Robots & Donuts

Eric Joyner

I must admit, Eric Joyner's one of my favorite painters. His unusual pairing of robots and donuts are sometimes cute, sometimes humorous, sometime apocalyptic-but always well done. His display of famous locations, bright color and the subtle reference to pop culture are all just an added bonus. All in all, the subjects of his painting are the perfect recipe for yet another obsession of mine. A decade of traveling robots in various adventures is displayed on his website, as well as what seems like an obsessive sweet tooth. That's fine with me, it just inspires me to make more miniature food sculptures. Perhaps my next blog should feature some of them?

I like that he includes a lot of his original studies alongside his finalized works, it's nice to see differences between the idea and the paintings themselves. Reminds me that I should start documenting my sketches before a painting; often the original concept changes drastically for me as I work.

Codex Seraphinianus

Codex Seraphinianus

In 1978 an Italian artist by the name of Luigi Serafini wrote and illustrated a beautifully detailed encyclopedia of a surreal world that he created. Throughout the book there are numerous illustrated references to the real world we live in, but with whimsical variations on things that make it unlike anything we have seen. From flowers that bleed, insects that double as keys to unknown doors, and fish that grow hair-nothing is what it seems. Though the book is written in an unknown and possibly indecipherable language, it has enchanted countless viewers and is quite valuable to those who know of it. The artist himself said that he wrote the book in his own carefully crafted language intentionally. Luigi wanted to give the feel of a child studying a book they cannot read, despite the knowledge that adults can understand the words on the page.

Linked above is an online copy of the codex in almost it's entirety. A physical copy of the book itself is quite expensive, but I recommend you check it out if you get the chance, even if it's only through the above link. The creativity of Luigi and his imaginary world has inspired multiple reprints, and leaves its viewers questioning reality and trying to make sense of everything presented.

CakeSpy

Cake Spy

Some of my favorite bloggers are all about food. Between the amazing photography, funny posts and creative recipes I can't wait to try, these are some of my favorite finds online. Like many of my favorite bloggers, I draw inspiration from everything I see and come across daily. I am constantly collecting images, recipes, little scraps of paper with fonts, colors and patterns I find interesting. I have binders, shoe boxes and junk drawers filled to the brim with various items that I have collected over the years. On top of all this are endless notebooks filled with random doodles, lyrics I wanted to remember, recipes cut from magazines and even some passed down through generations.

Some might look at all these things and see a terrible mess, but in them I see endless inspiration, endless projects that I have yet to even think of. And occasionally online I find something that just catches my eye and sticks in my head. Cakespy's various watercolors are one of those things. Above is just one example of her many whimsical cupcake watercolors, and if you visit her site you can see many more, updated constantly along with adorable recipes. Some of my other favorite bloggers are in the sidebar, so be sure to check them out. I promise there is at least one recipe you wont be able to pass up!