Geodesic Chicken Coop by Anthony Liekens

Anthony Liekens brought a smile to my face when I saw his geodesic chicken dome. Not only has he created the world's coolest chicken dwelling, he has generously provided the world with step by step instructions and photos.

New Zealand showed me I should have chickens at my dream home, but now I know how to give my chickens a dream home of their own.



Not only does the geodesic design look cool, it has some practical benefits. It nearly maximizes the volume per surface ratio, provides a superior weight to strength ratio, and does not require a primary support structure.

You can read more about the design and see more images at his site.

All images © Anthony Liekens, courtesy of his website.

Hello Hedgehog

I was collecting zucchini in the garden when Sam shouted my name at the top of his lungs. I thought he wanted a favor, but in fact, he wanted to show me the hedgehog he spotted in the chicken yard. I grabbed the camera from the house and the boys followed, Nico exclaiming, "I love hedgies!"



Lui said, "He's an old fella. You can tell because he's big and kind of slow and his face is going grey."



At first, Sam wasn't sure about the hedgehog. He thought they might have barbed quills like a porcupine. He was stroking it with a stick before the boys told him it is safe to handle them.



We only pestered it for a few minutes. Lui said the chickens might peck its eyes out, and decided the hedgie would be safer in the flax. A few feet into his attempt at transport, however, the hedgehog puffed up and rolled out of his hands. Then it scurried under a flax bush and watched us as we said goodbye.



There are no native hedgehog species in the US, so I truly appreciated this encounter. There are also no native hedgehogs in New Zealand, but with no real predators, this introduced critter has become an established species. They're a bit of a pest, eating native insects and lizards, but they are usually seen as less of a pest than the possums introduced from Australia.



Cutest pests I ever saw.

The Shiny World of Leah Giberson

Desert Camper 2

Leah Giberson's work has always fascinated me. Her distinct style is as memorable as her subject matter of vintage houses, caravans and objects. In her work, mundane suburban objects are painted in harsh light, with their surroundings pared down until they appear otherworldly.

Bernal Heights (one)

Leah's Artist Statement:

My current body of work falls somewhere between the worlds of photography, painting and collage. I begin with photographs of seemingly ordinary and mundane scenes, which I then paint directly upon to distill and reveal the visually poignant moments that exist all around us, but are often overlooked.

There is a quiet anxiety and loneliness in these images of isolated houses, empty chairs, abandoned pools and vacant streets. Shadows loom from unknown/unseen sources, horizon lines become uncomfortably close, people are absent and geographic clues are obscured. Despite all this uneasiness, there is also a sense of bravery or at least a blind and determined optimism.

Calumet Slant

According to Leah's biography, she is an Etsy success story!

After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in painting, I made my living as a freelance interactive designer for over ten years, but only made art periodically. I set up my Etsy shop in March 2008 to sell prints and originals. Etsy has allowed me to reach a much wider audience than I ever would have on my own and I am thrilled to say that I am now able to paint almost full time!

Rear View

From Airstreams to lawn chairs, I love the way she renders surfaces. Most things are flat, with subtle textures, and metallic surfaces gleam like mirrors.

Summer Chairs (orange)

If I wasn't traveling, I'd get one of her calendars!

You can see more at Leah's website, her Flickr page and her Etsy shop. All images are © Leah Giberson.

Vintage Heroes by Alex Gross

Left: Magneto Right: Godzilla

Alex Gross collects vintage "cabinet card" portraits. He likes to transform some of them into super heroes and other recognizable figures, leaving the original face peering out of its new persona.



His quirky re-imagining of these vintage portraits has given him a lot of press lately from various outlets including designboom, craftzine, and junkculture.



Some commenters over at Craftzine were concerned or downright upset about the idea of Alex painting on original vintage photographs. To them, Alex gives the answer below:

"Yes, I paint on the real cabinet cards. I scan them hi res first so i have a nice record of them as they were. As for how i can destroy art, I don't look at it that way. I have been collecting cabinet photos for over a decade now. I have hundreds, possibly thousands. When you find stack upon stack of them at some flea market or antique store, being offered for a dollar or two, and being purchased by virtually no one, you begin to understand that these photos are being lost to changing times. These are pictures of people's families. How did they even end up in a flea market in the first place? The sad truth is that most people don't seem to care about them anymore.

I care about them and I love them deeply.

What I am doing to them is giving them a new life and people are actually looking at them again. What's more, my fundamental rule is to not obscure the face. Whatever i do with them, people can still see the person that is in the picture. It's all about their likeness. Sometimes one will be so amazing that I cannot paint on it because I am afraid to ruin it. So I save those.

What's more, I often come across doubles, since I buy from some of the same sellers. So in many cases, the photo itself is not a unique object.

I understand how you feel, but I like the fact that dozens upon dozens of cabinet cards that I have embellished now hang upon walls in peoples homes, instead of in dusty piles in the back of flea market stalls."

I agree with him, but I'm also very happy to hear he makes a high resolution backup of each photo. I've been trying to digitize my old family photos, backing everything up both for easy access and in case the originals are damaged. I wonder if any of his subjects will be identified by their descendants, now that his work has brought these photos out of hiding? It's a nice idea.

Left: Wonder Woman Right: The Lone Ranger

The cabinet cards will be on display, along with nineteen new mixed media pieces in Gross' solo exhibition 'Product Placement,' at Jonathan Levine Gallery in NYC beginning February 25th, 2012.

Images © Alex Gross at alexgross.com

Okains Bay

This week the Norris-Arnold family took us on a day trip to the Banks Peninsula, that crazy looking piece of land jutting off the Canterbury region. We spent the day going from beach to campground, surrounded by beautiful landscapes and a few friendly families with small children.

Sam worked on his sunburn.

The campground has a zip line, or flying fox as they're called here, and Sam waited his turn in line with the kids to ride it a few times. Don't worry, it only looks like he's kicking a kid in this photo. If you want to see him in motion, go here.

Sandwich Artist

These simple sandwiches spotted at Low Commitment Projects brought a smile to my face. Some don't look particularly tasty, but all are a little edible masterpiece.

The Mondrian is my favorite.

All images from Brittany Powell at lowcommitmentprojects.com

Let's Talk About Nails.

New Years Eve party nails

Fun fact: I grew up biting my nails down to stumps. My entire immediate family did, and we're all recovering nail biters. After kicking the habit for a while in high school, I finally stopped for good in 2007 by wearing fake nails for about 3 months. They were thick and comprised of nasty chemicals, but that's not what stopped me from biting them, pathetically enough. They were just so beautiful. I painted them bright, neon colors and couldn't stop staring at them. I knew I had to get some of my own.

Luckily for me, after the fake nails came off, my real nails grew in strong and thick. They even feel like fake nails. How could I have been biting these babies off all these years? I felt like I cheated myself growing up.

Now I have a new addiction: painting my nails.

Sometimes I suspect Sam thinks I'm crazy for liking nail polish as much as I do, but to me it's such a easy way to brighten my wardrobe and cheer myself up. Fingernails are the perfect tiny canvas for bright colors and crazy patterns I might not otherwise wear.

Before we left for New Zealand, I gave away most of my polishes. I kept a few, contained in an old whisky tube for safe travel in my suitcase. I've been having slight polish withdrawals while we've been traveling, but I'm holding up alright. I still like to ogle those little bottles of colors in the pharmacies, but when they retail as much as $24.99 a bottle, it's easy to resist.

Conversation hearts nails - all Essie colors

Sometimes my nails are inspired by things I see around me, such as conversation hearts, a piece of jewelry, or even scissors. Sometimes they turn out kind of weird or over-the-top, but I enjoy experimenting.

Purple mountain majesty nails

It amazes me that this is now what I call having "short" nails.

Mmm, shatter polish.

The rare and much coveted Gosh Holographic polish

When I'm more settled, I think I'll get ahold of some nail art pens and try some tribal nails.

What about you? Been doing anything crazy on your nails lately?

Keads on Facebook

Some of you have told me you check the website daily. Some are subscribed by email. For those of you who like the links I share on Facebook, I have good news: as of last night, keads.com has a fan page.

Become a fan if you want instant updates from the blog to appear in your Facebook news feed.

Terrariums & Planters by Score + Solder

Words can't express my love for these terrariums and planters from Score + Solder, inspired by the forms of crystals. Desert plants are a love of mine, and combining them with crystals is more than I can resist.

From his website:

A traveling gypsy, Matthew Cleland makes all his beautiful pieces by hand with skills passed down through ten generations and continued today by this magician. With a flask in one hand and a soldering iron in the other, he brings you one of a kind pieces of art.

All Score + Solder terrariums and planters are handmade to order using glass and lead free solder. Terrariums come with a kit including instructions, rocks, sand, activated charcoal soil and a crystal. International orders do not come with soil due to customs regulations.

All images courtesy of Matthew Cleland's website.

Inspired: Street Art by Remed

Today I'm feeling inspired by the French artist REMED. If you haven't seen his work before, check it out at his website or on his flickr photostream.

His use of color, typography, pattern & form makes every piece jump off the wall. Besides mural work & street art, he keeps busy with painting, drawing & sculpture.

Birds in Okinawa, Japan. Photo fromｆぐoaxial's photostream on flickr.

From the press page of REMED's website:

“REMED is a spin-off alter-ego of the artist Guilo who initially gained fame with his Moroccan-influenced paintings of bearded men. That heavily-patterned style mixed with a yen to create art on any available surface led Guilo to create the REMED persona to distinguish his new characters and symbols from previous work. What sets him apart is the focus on his own evolution and a minimum of deep message. He’s doing his own thing, and it’s nice to come across that particular kind of passion in the graff world, the pure joy of creating regardless of outside influences”

© All photos from REMED's website or flickr photostream except where otherwise noted.