Alicia Benoist: Black and White Maiolica

Currant bowl; black Maiolica. By Alicia Benoist, from the Facebook album “Pots”, September 2010. Photo by Russell Dian.

We recently met Alicia Benoist, a studio potter from New York City whose work stole our hearts! Her hand is expressive and robust, and the way she paints her glaze brought to mind the impasto strokes of Vincent Van Gogh and the stained glass of John LaFarge. But on second look we saw that she was fluent in two different glaze-painting styles: black and white maiolica. Her white pieces are subtly different. Fresh but subdued colors are stroked onto a white ground. They resemble watercolors, especially those of the Omega Group from England in the early 20th century.

Her inspiration comes from her garden: irises, lily of the valley, floppy poppies, fiddlehead ferns and an array of fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition to being a potter, Alicia is also a cellist and choral singer.  She draws a parallel between music and ceramics.  “You use the same vocabulary to discuss both, such as ‘color’ and ‘rhythm’.  One tends to describe both the same” she explains. Continue reading →

Playing with color

Looking for an amusement to brighten a drab winter day? How about a card game that is not only brainy, but sure to inspire.

Funnybone Toys color card games. All images courtesy Funnybone Toys.

The Denver-based company Funnybone Toys has come up with not one but three color card games that provide amusement for both kids and adults. And who knows? You just might find the perfect palette!

Train your brain while you excite your eye.  These games are as much art as they are entertainment; like a kaleidoscope, as you play the color patterns shift and excite the eye.  This is no accident.  Funnybone Toys is dedicated to stimulating creativity and improving cognitive function with good design. They work with bringing in experts on type and graphic design as well as childhood education. Continue reading →

Mexican “Mosaico de Pasta” floor tiles

An office interior. Photo courtesy Miguel Faller

I would always rather be in Mexico. Everything about it is amazing—the culture, the history, the people, the design. On a trip to the Yucatan a few months ago, on a tour of the Hacienda Yaxcopoil just outside Merida, I stumbled across the most inspirational mosaic tile floors, in wall-to-wall multi-colored patterns.
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BRILLIANT: White in Design

All photos courtesy Linda O’Keefe and the Monacelli Press

It has been said that one of the greatest achievements of a designer is to make white look new again. Author Linda O’Keffe has accomplished exactly that in her new book Brilliant White. The pages are filled with ample and glorious photography showing the color in art, design, architecture and nature and the pictures are punctuated with thoughtful musings
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Graffiti

These two walls are also in Brooklyn, NY. In the last few years, New York City and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have been actively commissioning graffiti artists to do wall murals (or “pieces”) in some industrial areas of Brooklyn. Courtesy of Hannah Rogge

Graffiti spray paints: creating vibrant urban streets around the world

Graffiti, from the Italian graffito or “scribbling” is the art “tagging” or writing ones name in a public place for others to see. It began as an urban phenomenon in New York City in the late 1960s with a bike messenger named Taki, and has evolved from sub-culture to international art form. Today there are well known graffiti artists practicing in urban centers everywhere, including the Middle East, Russia and Japan. And like any practice that has “blown-up,” the Graffiti market is now being courted by specialty paint manufacturers. Continue reading →

Helping photobloggers live in color: D-90 Wilsonart Laminate

Curtis found a considerably cheaper alternative to costly gray balance cards, however, by comparing different shades of Wilsonart Laminate to the shades on his white balance card. Photo courtesy of Curtis Bullock http://knick-knack.com/index.html

A few months back, the sales team at Wilsonart noticed that they were getting a great many requests for samples of one of their more basic gray laminate shades, known simply as “D-90”. Around the same time individuals were arriving at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot to request small pieces of the same color. Continue reading →