If you thought it was impossible for something to be too pretty too eat, you may reconsider after taking a gander at the luxury line of cakes and cookies at Maggie Austin Cake in Washington, DC. Maggie LaBaugh, the veritable mastermind behind the whole operation, was a former classical ballet dancer who now runs a custom cake design shop that will literally make your jaw drop. Maggie draws on her earlier training to create exquisite confections using clean lines, classic simplicity, and sheer elegance. She employs a strong artistic structure taking inspiration from famous sculptures, painting movements and even the realm of haute couture.

Recently, this patissier extraordinaire debuted a range of fine art cookies in four collections: Impressionist, Bauhaus, Art Nouveau and Botanical that utilize edible markers and stunning food colouring to recreate unbelievably real, edible masterpieces. And if you thought that the flavours must be overlooked with so much focus on the design, then think again. These sugar and fondant trimmings are draped over layers of double chocolate espresso cake with Seville oranges and buttercream to name but one example. Welcome to the new age of pastry.

SPONSOR

People travelling across the USA-Canada border (near Vancouver) might catch a glimpse of a newly erected billboard that advertises ‘clean air’. Created by Lead Pencil Studio, and funded by the US government, this creative piece is made from stainless steel rods, framing the clean air of Blaine, Washington.

Held in the beautiful Glenworth Valley, just an hour north of Sydney, the Peats Ridge Festival runs for 3 days over New Years. It’s NSW’s largest music/camping festival. We have a double pass to give away to a randomly selected LAEM subscriber who leaves a note under this post with the act you’re most looking forward to seeing perform there.

This year organisers of the event will be capping ticket numbers to maintain the intimate vibe Peats Ridge has become known for. So get in fast to purchase tickets or, if you’re lucky, you could win one for yourself and a friend here! Valued at over $600.

2010 line-up includes: Angus & Julia Stone, Trentemøller (Live) [DENMARK], Built to Spill [USA], Freestylers [UK], Shout Out Louds [SWEDEN], Born Ruffians [CAN], Lightspeed Champion [UK], PVT, Washington, Cloud Control, Freq Nasty [UK], Space Invadas and more.

Spontaneous, loose and moody, like a hurricane blasting through an art supply store, the work of Washington artist Garric Simonsen is just a little Basquiat — with droll humor mixed up and splattered all over a canvas. I can’t help but chuckle at titles like Damn I Just Ruined My Best Shirt and Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.

I Want You is a cool limited print edition, quarterly art magazine published and designed by the Dumb Eyes design studio in Seattle, Washington, Published in a beautiful, full-color, large format and expanded online, each page of the print edition consists of an image from a series of the featured artist’s work and a url that leads you to their profile on the I Want You website. [Illustration by Izzie Klingels]

SPONSOR

More often than not, internet-only hip hop mix tapes are released by wannabe rappers whose lyrics and delivery are derivative and uninspired, and who’ll never get enough weight behind them for a full length release. 24 year-old Washington MC Wale Folarin is different. Mixed by one of New York’s best hip hop DJs, Nick Catchdubs, and produced by 9th Wonder and Mark Ronson (who signed Wale in 2007 to his Allido label), his latest offering Back To The Feature solidifies Wale as a confident, engaging lyricist with a true talent for cross-genre appropriations.

A third of the way through ‘Back To…’, Wale recalls the hype surrounding his previous release, saying he never intended to make what critics named “the mix tape of the year … the monumental mix tape of the moment”, but just wanted to release his raps. By borrowing other musician’s tunes and making them his own, Wale’s post-modern approach celebrates the wonderful immediacy of online mix tape culture, being the best method for fans to access their favourite artists’ music as quickly as possible without costing anyone a cent.

After collaborations with Jean Grae and Lady Ga Ga, sponsorship deals with Nike, Stussy and 10 Deep, and praise from everyone Rolling Stone Magazine to The New York Times, Wale is one of the shining stars of contemporary independent hip hop whose talent and crossover appeal is sure to rocket him to superstardom.

Garrett Miller is a designer and artist living in Washington, DC. His mostly digital work ‘explores ideas of innocence and adventure’. By his own admission, he uses his website as a way to vent his ‘inner immaturities while working a day job as a corporate shill’.