I tend to work from home quite frequently. There’s something about being in my own space that can cue inspiration better than my cubicle. Maybe it’s because I can truly surround myself with things I love, thus allowing myself to dig in to some serious productivity. My physical workspace is important to me; I need it to be efficient and effective, but also aesthetically pleasing and, to be frank, happiness-inducing.
These desk accessories from Leif—one of the most well-curated online shops I’ve probably ever seen—are perfect. I love the mix of materials that Stacy offers in her shop and these pieces are no exception. Gold-tipped cards are note-taking perfection, while a Danish-wood box makes for a keen storage solution. Oh, and clear lucite always adds a just-right touch of glamour, don’t you think? What are some of your favorite home office pieces?
{clockwise from top left: notecard set, color chip box, tape dispenser, note & tray set, and pebble tape measures.}
Clearly we’re fans of printed goods at Anthology. So the Vista Sans Wood Type Project by Tricia Treacy and Ashley John Pigford struck a cord with us. In an effort to bring together archaic and modern technologies, the duo designed a process to create wooden type, like that used in traditional letterpress, from digital text. Using a CNC they built, they carved sets of letters from blocks of wood to spell ‘touch.’ In an effort to keep the process and material evident in the final work, Tricia and Ashley experimented with different varieties of wood and varied the grain direction, unlike traditional wood type which was made from the end grain of hardwood to minimize any of the characteristics of wood.
Once the sets of letters were complete, they distributed them to various artists. Then those artists took the type and interpreted in their own style to create a print as part of larger edition. The resulting prints are an amazing set — each artists approach is so varied. And seeing the process documented at the Vista Sans Wood Type Project site makes them all the more interesting. You can see the full set of prints or read more about the process there as well.
Photographer Nick Albertson creates textures out of the mundane that beg for a closer look. See that? Those are clothes hangers contorted into shapes to form a pattern. Paper plates suddenly play with the light and create a pattern akin to mosaic tile. Envelopes gather to form a texture that could be fabric, but is instead a study of the geometry of everyday objects. What I love most about these photos is how Albertson plays with the shadows of household objects, thus creating another layer of meaning in his photography. They really are quite striking.
{See more of Nick Albertson’s work here.}
A couple of weeks ago we shared the first video in a series put together by photographer Thayer Allyson Gowdy. The series of three videos, which goes along with the “Timeless Trades” article in Issue No. 10, features a blacksmith, a denim designer and a group of hat makers working to preserve their crafts. This week we’re looking a little deeper at the work of blacksmith Daniel Hopper.
Daniel, who was formally trained as an illustrator, started learning about working with metal after attending an open house at The Crucible. His passion grew from there and before long, he opened his own practice. This video follows Daniel through the process of shaping a single rod of steel into an organic antler form for a light fixture. Each step of the process is amazing to watch — hammering, heating, shaping, cooling. And the tools are fascinating as well.
(And If you missed the first installment featuring Paul’s Hat Works, you can can find it here.)
When photographer-and-styling duo Seth and Kendra Smoot heard that we were putting together an Americana-themed issue—Issue No. 10, which is currently on newsstands—they immediately pitched home of Kenyan Lewis. I actually remembered seeing the stylist’s home on a HGTV show a while back. Even though it had been years, the upstate New York residence had left a strong impression.
So I was thrilled that we were able to include Kenyan’s home in Issue No. 10.
Of course, not all of Seth’s photos made it into the spread. Since we enjoyed the place so much, we just had to share some outtakes.
{photographs by Seth Smoot}
