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Gorgeous Woodgrain: Natural Wood Pottery by Silvia Song

We made a beautiful discovery this week when we came across a collection of natural wood pottery by Silvia Song. With a background rich in design and architecture, Song pulls the best from both worlds to create functional pieces that gleam with natural details and elegant symmetry. She also has a knack for choosing amazing wood to work with, including blocks of maple and air dried claro walnut! With a deft hand, Song carves, shapes, and polishes the wood to absolute perfection - or imperfection! Our favorite piece is the walnut bowl with that exquisite, natural edge. Take a look!

All photos found here and here.

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

   

Ceramic Delights by Kaye Blegvad!

We are so very smitten with these delightfully small ceramics made by English-born artist, Kaye Blegvad! While we could spend all day figuring out new ways to put a high-fired dish to good use, Blegvad's quirky and unique style is a nice reminder that ceramic aesthetics aren't confined to vessels for flowers, coffee, and dinnerware. Sometimes, we just need to see a darling, extra-long ceramic dachshund parked on our windowsill! We love Blegvad's minimalist approach and how pretty it all looks fired and glossed into figurines that would be a joy to collect. I'd love to start mine with the artist's spiffed up, old-fashioned brush and comb set! Enjoy our picks!    

All photos found here!

Click here to learn more about the artist!

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

The Art of the Tea Bag

This week, we discovered new and beautiful ways to enjoy a simple bag of tea! With an ever-growing focus on DIY craft-arts and mixed media creations from found and/or used objects, it's not surprising that artists and crafters have transformed the humble tea bag into colorful and striking studies of organic shapes and perfect symmetry. We love the idea of artists working with tea bags as a medium to produce beautiful abstracts that boost this ancient beverage onto a very grand scale. Check out the amazing photos!

Tea bag abstract by Armen Rotch found here.

Dried tea bag curtain found here!

Wildly beautiful, embroidered tea bags found here.

We found this sweet painted and papered tea bag here!

This pale blue rorschach tea bag found here!

Tea bag window screen found here!

Dyed tea bag rainbow found here!

 

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

 

 

Perspective in White: Noriko Ambe

With the new year comes a fresh start! We've got our eye on new perspectives and simple elegance - like this series of serene, canyon-cut creations by renowned paper artist, Noriko Ambe. With bright white paper and an artist's blade, Ambe maps "the mysterious land between physical and emotional geography." The result is breathtaking!

Photo credits can be found here and here.

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

A Confetti Filled New Years!

The New Year holiday brings us to the end of another busy season! We cooked and feasted on Thanksgiving and shopped til we dropped for Christmas gifts - now it's time to put on a fancy dress, some dancing shoes, and celebrate with a glass of bubbly ... and some confetti! We love all the festive photos of confetti floating around Blogland this week. It's no secret how far this celebratory tradition has come since the old days of throwing rice at the bride and groom! You can felt it, dip it, tassel it, dry it, and string it into a number of beautiful (and easy!) projects! The possibilities seem endless, but one thing remains the same, tossing a sparkly handful into the air is the best part!

Fancy dress confetti snapshot found here!

Gold confetti dipped balloons found here!

Confetti-tassel installation found here!

Felted ivory confetti garland found here!

Dried petal confetti found here!

Confetti boxes found here!

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2014 from all of us here at ink&peat!

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

Luminescent Art by Nancy Lorenz

With the winter sun setting by late afternoon here in Portalnd, we've been looking for any extra light and warmth where ever we can find it! Today we spent some time on the website for abstract artist, Nancy Lorenz. Her warm color pallet, inlay, and guilding work shimmers with both soft and rich metallic splendor. Even her grey and rain inspired pieces seem to glow! We can't get enough!    

Photo credits found here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

Holiday Gifts Galore at ink & peat!

With Christmas just one week away, ink & peat is bright with an array of splendid gift ideas! Whether you're in the neighborhood to shop or just passing through, stop in to enjoy our lovely collection of goods and pick something out for everyone on your list! In the meantime, take a peek at a few of our shop favorites - our holiday gift guide is here!

These sweet and spicy holiday blends from Bellocq Tea are so tasty, we could drink them all year, but a nice warm cup on a winter's night makes the best gift!

This Coral & Tusk embroidered illustration goes beyond cozy (and darling) with their bunny-in-a-sweater framed artwork!

tatine's garden and forest scented candles are seriously good. Not only do they perfectly capture all the fragrant notes of a woodsy forest, but each candle is mixed and poured by hand in small batches. Find it here!

We give three cheers for the Blue Chair Jam cookbook! It makes a lovely gift - especially when paired with a jar of seasonal jam from your local farmer's market! See more about Blue Chair Jam here.

Children (and adults!) love the wonderful details that make this plush bambi snuggle from Danish toy company, Maileg, extra sweet - the faux fur collar, rosy cheeks, and her one-eye-awake, one-eye-asleep ... lovely!

Soap by Saipua is a staple at ink & peat! Made from the finest, most natural ingredients, our collection of Saipua soaps make a beautiful stocking stuffer! Find it here! 

These handcrafted, ceramic vessels from Soda by Amy are both lovely and useful. Makes a good tea cup, nook for an airplant, or a handy pencil holder. Check out our collection at the shop or see more here!

Fine art and sophistication go hand and hand in this very giftable book, full of illustrated splendor by iconic artist, Maria Kalman. 

We've got jewlery galore ... and we just recieved a new batch of these gorgeous sterling silver and gemstone earrings from the Heirloom collection by Jane Diaz!

Sometimes the best gifts come in small packages! This photo doesn't do justice to how delicious this chocolate bar by Sweeteeth really is, but maybe words can - it's three chambers of dark chocolate filled with sweet liquid caramel, finished with flaked sea salt, and made by chocolate artisans from South Carolina. Absolute yumminess. Stock up here!

Hope you've enjoyed our holiday gift guide! Wishing all of you a happy holiday from everyone here at ink & peat! 

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Love: Pinecones!

A nice, wintry curtain is beginning to fall over the Northwest. The trees are bare, the path scattered with fallen chestnuts, and the scent of pine and rain is fresh on the morning air! Even though it's getting colder, we're set to bundle up and celebrate another new season here in Portland. This year, we're loving all the different DIY ideas on how to turn one of our cities favorite natural icons, the humble pinecone, into a piece of festive decoration. Give me a basket of them, some glitter, and some string please - I'm ready to make a glittery pinecone garland!

Pinecone beauties found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

Hello, James Gordon: Paper Extraordinaire

Be still our hand-cut paper hearts! This week our traveling, blog-loving eyes took us all the way to Sydney, Australia where Scottish-born mixed-media artist, James Gordon, produces magnificent paper creations. When you're an artist working with french paper, watercolor, a blade that cuts feather-thin, and you've got as much talent as a bottle of champagne has bubbles, then you had better run with it. This artist certianly has! We love the wonder-with-a-splash-of-edgy style of Gordon's signature ink and watercolor illustrations - trimmed, layered, and set by hand to bring the world around us glittering to life through this most humble art. We'll be following James Gordon's paper trail for a long time to come. Have a look!

We love this exquisite custom table setting with paper "Cocktail Hands" created by James Gordon for a Great Gatbsy themed soiree.

 

(Photo credits here, here, here, here, and here)

Written by Holly (at ink & peat)

 

 

     

A "Cabinet of Curiosities" at ink & peat!

Just in time for holiday parties and this year’s gift buying season, we are excited to announce that a new delivery of pottery by Laura Zindel has arrived at ink & peat! Laura Zindel is the Vermont-based artist and designer behind one of our favorite collections of pottery and dishware on the market. Laura’s signature monochromatic, pencil-toned illustrations celebrate the Victorian design concept of a “Cabinets of Curiosities” consisting of “encyclopedic collections, filled with treasures of art and wonders of the natural world.” We have a ceramic feast of quails, eggs, blackberries, ferns, moths, and owls (to name a few!) Stop in and enjoy!

These artful ceramics make unique gifts! Each piece is produced from Laura's farmhouse studio in Brattleboro, Vermont.

written by Holly (at ink & peat)