PAPAYA! BLOG

Earthy Elements

I was lucky to spend most of my long weekend outdoors. We hiked to two breathtaking waterfalls in the Umpqua wilderness, every surface blanketed by glowing green velvet moss.I spied this feline creature ready to pounce along the trail.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in my garden digging in the dirt and listening to a loud turf squabble between the Acorn Woodpeckers, Steller's Jays and Crows. While in my earthy element I started dreaming about a new garden project and this one caught my eye. A beautiful pebble persian carpet!

Here is a peek at a few more pebble mosaic projects, detailed instructions to make one of your own can be found at finegardening

Golden ribbons

Turquoise swirl

Can't wait to start sorting pebbles!

 

 

Painted Ladies

Artist Jen Renninger is incredibly talented and prolific, working for major newspapers, airlines, magazines and book publishers as an illustator but it is these, painted ladies, that capture my heart.

For more of her incredibly diverse body of work, please check out her website and blog.

 

Photographer Rodney Smith

I was having lunch with a girlfriend last weekend and she had recently worked at the annual Art Market in San Francisco. She was selling art for a gallery that had several original Rodney Smith photographs--which apparently were the talked about "must see" pieces of the show. I had not heard of him but once I did a little research, I was instantly enamored.

It's always a joy to discover an artist "new to you".

Beautiful!

I love the juxtaposition of sign letters, roof top in a big city and the Mad Men-esque fashion. 

Beautiful Decay

New Orleans, I am still under your spell after my recent first visit! What a ravishing city overflowing with artists of every kind. I have collected some photos of the beauty I found in unlikely places. These places and structures have become gradually more elegant, notable and beautiful as they decay...Beautiful Decay.

Hitching Post - Royal Street, French Quarter

 

Mossy beauty undergoing a face lift on St Charles

 No bland mini-mart on Frenchman street

Nature finds a way... 

Studio Dreaming: Abby Kasonic

I have never really had a studio.  I've had offices and work tables, but never a full blown place to call studio.  Which to be honest has worked just fine.  But lately I've been dreaming of a home of my own to whip into whatever I'm feeling or dripping on the floor! This lovely studio belongs to Abby Kasonik and is one of the most inspiring studio threads I've seen!  Spotted on Southern Living. Looks like she built this cottage in her back yard and moved out of the basement studio...
YEah!  Makes you want a studio too right!  It's so beautiful and exciting.  Plenty of light, warmth and refreshingly decluttered.  I live in a funny duality of loving romantic and modern things and never finding the right balance between the two.  But Abby has me thinking what the possibilities could be!

Sweet Vintage Sand Pails

For some reason I love everyday objects made out of simple materials especially metals.These sweet vintage pails give me a flashback… sitting in the cool wet sand, happily playing and digging for hours. A sunburned nose and shoulders were a small price to pay. 

My little collection gathers art supplies in my home studio and poses for a quick sketch now and then.

 

 

 

First Stop: Honolulu

We've just returned from a wonderful adventure to Oahu, Hawaii.  For some reason the people I've known have always said, "Nah you don't need to do Oahu".  Maybe because of the hyped up

touristy-vegas aspects of Waikiki, (umm like these reality-tv hipsters who infiltrated us poolside one day!) or maybe just the fast paced Honolulu?  But I have to say Oahu was magical for me.

It was treasure island full of suprises.  Honolulu felt like a sea of options.  Caribbean blue ocean, third world, meets new world buildings,

a confusing and wonderful array of people, accents and personalities.  In a city that smells like tempura and plumeria, I was enchanted.  

We went to  Spam Jam Festival (no joke), local artwalk, marveled at the olympiad-like workout freaks, spotted Fabio selling vitamins at Whole Foods (God I miss Whole Foods!). There's something just odd and wonderful about Honolulu that I can really appreciate.

Read this

If you have 15 or 20 minutes to spare, I highly recommend reading this little gem. It is a fantastic manifesto on art, creation, inspiration, just doing it (anyway), and an honest to goodness that's-just-what-I-was-thinking kind of verbal stream of consciousness. Loved it. And Happy Friday to you. xo

(And lots more about Texan writer/artist Austin Kleon here: www.austinkleon.com)

Peanuts make a happy elephant

Hi, I’m Ellen the newest member of the Papaya creative team and first time blogger.  I am delighted to have the opportunity to be inspired by and contribute to the Papaya blog.

I love indulging my many creative and often messy impulses, painting,  sculpture, cooking and eating  (current obsession, stuffed poblano chiles) home decorating, digging in the dirt (called gardening when successful) all forms of wit and whimsy.  

I offer a glimpse of “Padma” the elephant. She is my first sculpture project and a collaborative effort with a dear, wildly creative artist friend of mine, Jim Nichols. She is a 600 pound beauty of cement and glass tile mosaic, currently gracing my garden. Padma is born of pure creative curiosity and good old trial and error innovation.

An offering of peanuts was encased in her belly…. Peanuts make a happy elephant!   

I look forward to sharing this new creative chapter with Papaya fans and fellow artistic travelers!

Hand Lettering Loveliness

Just because. This is so lovely. Not sure if it's the white ink on black envelope I adore the most or the chalkboard in the garden or the letter M...it's all good. Hand lettering loveliness brought to you this Friday afternoon by San Francisco designer Maybelle Stumasa-Stukuls. Have a great weekend filled with creative inspiration and the time to relax into it. xo