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State-Shaped Hand Cast Iron Skillets by Alisa Toninato Are Fun and Functional.




Thirty-year-old metal designer Alisa Toninato, who as been featured on Martha Stewart, creates handmade substantial and beautiful examples of craftsmanship with iron skillets in the shape of each of the 48 contiguous United States.


above: Alisa with her Wisconsin skillet

Her Madison, Wisconsin studio named FeLion (that's FE, the chemical symbol for Iron and Lion represents the sign, Leo, under which the artist was born) creates iron art that is a functional example of a design concept blended with utility.




Every state-shaped skillet from her Made In America collection, is labeled with the FeLion Studios logo on the back, and stamped with a production number. The iron skillets can be shipped "raw" or "seasoned" and come with a custom made magnetic hanger for display.





All pans are made to order, and will be shipped in a timely fashion after the day its poured, approximately 6-8 weeks from the day of order. Please contact the artist for multiple state-pan orders. Also, visit the “Geographic Compositions” page for examples of several skillets composed into regional maps, such as the Midwestern set shown below.



A 2005 graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Alisa Toninato's credits include an internship with Chicago public artist Jin Soo Kim & experience as a thematic sculptor with the design & fabrication firm Cost of Wisconsin building zoo & aquarium habitats.



Her full map consisting of 48 contiguous state-skillets of America (above) was part of the 2011 ArtPrize exhibition in Grand Rapids Michigan, and made it into the top 25 among artists in the Center City neighborhood.




Buy the skillets here
or at the following retailers:
All Through the House (Stoughton, WI)
Bekah Kate's (Baraboo, WI)
BRAISE RESTAURANT ~ !!! ( Milwaukee, WI )
Cornacopia (Sturgeon Bay, WI)
Duluth Trading Co.
Kitchen Gallery (Madison, WI)
Kitchen Window (Minneapolis, MN)
Volume One (Eau Claire, WI)

Gross Out Your Vegan Friends With This Steak Set Wrapping Paper.




Another fun collection of gift wrap from Gift Couture that is bound to excite meat-eaters and disgust vegetarians. After success with their now sold out Cheeseburger wrapping paper set, Sarah Fey and Justin Colt have now successfully funded their second set via kickstarter.

The Steak Set includes Two 25” x 21” sheets of steak paper, One 25” x 21” sheet of cutting board paper, One sheet of white butcher paper, Twine, One Meat Tray and Two Gift Labels.










Video:


This set includes:
Two 25” x 21” sheets of steak paper
One 25” x 21” sheet of cutting board paper
One sheet of white butcher paper
Twine
One Meat Tray
Two Gift Labels

Visit Gift Couture here

Turning Kitsch Into Couture. Teardrop Lighting by Bodo Sperlein.




Bodo Sperlein's work for Lladro and Nymphenberg caught my eye years ago and since then, I've been a fan of his elegant pieces and home decor. His Red Berry and Dibbern Black Forest Dinnerware have long been atop my wishlist. Here's yet another unique collection by Sperlein that preserves an endangered skill and turns it into contemporary pieces for the home.



His unique collection of pendant lighting, Teardrop, highlights Bodo Sperlein’s interest in preserving and celebrating traditional skills. In this case, he has re-imagined and updated hand-made bone china flowers which had fallen out of style and were considered kitsch.

With such a small group of ladies left in Staffordshire dedicated to this craft of handmaking, Sperlein sought to ensure that these skills survived into the 21st century and did so by taking delicate and detailed plain white bone china flowers and fusing them to dramatic hand blown teardrop-shaped borosilicate glass pendants. In addition to looking unusual, they cast flower shaped shadows.




Available in two sizes, you can buy them online here.

See more work by Bodo Sperlein here.

Beautiful BEYOND Tubs and Showers from Glass Idromassaggio.





BEYOND is a beautifully designed series of bathtubs and showers designed by Claudia Danelon and Federico Meroni for Italy's Glass Idromassagio.




BEYOND is an amalgamation of beauty as you’ve never seen before: the natural organic egg-like shapes of the tub or shower tray are made of Pietraluce® (an anti-limescale and anti-bacterial composite material) and are fused with the architectural rationality of a monolith constructed from resin, wood or mosaic tiles.




The BEYOND Bathtub




Bathtub in Pietraluce®, available in matt or glossy white or black. Fitted with Up&Down waste with Pietraluce® cover and concealed overflow, the bathtub is incorporated in a self-supporting monolith block to which different finishes and materials can be applied to blend in impeccably with the structure, shape and function of the surroundings. The bath is designed for freestanding, corner, wall or niche installation.






The BEYOND Shower





Shower area with tray in Pietraluce®, available in matt white or black and fitted with waste and cover in Pietraluce®. The walk-in shower enclosure is made in 8 mm tempered clear glass. The wall-mounted monolith block can be clad in various finishes and materials to blend in impeccably with the structure, shape and function of the surroundings. The shower is designed for corner installation.






Glass Idromassaggio

GLASS IDROMASSAGGIO S.r.l.
Via Baite, 12/E
31046 Oderzo (TV) | Italia
Tel: +39 0422 7146
Fax: +39 0422 816938

Uber Cool Couples Shot In Black and White For The Kooples' Latest Ad Campaign.




Ultra hip French fashion brand The Kooples have been featuring couples dressed to kill in their ad campaigns for the past few years. The most recent ad campaign for their Autumn /Winter 2013 collection, beautifully shot in black and white by Raphäel Elicha of JRM-Studio, features uber cool couples model Bambi Northwood-Blyth and fashion brand Ksubi owner Dan Single, model Veneda Budny and musician A$AP Nast and models Alice Gomme and Adam Holden.



Looking gritty, glam and gorgeous, the couples are sporting the latest fashions from the label and embody Paris’ dark gangster subculture through their decidedly nonchalant and rebellious style.


above: the Kooples' showroom in New York

Below are the images for the 2013 print ads:

Models Alice Gomme and Adam Holden:



Model Bambi Northwood-Blyth and fashion brand owner Dan Single:



Model Veneda Budny and musician A$AP Nast :




The Kooples online store

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