Charming Monsters

This one’s for all you pirate guys & gals, a sweetly sad little sea shanty about love and loss among the pirates (well, the gay ones). Not very frilly, but still adorable!

One of my new favorite illustration & fashion blogs is Fashion From Old People, wherein two fabulous artists (Emily Carroll and Vera Brosgol) dish up their interpretations of historical fashions and the ladies who might have worn them. The fashions run the gamut from Rococo and Victoriana through 1950s retro, with a link back to the reference photo of the dress that inspired the drawing. It’s not quite lolita fashion, but it’s all-around lovely and well worth checking out!

(found via Drawn.ca)

Amazing series of NYC dance photographs shot by Jordan Matter, featuring members of the Paul Taylor and Martha Graham Dance Companies in contemporary urban settings. Full set is online here; it’s an ongoing project, so it’s probably worth checking out the site every few months.

From the artist statement:

I began to photograph these dancers as everyday people. In the photographs they are away from the stage, yet they cannot leave dance behind. As they go about their daily routines, they do so as dancers. This speaks to the power of a passionate life; if you’re fully invested in something, it is always with you.

[via kottke.org]

Sayaka Kajita Ganz makes art from the debris of industrial society. In her words,

For my sculptures I use plastic utensils, toys and metal pieces among other things. I only select objects that have been used and discarded. The human history behind these objects gives them life in my eyes. My goal is for each object to transcend its origins by being integrated into an animal form that seems alive. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist.

In my words: AWESOME.

[found via accidental mysteries]

Some very cool designs from Unique Art Pendants on Etsy – their work is much more creative than their store name!

Ouija Board wrist cuff. Ideal for mediums on the go, or whenever you might have an unexpected need to communicate with the dead.

Zoltar the Fortune Teller pendant, complete with miniature fortunes to hand out! The designer sells replacement fortunes, although you could also have fun coming up with your own horrible predictions.

They also have a series of octupus, tentacled and other squidly designs, like pretty much every other indie designer these days. (which is not to disparage our future cephalopod overlords, just that the whole tentacle trend is feeling a bit overdone these days.)