See Dave Cooper Paint!

Pal and artist extraordinaire Dave Cooper is featured in a post on Boing Boing this week, with a link to his photos on Flickr documenting his painting process. Dave says, "This can be a nerve-wracking stage, but it's usually pretty straightforward. i use an antique projector (that you can see in my "some of my favourite artnerd things" set) and a cheap brush pen. the image that's in the projector isn't the original pencil drawing but rather a smaller print-out. the final painting will be about 7' wide! as you can see, i work on unstretched canvas stapled to the wall. it's only once the painting is finished and photographed that i stretch it onto a custom made stretcher." See Dave's photos here.

Groovy Stereo Cabinets

I am seriously coveting this pair of early '70s stereo cabinets (in teak, with Saarinen-style tulip bases) from ModHaus.com. If my clients get around to paying their invoices this week, I might just take the plunge...

Jen Stark

American artist Jen Stark creates stunning op art paper sculptures using simple construction paper. Have a look at her work here. Shown at left is "Cylinder: Paper Cut" from 2005. Via design observer.

The Shatner Show

The innovative Uppercase Gallery in Calgary has a fun art exhibition on right now: The Shatner Show, featuring the immortal William Shatner as portrayed by a host of artists and illustrators from Canada and the United States. The show runs from June 15 - August 31, 2007, and there's a book to accompany it, too. You can view (and purchase) the artwork online at theshatnershow.com. The clever print shown here (love that conceptual stuff) is by Calgarians Karen and Patrick Andrews. Via poppytalk.

Burnt Toast Illustration

I have an illustration in the Summer 2007 issue of local food culture magazine Burnt Toast, for an article on ... cannibalism, of all things. It was actually one of the most challenging pieces I've ever done concept-wise –– how do I approach such subject matter? Here's the result of all that pondering. Burnt Toast is on the stands until late August.

Flashmob Dinner Party in Paris

"Every year around mid June, a big open air white dinner party is organized somewhere in Paris. The funny part of it is that its location is kept secret until the very end. Participants are asked to go to a certain spot and wait. 15 minutes before the actual start they get an SMS or a phone call that tells them where to gather. As a sheer coincidence (ehem!), I happened to be passing by... This year it was around the Arc de Triumph on the place de l'Etoile..." So writes Eric, author of the wonderful Paris Daily Photo blog (that's his photo of the event on the left). What a cool idea. More about the dinner party here. Via tastespotting.

Clare Brennan

Clare Brennan, a fellow member of the Clutch art collective, will be participating in a one night only show at La Petite Mort Gallery this Friday, June 22 at 7:00. Michael Zavacky, another Clutch member, co-produced the event, which features over a dozen male artists creating works based on the subject of women. La Petite Mort Gallery is located at 306 Cumberland Street, Ottawa.

The Bible Allstars

The Bible Allstars, my brother Greg's band, had their debut live performance at Irene's Pub last night, and left the crowd literally screaming for more. A fun night and a fantastic show! Check out pictures from the show on Greg's blog here.

Questionable Hotel Carpets

New York-based Swiss designer Tina Roth Eisenberg has a fun little Flickr slide show of the hotel carpets she encountered on a conference trip to Atlanta. To me they look like Gustav Klimt hallucinations. The duct tape on the joins between the carpets is a nice touch, too. Via Swiss Miss.

Skull-A-Day

Noah Scalin is creating a skull-a-day for 365 days, and uploading photos of the results on his blog, Skull-A-Day. Lots of clever interpretations, but I especially liked the turnip skull and the cardboard box skull (left). Other people are now contributing their own skull stuff to his blog, too. Via Design Observer.

Globe and Mail Illustration

I have an illustration in today's Globe and Mail. It's in the Facts and Arguments section, accompanying an article by professional chef Michael Smith. Smith argues for less dependency on cookbooks, and more cooking by instinct––freeing yourself from following the rules, as it were. You can read the article online (Wednesday only) here.

Don't know if my illustration will accompany the online version, though...will know later tomorrow...

Update: The online version of the article has moved to to the Life Food & Wine section (though unaccompanied by my illo) here. The print version has also moved, to page L5 in the Life Food & Wine section.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Odd but very funny series of photographs by Daniela Edburg, featuring glamorous characters in the fatal aftermath of their particular food obsession. Edburg riffs on classic painting, tabloids and monster movies to comic effect––check out her work (and an interview with her) here. Shown here is Death by Cotton Candy, which Edburg says was inspired by the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz. Via tastespotting.

Intuiting Function From Form

Profile by Alice Rawsthorn of Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa in the International Herald Tribune. One of his best known designs is the beautifully simple CD player that he developed in 1999 for Muji. Fukasawa says of this: "Usually designers think of audio-visual products as black stacks, as special products that don't really have much to do with your everyday life," said Fukasawa. "I wanted to make a CD player that fits into everyday life, so you can listen to music while brushing your teeth or cooking. At first everybody said: 'What's this?' They didn't understand why a CD player should be like this, but they understand that they should pull the cord to start it, and then they get it." Read the rest of the article here. Be sure to check out the slide show of his work, too. Photo by Tamotsu Fujii / Ryohin Keikaku (MUJI).

Ghost Bikes of New York

"Two local cycling activist groups, Visual Resistance and Time's Up, determined in 2005 to place a memorial to every cyclist killed in the city. Now, in traffic blackspots all over New York, gleaming white bicycles, draped in garlands of colourful flowers and decorated with photographs of the victims, are popping up, often in the middle of the night. Above each bike, a simple sign is erected, a memorial to the fallen. The children's bikes are particularly poignant: there is one for 10-year-old Shamar Porter, killed on Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn on August 5 last year, and another for Jose Mora, 11, killed on North Conduit Avenue, Cypress Hills, on September 4."

A brilliant way of making a point. Read the rest of Harry Mount's Telegraph story here.

Zuse Toaster

Maxwell of Apartment Therapy writes: "A computer coded toaster that mimics early dot matrix printers, (the) Zuse burns 12 x 12 pixel images on bread and can be programmed to random patterns or those of your own design. It is for providing happiness." Couldn't agree more. The Zuse is by the Austrian company Inseq Design.

Paul McCobb

I've been looking at the work of Paul McCobb (1917-69) the American furniture designer and decorator, and love his pure lines and elegant modernism. The modular 3-piece shown here was found by its proud owner (watersedgechris on the flickr mid-century pool, who also photographed it) one component at a time, then put together. Via poppytalk.

Ken Okuyama

Great interview in PingMag with star Japanese designer Ken Okuyama, who's designed everything from cars (including projects with Pininfarina, Ferrari, Porsche and Maserati) to "...robots, teakettles, ovens, folding chairs, and carpets - until he came up with something to complete his already pretty wide range: a massage chair." Throughout, his work consistently demonstrates an intelligent and elegant approach to design. Shown here is one of his more playful designs––the Nuvo robot.

Hockey Stick Chair

An example of true homegrown design (and eco-friendly, too!), the Hockey Stick Chair is a Canadian classic. Perfect for watching the playoffs! Via the Canadian Design Resource (photo via treehugger.com).

Incidentally, the Canadian Design Resource is looking for more photos of this chair to add to its collection of Canadiana. If you have any, send them an email...

Filing Ideas

In my ongoing search for ways to keep the ever accumulating paperwork around my desk organized in an attractive way, an idea like this vintage hotel lobby key box, now used for letters (discovered by Terramia in the book Pottery Barn Home) is a particularly appealing solution.

Women in Art Video

Stunning video animation by EggMan of 500 years of female portraiture. Each face morphs into the other––a fluid lesson in art history. One of the most viewed videos on the web right now, too. Have a look here. Via designboom.