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Based in Toronto, Post Calligraphy artist Lisa Mavian finds her calligraphic inspiration in beautiful shapes and spaces and voids. Self-taught, the simplicity of Lisa’s style is irresistible: I’m smitten by her selection of elegant holiday tags, as well as her custom work for invitations and events.
Seems the minimalist eye runs in the family: her son Michael is responsible for Post Calligraphy’s gorgeous identity work, which offers a modern take on the classic postmark.
identity components
“noel” tag
“it came upon a midnight clear” tags
images courtesy of lisa mavian
There’s something about November 1 that thrusts me into a contemplative/dark mindset. I’m sure it’s partly due to the literal darkness of the dwindling light – which is much more noticeable in London. When 4:00 rolls around these days, it feels like bedtime should be near. Not good! – and partly because Christmas no longer seems like a concept. The reality of the holiday season is staring me in the face, and I’m finding this year particularly hard. We’re going “home” for the holidays, but we have no home, but I’ll have to see my old house + I’m terrible at moving on. Terrible meaning that I hate it + I find seeing my old house so painful that I’ll do anything to avoid driving by it. Which will be a challenge given that visiting old friends and neighbors requires just that.
To counteract the darkness, I am going to spend November cultivating a spirit of gratitude, and quiet. And, while I’m at it, acceptance.** This week on Twitter, I mentioned that I feel like I’m living life on fast-forward. I think spending more time living “in the moment” will help. Not being wistful for time passed; not being anxious of what’s to come; just being. Wish me luck. It’s so much harder than simply typing it out.
A few of my photo favorites from October:
- bird. boy. bird.
- Autumnroad blur
- best friends…
- Soft Fall
- Getting On A Plane
- view from my bicycle ….
- untitled
- Pumpkin carving movie night ….
- Into the woods.
- Today is one of those days ….
** it might also help if i cut back on my arcade fire “melancholy and the infinite danciness” habit
image at top taken outside baileys home & garden on october 26 / jane potrykus
a.mag issue 04
My discovery of architect Vincent Van Duysen happened in a roundabout fashion. First, I fell for his austere (but beautiful) wooden bowl for When Objects Work at Maison et Objet. Then, I stumbled across a T Magazine piece featuring his Antwerp home. That led me to the Van Duysen website + its rabbit-hole-for-the-minimalist portfolio. Thames Hudson published a Van Duysen monograph in 2010, but the printed reference guide I’m determined to get my hands on is issue 04 of A. Magazine, devoted entirely to Van Duysen. (My love of Van Duysen’s aesthetic is shared by Dana Tomic Hughes, an Australian interior designer whose blog, Yellowtrace, served as my source for the images below.) As my life in London feels mostly chaotic, I find Van Duysen’s austere approach to interiors calming and inspiring. As I get older, “less is more” feels increasingly apt.
atria
kitchen
bedroom
image credits: a.mag cover photo from adotmag.com; van duysen interior photos by manolo yllera, via yellowtrace.com.au
There’s something about the first cool days of fall that makes me want to fire up the oven and bake a batch of cookies. As I’ve felt off my game since moving to the land of metric, I decided to take a French Pastry class over the weekend, in hopes that it would a) get me more comfortable with cooking in celsius and grams and b) motivate me to start using our London kitchen. Pictured above are the fruit tartlets I made (the class covered tartelets, financiers and choux puffs: a perfect mix). To keep the momentum going, I’m lucky to have two new baking books to refer to:
bertinet pastry
excerpt from “pastry”
Bertinet Pastry: Richard Bertinet’s book will serve not only as the “missing manual” for my weekend class but as a full-range pastry master class I can tackle at my leisure. From sausage rolls to savory tarts to chouqettes to tartes Normandes (pictured on the cover): it’s all here. The author’s acclaimed Bertinet Kitchen in Bath (west of London) offers a full range of classes for those ready to venture beyond the “101” level, and there’s a Bertinet Bakery, too, in case all you want to do is tame your sweet tooth. While Bertinet Pastry was first published in the UK in 2012; the fall 2013 edition, from Chronicle Books, was revised to reflect US weights and measures.
butter baked goods
excerpt from “butter”
Butter Baked Goods: is there anything more tempting than a pastry shop, awash in frosting and pretty pastels? Not for me, and I’m a crazy fangirl for Vancouver’s Butter Baked Goods. It’s rare that I can leave Dean & Deluca without a package of their perfectly packaged, delicious marshmallows, and a stop at Butter was a must when my family visited Vancouver. As such, I’ve been eagerly anticipating owner Rosie Daykin’s just-published book: the recipes cover the range of Butter’s nostalgic menu, including muffins, cakes, cookies, and yes, the marshmallow recipe. The book is beautifully photographed, and serves not only as a lovely souvenir of my visit, but as a way to bring a little “Butter” to the UK.
image credits: tarts photo by jane potrykus; bertinet from chroniclebooks; butter baked goods from butterbakedgoods.com excerpts from both books photographed by jane potrykus
** advance copies of the books were provided at my request. no promise of editorial coverage was given.
magnolia man
As a long-time fan of Laura Stoddart‘s elegant yet quirky illustration style, I’m thrilled that she is now offering a range of limited-edition giclée prints in two sizes: the smaller print measures 14.5×19 cm, and the larger option is 19×28 cm. I’ve always thought her artwork was meant to be framed and dipslayed, yet could never bring myself to cut up one of her books to do so.
storm in a tea cup
keeping cool
Plus, happy news for Laura Stoddart fans in the States! Hester & Cook is about to launch a line of Laura Stoddart Kitchen Papers with a chair theme including notecards, gift wrap, place cards, and coasters (and more). A sneak peek is pictured below, but keep checking the Hester & Cook website** as they’ll be available shortly.
notecards (l) and gift wrap (r)
images of prints courtesy of laura stoddart. hester & cook diptych images courtesy of hester & cook.
** hester & cook will ship internationally: if interested, please email sales(at)hesterandcook.com for a quote.
