Ylva Skarp

I must admit, I’ve developed quite the crush on the beautiful, type-driven art created by Ylva Skarp. Adorned with splotches of black ink and haphazard scrawls, these wordy pieces appear, to me, to be less about affirmation (not like your usual nature scape overlaid with a soul saving quote from Maya Angelou or J.D. Salinger) and more about clawing the words and what they symbolise back from the edge of ones own experiences. They speak to me in a way not dissimilar to the work of Colin McCahon – though they are more structured, orderly and less…manic?

Love, love, love. New favourite!

1. om och om igen.
2. for ever.
3. what.
4. let’s be nice.

The Art of Maud Vantours

I am in awe of the amazingly beautiful paper work by French artist Maud Vantours. Her work is multi-layered paper cut perfection and has been used in editorials, advertising and set design for a number of luxury brands. I really like how fluid shapes become when layers are involved. It’s interesting to note the use of different coloured card stock to provide the 3D equivalent of shading.





(Image source: Maud Vantours)

Moody hues

Do you ever have an overwhelming desire to totally switch out all the art that is hanging in your home? It must be a seasonal thing. As we down here tiptoe through autumn and onto the winter months I’m feeling less flowery and more moody seascape.

Do you get the moody winter blues or do you embrace single digit ℃’s with open (but cold) arms ?

1. Black and white abstract – Paul Maguire Art.
2. Mockingbird Mud Art – Stacey A Fleming.
3. Darkness – Margaret Lillian.
4. Rainy window – Dull Blue Light.

ligature magazine

Have you missed me paper nerds? I’ve missed you. I’ve been working on a super special secret site but I’m back now with a backlog of lovely paper stuff to show you.

As you’re probably aware, I am a magazine fiend. The more obscure a magazine the better. I have a favourite newsagent (Garden City News represent) and I’m always finding little paper nuggets of wonder. This week I’m introducing you to ligature magazine.

New (to me) titles are a rare treat for me. I have my firm favourites (V Magazine, Phoenix, Elle, Vogue etc) and then there are the arty new finds like ligature. ligature is minimalist. It has no handwritten elements that are the design element du jour of the moment. It has no geometric or fluro/neon distractions. It is a peaceful read. Zen-like. There is a lot of room for white space which I love.

As I’ve said before minimalist design is so very hard to pull off. Some people believe that minimalism equates with ho hum boring or that it lacks the ability to hold a readers attention without a constant call to action (QR codes, apps to unlock behind the scenes footage, buy this, buy that). I disagree. Minimalism requires purity of the image. It gives readers the space to digest information, make of it what they will and move on. ligature does this very well.

As a magazine ligature is a slash – i.e. art slash design slash fashion. It straddles all of these labels well. I enjoyed the matte finish too. It was a change from the glossy glossies.

Loved ligature. I hope to see the next issue on the newsstands.



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