artists 101 - the architectural geometry of toronto by kinnon elliott

 

 all images by kinnon elliott illustration:

TD Towers | Toronto City Hall | Palmerston Branch

| St. Jamestown Branch| Sharp Centre for Design, OCAD University

| Beaches Branch |Uno Prii Apartment Building

 

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good golly i love the geometric stellar-ness of kinnon elliott's architectural illustrations: the "Toronto's My Home ... and I'll Be Here All Weekend Long" series. love how the art showcases the designerly lines of one of my favourite cities. so very wonderful! and all those fabulous city libraries highlighted? fantastic!

which artists are you loving these days, nicies?  

check out all of the artists 101 stars so far: 

alex steinweiss 
noriko ambe
lucky jackson 
taylor holland 
shigeru ban 

jeanette johns

emily barletta 

 

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your red carpet stylist looks revealed!

tessa charms in ...

harem royal + onor

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lori looks lovely in... 

koshenn + art affect

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jenn's ready to party in...

drift gifts + KVadenDesigns

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saigewisdom looks stunning in ... 

dress +  davie and chiyo

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good heavens ... you beauties look gorgeous!

so move over hollywood starlets!

zillion-dollar designer outfits have nothing on our amazing handmaking community!

i asked you to join me again this season on the RED CARPET at the Toronto International Film Festival  (shield your pretty eyes from the blinding paparazzi flash bulbs, cuties!) .. so now you can join me in oohing and aahing at today's handmade & vintage TIFF looks!

thanks again so much to everyone who played.
sorry i couldn't include everyone this time around. but you all look STUNNING!
so yay to handmade + vintage!

& how lucky your celebrity dates are escorting you!

see you at the *afterparties*, cutiepies.

and have a glamorous, megawatt-smile weekend, nicies, whether your strutting your stuff on the red carpet or dancing in your kitchen doing dishes!

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nihan looks lovely in...

design by nihan + noxhyde

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art dress style + radlana

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isn't Mrunmayee lovely in...

gaia conceptions + valley girl designs

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itchin' stitchin charms in...

river of romansk + sunshine and carousels

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missy is glamorous in... 

  paranoire + mclaineo

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maya epler steals the show with ...

sophia clothing +  nataliaraya

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handmade sister cities { part 7 } : chicago, illinois, USA & toronto, ontario, canada!

row one

designsbyamber : toronto

device : toronto

lepapierstudio : chicago

row two

pigeonprints : chicago

essimar : chicago

diffractionfiber : chicago

PrettyRaccoon : toronto

row three

Countessa : chicago

truche : chicago

DavidChouDsn : toronto

avrilloreti : toronto

row four

joojooland: toronto

Middleburg: chicago

minouette: toronto

ColetteC: toronto

row five

Countessa: chicago

KarlaWheelerDesign: chicago

Jujie: toronto

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oh how i've always loved the idea of sister cities.
two great places, joined over sea & sky by the idea of common cultural & commercial ties.

this rikrak studio series explores 2 official sister cities @ a time,
and some of the handmaking lovelies that they share!
i've done a bit of research to find official sister cities, and love seeing what handmakers are up to there! be sure to visit the other handmade sister cities posts here.

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handmade sister cities { part 7 }

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chicago, illinois, USA & toronto, ontario, canada

delightfully, the family rikrak has just moved very close to the wonderful city of toronto! we're so excited about this, for so many reasons, among them, the fabulous array of arts & cultural happenings in this fair fair city!

so today, while i update my own co-ordinates {changing my shop & twitter locale to toronto - ish seems surreal!}  i thought i'd showcase some of my new handmaking neighbours from toronto, and pair them with one of toronto's official sister cities, the great handmaking city of chicago, illinois.

i think these two supercities are well paired: 

when i think of both, they evoke the thoughts of great museums & galleries, a fabulous array of diverse & delicious gastronomic superstars, and wonderful places to embrace diversity, champion uniqueness and celebrate community!

so yay to toronto & chicago for that!

have you been to either/both of these handmade sister cities? 

tell us your favourite parts/neighbourhoods/delights/sights!
we'd love to hear!

happy handmaking, toronto & chicago!
 

ps: a fabulous $40 gift certificate giveaway with simple joys paperie ends on the blog tomorrow! hurry!

and 

pps: just a couple more days to win a shopping spree giveaway where you can CHOOSE from over 200+ participating ETSY shops! woohoo!

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caribana : the handmade parade

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handmade costumes come alive here in toronto
this weekend for the fabulous Caribana festival.

ever been to a fun costumed street parade?
i think i'd go in peacock blue & red!

what would your dream costume look like?

what's your favourite costume you've ever made/worn?

have a most vivid weekend, lovelies!

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images:

@ThetaState's photostream

paulsveda's photostream

EduardoZ's photostream

FeverSky's photostream

scotiabank_cariban a's photostream

EduardoZ's photostream

Jason Prini's photostream

Mega3000's photostream

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* a free all-night contemporary art thing *

isn't that a great title?

i love it.

that's the by-line to toronto's wonderful *nuit blanche*, the annual sunset to sunrise celebration of contemporary art. with over 500 artists transforming the city this weekend, i'm so in LOVE with the many wonderful wonderful projects happening there.

last year's Project Blinkenlights' STEREOSCOPE installation @ toronto's city hall captured my imagination as the tale of it's amazing interactive art in architecture multimedia show wowed me and everyone who saw it live or on the internet! it amazed me, for many reasons, one of which was that anyone who wanted to could play classic computer games on the 2 facades of city hall from their mobile phone!!!

oh heavens! wouldn't that be fun?! ( you can watch a video of it here... careful.. it's fun and noisy!)

and this year, toronto city hall will again be transformed for D. A. Therrien's Beautiful Light: 4 LETTER WORD MACHINE light installation! goodness.. isn't that soooo fun! "the machine is capable of displaying nearly 4.94 billion distinct graphic combinations, facilitating the expression of any word in any language!"

goodness sakes!

going to nuit blanche in your own city?
ever been to one?
i've heard that 100s of cities around the world have one!
yay contemporary art!

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hokey dinah!

a gorgeous little glimpse, thanks to the onion on flickr.

{sorry, no usb cable to upload my own yet!}

hokey dinah!

is there anything better than a rockin' concert?

following on the heels of yesterday's *what i'm working on... * post, thought you might be keen to see what i was doing yesterday when i wasn't working

... that's right. DANCING!

@ the fabulous fabulous U2 360 show in toronto.

heavens to betsy... it was fantastic!

{a funfun little surprise bday gift from mr. rikrak! so fabulous!}

with the skydome (i refuse to call it rogers centre! it's the young growing-up-in-southern-ontario-an-in-the 90's-and-lovin'-the-blue-jays in me!) roof open, the stars blazing, 65000+ dancing fans, and with just about 10 folks between me & mr. rikrak and bono...

let's just say it was alllllll things wonderful.

my oh my!

{ and the handmade lover in me was lovin' bono's rockin' patchwork-y jacket! }

going to see any fun live music shows soon?

which one(s)!

and have a rockin' weekend, lovelies! {don't forget to enter my sponsors giveaway here. they're all rockin', too!}

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playlists: for canada day with darrin davis

i just love a great playlist. i think it stems back to those glorious mixed tapes days where i'd either make, sometimes receive and always always covet a fabulous collection of tunes by various great artists! *bliss!* ... so i've asked some wonderful artists if they'd make up a little playlist on a theme for this rikrak studio series. i thought we might get a glimpse into what musically inspires these fabulous folks... i'm thrilled to present the next in the series. today, on Canada Day, it's playlists: with my wonderful brother, darrin davis: my favourite songs by Canadians.

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records- screenprinted flat notes by heatherjeany

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dj: darrin davis
theme: my favourite songs by Canadians

Neil Young | Barstool Blues
Joni Mitchell | Case of You
Leonard Cohen | Diamonds in The Mine
Oscar Peterson | Canadiana Suite
Hank Snow | I’ve been Everywhere
The Band | Ophelia
The Foggy Hogtown Boys | Stomp of Approval
The Be Good Tanyas | The Littlest Birds
Mr. Something Something | Bike Power!
Brian Macmillan | Another Day
The Donefors | In A Cornfield
The Good Lovelies | Lie Down
Julian Fauth | Flying Crow
Carly and Mark | Where You Live

Other Great Canadian Artists I’ve been listening to this month:
Cindy Doire
Pamela Brennan
The Parkas
Lake of Stew
Jay Clark and the Jones
Diana Catherine
Sarah Burton

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Darrin writes: " I feel very blessed to have been brought up in a country so steeped in great music. Many of my favourite musicians are Canadians, and CBC radio is such a supportive place fostering so many strong talents. Having just recently toured the country for the 1st time, I can truly say that Canadian music lovers are an enthusiastic, loving bunch. (regardless of what Mr. Billy Bob Thorton may ramble on about.) And let’s not forget that the genre we now acquiesce to calling ‘Americana’ was actually created by 4 Canadian boys and their American drummer; a group called The Band. There’s an old wood and steel track running straight through from Hank Snow, to Joni Mitchell, to Oscar Peterson, to Mr. Something Something that connects this beautiful, diverse land with powerful stories, brilliant technical proficiency and funky, danceable rhythms. Happy Canada Day!"

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the strip performing live!

thanks so much, nicey!
i just love love love your canadiana playlist!

folks.. i've gotta tell you...
i just adore that wonderful brother of mine!

not only does that darrin davis has a fabulous ear for great music, (and has pretty much introduced me to at least 1/2 of the wonderful music i've come to love! otherwise i'd just be dancing away to my good old 80's tunes day & night!) ... but he's an amazing musician as well.

i've had the delightful pleasure of seeing his fabulous talent grow from first mastering the sax & guitar @ a very young age, to being such a proud sister as he shines with various bands. he just wows folks with his versatile array of instrumental prowess on a remarkable number of instruments, his fabulous voice, & his amazing songwriting!

darrin's fabulous album
(featuring some of his wonderful artwork, too! woohoo)

i'm so fortunate to have such a fabulous, talented, considerate, friendly, hilarious, handmaking-loving, great-encourager-of-a-brother & dearest friend in him! if you ever have the chance to meet darrin, you're a lucky lucky soul... he's fantastic!.. guaranteed! so torontonians: check here for upcoming show dates & go see him play! it's a great show!

his band, the strip, released their wonderful album last winter, & you can buy it here on indiepool. "fusing jazz, alt-country, folk and rock", it's a glorious listen & zoomed right to the top of the indie music charts! woohoo! so be sure to visit his band's myspace, too, for lots of fun listening! yay handmade music!

so yay to great brothers!
isn't handmade (& canadian!) music grand!
& happy canada day, lovelies.
hope it's filled with fabulous tunes!

::: lovelies: who are your favourite canadian musicians?
tell us! i'll try to include as many as i can in the follow up post! ::

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