Good Food Moment #71: Mystery Fruit, March 2009

It was a common cold rainy morning when I found fruit in my path to work. Two separate days, same canal edge, different fruit. Someone else's good food moment. Any city, like Amsterdam, can surprise you if your eyes are open to it.  

Good Food Moment #154?: Sprouts for breakfast?

Q got this from the St. Lawrence Market today. I am reluctant to touch it. He tells me it's Arugula sprouts and you're meant to trim off the tops, throw them into your salad and enjoy. I tell him we have a chia-pet growing in our fridge. What do you think?

Good Find #27: Wind beneath me

French artist Emilie Faif makes beautiful mixed media installations. Her "paysage" puts me in that lightened state that comes and goes throughout the day. My favorite part is when the fabric slowly looses itself as the air turns off- proving their interdependence. 

Fine, don't buy me!

I originally posted this basket table for sale on Craigslist because I couldn't stand the sight of it anymore. I was asking for a measly $30 and it just wouldn't go! So what the heck I moved it with me, slapped on a coat of white paint and now I can stand it again. I'm quite happy with it actually.

Turning Junk into White Gold

Got this old solid wood cabinet delivered to me off Craigslist for $35 (including delivery charge.) It came from an uber paranoid couple who were frantically leaving Toronto to escape the inevitable plague that would be H1N1. They left for a safe place they wished not to divulge. For some reason I picture the witch's house in Hansel and Gretel in the middle of a deep forest. But back to my story. A fresh coat of white paint makes almost anything look sparkly and new. Because this cabinet had vintage bones it still comes across as second hand, but now in a Queen West art gallery sort of way.

Sand paper, bonding primer, semi-gloss white acrylic and two hours of elbow grease.

My Favorite Little Wall

As a teenager I would plaster my walls obsessively and in no apparent order with magazine clip-outs: impossibly gorgeous women in designer labels and Absolut vodka ads. So 90's fabulous. Today my little wall collage takes on a more nostalgic feel. It's a collage within a collage: old records from my father, photo collages of my love, another of me made by my mother when I was four. My favorite picture, coincidentally at the center of it all is of my parents when they first met.

Good Find #87: Missed Connections NY

Ever been on the missed connections section on Craigslist? This illustration artist named Sophie Blackall was instantly inspired when she stumbled onto this section one day and has since created a pretty little blog about it. Best enjoyed over coffee and iTunes.

Gold Improv

Sweden meets Philippines. Most times I'll buy accessories from top designers to cheap finds thinking that I can combine it with another piece hidden and tucked away in one of my dresser drawers. Here, a gold feather necklace (EUR 2.95 from H&M) holding up a one of a kind jô by Joyce Oreña (Greenbelt 3, Makati, Philippines) rope bracelet with gold plated accents. 

                              

Good Feet Moment #4: The Girl with the Golden Gun

On our way to James Bond Island from Phuket, Thailand. I've always secretly wanted to be a spy. Any recruiters reading this blog, feel free to contact me- however, I insist on a  double entendre name.

2002, Just A Girl -by Liana

Mixed media on canvas.

One of my older and larger (aprox.5 ft x 4 ft) paintings inspired by the great Robert Rauschenberg. His art and vision strengthened my love for mixed media. Plastic bags, stockings, saw dust and tissue found here.

"You begin with the possibilities of the material" -Robert Raschenberg

Good Food Moment #89: Les Glaceurs, July 2009

Quick visit to Montreal must include a walk through its Old Port where Les Glaceurs sells the cutest little cupcakes that make you reconsider scoffing it down. Best shared with friends on a cool summer days while walking and catching up.

Dec. 2008, Titan -by Roxy

It took me around three months to finish this painting. It originally started as a joint venture with Liana. We walked along a beach in Thailand and collected odds and ends spat up by the sea. When Liana threw in a rusty bottle cap I thought she was crazy, but it's now my favorite piece. I call him Titan.

Mixed media from the sea, acrylic on canvas.