We spent a lot of time outside.
And did our fair share of inside too at the hotel.

Once back on the mainland, we ate modestly and simply. And outside.

I'm going outside for a few days. Will be back soon.
See you then.

{from recovering lazyholic}

Loving these images from a blog I stumbled across this morning... can't remember how I got there, but glad I did.

{images by frl. zucker.... also see her work on flickr}

We had a visitor in the studio today...

Dear Blog,
Thanks for being patient with me this week.... it's been a busy one. I think about you everyday.

I am taking scuba diving lessons and have been spending a lot of time underwater lately. I am getting ready for this trip at the end of the month, and learning to dive is just one of those things I have to do. Don't feel neglected or abandoned.

I did see some interesting things since I last saw you. Here they are:

campsite
kai
bathroom at the V&A

Love you lots,
Debi

{images from: Ed Linn and somer}

The ink calendar by Oscar Diaz is beautiful and smart.
Love the simplicity... wonder if it really works. Curious how or if the rate of absorption changes as the days/calendar become more saturated.
Still... it's stunning.

{via dezeen}

There's just something about expired film.

{from @Marco's Diana+ on flickr}

I bought this little pig ceramic dish earlier this spring.
He sits on my desk and makes me smile. A big wide smile.
Sometimes I half -expect to see him give me a little wink.

Think I got this great site, Vintage Plant, from fine little day.

Even though the site hasn't been updated in a while, I still love reading about the plants and their lives.

I've been working on this model for days and days now... and still working; presentation is next week.

I like these people, scale figures for the model. These are 1:24 scale. Larger than usual. And therefore creepier.

I know I'm working on a museum exhibit, but I sort of feel like I'm working on a doll house.

I was on the bus today, lazily looking out the window, and almost fell out of my seat. Because .... (drum roll, please)...... there are goats trimming the grass in downtown Los Angeles. Let me repeat that: goats trimming the grass in downtown Los Angeles.

They were fenced in on Bunker Hill, the very steep site of the Angels Flight. I'm sure this is an exaggeration, but it seems like there were 100s of them.

When I got back to the studio I looked this up, and apparently I am very slow to realize this and also to have seen it, but this has been going on for almost a year. Nevertheless, I was brimming with pride for this city and happy that this place is quite literally crazy.

I think all my friends can back me up on this, but probably for the past eight years I have been saying that I dislike LA, that I can't wait to leave, that I need to move and it's only a matter of time. Blah blah blah. Though, to my own credit, the last two years Los Angeles has slowly become a different place for me: somewhere I want to be. I don't say that stuff anymore.

Just like when I saw the chickens up the road from the studio, seeing the goats made me just love this crazy city. I never would have thought that we'd be so progressive. But maybe I've also had my head buried in the sand? This place is just so facetted: I'm not sure if one can truely know only one Los Angeles; there is no such place. It's so many places at once.

Read about it here at the LA times blog, also where the images came from.

..... . .. . ... . ... . . . . . . ........ . . . . . ..

On another exciting note: my wee beasts were featured in The Architect's Newspaper and Curbed LA (someone had a very good comment... good for architects to think about)

Thanks Marissa!

Dear Blog,

Today you are two years old. Last year I was excited that we made it through one year together; this year I am proud. I like how you are growing up.

You are the longest diary I have ever kept. As well as being the only visual diary I have dared to keep.

Thanks for sticking with me through all the computer failures, the deadlines and the caffeine.
I owe you.

Love,
Debi

{image: Florian Maier-Aichen ....here and here.... , scanned from Dwell Magazine, Feb 2007}

The aftermath of one of the best meals we've made in the tagine alongside the barbeque.
Also, one of the hottest weekends yet.
Cooking outside is the only thing to do.

Also, really enjoying Fresh Milk Delivered Daily.

I like these very much. Got to love wolves, right?

Living together stacking glasses by d-bros.

{available here; image from here}

In 1926 dancer Milca Mayerova created a pose for each of letter of the alphabet, with the intention to choreograph a twenty-four poem sequence called Abeceda by Czech writer Viteslav Nezval. Composed into a book by Karel Teige.

Can't quite get over it.

Watch a video for close-ups of the letter forms; the image above doesn't quite do it justice.

{images via ABZ; more alpahbets and other signs}

I'm loving the brothers Bouroullec Clouds.... reminds me a little of the origami wall in our studio, but these are fabric. I feel like Ronen and Erwan Bouroullec have been hiding in my peripheral vision for a few years, though lately I've started to notice them more and more... as if I wasn't ready to love their designs just yet, but I was keeping tabs. Now, it's a different story. After having read about the four years it took to design their Vegetal Chair and having gained a little insight on their process (as always, I'm a sucker for process) I'm starting to pay more attention.

{designed for Danish textile company kvadrat, cloud images from here. And you can read the vegetal article here.}

My friend Julia will debut her candy business, Kryptonite Candy this weekend. She and I worked sometime ago on her company's identity and packaging system, and now finally the roll-out of the logo I designed.

If you're going to be on Vashon Island (short ferry ride from Seattle) this coming weekend look for her candy at the Lavendar Farm Tour, July 11-12.... you won't be able to fight the candy temptation.

Find out more event info here.

Can we talk a little about Peter Gabriel? And about how much I just rocked out in my car listening to his music. The older stuff. And perhaps how I might have looked completely crazy to people driving by me? I mean, car-dancing to "Shock the Monkey" isn't exactly going to be pretty.

It's of no consequence.... I'm just happy to be reacquainted with this music-love that I put aside for a few years, without even really knowing it. Do you do that? No matter how much you love something, you just need a break? It took hearing his music on the radio to remember and say to myself, "hey, wait a minute, that's MY Peter Gabriel you're playing!"

{images via here and here}

I'm a little late with this, but Tim Walker's balcony pics are a delight and surprise.
These are two of three little tricks for Hermes magazine, Spring 2009.

Today I am enjoying losing myself in Jaime Hayon's work.
My favorite: the bathroom line for Artquitect.

Guess which one of these ceramic factory vessels I just bought?

The goal is to get all three eventually, though this must happen in stages since I can't buy them all at once. It's a fun game, take a guess.

The second part of the game is to guess how much I love up in the air somewhere. Here is a clue: I literally cannot wait to receive the mystery factory in the mail. And I will surely let you all know when I do.

So... it's Friday night, I'm working feverishly towards a deadline for Monday morning. I will be working tomorrow and Sunday too. It's full steam ahead. June has been an extraordinarily busy month for me with work. And I still have 4 days to go before the sweet relief of July.

{read: there have been many of late nights, early mornings, pots of coffee and self-administered pep talks}

As you can imagine, I've needed lots of second-winds; coffee and green tea (thanks CG) are getting sort of old. I am happy to report that I've found the new "wake me up": hot little peppers. HOT little peppers.

goodbye caffeine, hello mouth pain. But oh so tasty mouth pain!

(dear blog: I'm tired... and, yes I realize this post was about peppers, of all things. I'm a little loopy, ok?)

Josie: spaghetti-eater extraordinaire.

read more about her here.

Very interesting work/process/experimentation at Matter Architecture Practice.
This work was for an exhibit called Ecotopia and these are ecotopiaries.
Definitely take a look at their other projects; they've got great process images. It's so nice to see that sometimes... not just the finish product.

This is where I am when I close my eyes. It looks so quiet.

I think I was just sitting in that chair before this picture was taken, I must have gotten up... quite possibly to go get my knitting.

Yes, I think that's right. That's how it happened. It's all coming back to me.

{from marie claire maison, nov. 2006}

Would love to attend a workshop like this one organized by Surtido and Apparatu.
Seriously, sign me up.

{via see saw designs}

I just uploaded a couple of The New Recycles to the Etsy store... These are Leroy and Bradley, respectively.

I have to admit that I am cracking up at Bradley's expression... he's so much more grumpy than I intended. Actually grumpy isn't the word... maybe nauseaus? He kills me each time I look at him. Something's off about him, but that why I like him.

p.s. I have a few more beasts up my sleeve, they're coming later this week. I realized sleep and hanging out with R was actually something I really needed.

p.p.s. hope you all enjoyed the longest day.

"The simplicity of the naked bulb is hard to compete with."
-Michael Young

Kind of sort of completely have to agree with that.

Especially these simple silicone beauties by Mattias Stahlbom, for TAF. And if my fairy godmother is reading this, I would like one in yellow. Actually make that 30... I would like 30 in yellow.

These lights make me want to clean my desk off by shoving everything onto the floor, dramatically sweeping back the hair over my eyes (I recently cut my hair and it's sort of cramping my style), letting out a great sigh of relief, and getting back to zero.

I forget that I love simplicity, in form, process, and material. I need to remember that when I'm working, both for 'work' and for my own projects.

Note to self: stop over thinking things.

{images from I.D. magazine and muuto}

I've been living behind my computer for days now.
These are my views directly to the left and right. Tired of just looking forward at the monitor.

After meeting two deadlines yesterday, I promised I would reward myself with a little of my own work today. And so may I introduce Rex. He's been sitting around for a while now, sans face, just itching to get make his way into the world.

Looks like today is his lucky day!

I took a little break this morning and reorganized my wall. Feel much better now.
Back to work!

Hey you, Blog!
I'm back.... I have electricity again. And I've got lots of images to share and some things I want to tell you about.

For starters, I dyed some fabric yesterday for a wall cladding idea for an exhibition I'm helping to design. This exhibition, which will open next year at the Autry, is going to knock my socks off. Maybe yours too. Photos to come.

And since you asked: yes, my hands are still blue from the dye; I was too excited to use gloves.

Love, Debi

I'm feeling like I want to say and show a lot of stuff from this past week... but it's been hard to sit down lately, take it in and then re-tell it. I've (once again) started down the dangerous track of blog-neglect.

Tonight I promised myself that if I made it to this one point in one of my deadlines for tomorrow, I'd let myself indulge in a post or even just a quick gander at all the lovely blogs out there. And wouldn't you know it?.... tonight, of all nights, with deadlines looming and blog aspirations high, my computer's adapter croaked and I'm running on and out of battery power. Fast.

With a little luck and extra shipping charges, I'll be back in a few days with a little ac/dc for my laptop. Hopefully I'll see you all sooner from borrowed computers and internet connections, but if not, have a happy week.

{image via ffffound}

I absolutely love this time of year when the jacarandas bloom in Los Angeles. I'd love to see an aerial photo of the city at the height of the bloom. This was the best I could find, see it here in flickr. But just imagine this on a huge scale... a big fuzzy purple grid.

This morning I had to get out of the car. The joggers all wondered why I had my camera pointed at the ground, with my car running, stopped at the intersection with door open. Little do they know.

{p.s. that link to the flickr set with jacarandas is only one of many really great shots of LA via helicopter, by Atwater Village Newbie: a tour of the city with parts we really see or think about.}

Oh how I love Hella Jongerius... seriously, totally in love.

I want to be her.
I want these shoes.
I want to make shoes.
I love her, did I say that already? I'm not sure if I'm making that clear enough.

{tribute to Camper, via dezeen}

Today the skies are smog/haze/June gloom grey in LA.... the colors from this image kick-started my morning. Nothing like a burst of fushia.

{image from New York Times Magazine, Summer Travel '09... see and read more on Indian textiles here}

Some sad news: Renowned wood worker and true craftsman.... Sam Maloof has died.

It's funny how things work... we (H and CG and I) were signed up for a tour of his house for later this week.

Truly a loss to our built-world...

{images from here and here}

I found this little hungry coyote on J's desk. I could not help but take a picture. I love him. I'm going to ask if he can live on my desk for a while.

{inspired by e. soule}

Ladies and Gentlemen,

May I introduce The New Recycles, my new beast series. Hand and machine made from once-lived materials and lost buttons. One of a kind beasts with varied ancestries.

They are slowly trickling into my Etsy store... stay tuned for more.

To those I love: please do not take offense at this next statement:

I love this chair more than anything.

{images from marie claire maison, newly perforated and reinterpreted by Normal Studio for MERCI.... better image on designboom}

drooling.

I started to get really stressed this morning after thinking about all the things I need to do vs. all the things I want to do. Perhaps I found my answer: check myself in at the Sanitarium.

I need and want to go. Perfect.

Just one look at the these little succulents in the bathroom is enough to calm me; imagine what seeing them in person would be like. Or better yet, I could just get my own little collection going. I've got loads of mismatched drinking glasses that have just found their calling.

{image via Remodelista}

p.s. This what I mean.... I just read this post over again, and lo and behold, just realized that I added another little project that falls under the "want" category. The needs and the wants have really been battling it out these past few weeks. I want my work to be want to do, instead of need to do.

Sigh.... back to square one.

This morning I wasn't paying much attention and took the wrong bus to the studio. I didn't mind at all though as it resulted in a nice (albeit long) walk. To get from downtown to our studio you have to cross the LA River, which is the saddest and most interesting rivers I know. In the 30's, after major floods, the river was "channelized" by turning its banks into concrete.

Parts of the river still have a natural bottom and trees and vegetation happily grow... such a stark contrast to where we are further down the river where it is all concrete. It's still really beautiful in a completely different way one might think.

You can read more about it's history and revitalization here.

The past few days have been quite busy.... and I'm finally getting around to posting images of the studio party from last week. I'm very impressed with the wall, especially with the lights installed behind. I think the wall is supposed to be temporary, but I don't think we'll be able to give it up.

The month of May promises to be busy, so bear with me as I try to post more often, I feel like I'm lagging a little behind.

My studio mates have feverishly been making the origami wall for tomorrow's party. The wall will grow considerably as guests help to fold and install. I will need to take some images as it progresses... should be interesting!

Some order in a slightly chaotic world. I like how CG keeps her pens and pencils.