B & I Journal: 21st century

Showing posts with label 21st century. Show all posts

L'Oreal Paris. Because You're Worth It. Billboards

1999-2003: Photograph by Stephen Gill. Link

Tea Cosy

2009: "Handknitted for Labour and Wait." Link

For Sale: Antique Linen Coverlet

2009: "Here is a lovely antique spread/coverlet for a four-poster bed. Ecru linen and lace. The lace is beautiful. The inserted panels and the edges both measure about 10" wide. It is in wonderful condition... I see no issues with the lace. The linen on the other hand is quite fragile with lots of small areas that are worn thin with some holes. Over all it measures 93" wide and 97" long." Link

Drawing with French Knots

Linen Bunny & Sunflower

Knot a Lot - A Pebble Paperweight

2009: "French knots are a basic element of embroidery that can be strung together to make lines and shapes." Link

Barack Obama Cross Stitch

2009: "Celebrate a momentous day in political history by crafting your own Barack Obama cross stitch." Link

Happy New Year!

2009: Best Wishes for 2009! Happy New Year Sampler here

B & I work in progress: Blueprints

2008: With the holidays approaching this blueprint of a buffet table setting will come in handy as a tablecloth... Special order here.

The History of Plants According to Women, Children and Students

1542/2002: "For this suite of prints Borland selected 10 plates from one of the earliest and most important woodcut herbals, Leonhart Fuchs' 'De Historia Stirpium' (History of Plants), published in 1542, and reworked them as etchings. Fuchs' herbal is one of the earliest books on plants which can properly be called scientific, and it was immensely influential in medicine and botany in succeeding decades. His introduction credits the artist and engravers involved in the production of the images, but those who coloured the plates were unidentified women and children. Hand-colouring was skilled work which required careful copying from master copies or from the original watercolours. Crude, uneven or inaccurate colouring could obscure the finely-printed outlines, or misrepresent the species or variety , and thus undermine the usefulness of the image for purposes of identification. It was common practice for print publishers to employ women for this work, but there contributions were never credited.

Borland's [2002] publication of these prints reversed the usual hierarchy of credits and recognition - though a number of people were involved in the etching and colouring of the plates, only those undertaking the colouring were paid and credited." Link

White Squirrel Wars

Brooklyn, NY [Source]

2008: Running through beautiful Prospect Park a white squirrel crossed my path...

"Not one, but five towns use albino squirrels as their claims to fame, and none is particularly happy about the others. Kenton, Tennessee, accommodates about 200 of the furry rodents. Residents insist that the squirrels "have been here the longest" and claim they were left by a "Gypsy caravan" in 1869. Is Kenton, we asked, where the other towns got their white squirrels? "Well, they had to come from somewhere."

Olney, Illinois, is the loudest booster of all albino squirrel towns, titling itself Home of the White Squirrels. It scoffs at the other towns' albinos. "Most of theirs have dark eyes," they told us. The town conducts and promotes an annual white squirrel count, when locals scour the landscape inch by inch to determine population or migration trends. Roadside America." Link

Vegetable Ivory

2008: Digging through the web I've just discovered vegetable ivory and the tagua nut. See links below:
"Tagua, also known as corozo, is a name used for the tagua nut in the South American rainforest. When dried out, it can be carved as an ivory replica." Source
Ecuadorian Tagua Nuts Link
Tagua: The Vegetable Ivory Substitute Link
Is it a poodle? A german shepherd? Link

Knitted Dishcloth

2008: Handknitted exclusively for LABOUR AND WAIT, these 100% cotton dishcloths are very absorbent. Link

Extraordinary Commonplaces

"Commonplace" is a translation of the Latin term locus communis which means "a theme or argument of general application", such as a statement of proverbial wisdom. Scholars have expanded this usage to include any manuscript that collects material along a common theme by an individual. Link

Not a dull or trite book, as the usual sense of ‘commonplace’ would suggest, but a writer's notebook in which interesting ideas and quotations are collected for further reflection and possible future use. Link Whenever they came across a pithy passage, they copied it into a notebook under an appropriate heading, adding observations made in the course of daily life. Link

This is an album of watercolours, sketches and prints by various artists, accompanied by handwritten copies of poems and extracts from letters. Link

Iris Apfel: Rare Bird of Fashion

2008: "Iris Barrel Apfel is one of the most vivacious personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design and has cultivated a personal style that is both witty and exuberantly idiosyncratic. Her originality is typically revealed in her mixing of high and low fashion—Dior haute couture with flea-market finds, Dolce & Gabbana striped leather trousers with a Zuni belt. With remarkable panache and discernment, she combines colors, textures, and patterns without regard to period, provenance, and, ultimately, aesthetic conventions." Link
Amazing collection currently exhibiting here. Exhibition review and interview here.