Friendship

Listopad recently spent some time with Ellen Van Dusen, who makes clothes.



Ellen is on the right. (Look at her cute hair!) She made both of these dresses. The one on the left is from a collection based on badass Color Field painters like Ellsworth Kelly, Mark Rothko, and Morris Louis.



She made this one, too.



And this one. (You may have spotted this dress in the window at Meeps. She has a bunch of her stuff for sale there under the label LN.)



Ellen told us that she considers the way the eye works when she's designing stuff. "I think a lot about shape and color," she says. "Your brain takes in flat shapes all at once -- when I look at an image, I like to know that my brain is processing it all at the same time. I work with seams and shapes for a flat look."



Ellen and I went to high school together here in DC. It was really fun catching up.

(If you want Ellen to make you something, e-mail her: ellen.vandusen@gmail.com.)

(Photos: Cathy Chung.)

Greek Love

Granny Tunes

There aren't enough synonyms for "genius" to describe the way I feel about design collective Greece Is For Lovers. Seriously. My grandmother's neighbor once tried to teach me how to crochet in the style of the iPod above but I didn't catch on too easily, though I still wish I was more versed in the craft traditions of the Mediterrenean.


Ridden in Stone


Ash is Ok


Opa Curtains

"Mike Mulligan Lady"

is how I referred to Virginia Lee Burton earlier today after spotting my friend Jennifer's post on refineDesign, the Washington Spaces blog. Now, I am going to assume that we all remember Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne, his unstoppable steam shovel, from reading-before-bed circa 1988, right? Anyone?



Well, what I didn't know until reading Jennifer's post (inspired by a piece in the current issue of Vogue) was that Virginia Lee Burton was equally unstoppable, founding a printmaking collective called -- wait for it -- Folly Cove (so smitten with her word choice) and being ten times hotter than pretty much everyone ever!



The Folly Cove Designers site (run by the descendants of the original Folly Cove-ites) is chock full of images, old photos, and a 1958 Life article about the collective.



A Rose is a Rose



Zaidee and Her Kittens



Fish Story

Woman power! Vintage!! Printmaking!!! DIY!!!! Gah!!!!! Did I mention the documentary about her that just came out?!?!?

(Insane awesome MMAHSS .gif from All About Symbian. All other images from Folly Cove Designers.)

Tea Towel Art

marimekko kaiku tea towel

On a recent trip perusing Tabletop in Dupont, my buddy Kata got me obsessed with decorative tea towels. I am moving soon which means new apartment, new decor. You can find this pretty illustrative piece at FinnStyle and other Marimekko designs at Tabletop. Apartment Therapy shows how easily this piece is turned into art, instantly warming your home and heart.

Isn't This Awesome?

The Love Matress...via Apartment Therapy




Yes, Valentine's Day is coming up ;)