Karen Vermeulen

My last birthday I received not one but two cards designed by Karen! Both were super cute and had bunnies on them. I guess I'm a bit predictable like that :)
Karen Vermeulen is a freelance illustrator in Cape Town and her pieces are very whimsical. I noticed on her site that she also does wedding invites so maybe I can use her one day ;)

Watch Art by Dominic Wilcox

As some of you might know the London Design Festival is just finished. A lot of designers took part and lots of cool one off pieces where made. These funky watches are by Dominic Wilcox. He’s attached figures to the hands of watches to signify the interaction between the hands, as well as the idea of fleeting time and unending repetition.

He says, “The miniature figure on the second hand moves around constantly and the figure on the minute hand appears stationary. I spent time thinking about the relationship between the two people, how one passes another repeatedly and I tried to think about when that situation happens in real life or in an imagined scenario.” Posted originally on Design Milk (check out their site as well for lots of designer goodies).

Artist Xiau-Fong Wee

I am trying to work out a banner for the site with a Fierce Bunny in it. While designing my own I couldn't resist this bunny by Xiau-Fong Wee. The cute little rabbit coupled with modern weaponry gives this quirky drawing some dark humour. She has also attempted a number of other fuzzy animals and I include some sketches of hers along with my bunny fav.

Be cover worthy Pillows

Ever wanted to be on the cover of a magazine? With these cool pillows you can at least pretend to be! I especially like the Vogue one. Found them on the Infmetry site although they don't specify whether they can be shipped to SA or who the original designer is. Wonder if we can do a local version, ie with Drum, Huisgenoot or Elle.

Alex Latimer

Heard about a Cape Town based Illustrator from a friend who went to a reading of one of his books at the Book Lounge awhile back. She was very delighted by his drawings so I decided to check him out. Alex Latimer's first children's book, The Boy Who Cried Ninja, was published in April 2011. He also writes and illustrates for magazines, ad campaigns and family birthday cards. His second picture book - Penguin's Hidden Talent - is due for publication on the 5th of April 2012. Check out his blog. He has some very cute illustrations! Penguins! Auwww :) 

Origami by Shuki Kato

I remember playing around with Origami as a child. It seemed to be such a fade at school at the time. I can still make a paper crane which is about as complicated as it got really back then. Nowadays it's gotten huge! There are Origami conventions, blogs, magazines and loads of people experimenting with new shapes.


Here's an example of a Rhino Beetle, folded out of a single square sheet of tissue paper (with no cuts etc)! It was made by Shuki Kato. You can find more of his pieces on Flikr and even pdfs with the folding patterns and instructions. This piece is so pretty! Could imagine sticking it on a headband or brooch and wearing it out.

Joe Ledbetter

Think I first got hooked on bunnies when I happened across some work by Joe Ledbetter, a Los Angeles based artist that combines playful with a darker, subversive side. I've been following his work a couple of years now and am delighted that some of his pieces are filtering through to South Africa. You can already buy some of his art at ToiToy on Kloof street.

Last year I even attempted to copy a piece of his that I particularly liked. Bunnies on mushrooms I've been calling it. Acylic on canvas. Took me ages to get coloring right since the dark blue background kept coming through the yellow of the bunnies.

Escape Caffe on Bree

A friend told us about a coffee place he had just discovered on Bree street which does coffee tastings every first Saturday of the month. Naturally we decided to go check it out this morning. The place is called Escape Caffe and its looks quite small from the outside. Inside is a pleasant surprise and it opens up into a cosy area with books and magazines everywhere and lots of yummy looking patisserie and a gorgeous coffee smell!

The owner Muhammed Lameen Abdul-Malik gave our group the explanation of all the coffees, their origin and history and was both friendly and interesting. His love of coffee and fine food comes through very strong and we got him to chat about his change of career. He was part of the IAEA team awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, for their work in preventing nuclear energy being used for military purposes! I mean, what a difference! I had a latte (since as mentioned before I am not a big coffee drinker) and an Almond croissant which was sublime. While waiting for our friend to arrive we also had a chat with his wife, who is equally engaging. All in all, a very welcoming place with good pastry and excellent coffee, am starting to think I might have to become more of a coffee snob :).


Escape caffe: Manhatten Plaza, 130 Bree Street

Virus Art

I've been felled in the last week due to a difficult to shake off little virus. I guess the crazy schedule last week caught up with me and I've spent most of this week admiring my bedding from intimate distance. As such I have a new respect for the little buggers and was keen to find out who else might be interested and how they are perceived. I bumped into some artwork by Luke Jerram. He's also concerned with our perception of viruses and along with a virologist at the University of Bristol and some talented glassblowers has been working to transform electron microscope pictures into something more tangible.


The results are pretty but represent some of the deadliest critters known to man. Also some of the most intriguing since the jury is still out as to whether these are living organisms at all.

HIV virus

SARS virus

Swine-flu virus

Jewelry by Sharon Boonzaiers

I’d like to focus on a local designer today. I first saw Sharon Boonzaiers leather earings at the Design Indaba earlier this year. Then via a chat with her friend Joanna (of Head on Design) I heard about her again and decided to look-up some more of her stuff. Sharon does paintings, illustrations and design work on commission (including developing the Mascot of AJAX Cape Town). However I wanted to focus on her jewelry in leather. I especially like the little leather birds she does! She has a small showroom in Gardens which is worth checking out; especially since she shares it with some other local talents (address is on her site).

Retro iPhone Awesome

A lot of my close friends have an iphone and since I am still a bit stuck in the pre-historic (at least vis-à-vis my techno gadgets) I sometimes find myself with ienvy. Especially now that I've discovered a company called photojojo which make cool iphone covers and I absolutely adore this wooden one (available in walnut and bamboo). It feels modern but chic and quirky at the same time. Checked out the site and they also do international shipping so maybe I can gift myself for early Christmas?

Architect Calatrava

I want to share one of my all time favourite Architects with you. His name is Santiago Calatrava and he comes from Valencia, Spain. He designs mind-blowing buildings and because he has the engineering background he has more freedom to play around with the structures. One of the complaints my dad, the architect, used to have was that the engineers always over compensated the design (ie more concrete and foundations) thus forcing most architects to curtail their visions in view of something that’s 'a sure thing'. Santiago does his own calculations and thus has the luxury of not having to listen. This is the result of that freedom.

Bridge - Dublin

Ciudad de las Artes - Valencia

Inside Milwaukee Art Museum

Opera House in Tenerife

Iconic Olympic Tourch in Barcelona

The work of Street Artist Roa

I love rabbits, all kinds! I also get a kick out of rabbits in artwork and this caught my eye this week. These giant street rabbits are done by ROA a street artist from Belgium! Love having a Belgian in the spotlight (we’re too small to have that many stars L ). He started out doing pieces in abandoned buildings around Gent and can now be found all over Europe.

I’ve included pics of his other pieces too, he seems to mostly do large pictures of wildlife. Within the urban landscape he must love the juxtapose.