Guest blog / Julia Black: Art and fashion

Julia Black: I’m not going to pretend to be an art connoisseur by any means, but I do believe I know what I like, and I definitely like the work of Michael Adamson. I came across one of his fantastic oil-on-canvas abstract paintings at a weekend brunch at Holt Renfrew's swank Holt’s Café in Toronto, a few Tweets later (thanks to the Twitterverse!) and I'd tracked him down. Michael studied at the prestigious Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and, since then, has been exhibiting in Toronto, New York, London and Tokyo. Now based in Toronto, his passionate work explores vigorous textures and magnificent colours, but, I thought it best to get Michael's inspiration in his own words, “ever changing confluences of art history, social actualities and (my) personal life”. Complex, thoughtful, and undeniably beautiful, take a look below at a snap of his breathtaking large-scale work (it's 50' long and 8' high and was created with artist, Nicole Katsuras) in situ at Holt Renfrew, as well as a piece called Far Shore, and you'll see what I mean. Now, I have to convince my friends to allow me back into the brunch circle because it seems I was rather absent from our table conversation!

To read more posts from Julia click here, and click here to check out her cool blog.

Guest blog / Julia Black: Old school movie style

Julia Black: Ever since I can remember the Oscars® have been somewhat of a religious holiday for me, and every year I start counting down the days way before the spectacular event. Of course all the award shows leading up to the Oscars are also scribbled into my agenda, and the most recent ceremony, on the 21st of February, was the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. Checking into the BAFTA's I discovered illustrator and graphic designer extraordinaire, Tavis Coburn. Tavis was commissioned to design the program covers of the five Best Film nominees, and he brought each film to life in his brilliant retro-style. I love his work, and how his inspiration - 1940s comic book art, the Russian avant-garde movement and printed ephemera from the 50s and 60s - informs his take on each film. Now, with his illustrations in mind, I am over-the-top excited for Sunday night! Oh, and btw, The Hurt Locker won Best Film at the BAFTA's! Click here to see more of Tavis Coburn's work, as well as his online store. [images via: Joey deVilla]

To read more posts from Julia click here, and to check out her cool blog click here.

Julia Black: Judging a book by its cover

I just love buying books! I love finding stunning hardbacks to put on display, dusty classics to refer to (or to remind myself to read someday), and style books that always inspire. Most especially I love buying books in the holiday season because they make a wonderful gift. So, when I discovered that Penguin had released a new classics collection of gorgeous clothbound books I knew I could check off tons of names on my gift list. A senior cover designer at Penguin, Coralie Bickford-Smith, has designed these beautiful book covers, and its her admiration for vintage printed ephemera that distinguishes her designs. Whether she uses literal or symbolic references to drive her work, the alluringly dramatic covers are the perfect reason to revisit and rediscover a bit of Jane Austen or Oscar Wilde. The only problem is choosing which title to buy, since they certainly are lovely as a set!

To read an interview with Coralie click here, to snap up the books at Indigo/Chapters click here and, if your a total bookophile check out Penguin's fun blog here. [Image 1: Liam Goodman via Vogue.com. Image 2 & 3: via Coralie Bickford-Smith]

For even more of Julia's point of view check out her cool blog here.