Catherine's Animals: Ledner Combines Cool Wallpaper With Cute Animals.

Above: photographer Catherine Ledner and friend

I love animals and I love wallpaper, so it stands to reason that I'd be a fan of Catherine Ledner's photos and prints of animals in front of wallpaper. I first discovered her work on NOTCOT when they featured her book, Animal House and the NY Times slideshow that accompanied it. Now her fab photos are for sale as chromogenic prints.




With a keen eye for color and composition, she sells a limited series of the prints in various sizes (100 of 11"x14" at $250, 20 of 16"x20" at $500, 20 of 20"x24" at $750, and 10 of 32"x40" at $1700) that feature domestic and farm animals, birds and wildlife posed in front of fabulous contemporary wall coverings.

Here are a few of my favorites (she has many more!):



















The photographer's bio (from her site):

Catherine Ledner was born in New Orleans. After graduating from NYU with a degree in film, she worked in television for a year and a half. She then worked as a studio manager for a photographer in New York, which led to her eventual move to Pasadena to study photography at Art Center College of Design.

She graduated from Art Center in 1994 and since then has built a great base of clients who hire her for her innovative style and ability to work well with subjects. She loves photographing all types of people and revels in the experience of working in different environments.

Some of her clients include Visa, HP, Arco, Microsoft, IBM, Graco, Kodak, Nissan, Alliance, Adobe, CDW, McAfee, Hyatt, Sharp, Allsteel, Entertainment Weekly, Travel and Leisure, W, Bazaar, New York Times Magazine, The London Observer, Newsweek, Dwell, and Premiere.

She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Kyle, her son Winston and their dogs, Dodger and Little Bear.

See them all and buy some of her fabulous Chromogenic Animal prints here.

Bottega Veneta Does Dishes: Introducing Intreccio Svenito Porcelain Dinnerware

Bottega Veneta, which is owned by the Gucci Group of French company PPR, has also teamed up with KPM (Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur KPM), the porcelain company famously acquired in the 18th century by Prussian King Frederick the Great, for a range of dishes featuring a hand-painted version of the intreccio motif -- starting prices at around 85 euros.

The collection incorporates their famous woven leather motif, only hand painted upon porcelain to give a very unusual look and style.

Introducing Intreccio Svanito:













And don't forget, they make stunning woven leather chargers, placemats, napkin rings and more to compliment their new dishes.



And if you really want to fork out some dough, buy their dining room furniture to compliment your new dishes!



Visit the Bottega Veneta website to learn where to purchase and to see all of their fabulous items.

Fu*k Me! Shoes: Chelsea Arts Club Artists Put Their Best Foot Forward

The Chelsea Arts Club of the UK had a combination auction burlesque show of artist decorated shoes (Terry de Havilland platform wedges) called Fu*k Me! Shoes in 2006. Although 2 years old, the feats (feets? lol) of art are still worth sharing.

The shoes were auctioned off on june 29th, 2006 in aid of the Chelsea Arts Club Trust, Trinity Hospice and Artists General Benevolent Institution.

The contributing artists were:
Allen Jones, Sir Peter Blake, Sandra Blow, Gus Cummins, Frank Phelan, Bruce Maclean, Peter Edwards, Christian Furr, Stella Vine, Sarah Lucas, Patrick Hughes, Ralph Steadman,David Shrigley, Olly & Suzi, Rupert Gatfield, Brendaon Neiland, Richard Evans, Don Smith, Stuart Luke Gatherer, Bill Jacklin, and Gray Jolliffe.