Debi van Zyl

2008-07-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

My parents just returned from a visit to Vancouver, where we used to live. Their photos reminded me of just how beautiful it is up there. My new fantasy is to find some land on the B.C. coast and build a little house. And this is what my kitchen storage would look like.

{from Marie Claire Maison, November 2006}

2008-07-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

a wee update:
I killed my computer. Completely by accident and very severely.

It's a sad story and it means that these days I am not on the internet long enough to update the blog.

Will be back as soon as the new computer arrives... or when I can get some internet moments.

2008-07-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

Colors see when I look up from my computer.

I've confined myself to a very limited space for photo taking today. Since I'm still in major procrastination mode (but trying to push through) so this was all I would let myself do. I get distracted too easily.

And actually... these colors are very inspiring... to me. Other people might need sunglasses to help with the shock of color, but sometimes, the brighter the better.

2008-07-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

Procrastination can have some good outcomes.

To avoid some of the work I have to do, I did some long overdue dusting on the shelf above my desk... now I can proudly show off my legs.

And I finally planted my up in the air somewhere water tower.

Suppose I should get back to work now....

..... . .. .... . . .. . . .. . .. . . .

{a few minutes later}

well... I didn't go back to work. Instead I began stacking some dimensional type... for absolutely no reason; getting the 'g' and 'F' and 'r' to balance each other took up some nice valuable time that I will curse myself for having wasted later on tonight.

Now I'm banning myself from my camera for the rest of the afternoon!

See you tomorrow :)

2008-07-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

I have been using a lot of Letraset and other dry transfer lettering lately, and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. I adore letter transfers. The nostalgia... the imperfection... I love Letraset like I love Polaroid.

During architecture school I coveted this stuff. These days I riffle through the little metal drawers at art supply stores around town and see what lovely stock they have left. And then I find myself buying sheets of type that I know I will never use because it's too pretty... by the time I actually do decide to use it, it's too brittle; major heart break.

I have some very sad Letraset love stories. But it's better to have loved than not at all, right? Is that how the saying goes?

........ . ... . . . .. . . . . .... . . . . ..

p.s. This blog turned one year old over the weekend. Hip Hip Hooray!

p.p.s. I think the above type is actually from Chartpak... but I can't be sure.

2008-07-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

I finally framed the little Ogden 'Optical Illusions' cigarette cards that I bought on Ebay earlier this year. I opted for a backless frame so that I can still read the explanations on the back of the cards of how and why our eyes and brains try to convince each of other of different things.

2008-07-09T06:44:00.001-07:00

I am overflowing with dimensional type. I'm not complaining though... I love all my letters, I just need to clean up a bit.

2008-07-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Above: crease pattern for an origami lobster.

I almost didn't believe it myself. How does this pretty constellation of circles and lines transform into a lobster of all things?

It's just so pretty by itself...

{via The Institute for Figuring, online exhibit: Mathematical Paper Folding Exhibit}

2008-07-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to the flea market... little did we know that we would come home with some bizarre additions to the garden.

It seems that we have (uncharacteristically) entered the realm of owning garden ornaments: a vintage cast-iron rabbit with a bad paint job and a creepy concrete gnome with a drinking problem.

And of course a wonderfully strange plant to top things off.

Most often a trip to the flea market means coming home empty handed and disappointed at all the junk out there, but I must say that this weekend's trip was quite rewarding.

2008-07-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new project which entails going in a slightly different direction than I'm used to. Luckily, I am beyond excited. That said I am still trying to keep my heart rate in check... must have patience.

I'll post some updates as soon as there is anything worth showing.

2008-07-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

Introducing Gilberto... channeling his inner John Travolta.

2008-07-02T11:06:00.001-07:00

Today is a good day on the construction site. I'm trying to take as many photos of the process as possible... soon all this will be hidden, dressed in finish materials. The floors are being put in and the ceilings are coming to life.

2008-06-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Another beauty... what an incredible delicate structure.
I found this one Liivian's blog; always worth a good look.

2008-06-30T17:28:00.001-07:00

Again with the fabulous garland by Sofie Cuvelier. This time I imagine the installation with this song by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, which I have playing right now.

I haven't seen the movie to which this music belongs, so for now it just reminds me of little things fluttering in the wind... like pretty little white discs of paper on string.

2008-06-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about having a blog is that it actually forces me to make stuff. It's like a little match lighting my butt on fire... I want to make so many things and the list would be endlessly long had I not started a blog. Because I have a relatively short attention span and skip between ideas fairly frequently, I can pretty much be satisfied with having tried something at least once and move on. The wonderful thing is that if something really grabs me, I'll stick to it... like knitting the beasts.

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to make. Other times I don't and I just end up fiddling about with a material or idea until it becomes something.

And today I fiddled around. Well, to be honest, I was cleaning up my living room and got sick and tired of a small strip of cherry veneer that keeps unraveling and falling out of my "materials closet" and I decided that I had to either make something right then and there out of it or I had to get rid of it. I gave myself 5 minutes.

At first I was going to make some kind of bent-wood mobile, then it was going to try to make a lampshade, but lo and behold it turned out to be a plant cocoon-basket!

Actually I have no idea what it is. But I kind of sort of really like it :) I can imagine a whole wall of these little cocoon-baskets filled with little plants. This exercise of "make-something-out-of-it-or-get-rid-of-it" was fun... when I make another one I'll try to spend more than five minutes on it. Maybe the idea will stick.

2008-06-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Wish I could have spelled out the word summer with my little plaster letters. Though, on second thought, the peaches do a pretty good job at saying it's summer, no?

2008-06-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

Say hello to Beatrice and Harriette.

I'll be uploading some new beasts onto Etsy in a week or so. I've really been neglecting my Etsy life lately and I'm itching to re-stock the store with the fun little experiments I've been doing here and there.

So stay tuned!

2008-06-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is Nelson. He's a rather quiet fellow.

2008-06-16T20:03:00.001-07:00

One of the many things I love about Los Angeles is that airplanes have to turn around right over downtown for their descent into LAX. If you are downtown and simply look up, you get a great and relatively close view of the huge underbellies of these massive planes flying in from some international city.

I am still amazed that these huge airplanes even make it off the ground. I really could watch airplanes take off and land all day. Incidentally, another favorite spot in LA is literally right behind one of the runways right off at the intersection of Sepulveda and Lincoln Boulevards. There's a lovely little patch of grass and you can just lie on your back and look up.

Of course the airplanes in these images are barely noticeable... You'll just have to trust me on how large they seemed above my head :)

2008-06-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't characterize myself as being very musical and up until yesterday I couldn't read a note to save my life. But I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. So yesterday I bought a guitar. Just like that: I walked into the store and bought one and walked out. Crazy.

I have been 'talking the talk' for a while now, having wanted to learn to play but never doing anything about it. And now I have no excuse. It's a relief actually.

I'm happy to report so far so good. It is hard though... for me at least; my hands and brain don't really seem wired for this, but that is what I said about knitting when I first started, so we'll see. Despite looking awfully serious, I'm really enjoying this. It's great fun to learn something new.

My repertoire includes 'Ode to Joy' and 'Jingle Bells'.... I'm sure those around me will want to strangle me pretty soon :)

2008-06-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am a morning person. And actually a night person too. So coffee is very important to me.

I first saw the Chemex on Sprink and fell in love with the shape and was completely convinced that I had to have one. Then this past weekend in NY I got my first taste of Chemex brewed coffee and the first thing I did when I got to LA was buy one for myself.

This morning is a sweet one.

2008-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I am not quite sure who or what this little guy is exactly... I made him when I was in Amsterdam in February and only just recently put his little face on.

Something's a little off with him, I like him, but he needs something else... a tail? a nose? a neck-tie? I don't know.... a work in progress I guess.

I'll be posting some more the latest knitting experiments soon. I got some knitting done while I was in Honduras but not nearly as much as I had hoped. All those sneaky hammocks literally took over my life. And I'm telling you, it's not easy lying about and knitting in a hammock :)

2008-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

A last batch of photos from Roatan.

We had hammocks strung up outside our room and rocking chairs. My 5 days of nothing were really lovely, exactly what I needed... just swinging in the wind and looking out at the ocean and all the greenery.

.... . .. . .. .. . ... . . .

And so... I'm back in Los Angeles now, thoroughly refreshed and entirely mosquito bitten.

2008-06-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

I like the building we are staying in. I like that it has this great colorful front side, concrete patio with hammocks, bright red benches and aqua walls.

The backside has not been given the same treatment, but I like it equally. Plants and moss find every crevice and thrive. I like how the building shows the signs of weathering; it makes is look wiser.

One thing I was surprised by is how many buildings are built out of concrete. There are a lot of made of wood and are on stilts, which I expected; the mossy, crumbly concrete structures I did not. But I like it this way too. I image these buildings been taken over completely some day by the plants that surround it.

2008-06-01T16:45:00.000-07:00

We weathered the storm and we got to Honduras safely.

This is where I was all day. I did nothing. I can't tell you how long it has been since I did that.

And I have 5 more days to go.