Mint

Think those pretty organized-by-color bookshelves taken to a new level… Installation of 4000 books by Dutch artist Anouk Kruithof.

sketches by carin johnson

Cait O’Connor is studying costume design at Tisch, and I can’t get enough of her illustration style. Visit her site to see some of these illustrations realized.

I took today off to go to Raleigh so that I could catch up with a friend before visiting my husband’s new office for the first time, and then attending their holiday party in the afternoon. So when Brendan and I met for lunch and he told me Mint was included in the Times Online “50 of the world’s best design blogs” article, he had me standing on the sidewalk shouting “Are you kidding me? No. Are you kidding me?” What a day to be without my laptop!

Needless to say, it’s a huge honor to be included with so many of my favorite bloggers. A big thanks to the Times, Lynne Robinson, and of course all of my incredible readers. Be sure to check out the full list—lots of additions to your feed reader I’m sure. If you’re new to Mint, I hope you’ll stay awhile!

Another NC artist! Photographer Nicole Welch of Raleigh.

Both today’s artist and yesterday’s artist were found on the Rebus Works website. Rebus Works is a gallery in Raleigh, and there’s more where these came from!

Celia Gray is an artist from Asheville, NC who works mostly in encaustic painting and sculpture.

Lindsay Preston sent over her portfolio last night, and I love every single thing in the art category (although she’s got some great illustration and design work as well). Above, “Studies for G8 Countries,” a piece reflecting polls and statistics concerning the various G8 countries. The sticks are proportional to bottled water consumption, population size, chess grandmasters, or cigarette smoking. The colors represent ethnic groups, religion, GDP consumption, and export locations. I love it.

This next piece is a group of Krupenichka dolls:
“Krupenichka dolls are a traditional Russian craft, and child’s toy. Each year, the dolls were made and filled with seeds from the first crop of each year, as an act of premonition for a yielding harvest. They were always made without faces so that evil spirits recognized them as inanimate objects and thus did not posses them. This made them harmless playthings for children. These dolls were made without sewing or gluing the fabric, rather wrapping the fabric around itself and typing it in knots. In “Fairy Tales” fabric Doll patterns (used to make stuffed dolls of the Fairy Tale heroines Snow White, Goldilocks, and Little Red Ridding Hood) were used to create Krupenichka style dolls. While these dolls are faceless, their faces are emblazoned with sewing instructions for making the stuffed dolls depicted on the fabric.”

Pieces of a fallen oak branch, separated and shrink-wrapped.

It Bag, a “commentary on marketing strategies, and the ability to bend any cause / issue into a sales pitch for their product.”

I love the pattern this installation creates.
“This piece is an exploration of the ritualistic craft of Namkha (God’s Eye) making. Namkhas were made to achieve understanding of the unknown, as portaling devices to commune with ancestors, or made while under the influence of peyote, thus achieving enlightenment and shamanic power. In our present culture, this craft is appropriated by Christians, preschools, boyscouts, etc. as a simple craft often symbolic of the process of prayer or devotion to Christ. The fallen branches used in this piece were found on the ground, and none were broken down to the size they are now.”

Lots more on Lindsay’s site.

Also seen on Picdit & Pitch Design Union. Thanks for sending, Lindsay!