Inspiration & Happiness

These pearls of wisdom - we hope - might be the key to the aforementioned; worth pondering about, if only to feel a touch more in peace with oneself...

Source: tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

In a Happy Mood

One cannot look at those illustrations without at least raising a smile; a smile is not only the most positive form of communication, it is also the most contagious, a smiling face brings another smiling face, and such expression involves less muscles than a frown, that's a sure win-win situation!

Sources (from top down): (1) 'Elephant' by Bob Daly Illustration, (2) 'The Pink Hat' by Paul Hartley (1957), (3) 'Hello Earl' by Orange You Lucky (Helen Dardik), and (4) 'Birthday Girl' by Ellen Giggenbach.

Modern Technologies in Retro Packages

Self-confessed "tortured artist, rogue scientist and international playboy" Alex Varanese is on a mission: to revisit the late 1970s with four staples of our modern-day technology, MP3 player, laptop computer, mobile phone and hand-held video game system, taken through a digital once-over with a resolute 1970s resonance; the kitsch optical twist and the copy tone lend a futuristic connection to the past by taking it off a tangent, almost like a visionary reinterpretation of vintage without complacency, which makes it a compelling project in a crazy professor sort of way!

Source: All illustrations by Alex Varanese, and part of his (1) 'ALT/1977: We Are Not Time Travelers' 14-piece series project; (2) ALT/1977 Pocket Hi-Fi print ad, (3) ALT/1977 LapTron 64 print ad, (4) ALT:1977 MobileVoxx print ad, and  (5) ALT:1977 Microcade 3000 print ad.

Cut & Paste with Hollie Chastain

Chattanooga collage artist Hollie Chastain gives vintage scraps of paper and old book covers a second life, whilst playing on their natural imperfections (scratches, marks, discolourations and even scribbles and doodles from the original owners!) to give her artwork depth, substance, uniqueness and a certain rawness too; in her own words, "The subject of the piece is often influenced by the materials as opposed to building around a sketch or idea".

Source: Respectively (1) 'After School' (giclée art print), (2) 'Gilbertville Public Library I' (giclée art print), (3) 'Adalyn's Party Trick 1' (art print), (4) 'That Thursday Evening' (art print) and (5) 'Community Chorus' (giclée art print), all the above prints are available for purchase from Hollie's Etsy shop. Find out more from Hollie's website and blog. Meanwhile her work is also featured on Poster Cabaret.