The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Has A Luxury Safe To Match - And Other Bugatti Goodies.

If you thought Bugatti just made luxury vehicles, like the stunning Veyron 16.4 shown above, let me enlighten you. In addition to their own collection of luxury goodies, Bugatti, in conjunction with German luxury safe manufacturer, Stockinger, has come out with a limited edition (only 50 will be made) safe available in the same colors as the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. After all, one's safe ought to match one's luxury vehicle, right?



The Bugatti Safe by Stockinger is made of an armored material which protects is against almost any threat including a diamond cored drill normally used to break into safes.



The safe is heat and water resistant and includes special alarms to tell if the safe has been moved or damaged, the Bugatti safe also comes with a GPS sensor which allows it to be tracked anywhere in the world.


Above: the Bugatti Veyron 16.4

The safe is available in all the same colors as the Bugatti Veyron:


as well as interior materials and leathers. The interior is totally customizable in terms of the quantity of shelves and drawers. Only 50 Bugatti Safes will be made.

Now .......what does one keep in a Bugatti Safe? How about some Bugatti items?

Let's start with Bugatti Bling.... Bugatti Diamonds, designed by Dieter Sieger:


How about a Bugatti pen by Ferrari Da Varese?



The Bugatti 370 Watch by luxury horologist Parmigiani Fleurier is worth a post all its own.







Or a sterling silver and rock crystal Bugatti Treasure box:


Okay, well that ought to be enough items for you to spend your disposable income upon.

David Tomb's First Non-Portrait Show In 20 Years Opens In San Francisco

Electric Works presents "Treasures of the Sierra Madre—Birds of West Mexico" paintings by David Tomb, featuring work inspired by Tomb’s birding trips to Mexico and research from the California Academy of Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, and the Los Angeles Natural History Museum.

In the gallery Tomb, best known for his portraits of people, is presenting his first non-portrait show in over twenty years. With this exciting departure Tomb is recreating the sights and sounds of this Sierra Madre region of west Mexico.



Below: Details from Mobster (above left)


Above: Mobster, detail

Large-scale drawings (11' x 8') of birds in trees will be installed with actual trees and native vegetation supplied by Flora Grubb Gardens. Mounted bird specimens on loan from the California Academy of Science and recorded bird calls from Western Mexico will fill the gallery to add to the atmosphere of this installation. In addition there will be a sound installation by Martyn Stewart of naturesound.org engineered by johnnyrandom.



Above: David working on Mobster in his studio


Above: One of David's 2006 shows of his figurative work

Below are some of his fabulous figurative works:

Above: Tomb's Navigating Environments (5' x 10')

Above: Albany, 66" x 66"

Above left: Portrait of Ethan Wallison
Above right: The artist's portrait of yours truly.

See the artist's site here.

SF Electric Works Gallery site.
Gallery Hours are:
Monday-Friday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday: 10:30am - 5:30 pm

The Virtual Shoe Museum Kicks Butt

Above: "High" by Bart Hess

Shoes have long been the subject of fetishes, books, art and tradition. From henna tattooed feet to bound feet to shoe designers like Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo, footwear is of interest to both shopaholics and penny pinchers. Whether you have a closet full of $500 shoes or just one pair of Birkenstocks, shoes are worn by just about everyone.

That's what makes Liza Snook's Virtual Shoe Museum such a delight to peruse. Initiated in 2004, she began a long search began for designers, photographers and publishers connected to shoes. Soon, her mailbox was filled with loads of material on fantastic shoes, art and design on shoes.

Then, with the help of Taco Zwaanswijk of Interactive Affairs, who designed the site, and Bart van der Ploeg of Resolume, who programmed the database and created the content management system, they've created a site you should check out.

Searchable by everything from the designer's name to the focus, use or style, the site is filled with imaginative and beautiful designs. Even sculpture. Be sure to look at the 'extreme' section.

Below are a few of my favorites:


Above: Landscapes shoes 2 by Jared Steffensen


Above: Leg by Judith Wiersema size: 110 cm (height)
The original is made out of wood. Leg is limited to seven (7/7) exclusive reproduction/copies. All seven reproductions are made in aluminium or bronze: white, black, gold.



Above: Off the hooks. 2004 by Alexander Fielden (photo by christian fielden) Material: latex, leather, aluminium and steel.



Above: Michael Brown's Dildo Shoe

In the artist's words

"This Dildo shoe is a womens shoe, based on a ballet last, hand made. The inspiration for the shoe, is the sex industry, and sex toys. As you can see, from the heel, it is based on of course a dildo, or anal toy. It was inspired also from the late 2007 trend of 'fetish'.

The straps upon the forefoot, are made from black patent leather, and egg shell finish cream. to create a stunning contrast. The spikes are in two lengths, and can be interchanged, with just screwing them off and changing them.
The selfmade heel is in high quality resin. So if need be... the heel can be used..."

Above: Eelko Moorer's D.I.Y. Overshoe Comes with frame, instruction sheet and a sticker sheet.

Many more to see! Visit the Virutal Shoe Museum by clicking here.

Levi's Project 501: Project Runway Inspires the Public

Fans of Project Runway will recognize this design challenge set forth by Levis as the one that took place on this season's Episode 9 titled "Even Designers Get the Blues".


Above: Levi's SVP of Design Caroline Calvin explained the challenge to the designers as Tim Gunn looked on.

The challenge? To create an iconic denim look that captures the spirit of the Levi's 501 legacy. In addition to the Project Runway episode, the challenge was opened up to the public via the web.

Although the deadline for submissions has passed, you can still vote on the entrants which also automatically enters you into the sweepstakes to win a Levi's 501 gift certificate. The top 20 submissions will be announced on February 21st. Then they go into another final selection before choosing the winning entry. The winner actually gets his or her design produced and sold on levis.com

The final pieces designed by the then remaining 7 challengers on Project Runway:


..and the winning design shown above right.

So, how's the public doing?

Below are just a tiny sampling of the many entries. It's clear that there's no lack of talent out there. There are literally hundreds of these beautifully rendered, wonderfully- if not interestingly- designed entries. I'm showing a mere fraction of them here.

Sure, there are some crude drawings with brilliant ideas and some sophisticated drawings of horrendous designs. But I just wanted to give you a small example of the many talented people that are participating. Forgive me for not crediting the following drawing/renderings. Please go to the website to see who is behind these and the hundreds more.











Go see them all for yourself. And vote!