If you meet the Buddha on the road . . . buy him!

We could all use a little more calmness, mindfulness, awareness and loving detachment in our lives, now, couldn't we? What could be a better way to remind ourselves of this than a wonderful Buddha head, such as this one from CB2?


Or perhaps a porcelain "Buddha Bath" sculpture is more to your liking, like this one by Estúdio Manus (available at the TOUCH Design shop).

via [bb-blog].

But here is my personal favorite:


If this Buddha Cat from Mud and Metal doesn't make you smile, you may have forgotten how!

tags:
Buddha
Estúdio Manus
TOUCH Design
CB2
Mud and Metal

Objets du Jour: Stephen Jones Millinery

Upon viewing these spectacular designs from Stephen Jones Millinery, I couldn't help trying to imagine a lifestyle in which they would adorn my head.

Fits of giggles ensued.

On the other hand, aside from the starvation factor, wouldn't it be fun to be a model for a day, and to walk down the runway in an outfit for which such a creation would be just exactly the right finishing touch?

Yes, in fact, I am killing time until Project Runway is on. Who wants to know?

tags:
Stephen Jones Millinery
haute couture
hats
Project Runway

Eclectic Detective--On The Move?

I am once again considering a move to type TypePad for my blog, and it is once again driving me nuts. As you can see, it's a year since I've played around with this idea, which means a year of paying $8.95 a month for something I don't use at all.

If I can figure the damn thing out, I think I'll have more control over how my content looks, and that's the motivation. I don't know if it feels so complicated to other people, or if I'm just an old dog trying to learn a new trick. In the past I've always gotten frustrated and fled back to the easy usability of Blogger--which may be easy just because I've learned it.

Also, moving all my links and other stuff on my sidebar seems an enormous amount of work.

I'd welcome any comments from other bloggers about making this move--whether they advise for or against it, based on their own experience.

tags:
TypePad
Blogger
blogging

Art and Artistry: Joanne Russo

I love baskets. I collect them, decorate with them, and use them to organize at home and at work. When I could, I bought high-quality, handmade baskets at craft shows--but those days are part of my financial past. More recently, I bought useful, attractive baskets at retail stores like Target and Pamida--but sadly those days are also part of my financial past. Today, my baskets come from Goodwill and St. Vincent DePaul. On occasion I'll find one that meets my (fairly high) standards for $2.00 or less. Such a deal!

But the baskets I long for are art baskets. These are the ones where a basketry artist has taken the craft and pushed it in a totally new direction, stretching the definition of "basket" to a whole new limit. These are the baskets of artists such as Joanne Russo.
























On her website, Russo talks about her work:

With a basket career spanning three decades, I’m looking back at what I've accomplished and forward to what I’ll achieve.

My previous baskets were exciting, fun and creative within a disciplined tradition. It’s time to let go of that safe and comfortable work and delve into larger, less controlled shapes and incorporate more of the textile skills I’ve learned throughout my life. It’s an exciting time and my new creations are as bold and spirited as ever.

As an avid observer of nature and incessant collector of diverse material - from acorns to zippers - I continually gather interesting items to use on my baskets. In this new series, each one-of-a-kind piece is woven tightly and precisely, with added elements thoughtfully chosen to display order and harmony. For one, I may use rows of hooks and eyes to imply that the basket’s construction is carefully held together, while on another, a zipper adds an illusion of function. For the finishing touch, spiraled, thread-wrapped rows define the basket’s top. On some baskets I’ve left the last few rows twisting out into space, reaching, as a tendril, for a safehold.

My new sculptural work suggests a narrative; a view of human nature expressed through a plaited form. The story is the same - we have a tentative hold on life, wanting to appear all together but always aware there’s a thread ready to unravel.

Some day my financial situation may change. The economy may improve. One of my "multiple income streams" may become more than a trickle. Who knows, I might even get a job! (Not.) In any case, these are the baskets I aspire to. Meanwhile, the knowledge that they simply exist--well, it makes my heart sing.

tags:
basketry
art baskets
Joanne Russo

Objet du Jour: ShapeScapes

Hurrah! A set of ShapeScapes finally came up on eBay, and I won it! Most of the places I've seen it advertised, the price was like $32.00, and I got it for $12.50!

ShapeScapes has been on my "coveted objects" list for, oh, over a year now, but my budget for non-essential items is about $0.00. (Magazines, of course, are considered "essential items"--in my budget. After all, how can you do collage without them?) But given the price, I had to splurge! I'll just have to tighten the belt this month on something else. Food, perhaps.

tags:
eBay
ShapeScapes
budgeting

Such A Deal

What's even better than wonderfully quirky items from UncommonGoods? When they're on sale. For example, these darling string doll keychains are down from $12.00 to $6.95

As for this "could it be more over-the-top" candle holder, its price is less over-the-top when it's $69.95 instead of $100.











A treat for Rover or Fluffy, like these pet mats, is easier to swallow at $9.95 than $25.00.

Sale items from UncommonGoods are 62 in number, and well worth checking out.

Eclectic Detective is proud to be sponsored by UncommonGoods. A percentage of any purchases resulting from this post will help in my ardent fight against the need to find a real job.

tags:
household
bargain
sale
UncommonGoods

Lifeshop Collection Outdoor Furniture

The Lifeshop Collection has a line of outdoor furniture with a wonderfully pod-like feel to it. I have spoken before about my love of--or, perhaps, need for--this sense of being in an enclosed space on certain types of days or in certain types of moods.















I'm no psychologist, but I suppose it's a womb thing. Oh, wait. I am a psychologist. . . .

(Somehow I never tire of that joke. Ask anyone who knows me. They'll be happy to vent to you about the extent to which I never tire of that joke.)












Aren't these poddies snuggly? Although I found this past summer that what one really wants, on a lovely summer's day, is a hammock with a mosquito net draped over it.

via stylehive.

tags:
Lifeshop Collection
outdoor furniture
podlike
stylehive

Objet du Jour: DwellStudio Blossom Pig

I can offer no explanation for my love of this object. It is from the DwellStudio Baby line, and I neither have, nor am, a baby. But it's a lovely cowgirl piggy cushion, and I want one! (Ok, maybe I'm a little bit of a baby. . . .)

Available at Design Public.


tags:
DwellStudio
Blossom Pig
Design Public

Jewelry Designer Mana Bernandes

Those who've been on the Eclectic Detective ride for a more than a little while know that what really gets me going is cooooooool jewelry. And have I ever found some for you! The designer is Mana Bernardes, and her work can be found on the TOUCH design site. Here is her bio from that site:

Mana Bernardes is a young jewelry designer, poet, and visual artist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her interests and aptitudes in art and design formed at an early age and continue to develop and transform. She participated as “Design + Social,” organized by the Institute of PVC in Rio de Janeiro, curated and produced the exhibition “Estampa de cada Rosto” at Lurix Gallery in Rio and also exhibited “Fashion without Frontiers” at Sao Paulo Fashion Week SPFW. In 2005, the Campana brothers invited her to participate in the exhibition “J’en Rêve” at the Cartier Foundation in France where she displayed an 8-meter mobile and her video art piece, “Connecting through the Cord.” which was also included in the commemorative exhibition of I.D. magazine.

The necklace above is titled "Clasp," and I love the elegance Mana has achieved with everyday objects. Here is another example: the cuff bracelet called "Night," below, is made of wine mesh and Swarovski crystal. How totally cool is that? (Let me hear you say it loud: WISH LIST!)























Finally, an completely magical necklace that caught my eye is "Spatial," below, made of iridescent sequins and nylon thread.




















In short, I love Mana Bernandes, and will be keeping an eye out for her work. Let's hope for future posts!

tags:
Mana Bernandes
TOUCH design
art jewelry

Blog of the Week: decorate.i-blog

What's cooler than finding out that you're on the blog roll of a Greek blog? The Greek blog itself, with post after post of the most amazing finds! For example, here is an adorable children's foot-cushion, called "Barnslig," which is available at Ikea in the UK. (I'm not sure about the USA; I haven't taken the time to look.)

I discovered the Greek blog via sitemeter, which I use to track traffic to my blog: where people are coming from, what they look at, where they go next, etc. (I try not to obsessively use it as an "approval meter upon which to base my self-esteem," with varying degrees of success).

In any case, I found someone had visited me by clicking a link from a page at the address http://decorate.i-blog.gr/, which turned out to be a wonderful design-y blog entirely in Greek! And there on the blog roll, a link to my own humble Eclectic Detective. I'd like to thank the blogger, Vicky, for including me. (The whole international aspect of blogging--getting to know bloggers from South Africa and Marrakesh, being visited by readers from Australia, Indonesia and the Ukraine--blows my mind.)

In any case, here a couple of the other waaaaay cool finds on what I only know to call decorate.i-blog:
















The coloured thorn beakers above are an example of the curious, delightful, and intricately textural ceramics by Ikuko Iwamoto. (I also like her authentic but ultimately impractical pint cup (below).



















Another of Vicky's brilliant finds is the Splash Bottle Drying Rack, designed by Scott Henderson and available at Skip*Hop.























For more wonderful finds, I refer you with great pleasure to the decorate.i-blog. I only envy you to pieces if it happens that you can read Greek!

tags:
decorate.i-blog
Ikea
Barnslig Cushion
Ikuko Iwamoto
Splash Drying Rack
Scott Henderson
Skip*Hop

Ecojot: Environmentally Friendly Notebooks

Just discovered EcoJot, via Delight.Com. This is a line of notebooks and sketch pads that are manufactured to meet strict environmentally friendly standards. According to Delight.Com, here's what makes them greatly green:

100% recycled + recycleable; 100% post-consumer waste; no new trees were cut to make these notebooks; paper is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council; glues & inks are vegetable based + biodegradable; the mill used to make the paper uses clean, affordable biogas (recovered landfill gases) as their alternative power source . . .

Green is great, especially when the design is as delightful as it is on Ecojot products. The designer is Carolyn Gavin, who has one of the skills I most admire in design: a sense of whimsy.


















The products are reasonably priced, and many can be found online at JournalsAndBooks.Com.






















tags:
ecojot
delight.com
Carolyn Gavin
notebooks
sustainable