walnuts of whimsy

i could set a hundred of these little fellows afloat in a pond, then just sit back and watch them for hours of idle whimsical delight!

pleased to meet you, bear.

this image … love it

leaf carvings

these are leaf “carvings” by Nature’s Art from china.  natural leaf carving is actual manual cutting and removal of a leaf’s surface to produce an art work on a leaf.  the process of carving is performed by artists using tools to carefully remove the surface without cutting or removing the veins!

museum for rescued letters

buchstabenmuseum is the berlin museum for rescused letters where any discarded or redundant signage is given a home & display case.  i love the idea of typographical dioramas: juxtapositioning fonts, colours, sizes and textures!

on the ocean…

in keeping with today’s misty drizzling weather, i thought i would echo the rain over the sea…

{click on images for photographers}

for goodness shakes

a small collection of salt & pepper shakers that would perk up any meal…

the robots are my favourite!

{images found on pinterest}

homemade is best

photographer carl kleiner was hired by IKEA to shoot the recipes for their new baking book called Hembakat är Bäst {Homemade is Best}.  the dramatically witty food styling has been created by evelina bratell.

melting men…

this installtion is the work of brazilian artist, nele azevedo,who carved the 1,000 figures out of ice and placed them on the steps of the concert hall in berlin’s gendarmenmarkt square.  with temperatures of 23 degress celsius, the ice figures began melting within half an hour. the project was meant to bring awareness to the world wildlife fund’s warning of melting ice caps and rising sea levels…

moments of wonder

i think this is the most wonderful photograph!  children staring at the walrus in a washington zoo.

a salute to some grand daddy’s

i recently came across an image of methuselah – an ancient 4,800 year old tree, a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine to be exact!  (and for all you budding botanists out there: pinus longaeva)  the idea of living organisms being that old simply overloads my imagination!

however, after wiki-ing & googling for a bit i discovered rachel sussman, a photographer working, in collaboration with biologists, on a project called the oldest living things in the world.  here are some of her images…

jomon sugi, japanese cedar (7000 years old)

sangole baobab, south africa (2000 years old)

spruce gran picea, sweden (9550 years old)

new nests for whimsy

may i present two new cape town homes for whimsy…

lauren & sone’s stunning decor, fashion store & cafe rhubarb room will be a new home to whimsy very soon.  they are also particpating in the amazing kamersvol geskenke fair coming up soon in lourensford (and whimsy will be tagging along with them)!

i stumbled upon this gorgeous store at the old biscuit mill in woodstock.  if you’re around, definitely give it a squizz – amazing stuff!  the store is a collaboration between michelle of abode and ingrid of quirky me.  it will also be a new home for whimsy in cape town!

an academy of owls

during my recent cape town adventure, i decided to visit the owl sanctuary at world of birds in hout bay. i LOVE owls and have not stopped grinning since taking these photographs…

the great esCape

well, i am back in tropical durban after a fantastic trip to cape town and thought i would share some of the delights discovered in my old city…

this fanciful sculptural installation along the Seapoint Promenade turned my afternoon stroll into a stop-start photoshoot as i had ended up photographing each of the 17 sculptures (grinning all the while)!  the installation is the work of wits masters student, marieke prinsloo-rowe, and you can read up more about it here…

going home…

i am swanning off to Cape Town, my “real home”, for 10 days so the sometimes zoo may not have too many new arrivals awaiting your eager perusal during the next week or so…please forgive me.  as small compensation i have left with a personal note: the above is a conceptual photographic piece i did for my honours year at michaelis school of fine art.  it is from a series titled, collections of myth & reason, and this photograph is 39 images of table mountain(1660 -1970)

a li’l truism…

Although I don’t believe ice-cream should be restricted to just seaside summer snacking (I could eat a bowl of italian ice-ceam whilst scantily clad, standing in a blizzard and still love it!), I cannot deny the sentiments of the above poster!

adventurers are not scared…

these drawings are a narrative triology, entitled adventurers, i recently completed, commissioned by a wonderful Australian girl for her baby’s room…

(click on images to enlarge)

Adventurers are not scared
Of absolutely anything,
Adventurers are always prepared
And very good at balancing…

Adventurers love to explore
Mountains, skies and lagoons,
Adventurers love to soar
In colourful hot air balloons…

Adventurers end their days
With wonderfully grubby knees,
Adventurers often stargaze
And fall asleep in trees.

copyright whimsy

what katie ate…

these are some of my favourite images from the ever-talented, food stylist & photographer, katie quinn davies.  you can stimulate your appetites drooling over her blog or flickr photostream.

(that last image is especially for Xan, my corn-obsessedbest friend)

in praise of the parkeharrisons

undoubtedly my favourite artists of all time, the husband and wife team of Robert & Shana Parkeharrison.   i was completely spoilt when i was given their photographic book the architect’s brother (from which the above images hail) for my birthday a couple of years ago, it is still the best present i have ever received.

a forest

a forest is an atmospheric series of images by budapest-based photographer, akos major.  his other series: winterscapes, hallstatt and swanscapes are definitely worth perusal…

{thanks to Cath of wolfeyebrows for this great find}

encounters of the 3rd kind

love this quirky street art image from wooster collective, especially the quiet wonder captured in the posture of the little boy.

shadow play

clouds 2005

feather 2006

glider 2002

these amazing shadow-based artworks are the creations of japaenese artist, kumi yamashita.  such an interesting concept: creating art from shadow rather than something to be displayed in perfectly spotlight-ed galleries.  her work is the very absence of light.

words to live by…

poster by mike monteiro

labeling whimsy

my new range of whimsy packaging labels, soon to be adorning all manner of whimsical delights…

(for those who can’t decipher the text: candy-stripe lighthouses, little critters, all things that flitter, under-the-bed monsters, chair & blanket forts, small-hearted robots, swashbuckling with spoons, rickety flying machines, old-world exploring & pocket-treasures…)

yum yum…again

i know i have mentioned them before but i am just loving the work from yum yum studios in London.

A bee sea

phonetic alphabet poster

{image found on pinterest}