself! Ah!

Check out more of Castro's work on her website!


Are there any artists you've been crushing on lately?

Creative Crush: Max Litvinov

Last week a classmate showed us the work of Max Litvinov (KClogg) - it's crazy bizarre. I love it!

It's nice to see an artist with a distinct 'style' still mix it up and try new things. I find his characters super charming and love the distortion and weirdness.  He also has a super psychedelic colour palette which is really fun and is more evident in the video at the bottom of the post than these two images I chose to show.

His animation reel is reel-y (haha... ha) what caught my attention though. Apparently all the music is his own too, which is really fun - I admire it when someone dives into the whole process of a project, and makes it entirely their own. I think that's what I enjoy most about Litvinov's work. Especially in the video, you get drawn into his own quirky universe with a variety of characters and colours and creatures.

Take a look:

KClogg animation Demo Reel 2013 from Max Litvinov on Vimeo.

Which artist have you been crushing on lately? 

Creative Crush: Cocorrina

Today's Creative Crush is a particularly special one! You might know her already:  Corina Nika from the amazing blog, Cocorrina.

Corina Nika is a talented graphic designer and all-around creative located on a dream-like island in Greece! (yes, I'm jealous.) Her work is a great mishmash of geometric elements and organic textures and I love how it comes out!

So, other than her talent, what makes Corina's work so special?

Well, I recently hired her to do a branding job for House of Ell! Ah! I'm so excited about it! And, not to tease you all too much, but it turned out even more beautiful than I could have imagined! Corina is the bomb.com. I'm hoping to launch the re-brand in the next two weeks, but more on that later ;)

I chose to show some of Corina's quirky and wonderful patterns and geometric totem work. Some of you may know I'm a total sucker for patterns - just short of being totally obsessed! I would undoubtedly fall in love with a notebook or pillow case with some of these patterns.... ouu, now I'm day dreaming!

Check out more of Corina's work here.
Also be sure to check out some of her scanned floral work, so cool!

What creative have you been crushing on lately?

xo

Creative Crush: Edouard Baribeaud

 I'm excited to share this Creative Crush with you guys! Edouard Baribeaud is an artist who lives and works in Berlin and Paris (doesn't THAT sound like the life!). These particular pieces are so textured and patterned and cool I get lost staring at all the various marks and combinations of colour. It's pretty expressionist!

Something about this red and blue combo makes me think of 3D images, do you see that too? Baribeaud's website is also incredibly cool and definitely stands out amongst the other over simplistic portfolio websites there are out there. Check out his website here!


What creatives have you been crushing on lately?

xo

Creative Crush: Hollis Brown Thornton

I am very often introduced to the work of amazing artists through Juxtapoz Magazine, such is the point I suppose! I was really excited when they posted about Hollis Brown Thornton the other week; really really enjoy his work! The mash up of digital (but OLD digital) things plus old wallpaper and other retro things makes for a really cool juxtaposition (and not just because I got it from Juxtapoz... ha!)

When I ventured onto Thornton's site and read his artist's statement, he talked about his intentions for his work and his interest in the digital world versus the physical world, which actually translates in his process too - which is pretty cool! Some of it is done entirely by hand, and other parts are transferred from digital prints and/or pre-existing imagery!

"The final image is always a slightly flawed representation of the original digital form, illustrating the inherent differences between the physical and digital." 

I think it's fascinating when artists don't just create pieces with meaning in the subject matter - but in the way the art is created as well.

Check out more of Thornton's work HERE!


xo

Creative Crush: Mathilde Aubier

Though this blog exists primarily to document my foray into a year of thrifting, I'm first and foremost a creative person and I don't want to remove that side of me from this space. So I figured I'd share my favourite creative finds now and then! Art, illustration, design, music, whatever it is, sharing my current creative crushes might be fun and a good way to spread some love for today's creatives.

I can't remember how I came across Mathilde Aubier's work, but I've had her site in my bookmarks for a while now! Aubier is based in France and does a whole array of design and illustration.

I really love her way of collaging - this really fun combination of images, textures, drawn elements, patterns, etc. and I totally dig it. There's something super whimsy about her works and her colours are really subtle and pleasing to the eye!

I've been pretty interested in collage lately, there's something really quirky and unexpected about it - both in looking at collage and in actually doing it!

Check out more of Aubier's work HERE!

xo