And You Thought Cassette Tapes No Longer Served a Purpose....

If you were to walk into my room right now you'd probably find about a hundred old cassette tapes from when I was younger just waiting to be thrown away (This isn't including the 200 cassette tapes my dad has in his music collection, and the other 200 hundred lying around in the basement).
I'm finding it hard to part with my tapes. I keep thinking, "What if they're worth something someday???" or "What if I want to show them to my kids??". I don't know if it's denial or nostalgia that keeps me holding on, but I keep trying to think of situations in which I would need them.
Then I stumbled across iri5.
Erika Iris Simmons (aka iri5) uses old, 2nd hand items to make art.
How brilliant.
I sat in awe looking at her art series titled "Ghost in the Machine" in which she took the tape from cassettes and used it to make magnificent portraits of some of my favorite musicians of all time. It's time for you to see for yourself...I'll let the tape do the talking...

(bob)

(jim)

(jimi)
(beatles)


Like what you see??? I knew you would. Feel free to check out more (and even buy something) here.

Barcelona

Barcelona was the first city we went to on our trip and OH MY GOD I literally don't have the space on my blog to upload all the amazing pictures that were taken. I feel like random Spain pictures will pop up here and there on future blog posts but for now these will have to do....ENJOY!

Gaudi's Park Guell...
.

Around the City...

La Sagrada Familia...

Stuff No One Told Me (Blog Recommendation)

It is so satisfying for me to find a really cool and unique blog to pass along. This blog is so fun, inspiring, and funny. Stuff No One Told Me (but I learned anyway) is a collection of pictures done by artist Alex Noriega from Barcelona, Spain. The rest is pretty self explanatory. Below are a few examples of some of my favorites...

See More Here.

(all artwork done by Alex Noriega)

Featured Artist

I just had to take a minute out of my work day to share the work of this wonderful artist that I heard about through my wonderful manager, Alex. His name is Roberto Bernardi...and here is some of his work...

(all pictures belong to www.robertobernardi.com)

Now I know all of you might be thinking, this is alright, some pretty cool photography, but what's the big deal?? Well, my friends, these are NOT photographs. They are actually OIL PAINTINGS! Now look at them again. Can you believe it? Many don't believe, but it is true!!! These are all oil paintings on canvas... and you can view more here.

Words on Walls

Let the Walls Speak for Themselves....

(None of those photos were taken by me. All content belongs to http://wordsonwalls.tumblr.com)

PANCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who knew breakfast could be so inspiring? As someone who grew up with a mom who always made pancakes, this site put her pancakes to shame. Jim's Pancakes is a site dedicated a dad who makes different style pancakes for his daughter.
"My name is Jim and I like to make pancakes for my Daughter, Allison. She seems to like them, but, being 3 I don’t think she really cares too much."
These pancakes are so amazing that I would consider them edible works of art. I have included a few sample pictures below. Please visit his site for more!

(all pictures belong to Jim)

Fine Art Photography

Oh my GOD. I came across these photos and I could not get over how strikingly beautiful they all were. Before you look any further, I CAN NOT take credit for these photographs (although I wish I could). Something about the colors brought me to a different place. I will absolutely keep this artist in mind when it comes time to decorate my own place. Please visit his etsy shop to view more....
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bomobob?ref=seller_info






(all images belong to bomobob)

Music + Typography

I have recently discovered this artist who creates posters from song lyrics. If you know me, then you know how much I love music. There are lyrics from Bob Dylan, U2, Jay-Z, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and many more. I cannot wait to have my own house to decorate my walls with posters like the one above!
Please see this link for more!
http://www.musicphilosophy.co.uk/

A Love Like That

(This picture was not taken by me.)