musical inspiration: the tree ring

The band 'The Tree Ring' has combined two of my favourite things, hiking and live music during their 'hike-in show' from November 2011. The band packed up their instruments and hiked up Mt. Laguna to preform a concert in the middle of the woods. The cost to get in was simply the 30 minute walk up there. I wish I could have joined this sweet little concert. What a wonderful and intimate setting to come together and enjoy both nature and music.

 

open doors art project

I would like to start by apologizing for my lack of posts in the last week. I've been travelling a bit and it's been difficult to keep up with the blog. The good news is that I have lots of ideas for upcoming posts and blog developments in March. 

A friend of mine recently told me about this amazing art intervention project in Funchal, Madeira called ‘Project Arte Portas Abertas’ where people from the community are invited to adopt and paint the old and forgotten doors of houses, shops and spaces that were abandoned and had deteriorated in the city of Funchal. This project’s aim is to "open the city to artistic and cultural events”. I think it’s a great way to bring together a community of artists and work toward a more dynamic environment for all. 

photo source

 They have set up a great website to view the painted doors. Check it out here: source 

inspiration: shadowgram

This week I'm attending the TEI'12 conference in Kingston and the talks so far have been very inspiring and informative in regards to where embedded and embodied interaction is headed. One project in particular that I enjoyed hearing about was Shadowgram. Shadowgram is a system that allows exhibition attendees to pose in front of a screen, creating a silhouette of themselves which is then laser cut onto a sticker. The attendee can then place their sticker onto the nearby wall and add to the dialogue of the greater community. I love to see how the project brings out the creativity and personality of the user.

source

soup by the fire

The other night, to celebrate arriving home, my parents and I had soup by a snowy campfire. Have you ever had a winter campfire? It’s pretty cozy.

a bike with a story

Yesterday, I dragged my luggage onto the train in Eindhoven headed toward Schiphol Airport. I found an easy place to store my bags and sat down joining a man and a woman who had brought, along with their luggage, a beautiful and vintage looking oma fiets (bicycle). We got to talking and I asked them about the bike, it turned out that it had belonged to their grandmother and that she had passed it down to the woman years ago but she had left it in The Netherlands with her mother while she was in another part of the world. The bicycle, while in the possession of her grandmother, had been stolen twice.. and found/returned again twice by her grandfather due to its bright and recognizable red bell. The bike has been in their family for generations and the woman I met on the train was now taking it with her back to her home.. in Canada. Believe it or not we were on the same flight and both have a place to call home in Ontario, not that far from one another. The whole story of the bicycle and its journey made me smile. I think it is such a wonderful story and what a unique family heirloom. 

I asked the woman if she intended on using the bike and she answered absolutely, yes. I was very pleased and I hope she enjoys using it here in Canada some day soon. 

dream catcher

On Sunday afternoon, I spent some time making this drawing of my dream catcher I got back in Canada when I was younger. It travelled with me to The Netherlands and now hangs here, in my window. I liked the stained glass effect created by painting each section of the inner circle a different shade of red. 

peace

All we are saying is give peace a chance. I hope you had an inspiring weekend : )

John Lennon peace sign : source

 John and Yoko's bed in : source

Happy av : source

Woodstock couple : source

Mimesis Photos (above and below) : source

 

nature's engineer

My current design project involves craftsmanship and jewellery. I started explorations by searching for inspiration in nature. The beaver is a natural craftsman, what a clever little animal to get inspiration from.

 

1. watercolour beavers
2. beaver dam photo, Algonquin park summer 2011
3. wedding pie topper from my brother's wedding
4. little clay beaver I made just for fun

good eats and bicycle seats

here's some instagram snap shots of my favourite things I've eaten and seen the the past week. mmm, have a good weekend!

triangles rock

Here's a little bit of triangular inspiration for your Thursday morning : )

1. pretty water colour triangle painting by Erika Somogyi
2. a fun triangle DIY from pie n' the sky
3. yummy triangles photo by Charles Schiller
4. pink floyd poster
5. triangle collage by Tom Moglu

stitched business cards

In one week today I will be heading back to Canada to attend the 2012 Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction Conference. I have entered my recent project in the conference contest so I made up some business cards to promote myself. I used silk thread to outline the shape of the prototype. It adds a craft aspect, which I think increases the aesthetic value of an otherwise dull business card. What do you think?

sleigh ride with my 'achter, achter nichtjes'

I spent Sunday afternoon enjoying the snow with my cute little Dutch relatives. It was a great way to spend a bright and snowy Sunday afternoon. 

curious fox

A friend of mine snapped this sweet photo of a little fox up in the very wintery 
Algonquin Park a few weeks ago.

Source: Uploaded by user via Adam on Pinterest

I couldn't help but try out a little watercolour imitation.

snow love

I simply enjoy playing in the snow...