Inside Amy Sol’s studio

WE'RE SUPPORTING

We love the work of Los Angeles-based artist James Jean, so we tracked him down for an interview: Your work is very dramatic and rich in narrative. From where does the initial seed of any idea generally come from? ‘It comes from a combination of conscious decision-making and deep rooted memories and desires. Sometimes I start with a very clear idea, but inspiration is rare — usually I’m working out ideas through little thumbnails that mysteriously evolve into their own stories’. Read more

WE'RE TRAVELLING TO

While I’m definitely not into the whole Lord of the Rings thing, I’m convinced Tolkien stole his inspiration from Göreme, in Turkey’s central Cappadocia region. After a mammoth volcanic eruption around 2,000 years ago, the landscape eroded to form a series of valleys, filled with peculiar, phallic-shaped tufts that the locals call ‘fairy chimneys’. Early Christians hollowed out the tufts and turned them into houses, churches and monasteries. These days, most of them are still in use and a few have been converted into cute hotels and hostels. If you’re not too claustrophobic, I’d highly recommend doing the hobbit thing and spending a night in one.

WE'RE WEARING

Goodone is a UK-based sustainable fashion label who design and produce innovative, one-off clothing made from hand-picked, locally-sourced, recycled fabrics.

WE'RE THINKING

Ze Frank’s iconic videoblog may be long dead, but he’s been plugging away, filling his little corner of the interweb with awesome stuff. His latest invention is a little voice-based face drawing toy that creates lines that differenciate according to the volume of the user’s voice.

WE'RE READING

Ok, so maybe it’s the extra-strong Brooklyn coffee I’m drinking or perhaps its that the pine coated goodness of Christmas is well and truly in the air, but I’m kinda excited this morning as my wife has just launched her website, Feature Shoot, which is a resource for photo editors, art directors, industry professionals, and pretty much anyone who appreciates good photography. It’s a great way to discover new photographic talent and the website is already bursting with interviews with up-and-coming American photographers alongside that of established photographers who have completed a project or whose work has taken on a new direction.

Rarely is a film politically poignant as well as wonderfully written, acted and shot. The second feature from director Kimberly Peirce of Boys Don’t Cry was inspired by her brother, who joined the army, and was only possible after months of meticulous research. Read more

WE'RE LISTENING TO

Lush was one of the best bands to come out of the indie-tastic early ’90s. They set the standard for shoegazey, ethereal pop from the British Isles, and they were about to break big with their 1996 album Lovelife before drummer Chris Acland hanged himself in his parents’ home. The band is a bit of a forgotten gem at this point. Let’s cross our fingers for a reunion.