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Art That's For The Birds. Literally. And A Peek At A Painter's Project Room

I have written about David Tomb's work before and even shown you a sneak peek of his upcoming show, Birds of The Sierra Madre at SF Electric Works gallery opening February 22,2oo8.

Over half of those bird paintings have sold already- and the show hasn't even opened!

However, now you have an opportunity to own some of these Birds of The Sierra Madre paintings as prints, with the proceeds going directly to the birds, so to speak. (All proceeds go to El Triunfo).

Below is the first print in this series, David's Horned Guan:

above: The Horned Guan; below: detail of The Horned Guan

Price $250.00

Order it here

But here's something you won't see at the show, the interesting and beautiful process of David Tomb's paintings, which, even in their partially finished form are art.

A peek at the process behind David Tomb's Bird paintings:
Project Room current project Fall 2007

Click on the images below to enlarge:

Don't miss the show!

David Tomb
Birds of the Sierra Madre
February 22 - March 22, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, February 22, 6-8pm

Birds of the Sierra Madre
This work is inspired on birding trips to Mexico: Chihuahua, San Blas, Jalisco, El Triunfo (Chiapas) and research from the California Academy of Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Occidental College, Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Natural History Museum.

David Tomb's site.
Artist Contact Info:
David Tomb
1240 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
tel. 415.695.0474

Lust-worthy Home For Sale In Los Feliz

When I think of my 'dream home' it includes amazing views:

On February 1, 2008 adidas Originals and Diesel will enter a four-year product collaboration by introducing the first adidas Originals Denim by Diesel collection. Two male and female jeans models will be available exclusively at adidas Originals stores worldwide.

This is your chance to win a thousand dollar purse for the price of postcard postage.

How this contest works:

You send them an original handbag design on this template by midnight of Monday, January 21, 2008. They will post all submissions on their site. Then, everyone votes for their favorite designs. The design with the most votes wins the handbag that started all this commotion. You know, the one designed by that famous Japanese artist who made being an otaku at least as cool as carrying a high-end French luxury purse?*

Above left : the design that started it all, Murakami's Louis Vuitton Alma Handbag.
Above right : The actual Murakami fabric on the winning handbag. Click to enlarge

Your competition thus far:

You can submit as many entries as you wish

You can mail hardcopies to them at:
Imprint Culture Lab
555 East Ocean Blvd, Suite 900
Long Beach, CA 90802

Or submit your design via email to: info@imprintlab.com Be sure to include your name and contact info with your submissions.

Speaker Manufacturers Turn Up The Volume On Design. 20 Of The Wildest Speakers.

above: The Muon Speakers by Ross Lovegrove for KEF

When I grew up, in the seventies, you basically had few choices when it came to speakers. The average consumer deliberated between JBL or Kenwood while the audiophile went for Cambridge Soundworks, Harman Kardon or Bang & Olufsen. Besides wattage output, your biggest deciding factor was whether or not you wanted wood paneled speakers or all black.

Well, boy has that changed. Speakers are no longer even called "speakers". Now they are 'loudspeakers' or 'sound systems' or even referred to as 'audio output devices.' Made from stainless steel, glass, acrylic, ceramic and more, speakers of every shape and size are popping up. Whether they are floor standing, shelf-sitting, or wall mounted, there's no shortage of unusual designs from which to choose.

Technologically, they are far superior than decades ago. And rather than bog down this blog with technical specs, let me simply share with you some of the designs. Some beautiful, some ....butt ugly. And give you links to the manufacturers so you can drool over the details on your own time.

Let's start with one of the most blogged about speakers (myself included) that were an expected hit at this year's CES.

above: The KEF Muon speakers by Ross Lovegrove; Read all about them here.

Loiminchay (a company known for making high end writing instruments- aka 'pens') Audio has emerged with new line of wood high end audio speakers, named after famous painters:

See more here.

Also unveiled at this years' CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Davone Audio's Rithm Speakers:

above: The new Rithm Loudpeakers, clearly influenced by classic danish design, in various woods.
Learn more about them here: Davone audio.

I just love Ferguson-Hill's Horn loudspeaker and bass unit:

See their range of products here.

Goldman's Logos Speaker System have the ultra hi-tech look:

above: Goldmund's Logos range :the Logos1 monitor and the Logos2 active subwoofer.

Cabasse's Baltic Evoltion speakers come in either pearl and wenge wood or wild cherry wood with black pearl:

See Cabasse's full line of products here.

Duevel's planet series below- also available in many colors- has received plenty of press:

above: See the full line of Duevel products here.

The new Klipsch Palladium P-39F Floorstander:

See more Klipsch speakers here.

The Nucleus® Reference AV Loudspeaker from Anthony Gallo Acoustics:

above: available in black, white, stainless or grey
Visit Anthony Gallo Acoustics here.

Waterfall Audio makes stunning glass speakers in many shapes and sizes:

See the above model and more glass speakers here.

Avantgarde Acoustic´s horn loudspeaker systems:

Check them all out here: Avante Garde Accoustic

German Physiks:

above: Just some of the various speakers by German Physiks

The Purity- a hybrid electrostatic loudpeaker from Martin Logan:

above: Martin Logan's Purity loudpeaker in cherry.

Gepetto (A hungarian design firm) has just released their new AiR1, a state of the art high end electrostatic loudspeaker: