Art: Zoe Pawlak

Zoe Pawlak is a a Canadian artist based in Vancouver (yay Pacific Northwesterners!). I’m pretty sure that I happily stumbled on her art while surfing arouond Pinterest or something like that… or maybe even while checking links from some of my favorite bloggers on TweetDeck. However it happened, I’m supremely glad that I did. Her work is full of color, movement, expression. I find myself drawn back to her website again and again just to soak myself in the color and beauty. Here are some of my favorites:

Over Oceans by Zoe Pawlak.

Every Word by Zoe Pawlak.

Spent For Fortune by Zoe Pawlak.

You Were Always There by Zoe Pawlak.

While looking for more about Zoe Pawlak and her artwork, I found this Vimeo on her process for a commission called A Sky Is For Dreaming Into. In it she chronicles how the commission came about, what influences her, all while she actually paints!

I’m definitely hooked! I have a Zoe Pawlak on my list of must own items now… If you’re interested in seeing additional works, or would like to purchase or commission original paintings, find more to love at Zoe Pawlak. Until next time!

White Collar

I’ve been out of the loop as far as TV watching is concerned. The last year saw me with nothing but a Netflix disc only subscription and no cable. Not that I’m complaining, I’m not much of a TV watcher anyway. Since I’ve been staying at my sister’s this past week, I’ve been able to check out some movies and TV shows I’ve been interested in seeing. One of those shows is White Collar, a USA Network show.

The show stars the swoon worthy Matt Bomer as convicted con artist, Neal Caffrey. In the opening episode Neal breaks out of prison to find the love of his life but gives himself up when he discovers she left him for good. The FBI agent that originally caught him, Peter Burke, catches him again but eventually agrees to Neal’s idea to let him help with white collar cases in exchange for being released into the agent’s custody.

I watched the first two seasons this week and enjoyed every episode. The supporting cast is as much fun to watch as the leads and the overall mystery for each season is compelling. I’m looking forward to getting ahold of season three and finding out where Peter, Neal, and the “Burke Crew” will end up next.

Check out the first two seasons on Netflix streaming and the new season 4 episodes on USA Network.

Art: Tom French

I signed up for Tumblr last night and while I was playing around with it, I ran across these portraits by UK artist Tom French. I think they are amazing… I totally wish he was offering prints but alas they’re originals and they’ve been sold. Still, pretty drool worthy, no?

The Bird and The Bee

Happy Monday, everyone! The sun is out, the air is hazy and hot, but the IKEA gods have seen fit to have the air on. Whoot!

Monday Music Pick: The Bird and The Bee.

This duo hails from Los Angeles, CA. They met when producer/keyboardist Greg Kurstin began producing singer Inara George’s solo album. They decided to form a duo instead and The Bird and The Bee was born. They have a cool, jazzy-synthpop sound that is totally easy on the ears. This is fun music, a little hipster-ish… but not so much your eyeballs will be rolling.

I have Hall and Oates to thank for introducing me to this band. I was looking for song by that venerable 70’s duo when I ran across a clip of The Bird and The Bee doing “I Can’t Go For That”. I loved it!

Check out this video of them doing an original song at an ASCAP showcase.

The Bird And The Bee – Again And Again (Live – ASCAP “I Create Music”) from The Bird And The Bee on Vimeo.

Over the last two weeks, I tried to come up with a slightly more coherent posting plan and today is day one of that plan. On Friday, I posted about self taught British singer Andreya Triana… and that was just a taste of the new regular feature here: Music Mondays. Yep, every Monday I’ll be sharing my faves and new discoveries. (FAIR WARNING: I like most genres of music, so there’s bound to be something for everyone!)

Warpaint

Sometime last year I got a free (and legal) mp3 download of a song called Undertow by an L.A. band called Warpaint. The name makes them sort of sound like bad metal but what they are is a trio of female musicians making beautiful, haunting songs. I can’t recommend them enough. Check out their full length album The Fool… it’s amazing!

To give you a sample here are links to videos for Undertow and Elephant (from the Exquisite Corpse EP). I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!