September Obsessions: The photographer Kevin Russ, Giant Legos and Color Block Pillows

1. Kevin Russ prints on Society 6: I’ve followed iPhone photographer Kevin Russ on Instagram for years now.  He’s been on the road since 2012 and his images of traveling around this continent have been inspiring, enlightening and moving.   The people, stories and land he’s encountered on his trek are rooted in Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck and Tom Wolfe – it’s America (and our neighbors to the North and South) looking sometimes beautiful, sometimes dirty and sometimes poetic.  There’s sadness and beauty wrapped up in a lot of his photo’s and I find that compelling.

   

   I keep seeing his work pop up now in retail stores like Urban Outfitters and the online shop, One King’s Lane.  He also sells his work on Society 6.  I’m really excited to buy a couple of prints – I just can’t make up my mind.  I’ve done that silly thing where I put things in the shopping cart and then think about them for a week or so.  If you have the time – watch his Photo Storytelling: On the Road with Kevin Russ session – it’s fantastic.

2. EverBlocks:  These are life-size Lego-style blocks – you can build shelves, coffee tables, beds – all kinds of things out of them.  I just specified some Ever Block shelves for a client’s play room and I’m really excited about seeing them in place.  For a certain person I could even imagine an Ever Block coffee table looking really cool.

   

3. Color Block Pillows:  In particular – color block pillows by Jillian Rene.  They have a crisp, modern look that really appeals to me.  There’s a lot of shaggy bohemianism out there right now and, although I do love that look, I’m feeling drawn to the preppy, Jackie-O vibe that these pillows exude.
   

4. Books:

I loved The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah, even though I was sometimes put off by the main characters who didn’t always ring true to me.   I found it to be an incredibly moving story about two sisters in Nazi occupied France.  Once the real story began, the book became incredibly hard to put down.  I thought a lot about the events that happened to put Hitler into power and the hatred and fear of a population that he tapped into.  The anger of a group that feels itself “outside” should not be underestimated.

The other book that I really loved this month was The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell.  Yes – there are zombies in this book and it’s gruesome at times (but so is The Nightingale) yet it manages to be beautiful and poetic.  The narrator is a 15 year old girl who travels through a brutal, violent world.  I found it a really moving, honest novel about what it means to be human and this is one I also keep thinking about.

What’s on your reading list these days?  Any artists to share?  I’d love to hear from you!