Monday, April 30, 2012

micrographs, Ben Tolman and the last day of April 2012

A micrograph or photomicrograph is a photograph or digital image taken through a microscopeor similar device to show a magnified image of an item.

The following images are micrographs of mostly commonly known items, seen up close.

caffeine

heroin

Amstel beer

Benzoic acid (used in cosmetics, toothpaste etc.)

Niobium, 10% Hafnium, 1% Titanium Alloy

onion skin

hormone, progesterone

cocaine

aspirin

Ben Tolman's art

Rhinocerous

Apartments

Cognitive transformation - detail

Sunday assortment, end of April 2012

The Most Annoyingly Cute Thing Ever

Cat toy force field

Greedy hamster Tom & Jerry

Inspiring Cara Black volley practice

What are these people made of, fairy bubbles or something?
Acrobatic 2010 Womens groups Russia

fun stockings hack

awww, look at those ears, those expressions and the curly tails

Came across this German auction site, called bloss-auktionen.de, and feel moved by other people's memories, their possessions, their histories. Here are a handful of the items. I loved the German toys, especially the miniature stores for children. But here is an odd one, World War II Nazi and Hitler cigarette cards. Nazi cigarette cards?! Had to Google and sure enough, they also sell them on eBay.

scraps of lace and trim that must have been part of somebody's sewing box

Love this box, the burled veneer, the pretty key

And here are the toy miniature stores. Amazing details.

a South Indian Tanjore painting, Rishaba Vahanam, which means Shiva and Parvati on a bull

ダシ巻き玉子焼　Japanese Omelette

材料　Ingredients
玉子 eggs 8
佐藤 sugar 30g
塩 salt 3g
みりん Mirin 1tsp （1パイ）
酒 Sake 1 tsp　（1パイ）
カツオダシ Bonito Stock 180ml

3 year old finger painting genius

This is basically the design of my tiny "spare" bedroom, except it's inside a room
the same dimensions as the furniture

banana dragon

Halliburton charged with selling nuclear technology to Iran

Huh, so this is what's dance music these days, a sort of percussive playing of sound samples

World's oldest marathon runner, Fajua Singh, age 100

Just discovered Spotify as a way to listen to music. It's excellent!

Amazing pole dancer, graceful, gymnastic and fun

The Invisible Mother was a phrase used for a mother disguising herself with fabric, so that her child or children could be photographed. the results were unintentionally funny and sad at the same time. ‘This was a practice where the mother, often disguised or hiding, often under a spread, holds her baby tightly for the photographer to insure a sharply focused image.’

- The Hidden Mother

Optical illusion rug

Inspiring: Before and after

Before and after

the art of Mississippi banks and stream channels

(right click on image and open in a new window to see full size)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

toile, exploring a traditional design pattern - April 29th 2012

Toile de Jouy, sometimes abbreviated to simply "toile", is a type of decorating pattern consisting of a usually white or off-white background on which a repeated pattern depicting a fairly complex scene, generally of a pastoral theme such as a couple having a picnic by a lake or an arrangement of flowers.

Toiles were originally produced in Ireland in the mid-18th Century and quickly became popular in Britain and France. The term, Toile de Jouy, orginated in France in the late 18th century. In the French language, the phrase literally means "cloth from Jouy-en-Josas", a town of north-central France.

An old fashioned pattern, often used in wall paper, drawer lining paper and cosmetic bags. There are some fun versions of the pattern, surreal, erotic, silly, fun, twisted, artistic. A selection of them all below. Even though I feel ambivalent about the design, I can't help feeling that some are beautiful.

Beth Katleman's Folly. Three Dimensional Ceramic Toile Wallpaper Installations.

hunting toile

Vigilante Floral toile by Dan Funderburgh

Posada toile by Dan Funderburgh

Chinatown toile by Dan Funderburgh

Bad Habits by Dan Funderburgh

Double Dutch toile

Marvelous toiles at Timorous Beasties. My favorite below.

From the blog, True Up, a post called

Happy Birthday Toile!

Toile was born in 1760 in Jouy-en-Josas, France. Traditionally, a toile (or “Toile de Jouy“) features pastoral scenes, people at leisure, and mythological figures, drawn in dark blue, red, or black on a white background. They were originally printed with etched copper plates, later to be replaced by copper rollers. Today, toile is associated with elegance and class. It’s a style that begs to adapted as a tribute to a place or person, as Wren has done, or in parody. Take a look …