Mighty Sparrow Design

My favourite thing this week...

2013-09-04T11:08:00.004-07:00

Tom Waits on John Baldessari...

Valérie Buess

2013-07-29T13:25:00.002-07:00

I'm very fond of these...vaguely aquatic....sculptures by Valérie Buess.

Hot Knife - Fiona Apple

2013-07-26T08:47:00.002-07:00

I'm really liking this new song by Fiona Apple. The video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, so ...woohoo! Nice work.

personal dirigible

2013-07-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've decided I want one of these..

Maybe the one with the horse attached.

massive rotating supercell

2013-06-23T17:01:00.004-07:00

Beautiful and potentially devastating. I've had days like this.

Irving Harper - Works on Paper

2013-06-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

The once a day paintings of Duane Keiser

2013-05-21T08:31:00.001-07:00

I've been following the painted work of Duane Keiser for a couple of years now. I have to say that his daily "Painting a Day" emails are a great way to start the day. Today he sent this lovely piece... yay it's peony season again!

Hense The Name

2013-01-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

Wow, this is an amazing installation by artist HENSE in Washington, DC. See more here.

2012-12-31T16:54:00.004-08:00

Happy new year everyone!

2012-10-22T09:06:00.002-07:00

If you're looking for Halloween costume inspiration of the weird and vintage variety, look no further! Flavorpill has gathered 20 great photographs of old-timey costumes. These are my favourites:

Heather Benning

2012-09-19T09:48:00.002-07:00

I absolutely love what artist Heather Benning has done to this abandoned house in rural Saskatchewan.

2012-07-12T10:24:00.002-07:00

I really love this project by Iwona Przybyla and wish I'd thought of it.

Portrait - Patti Smith

2012-05-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Patti Smith's autobiography, Just Kids and I was inspired to make this portrait of her.

Downton Abbey Paper Dolls

2012-05-05T10:33:00.002-07:00

I found these paper dolls over at Vulture and they are just too awesome not to share.You can find the whole set and download printable pdfs at the Vulture website.

Ikea Hack - Expedit standing desk

2012-04-28T17:51:00.001-07:00

For my graphic design work I sit ALL day and it's been taking it's toll on my back...so, I decided (day before yesterday) that for the sake of my back and overall health, that I needed to start working at a standing desk. I had seen a tutorial on the Ikea Hacker blog showing how to create a standing desk using an Expedit book case and stacks of CDs and since I already own an Expedit bookcase (two in fact) I thought I could hack up something similar. Off to Home Depot I went with my little drawing in hand...

I knew that I didn't want to use CDs for mine and that I needed to find some sort of substitute. I would also need a piece of wood for the top. As I was doing a bit of research about the ideal desk height I learned that an ergonomically functional desk will keep your arms bent at a perfectly right angle to your body...like so...

Diagram courtesy of Tinkering Monkey.

That meant that for my desk height to be ideal I needed to find a tube of some sort that was three inches long and strong enough to support my weight as well as the weight of my computer and all of the other junk my desk accumulates. I did a bit of scrounging and found this assortment of hardware between the electrical and hardware departments...

I also found a piece of 60 x 20" x 3/4" laminated wood in with the lumber. I had hoped to find something 24" deep as that would provide the perfect overhang, but I was pretty sure I could make this work. When I got home I simply lined up the wood on the desk, clamped it down, measured for the holes and then drilled right through both the new top and the Expedit unit in one go. I figured there was less chance at my screwing up the measuring that way and it worked perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. The holes were a teensy bit crooked, but not enough to cause a problem.

I should also note that I bought bolts that were excessively long with the thought that the desk height would be adjustable. I'm not expecting to grow any taller, I just thought that if I ever wanted to pass the desk on, it would be good to have the option.

Here's what the desk looked like when I tested the new top...

And here's what the 'spacers' look like in action. Kind of industrial and not entirely uncool. Note the crooked bolt. Oh well.

I removed the top and painted it black to be all matchy match and voila....here's the finished desk...

An added bonus of having the raised top and an unexpected surprise bonus...

My cables are all neatly tucked away and my power bar is super accessible!

Crab Park - Vancouver

2012-04-25T16:07:00.002-07:00

New pictures!

2012-04-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

Got a new camera!

2012-04-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some first shots....

I need to get me a new camera.

2012-04-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

So I can try to to the lovely things that Joel Robison (of Cranbrook Alberta!) does...

Simon Prades

2012-04-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

The work of Simon Prades is really lovely.

Mega Vintage Valentines Post

2012-02-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

I love vintage Valentines. Even as a kid I thought they were awesome. The design and illustration for these is usually fantastic...if not fantastically creepy. In my observation, they seem to fall in four categories.

First...the pun...it's a classic...

Then of course there's the 'threat'...be mine OR ELSE!

Of course there's always the slightly risque flirty ones...

Why not guilt that special someone into being your valentine?

Or....just promise to be relentlessly creepy...

I guess one could always go with the 'I'll be your other mother' angle...appeal to his need for nurturing...

Or...on the other end of the spectrum...how about racist overtones?

I think this one is my favourite though. It's everything a valentine should be. A timid and yet bold declaration of one's secret crush.

With two promises and a chastisement as a bonus!

Happy Valentine's day!

Photoshop painting...by me!

2012-01-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

It's not terribly good, especially when you look at the amazing work of illustrators like Jason Seiler, but it was fun and kinda cool for a first attempt. Hopefully someone will give me an excuse to do more! I'm only going to do bald people from now on though. Hair is tedious and hard.

Harry Clarke

2011-11-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

I've seen the work of Ireland's classic illustrator Harry Clarke before, but Flavorpill's recent post showing his has caused me to look up more of his work. Some of his work is quite epic...others are (I think) simple enough to be used as tattoos. You can see more of his work on 50 Watts and Archive.org.

My latest subject...Mackenzie!

2011-11-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Pet Portraits!

2011-11-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

My new fun thing is to draw people's pets! This weekend I decided to go ahead and make it official. Visit my new site at www.pokedyoureyeout.com. And, if you know anyone who might like to have a unique, pen and ink portrait of a furry (or feathery) friend...pass it on.