Uncommon Portraiture

(All Paintings by Carne Griffiths from "Fragments Series")

I'm going to be very honest, "portraiture" is one of my lesser preferred forms of creating. I hadn't realized that I simply haven't met the type of portraiture I like. And these pieces from Carne Griffiths really struck me. The aesthetics of his work is flooring. The shapes, the movement, the color, and the "collage" type appearances. Beyond the beauty of the pieces, the  concept is equally thrilling.

"Carne’s images explore both human and floral forms, figuratively and in an abstract sense. He is fascinated by the flow of line and the ‘invisible lines’ that connect us to the natural world. These may be considered lines of energy or spiritual connections between ourselves and our surroundings and his work is often an emotional response to images and situations encountered in daily life." -from Griffith's Biography (Read more about Griffith and his work here...)

Carne Griffith | www.carnegriffiths.com 

PORTFOLIO // SHOP

peace & love,

kaylee

SHOPLOVE: Vanilla and Lace

(left to right, top to bottom)

Fair Isle Tunic // Full-Size Chevron Clutch // Herringbone Clutch

Aztec Tunic // Mini Chevron Clutch

While sifting through loads of inspiration, shops, and artists, I stumbled upon Vanilla and Lace. And it was love at first sight. The style of this shop suits me so well. From the lovely handmade products themselves, to the simple photo styling. (I'm particularly fond of the modern chevrons contrasted with natural aztec prints.) Not to mention that everything is made to order in Portland by a lovely artist.

I chose my favorite tunics and clutches to share, but there are skirts, dress, shirts, and more. Take a peak and pick a favorite for yourself!

Vanilla and Lace Shop | Handmade Clothing & Bags

peace & love,

kaylee

Rain & Reflex

(RAIN by ceren kilic. 2012.)

(REFLEX by ceren kilic. 2012.)

 I've been falling in love with collages all over again. And I have a new favorite after stumbling upon Ceren Kilic's work. The geometric shapes and bright colors contrast perfectly with the vintage images. Rain and Reflex were two of my favorites, but there's many more excellent pieces to choose from. 

(Portfolio | Shop)

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Everything Is Incredible

(Everything is Incredible from Tyler Bastian. via thisiscolossal)

"The problem is that everything is incredible and people just don't accept it."
Augustin, The Helicopter Man

(Update: A program has been started to collect donations for the artist. The goals are to purchase Augustin's home and helicopter for preservation. The secondary goal is to pay for a ride in a real helicopter for Augustin. You can make a donation here.)

peace & love,

kaylee

Enjoy

(via rodi al ghamdi)

Oana Befort | Pops of Gold

Oh, how I love black, white, and gold. This drawing is so amazing.

Nubby Twiglet | Tips & Insights for Magazine Design

I'm starting a big new project, and this is exactly what I needed right now. 

A Merry Mishap | New Earrings

I adore these geometric, color-blocked studs. I'll take a few pairs, please.

Miss Moss | Nemadji Pottery

This pottery is just incredible, each piece is so playful and unique. The story behind the brand is intriguing as well.

This Is Colossal | "The Pleasure Of" by Vituc

Seriously, this video brought tears to my eyes. It's perfect.

Spencer and Kylie | Quick Trip

These beautiful photographs of the AZ woods has got me quite homesick. 

Maiedae | Snapshots: House of Dreams

I can't even explain how much I adore these photos. I actually feel like I'm there for just a moment.

Elise Blaha | Taking Creative Work Seriously

Get serious about creative work. This is oh, so good.

Flowerchild Dwelling | Magic

These photographs melt my heart. I miss sunsets very much.

Enjoy.

peace & love,

kaylee

Happy Accidents

(via pbs, digital studios)

"The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe."
-Bob Ross


peace & love,
kaylee

Aprile Elcich

The Arthur // A Great Curiosity // Disposition

Aprile Elcich is an incredibly talented Graphic Designer. Her work is just beautiful. Layers upon layers of texture and full of intricate, small details. (I was particularly smitten with her Thesis Project, it's such an original and creative idea.)
Seriously, I could spend hours looking through her work. 

peace & love,

kaylee

The Genius

Elizabeth Gilbert, Your Elusive Creative Genius via TED

"‘Ole!’ to you, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.” 

-Elizabeth Gilbert

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Ever After

(via liza shelestun)  

(via feathered)

(via stellarius)

(via littletexts)

(via danielphilip)

peace & love,

kaylee

Synthetic Landscape

  (via shane mcadams)

 These paintings are from a body of work titled, "Synthetic Landscape" by Shane McAdams. (See more pieces from this series here.) The works are so beautiful and intense. The hyper-realistic scenes, ethereal blending, and incredible details have me in awe. My favorite aspect of these paintings is the mysteriousness of the scenes. I would love to jump into one of these vortex-like paintings and have an adventure.

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Curiosity

(via vwmang, "Tonight thousands gathered in Times Square to watch the Curiosity rover safely land on Mars after a 352-million mile, 8.5 month journey.")

(via NASA, Curiosity coming in to land on the surface of Mars.)

(via NASA, Sunset on Mars from Opportunity Rover.)

The Curiosity Rover landed safely on Mars. I've been really enjoying looking at the fuzzy black and white snapshots from the little robot. Soon NASA hopes to have the other camera systems on-line, which delivers Hi-Res images and panoramas of the martian landscape. Apparently these images will be the absolute best images of Mars' surface that we've ever captured. (Which I'm really looking forward to seeing.)

The best part is seeing all these people stopping their daily lives to observe and celebrate Curiosity's landing is simply beautiful. It warms my heart when we can put aside our differences in order to pursue common goals which benefit all of humanity.

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Close The Gap

(via stricher gerard) (via maxwell.dunn)

(via junehymas)

(via xantheberkeley) (via liisklammer)

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. 

And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” 

-Ira Glass

peace & love,

kaylee

Guan Yin

(A selection of sculptures from Guy Laramee's recent body of work, "Guan Yin".)

A dear friend of mine shared these incredible book sculptures by Guy Laramee with me. I'm so enamored with the technique and creativity of this artist. The most amazing part is how truly realistic and life-like these artworks are.
The concept of "Guan Yin" is perplexing and moving, I highly recommend reading the statement. Where Guy Laramee summarizes the project as being, "dedicated to the mysterious forces thanks to which we can traverse ordeals."

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Open Up

(via starhearts)

(via nishe)

"Open up,

Everything's waiting for you. 

You can go your own way.

Go your own way."

("Go Your Own Way" from Rumors by Fleetwood Mac)

peace & love,

kaylee

Studio Love

 1 | Via Leslie Williamson (Kay Sekimachi's work table)  // 2 | A Merry Mishap (Copper Vase DIY)

Once again, I'm on a binge of lovely studios. Besides the fact that I've been obsessing over The Makers Project and The Selby, I stumbled on this post from Elise sharing a Studio Video Tour and in-depth explanation of how she organizes her space. I adore reading things like this. (She has an awesome rainbow-taped work desk. Love it.)

All of these incredibly studio photos have got me motivated to start asking for workspace photos from artists I'm interviewing. (Speaking of which, I'm on the hunt for talented artists, artisans, crafters, makers, and creators to interview. If you are interested, send me an email at birchandbees@gmail(dot)com.)

Have a lovely day!

peace & love,

kaylee

Workspace Envy

(Via The Makers | Lily Stockman, The Painter)

I'm in the middle of a giant studio overhaul currently. Gutting the entire room and putting it all back together again. As a result, I've been perusing dozens of pretty photos from artists' studios.

This studio space has been in my head all day. I love the huge white spaces, pops of bright color, and inspirational atmosphere of the work room. Love, love, love.

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: The Con

"Buried in my yard, a letter to send to you.

And if I forget, or god forbid die too soon,

Hope that you'll hear me, know that I wrote to you."

(Soil, Soil from The Con by Tegan & Sara)


peace & love,
kaylee

Inspired: 10 Links

(no source*)

As I've mentioned before, April was a tough month for me. Apparently, it was rough for many other people out there. Many people spoke about desiring to feel connected to a community or not being able to find your "place" in the blogging world, and it feels all too familiar for me. So a week ago, I started making a little list of the posts which have really stuck with me. Some are serious talks, others are pretty photos. But I hope you feel inspired by all of them. Enjoy.

The Dainty Squid | Blogger Notebook

I wish my blogging notebook was as beautiful as this one. I love the bright post-it notes.

A Beautiful Mess | Elise's Travel Journal

I've had the itch to work on more journals and mini-books and Elise's Travel Journal is really awesome. I love the way she uses photographs and memorabilia in such a simple way.

Life As An Artistprenuer | Coffee Cup Chats - Finding You

I loved this. Becka is so consistently inspiring, she doesn't even need to try.

Design Sponge | Constellation Notebooks

These constellation notebooks are really amazing. I want a bunch of these with different constellations on them. If you love stars, you'll probably love these too.

I Just Might Explode | Real Talk

There's nothing I love more than when someone gets really honest about stress, imperfection, and overwhelm.

Delightfully Tacky | The Existential Crisis

When I read this, I felt like Elizabeth was taking the words right out of my mouth. I've been slowly pulling away from social media and blogs because of the negativity that has sprouted in normally positive places. She speaks so tactfully and honestly about this.

My Girl Thursday | A Chronic Quitter Not Quitting

Chantilly speaks truthfully about wanting to quit... and not doing it. Right on.

Life As An Artistprenuer | Coffee Cup Chats - It's Okay

Again, Becka is incredible. This made me feel a lot better about my perspective of comparison and perfection.

Elephantine | Friday Fiction - Burn

Rachel writes the most incredible short stories. I'm so taken by each small story she crafts. They are full of emotion, detail, and meaning. Must read.

I ART U | South Hills

These photographs are really amazing for being phone photos. I love the huge expanse of sky. So lovely.

peace & love,

kaylee

(* = I normally do not post photos unless they have a source to link to. I came across this image in my photo inspiration blog, and it felt so applicable for this collection of links. I simply couldn't pass it up, even though it doesn't have a source. Please forgive me. Also, if you happen to know where this lovely image came from, please let me know, so I can source it properly.)

Inspired: Hands

(via rainkissedstars)

(via onceandforreal)

(via emmabrus)

(via segedi)

(via tranbina)

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art." 

-Leonardo da Vinci 

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Spring & Summer 2012

(via coltonrabon) 

(via weirdsimplicity)

(via whitepaperquotes)

(via norwegianmale)

(via saaaaamm)

peace & love,
kaylee