....k, so i'm impressed....

... this weekend I attended merge.... the grad show for the crafts and design program at Sheridan .

...it was pretty fucking amazing.... the amount of talent these guys have is way beyond what I expected it to be.... I must admit, I showed up to support a friend, who was in the show, but I came away with a long shopping list.... it's definitely one of those, "one day when I am a grown up with some disposable income" fantasy lists, but those are the best kind.... no?

And topping my list was Leslie Webb. This chick is one talented mofo.... The show was laid out so that the three pieces of each participant were scattered, and after a while you are too lazy to seek out the little white cards with the artist and piece info on it.... I mean, it was hotter than the seventh circle of hell the first time I went (complete with satanic nymph naked performance artists).... But, upon returning on a much quieter (and cooler) sunday afternoon, I found that all my favourite pieces were hers....

First on my "when I have a million dollars list" is this"

It's pretty much the coolest piece of furniture... and one day I am putting it in my awesome refurbished actual loft space (no newly built condo lofts please... i want wood and beam, old factory grime and awful plumbing.... com[plete with historic credibility and a sense of history please)... But I digress.. this hutch... which she has whimsically called Lainie (love it) has drawers and cd pulls and is both utilitarian and aesthetic (and for a girl, who, even in her wildest monetary dreams is still gonna be pretty broke, combining functionality with looking damn cool is pretty great)

Displayed directly in front of this in the gallery space at the Gladstone, where merge was held, was this really amazing rocking chair, called Linda Lou.... (i am starting to get the pattern of naming it all after chicks... I may be slow to start, but I really appreciate the quirky loveliness in it)

And the caning in the chair is totally echoed in the armoire/hutch/shelving thingy (definitely much easier and lovelier to call it Lainie, which I'm gonna) It's this little thing that just worked so great..... here are the pics of Linda Lou, so you can see for yourselves:

......awesome, no?

...I am in love with the "merging" of the old aesthetic of woven cane and the modern lines of this chair.... I am kind of a sucker for the material though... my childhood kitchen chairs were these huge rounded cane chairs. the feel and look of them recalls mountains of kraft dinner with ketchup, cereal that came with marshmallows in the box, chocolate millk, and the expectation of dessert following every meal.... how could that not work for anyone?

(ps... this entry drove me to look up my old kitchen chairs... as my mum is a designer, it is pretty safe that all my childhood furniture was designer, or designer replica... so surprise, surprise, the chair that i grew up spilling milk and juice all over is actually based on bentwood chairs originally designed by Michael Thonet, a german designer who pioneered the process of bentwood furniture.... which, coincidentally, I think is one of Leslie's biggest strengths....)

And, upon further investigation I found that this chick (we are returning to Leslie now) is not simply a one-trick pony... she didn't simply pull out her pieces worth anything and put them in the show... I think every girl I know can look forward to getting one of her kick ass tool cabinets.... totally aesthetically pleasing, and useful again.... (again, though, you ladies are gonna have to wait til I become extremely wealthy... as a side note, I am currently looking for a sugar daddy to tide me over til I make my own fortune, any one with any interesting leads is asked to leave a comment here, or simply dial the toll free number of 1.800.PAY.FO.ME)

Here's the tool cabinet:

So, keep your eye on this chick, when she gets uber-famous (as furniture designers are wont to do..... if you are avid readers of architectural digest, wallpaper, and other high-falutian periodicals) you can say 'I told you so"......