Art Day Tuesday

Feeling uncultured? Not anymore! Here's some art to make your Tuesday fantastic. 

Matheus Lopes is a young illustrator from Brazil. 

[Not enough? You can see more on Matheus Lopes’s Website]

Abandonment

It is always amazing to me the things that get left behind. Things once treasured, once toiled for, once built up and carried on. And then left. Doors locked, or maybe not. Left to be reclaimed by the earth, by the weeds, by the birds and the bugs.

And how there is a beauty in these things, decaying into the ground, swallowed by the reeds, returning from whence they came. A stillness, a subtlety, a quiet dawning of nothing more.

 15th century monastery in the Black Forest in Germany

 Cincinnati’s abandoned subway depot

 Kolmanskop in the Namib Desert

 The abandoned Wonderland Amusement Park outside Beijing, China

 Fishing hut on a lake in Germany

 The Kerry Way walking path between Sneem and Kenmare in Ireland

Pripyat, Ukraine

[Wanna see more? Click here]

UPDATE: I found even more! Click here. These ones are particularly beautiful.

The Rose Of The Bowl

A few weekends ago we finally made it to Rose Bowl Market! Yes, finally, because this is something I've wanted to do since arriving here in November last year! Madness. I know. Who waits that long to do something?! Me, apparently.

Anyways, turns out it's only on one Sunday out of every month, and that I work most Sundays, and Husband does whatever he does on Sundays that keeps him out of my hair. Hehe. The wonderful thing.

So anyways, we went to Rose Bowl! And managed to go on the only Sunday in ages which was completely overcast and chilly. But that's ok. We made up for it by walking lots, eating hot German sausages and steak sandwiches, and drinking champagne out of plastic cups while overlooking the very empty Rose Bowl Stadium. (The market takes place around the stadium - but you're allowed in to sit on the bleaches and sing war cries, and drink champagne. Obvs.)

This was our Rose Bowl team for the day - me, our lovely friend Ambar, and Husband.

And in case you were wondering, Husband is indeed, better with butter. Most things are.

So there were trinkets, and jewels, and junk. And lots and lots of stalls.

What a fun way to spend a somewhat overcast, somewhat chilly Sunday. Especially since afterwards we went and drank wine and ate cheese at our favourite French restaurant, just around the corner from our house. Yum!

 And dessert. Yes. Did I mention the dessert? Because obviously you need dessert after cheese and wine. These are the things that Sundays do to you. I blame it on Sundays.

Friday Reflections

Those quiet moments, to take a deep breath, to calm, to storm, to surge. Those moments before, those moments after, and those moments in between. Waiting for the beginning, the end, the over.

Breathe deep, the world quietens, it waits for you. Only for you.

[Photo vogue.com, found on Lace & Tea blog]

Yet Another Reason To Return To Barcelona

Because I missed out on this! This amazingness.

The very clever design team at  Marion + Merche cooked up this brilliant idea when the store owners approached them in search of a new look. Now you can take home your own ice-cream friend, with edible eyes, and sweet sweet sauces. Yum!

Wanna go? Find it here: Paseo Joan de Borbo 30. Barcelona, Spain

[First spotted on Lucky Pony blog, design and pictures by Marion + Merche]

To Crop, Or Not To Crop

Lately I've been drawn more and more towards chomping off my now-ridiculously-long hair, into the shortest possible crop I could manage. A little pixie, a little punky, and a little bit more fun.

Just look how amazing it looks on this pretty lady, Anne-Catherine Frey, the Paris-based fashion designer, stylist, and blogger.

[See more, and the full interview with her and her hair, here]

SA Fashion Week SS 2013

This year was the first time in a good few years that I missed out on the festivities surrounding South Africa Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013. But hey, I'm not complaining, being stuck in little ol' LA certainly made up for it.

But I did find myself glued to my phone for those few days, desperately searching the few facebook updates, live streaming tweets, fashion videos and instagram pics to stay up to date with what was going on. That information is sometimes hard to get, not a river, but more like a tiny leak, that you won't notice for hours, but slowly slowly, bit by bit, I saw what I needed.

I have a few firm favourites. There was some definite talent there. Some played it a bit safe, and stuck to their tried and tested formulas, which I find a bit dull. But once again, there was one who broke the mould. And I have absolutely no bias in saying this, even though he is my cousin - but I do believe if there was an award for the best designer at SAFW, he would win.

Visit his website here to see more of his amazing work.

[Photos from SDR photo]