Lee Castalena: Panoramic photography

My goodness, look at this most amazing interactive picture by panoramic photographer based in Cape Town, Lee Casalena.

His motto: Find something you love to do and you'll never have to work a day in your life....How true.

Spin this about and it will leave you awestruck....

http://leecasalena.com/fullmoonhike.swf

Adding any images to this feed would do the photography an injustice - I urge you to take a look....

Society Inc and Etcetera

In the depths of Paddingtons residential grid (Sydney) is a gorgeous hardware and haberdashery shop, Society Inc. It feels more like a whimsical market. Sibella Court, owner and collector af all things has written a book - Etcetera - I picked up in Cork last year.

Her displays are a fabulous mix of all sorts of interesting found object - never did I think a hardware store could be so appealing.

Old cotton reels, shells and perfume bottles all under a big glass domes on old chopping boards....soooo stylie...

It was really fun looking through old postcards, envelopess, victorain scraps and all things found

Tamar Mogendorff

I saw a set of these beautiful storks suspended mid flight carrying baby parcels in the window of a very lovely Sydney shop on Crowne Street, Surrey Hills.

The fabrics used are of beautiful quality and threads are left falling from the delicately sewn wings.

Tamar has a workshop based in Brooklyn, NY where she creates all sorts of gorgeous creatures.

Arent these bird houses beautiful?

Funny thing is I have been looking at the beautiful birds in Sydney and thought I really fancy making a stuffed kookaburra, perhaps with tweed scraps...after seeing these Im fully inspired....so watch this space.... Oh to be unemployed ;-)

Martyn Lawrence Bullard

Multiple award winning LA interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard is known for his glamourous and worldly interiors for a high profile and celebrity clientele that ranges from rock stars to royalty. Martyn Lawrence Bullard has also developed various collections to extend his brand experience through a custom furniture line, wallpaper collections, fragrances, candles and a fabric line.

I really love his fabrics and their exotic flavour....

Beautiful creative interiors

I have lost hours absorbed by these interiors, whats so good about this link is they are real homes! Why not submit yours?

Whether you are brand new to decorating or an oldie but goodie pro, you’ll be inspired by the interiors over at the Interior Styling group on Flickr.

The group has nearly 3,000 members and it is a fun spot to find great decorating ideas that are attainable and beautiful.

We all need a mood board!

I think you might be a little hooked too....

Petra Svoboda: Ceramic Artist

Yesterday in Sydney was HOT and sticky. We were ambling through the suburb of Newtown ducking in and out of air conditioned shops and galleries.

A lovely little ceramic studio caught our eye, in it these fab ceramic animals.
Remember the blow up pillows we made from the folks empty pap sak??!! (Sies)

Well Petra Svoboda has used this memory (I like to think) and created some great art. They are so well done they make you want to take a needle, and while no one is looking, give them a slow and sharp prick....gaining quiet satisfaction as the head starts to droop. But these heads aint made for drooping.

Make believe cat

Obedient dog

Ida Elsje: jeweller

On Church Street, Cape Town, after trawling through the little antique shops I happened across a funky shop front, that shared by jewellry designers Ida Elsje and Phillipa Green.

A friend had earrings I always admired and had found her discovery spot!

They do some lovely stuff in there, trawling the antique tables they find old brooches they resurrect into beautiful rings and other found objects are given a new life, to be shown off proudly by their new owners.

Go in, have a look and treat yourself. xx

A bit of gossip....

Hows this?? ....Andrej Pejic (male) is the hottest thing in modelling this season....on the right.

Nineteen-year-old Serbian-Australian model Andrej's chiselled cheekbones, flowing blonde locks and pouty mouth have already caught the eye of Marc Jacobs. The designer has used Andrej and his female look-alike, Ginta Lapina, as the faces of the Marc by Marc Jacobs spring-summer 2011 campaign, which was shot by famed snapper Juergen Teller in Marrakech.

This isn't the first high-fashion gig Andrej's landed. John Paul Gaultier not only booked Andrej for his spring-summer 2011 men's show, but also for his female show! 2 for the price of one!!

Andrej was born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and fled the war-torn region in the 1990s with his family, before settling as a refugee in Melbourne. He can name photographers Steven Meisel and the duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott among his fans after they cast him in spreads for the French and Italian editions of Vogue.

Little friends

Late Happy V day to you all....just a little something I found which appealed to me. We're all good for something ;-)

Say hi to some cuties, Herbert and friends were at the Rocks market on the weekend, one of the nicer stands among the popular kangeroo testicle keyrings....

Meet Rampert the Echidna. (below) Rambert is very happy about the fact that he's an echidna. He feels that his spikes make him look a great deal tougher than he actually is, although he has considered becoming a ninja which would make him super tough and stealthy! His favourite past-time is rolling down hills followed by eating croissants and cinnamon buns.  

Or Sophie the turtle, Sophie enjoys chasing pigeons from time to time, although she moves quite slowly even for a turtle so it's rare the pigeons take any notice of her. Sophie also likes to bake banana cake with strawberry icing and occasionally with hundreds-and-thousands sprinkled on top. 

See http://www.herbertandfriends.com.au/shop.html

Calling all music lovers

Id like to share with you this very clever new ipad app developed by my Aussie cousin, David McKinney of Jammbox.

He has developed a genius interactive music discovery tool, follow this link and it shows you exactly how the application works...

http://bit.ly/fQTyr2

And thats not all, David is working on some amazing other ideas so to keep tracking sign up on twitter http://twitter.com/jammbox

Signing off - the proud cousin ;-)

Rob Ryan and Columbia Rd flower market

If there is one place in London that makes my soul sing, its Columbia Flower Market on a Sunday morning. The trick is to get there early, line up for an outstanding coffee in the courtyard off Quilter Street, cant give you more info but when you have found it you will know...(coffee from heaven) and stroll past the blooms and bulbs inhaling the scent of the fresh morning air...........aye....

Tess, Sim and Sa eyeing out the bagels on Columbia Rd

But on the edge of all the Cockney mayhem is a quagmire of little shops, busting at the seams with colour, quirk and bohemia. There is one particular shop I love, the cut out artist Rob Ryan. Fiddly work but what a fab result...he sells more than paper products, his designs are now on tiles, prints, fabric.

An age old art with a new twist.

Thats a good Valentine card dont you think? Infact I see Roger de la Borde is using Rob Ryan designs on his cards and so they are quite easily available - have seen the at exclusive books in SA and in David Jones in Sydney.

Heres a cut out I bought in Beijing in the Art District, I like the idea of a wise soul on a wall watching over me..

My Pears & Bangalow

Arent these beautiful? They're my marble pears I got for Christmas...three heavy marble pears in a heavy marble bowl.
These pears were something I saw when in a little town outside of Byron Bay, Bangalow when visiting two years ago, I thought about them so often they haunted me and suprise! They were wrapped for Xmas.

Bangalow is a little town worth remembering for when next near Byron Bay, its an old dairy farming village and has retained its beautiful Victorian architecture lining the high Street, now filled with boutique shops, independant butchers, bakers and candlestick makers!

There is a fabulous market on the 4th Sunday of every month ; a get-together of artists, artisans, bakers, victuallers, therapists, farmers and friends. It has become quite a feature in the area at which celebrities are often spotted, Oliver Newton John is often seen there i believe! Part of the continuing success of the market is the beautiful grounds the markets are held in, which are dominated by eleven huge camphor laurel trees which provide welcome shade and rustling leaves and a magic forest atmosphere.

Bangalow Market amongst the Camphor trees

It is surrounded by lush green rich volcanic landscape which inspires the many resident artists.

Local Artist impression of the landscape surrounding bangalow.

Local chapel

Bangalow is one of those country gems: a picturesque, largely nineteenth-century streetscape of tall verandahed buildings, shady trees and quiet parks.

Hope to get back there soon for a poke around the interesting shops, fabulous coffee at the corner shop and a schooner on the balcony on the age old Bangalow hotel

Annie Leibovitz - photographer

Annie Leibovitz (born 1949)

I spent  the afternoon yesterday at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Sydney at an exhibition of the woman behind some of the most amazing celebrity photography in the world. You will recognise some of her shots, take note of the photographer when next see dramatic shots in the likes of the Vanity Fair, her work captures the essence of her subjects beautifully.

Annie Leibowitz with her famous pregnant Demi Moore shot

Julianne Moore

I knew little about her before the exhibition and walked out of there with a sense of awe and respect. The decision to merge the professional assignments on display with shots from her personal life was decided late in the day but added an great depth to the exhibition. The celebrity shots were interrupted by tender family pictures documenting birth of her children, rites of passage and emotionally fraught pictures such as her father on his death bed and her lover after a masectomy. The exhibition beautifully told the story of her one life - professional and personal complete.

Her adored mother and father

Annie started out her career working for the newly launched Rolling Stones magazine, documenting the American popular culture since the 1970's. She took this photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono just 5 hours before the shock John Lennon assasination.



John Lennon and Yoko Ono



She was commissioned to report of the seige of Sarajevo in early 1990s, here a picture of the blood skid of a nine year old shot on his bicycle by a sniper moments before. Included were some horrific and confrontational images of the Rwandan genocide...google them if youre interested.

And then last, but ofcourse not least, our dear Queenie.