So, what are you having for lunch today?
To tempt your pop art palate, nibble on Jeff McCarthy’s Celebs on Sandwiches.
Aren’t we always hungry for celebrity anyway?
celebs on sandwiches, because why not?
food art
Miyuki Sakai’s Incredible Sewing Illustrations
Somewhere in San Francisco, Osaka-born artist Miyuki Sakai is busy creating yet another gorgeous sewing illustration.
Using only a standard sewing machine, about 200 different thread colors, and a basic straight stitch, she fashions amazing pictures of everyday objects and scenes, from the dining room and kitchen, to the office, street, cafe, garden, and supermarket.
Miyuki grew up watching her mother make clothes and decided to adopt the sewing machine as her primary tool. After graduating from art college in Kyoto, she worked as a freelance illustrator in Tokyo before emigrating to the U.S.
Her unique style is characterized by lush colors, meticulous detail, and studied compositions. She works freehand, leaving uncut threads that give her illustrations a charming human touch.
Back in 2011, she earned a Bronze Medal in Editorial Design (NY ADC Awards) for her “Viva la Tarte!” stitched plates that showcased real food in Martha Stewart Living.
Her work has also been featured in various periodicals such as Country Home, Vogue, GQ, Seventeen, and The New York Times Magazine, and she’s done ads for SONY, Nordstrom, Microsoft, and Hitachi, among others.
At her site, she shares photos of her “darling sewing machine” and her “good friends” (BandAids). 🙂 I’m totally in awe.
Indie Artist Spotlight: Rommy Kuperus of RommydeBommy
When it comes to Rommy Kuperus’s foodie fashion accessories, you can have your cake and wear it too.
Totally calorie free, her fanciful, over-the-top creations break all the rules, definitely turn heads, and are just too much fun.
Fancy a candy roll purse, a waffle clutch, a fried egg brooch? No need to cry over spilled coffee when you can wear a matching coffee bean necklace.
Did you know it’s totally de rigueur to accessorize with baked goods? How do you think baguette got its name?
And poor pasta, always getting such a bad carbo-rap. Why not stash all your guilt in Rommy’s farfalle bow clutch?
While you’re at it, deck out your male friends in babelicious bow ties. Is there anything cooler?
9 Cool Things on a Tuesday
1. Author and Poet Charles Ghigna, aka Father Goose, aka Our Favorite Alabama hotTEA, has some new books out! The Tiny Tales series (four 64-page early chapter books published by Picture Window Books/Capstone, 2015), was inspired by imaginative play with his adorable granddaughter Charlotte Rose.
Kids will enjoy following the adventures of Lucy Goose, Cuddle Bunny, Adeline Porcupine and Bobby Bear. Each title contains 4-5 stories of family and friendship lovingly illustrated by Jacqueline East (Mr. Cornelius was especially excited about Bobby Bear). Read more about Charles, Charlotte Rose, and the genesis of this series in this heartwarming post.
Charles’s new board book, A Carnival of Cats (Orca Books, 2015), was just released at the beginning of September.
There’s a purrrfect little carnival coming to town, filled with adorable cats of all different kinds! In this hint-and-reveal board book, babies, toddlers and cat-lovers alike will enjoy discovering (and guessing) what breed of cat is hiding on the next page. With playful rhyming text from award-winning author Charles Ghigna, aka Father Goose®, and beautiful illustrations by celebrated artist Kristi Bridgeman, this exuberant board book will have everyone guessing what cat is that!
Sounds like a fun feline feast for whisker-lovin’ PreSchool and Kindergarten munchkins. Me-wow!
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2. Some of you may remember when a certain gray silicone tea infuser named Mr. Tea cavorted in the Alphabet Soup kitchen in search of the perfect teacup.
Lo and behold — Mr. Tea has joined the ranks of the politically correct. He’s gone diverse! Behold the family of different colors, perfect for parTEAing anytime, anywhere in the world.
For two years now, the resident leprechaun and I have thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Tea’s company. Very daring and extremely playful, Mr. Tea no longer confines himself to teacups, but can be found balancing perilously atop gooseneck water faucets, hanging plant pots, wooden sculptures, and window ledges.
It’s a little “dangerous” to leave anything with a rim lying around, as Mr. Tea will appear out of nowhere just to hang out. We highly recommend adopting your own Mr. Tea. Other than a few rascally antics, he’s quite well behaved, doesn’t talk back, and won’t eat all your cookies.
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feasting on joël penkman’s food paintings
When I first saw Joël Penkman’s work, all kinds of superlatives came to mind: Incredible. Gorgeous. Exquisite. Amazing. Beautiful!
Many of her egg tempura on gesso board still life food paintings look so realistic you might easily mistake them for photographs. Originally from New Zealand, Joël now lives and works in the UK — Liverpool, England, to be exact.
She portrays her subjects on clean, neutral backgrounds to allow the viewer to bring his/her own context to the paintings. Food is by far her favorite subject, but she also enjoys graphically representing everyday objects inspired by British life.
Naturally I especially love her sweets, but I’m equally enamored of her food packaging subjects,
and her 100 teacups collection!
Recently, she was commissioned to paint 125 food items for Colman Andrews’s THE TASTE OF AMERICA (Phaidon Press, 2013). It’s wonderful to see familiar foods like hot dogs, avocados, bagels, and cherry tomatoes along with regional favorites like Old Bay Seasoning, Café du Monde Beignet Mix, Goo Goo Clusters, and Vermont Common Crackers. I also learned about quite a few brands I’d never seen before (Rancho Gordo Prepared Hominy, Graeter’s Ice Cream, Kim’s Pork Cracklings).
Since she likes to paint from real life models, these foods were sent to her across the pond. She said it felt like Christmas whenever a new shipment arrived. 🙂
For the literary minded, check out Joël’s collection of Fictional Food (yes, there’s Paddington’s favorite marmalade sandwiches!):
Indulge yourself even more by visiting Joël Penkman’s Official Website and Etsy Shop, where she sells both originals and giclée prints.
It’s easy to see why I’m such a big fan of Joël’s work. But there’s also this: when asked in an interview what she would take if her house was burning down, she said her cats, their 2 teddy bears and her laptop. You should have heard the cheers in the Alphabet Soup kitchen! We love an artist who’s got her priorities straight. 🙂
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