Tidings & Things

Extraordinary works on paper by artist Art Venti,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:57:11 +0100

Extraordinary works on paper by artist Art Venti, who experiments with shadow, light and depth in an environment that starts with a forest of tissues in a light box. The view in this box of translucent paper suggests landscape scenes that seem to move and change as the sun crosses the sky. If the inferred panorama is beguiling enough, the mind will move from the seen to the unseen and finally to what can only be a dream.

Mixed Media: Predominantly colour pencils, water colour underlayer, lasceaux finishing spray, on 100% rag paper. Images are amorphic shapes, gracefully moving or motionless. The entire surface of the paper is covered with intensely detailed work. Each piece takes a minimum of four months or more to complete. The compositions appear dream like.

Some funny Illustrations by Jaco Haasbroek to make us laugh at...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:27:24 +0100

Some funny Illustrations by Jaco Haasbroek to make us laugh at the weekend!

See more here

reblog from arttickles: Pierced ceramic basket, by Guillaume...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:29:57 +0100

reblog from arttickles:

Pierced ceramic basket, by Guillaume Delvigne and Ionna Vautrin

(via Guillaume Delvigne)

How cool are these ceramic baskets! I wonder if you could do a similar thing with regular weaved baskets painted white?

We really like Lisa Congdon’s illustration work, and...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:07:57 +0100

We really like Lisa Congdon’s illustration work, and judging by her client list we’re not alone. It’s bright, simple and manages to combine an element of David McKee retro whilst feeling very fresh. Lovely stuff. See more of her work on her portfolio site here.

Check out this amazing stop-motion Lego version of the first...

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:02:18 +0100

Check out this amazing stop-motion Lego version of the first scene in Casino Royale! Painstakingly made by Duncanmcconchie, it took around two weekends to make and apparently it was the bathroom fight scene that took the longest. Good work.

This week would have been the Birthday of Graphics and Film...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:54:07 +0100

This week would have been the Birthday of Graphics and Film legend, Saul Bass. Here are some of his posters.

reblogged from dailyfeatorial:

Happy Birthday legend!

Ray Harryhausen, the special effects wizard who inspired many...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:47:32 +0100

Ray Harryhausen, the special effects wizard who inspired many many film greats like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Tim Burton, and Peter Jackson, passed away Tuesday at the age of 92. This is one of his most famous sequences featuring a gang of skeletons, from the film Jason and the Argonauts, made in 1963.

You can see some gifs of some more of Ray’s magical creatures here.

This looks like quite an interesting and different sort of...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:23:52 +0100

This looks like quite an interesting and different sort of exhibition. Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, amassed an amazing art collection which he displayed proudly in his country house, Houghton Hall in Norfolk in the first half of the 18th century. Unfortunately, Sir Robert’s grandson ran up huge debts and flogged the lot to Catherine the Great of Russia, where the collection formed the nucleus of the Hermitage collection. The sale caused a huge controversy in Britain, as even then the collection was regarded as of national importance. (Catherine the Great threw in a portrait of herself as part of the deal). To mark the 250th anniversary of Catherine’s accession to the throne, and to celebrate Anglo-Russian cultural relations, 70 of the paintings (including works by Poussin, Rembrandt and Van Dyck) are returning to Houghton Hall for this summer only. This is the first time they have left Russia since they originally left Houghton.

The British summer seems to have stalled again (at least in...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:10:41 +0100

The British summer seems to have stalled again (at least in London), so anyone requiring a strong dose of joyous colour should head to Gallery 8, which is showing for the next week the intense Scottish landscapes of John Lowrie Morrison: Jolomo.

John Lowrie Morrison has painted the west coast of Scotland since the early 1960’s. He paints the light of the west - the light that bathes the Inner & Outer Hebrides.

He uses strong colour to express that light and sees his paintings – not in the traditional chiaroscuro of light and dark - but in darkness versus colour, which is what his painting is about: an allegorical description of the human spirit.

Here’s a great crash course in the history of Typography,...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:32:35 +0100

Here’s a great crash course in the history of Typography, ingeniously put together in the form of a short film by Ben Barrett-Forrest of Forrest Media.

It’s looking like it’ll be a fun weekend! What...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:10:00 +0100

It’s looking like it’ll be a fun weekend!

What you’ll need:
• 10-pound seedless watermelon
• Sharp knife
• Big spoon
• Big bowl
• Drill with a 1/2-inch drill bit
• 3/4” ball-valve faucet with a handle that’s easy to turn with one hand
• PVC-to-faucet adapter that will screw into the back of the faucet
• Rubber O-ring that fits the back of the faucet
• Blender
• Sieve
• Pitcher
• 1 1/2 cups rum
• 4 limes
• About 90 minutes of your time

More detailed instructions here

Something different: we spend a lot of time looking for...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:06:00 +0100

Something different: we spend a lot of time looking for ‘cool’ stuff here at Tidings & Things, so for a change we thought we’d share this fun post from Flavorwire on Bad Covers for Classics Books.

They have a, er, ‘good’ selection of 20 bad covers from different publishers, but the prize for worst design must go to the ‘Great Classic Series’ above, which seem to specialise in either literal yet stylistically totally inappropriate interpretations, or utterly unrelated and still stylistically totally inappropriate interpretations, of the original titles.

Fighter planes in the Wizard of Oz? Headphone-wearing cyborgs in Cranford? We must have missed them. We also particularly like the use of a screen font designed for use on early Apple Macs and iPods as the series title font. One man’s poison is another man’s pleasure, however, these may prove to be the classics of the future!

A Poem to ponder over the long weekend. By Mrs Rose Milligan...

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:38:54 +0100

A Poem to ponder over the long weekend.

By Mrs Rose Milligan from Lancaster in Lancashire, England.

The poem was first published in the September 15th – 21st edition of The Lady (magazine) in 1998

An arresting image to celebrate the joys of Spring, as we head...

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:21:13 +0100

An arresting image to celebrate the joys of Spring, as we head into a (possibly, hopefully!) sunny Bank holiday weekend.

The above watercolour was from an exhibition in 2012 organised by British artist Sarah Lucas, of art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees. London: Spring Colours by Pierce Brunt (Highly Commended Award for Watercolour), HMP Full Sutton. Image courtesy of Koestler Trust.

Glorious embroidery with a spring-like feel: Happy bank holiday...

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:15:29 +0100

Glorious embroidery with a spring-like feel: Happy bank holiday weekend!

With the bank holiday just around the corner, our minds are...

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:04:35 +0100

With the bank holiday just around the corner, our minds are drawn to the lovely weather and our gardens.

Here are some creative ways to grow your herbs: top to bottom

vincentjunier: Locked manAssemblage, pieces of wood600 X 120 X...

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:38:46 +0100

vincentjunier:

Locked man
Assemblage, pieces of wood
600 X 120 X 380

Go to Madison Square park and you’ll see 1.4 million feet...

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:25:34 +0100

Go to Madison Square park and you’ll see 1.4 million feet of rope - the total length equating to nearly 20 times the length of Manhattan arranged and knotted into waves of bright colour. The installations by Orly Genger were covered in over 3,000 gallons of paint and apparently prompt visitors to interact within the park in a different way by creating newly defined spaces. An intriguing idea indeed!

We are big fans of John Derian, a New York designer whose...

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:12:24 +0100

We are big fans of John Derian, a New York designer whose decoupage designs using vintage imagery can be found on his own products like cards, paperweights, giftwrap and much more. He also does great collaborations with companies like the parisian ceramic manufacturer Astier de Villatte, whose website is worth a visit for its refreshingly unconventional yet entirely on-brand style. (we should declare an interest here, as the owners of one of their plates featuring his work).

The images above are the result of a new collaboration between Derian and Paperless Post, who produce an interesting mix of online and ‘real’ greeting cards. These designs are, sadly, not available in the flesh, but if you must resort to sending an invitation online (and we heartily hope you won’t) then we doubt you’ll find any more stylish. Real or not, just look at the detailing on those envelope linings!

If Damien Hirst and Kandinsky were to open a restaurant this is...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:41:00 +0100

Gelée of sea urchin, celery and caviar

Le Cinq

Le Cinq

Beetroot and warm vieux comté

If Damien Hirst and Kandinsky were to open a restaurant this is probably what the food would look like…

All photography by Richard Haughton