Living Arrows

It’s a powerful image: full access to the written word from a room covered in book pages. The installation, Pablo Lehmann’s “The Scribe’s House”, aptly complements a Saul Williams’ quote I read a few years ago- only through new words might new worlds be called into order.

I often write motivational pablum on paper and tape it to my walls. Presently, one of the papers reads “Be Aleeka.” and it serves as a daily reminder to relax. I like Lehmann’s idea of covering a room with the pages of discarded books, creating a flow of words that can’t be read or assembled into sentences. It’s as if he created a tactile language for the imaginary boarder. Imagine if instead of tombstones, mausoleums were just covered in all the books we’ve read? That would be a better reflection of me than any eulogy could afford.

The most fascinating thing about books is that your opinions on characters change as you age. Characters you once thought were evil, can surprisingly be deemed … lost. Like a milquetoast soldier approaching a battleground, I walked towards “The Scribe’s House” knowing that what I felt about books would change once I saw Pablo’s new world. 

The “Scribe’s House” is available for free viewing at Anthropologie on 50 Rockefeller Plaza. 

I imagine ateliers everywhere are occupied by confused people; people obsessing over their art while avoiding the specter of debt. You sacrifice a lot to be an artist, mostly financial security and sanity. Steven Mcgaughey created this website to  keep a semblance of art in his life while in medical school. He promised himself that he would continue to sketch and doodle everyday. It is seemingly his panacea to keeping art in his life as he struggles with finding creating himself.

In “Gastric Subway” (below), his love of design and his passion for medicine live in perfect comity on the overcrowded web. I’m so happy I stumbled onto his work. It’s very rare you come across something so clever:

The colorful feast in this ring display case, that I recently made for my sister using a discarded box, can put the infelicities of the week in shadow. 

This week my love for color themes led me to the work of a very fertile designer named Justina, whose indefatigable blog postings made me smile. Variously a designer, artisan, and stylist, Justina Blakeney is an expert at playing with colors and forms. Your mood vibrates when looking at her creations and concepts, if not overwhelmed with envy for her winning vividness. 

photo of Justina by Kim Grisco

She calls her home a Jungalow and describes it as bringing nature indoors. It’s bohemian and tropical, vintage and cozy. It volcanically highlights creative reuse, bright colors, bold patterns, worldly finds, and plants. 

Each click thru on her blog, gallery, and even the gift wrap ideas using leaves on her flickr account echo her imaginative ascendance. 

View her Jungalow below, starting with the side table she upcycled using fabric and upholstery tacks. Her talent is hard to reduce. 

I almost forgot it was Earth Day until my oldest and dearest friend, Suma Narasimharajan, asked me to make her a bracelet to commemorate her upcoming graduation from NYU’s MBA program! I love making unique gifts using the neglected items around my bedroom. My box of beads is a collection from necklaces and bracelets that have broken over the years. Revving up the rage of recycling with vintage beads and beading wire, I’m going to create jewelry for Suma that is as beautiful as she is. 

Danny Seo and Kevin Hertzog are the vanguards of upcycling, the art of making eco-chic items without scary tools or a lot of money. Danny’s book has a lot of great ideas. Having met him and Kevin last year, I am even more of a fan. After I make Suma’s bracelet I plan on making:

1. A tissue box using my discarded cassette tapes:

2. A doormat made of belts that I no longer wear: 

3. A wine-cork bath mat : 

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2012 !!