Thursday, February 28, 2013

new in the studio



a little birthday humor for my food challenged friends here in Los Angeles [and everywhere] and an encouragement a la Britney – because we all know it could be worse.

available in the shop today

[click to enlarge]

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

David Bowie

he is still bad ass.



love Tilda Swinton and the transgendered super model Andrej Pejic who you're not sure is it Bowie or is it Tilda.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I bought a cheese board

I couldn't help it. It was their story I had to have one.

Herriott Grace Trailer from John Cullen on Vimeo.


HERRIOTT GRACE is a venture of father and daughter, and this is their story.

Lance and Nikole Herriott live 3400 kilometers apart: his workshop is in Victoria, British Columbia, and her studio is in Toronto, Ontario. When she first made her home more than halfway across the country, they started to send packages back and forth.

In some of those packages, Lance began to include his own hand carved spoons. He had been collecting wood since the early seventies, and used his best pieces for these gifts. Nikole loved them; their balance and shape, the pieces were made with unmistakable care. She knew they were something special.

One day it dawned on her that others might appreciate her father’s talent as she did, so Nikole asked if he would ever want to share his work. Lance took a few days to think about it. And, after some convincing, he agreed to her plan, but only with people that understood and cared about the time and effort spent on each piece.

She told him, “Leave it to me, I know just the sort.”

And with that, Herriott Grace was born.

In the three years since, their small shop has grown to selling an array of hand carved and hand turned wooden objects, including spoons, bowls, pedestals, candy dishes, serving boards, rolling pins, plates and mortar and pestle sets. All are one of a kind and made entirely of salvaged, chemical-free wood, ranging in type, age, and origin. None are exactly the same, and thus none are perfect. But the slight imperfections are an effect of the handmade quality. They’ve also introduced a select line of exclusive porcelain dishware. The ceramic pieces are cast in small runs, and boast the rustic, tactile beauty for which their brand is known.

They also make, by hand, kitchen linens, cake flags, birthday candles, beeswax salve and cookie cutters.

Lance still lives in Victoria, and still sends packages to Nikole in Toronto. Now, she styles and photographs those pieces he sends, and together they are Herriott Grace.

Monday, February 18, 2013

pink

Don't mind me I'm just having a pink moment - go back to your normally scheduled programing.





Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Happy V Day




wishing you a pink and art filled day

Friday, February 08, 2013

Vat of ink

I can't tell you what I was doing today but to say that I was at a very large press. Spotted on their loading dock was a vat of ink 6ft high and at least 3 ft wide. I imagine it's a special mix for DKNY, that lovely taxi cab yellow of theirs. My Pantone book doesn't go up in the 9000's to check.


In my printing I only use about a half dollar size worth of ink [depending on coverage and number of prints]. I have 1 lb cans in my studio I've had for 4+ years. This vat seems very daunting!

Monday, February 04, 2013

Some Days

Some days surprise me. You think your day will be ordinary and then everything just up and shifts. Ever have one of those? Monday began like that for me. It didn't start off so well and to be honest I wasn't in the best of moods. I had a client booked this afternoon for some time so I put my game face on, as he was coming by to watch / assist.


The groom's father was my client in this case. A retired printer and a calligrapher. I was already curious about this wonderful man who I helped through the process of setting up his son's files and plates. We spent the afternoon together today and he told me about the home he and his wife restored over 8 summers in the SW part of France, his travels as a young man around the world and being in Cuba just before Castro was in power. We talked about France, food and wine about paper and hand work.

It was such an unexpected gift. I hugged him goodbye and we're planning to meet up again soon.

Some days are such a surprise.