Pop Artist - Paul Oz

Images (c) Paul Oz

CO9Cloud love the work of pop artist Paul Oz.

Paul's portfolio is wide ranging, from Yoda and Spider Man to celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and Fifty Cent. Our favourite is his portrait
of Dot Cotton (seriously - you must check it out!).

As Paul put's it "I'm perhaps not a textbook artist - my entire aim is for visual impact, to capture characters in a unique way that blows your socks off and to illicit a response something along the lines of 'woooohhhhaaa!'. The beauty of creating portraits is that each one could mean absolutely everything or nothing at all to you..... but everyone has an idol, mentor, someone they’re a massive fan of or indeed love... its an absolute honour to be asked to
immortalise them all in paint."

Amongst his many accolades, he was commissioned and officially licensed by Bruce Lee Enterprises to commemorate what would have been Lee's 70th birthday in November 2010. Each of the 70 limited edition prints have been signed by Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon.

The Mr Tickle piece above is the first of 10 Mr Men pieces destined for a Selfridges' Oxford Street Store Show in July for their 40^th Birthday.

To see more of Paul's work, please check out his website HERE and please find further contact details below.

Fungi Lamps

Photographs (c) Andreas Kowalewski

We love these unique Fungi Lamps by German designer Andreas Kowalewski.

Photographs (c) Andreas Kowalewski

The lamps are made out of a nylon webbing, bonded together. Andreas explains that "with their unconventional construction, each lamp silhouette shows literally a gradual growth like a tree and reveals traces of imperfection of the process."

Photographs (c) Andreas Kowalewski

With a Masters in Industrial Design from Folkwang University, Essen, Andreas Kowalewski is now based in Amsterdam where he works for PHILIPS Design.

To see more of Kowalewski's work, please find his site HERE

How to look when you cook! Aprons by The Hip Hostess

Images (c) The Hip Hostess

We adore these stylish aprons, designed and made by The Hip Hostess.

Incorporating flattering shapes, gorgeous fabrics and trims, these are sure to be very popular with ladies who like to look good at all times.

Images (c) The Hip Hostess

Made from 100% high quality cotton, these chic aprons would make a lovely gift or would look great on waitresses in a cool cafe or restaurant.

Images (c) The Hip Hostess

To see the full range and to read more of The Hip Hostess's story, please check out their site HERE . You can also meet the lovely Hip Hostess on Twitter @TheHipHostess

Happiness = Shoes, Handbags and Cake

We're having a ladies day here at CO9Cloud and think these stunning creations by Kathy Dvorski Cakes beautifully incorporate all those luxuries we adore... shoes, handbags and cake!

Images (c) Kathy Dvorski Cakes

As well as these speciality cakes, Kathy also designs and makes gorgeous mini cakes, cupcakes and wedding cakes.

The gallery on her site is extensive and the collection of previous designs are all wonderful. Please do have a browse through her site which you can find HERE

Images (c) Kathy Dvorski Cakes

Kathy Dvorski Cakes ... "design and make cakes from scratch using only the finest ingredients available and proudly serve Toronto and the GTA. Commitment to uncompromising quality and service is our number one priority".

Eva Solo Coffee Maker

We guys at CO9Cloud are 100% coffee addicts and therefore are seriously excited by this original design by Tools Design for Eva Solo.

Images (c) Eva Solo

Simply put ground coffee beans directly into the glass flask. Fill with boiling water and stir. Insert the filter and serve the coffee directly from the flask after brewing for four minutes. The neoprene cover keeps the coffee warm for 30 minutes and the coffee maker is drip free.

Tools Design was founded in 1989 by designers Claus Jensen and Henrik Holbæk. A couple of decades on and with more than 200 international design awards to their name, Tools Design is one of Denmark’s leading design firms.

Eva Solo is an exclusive Danish design collection of cutting-edge everyday objects for the home. Simplicity, distinct lines and a high degree of functionality characterise the products in the collection. Please visit their site HERE to see all their stunning pieces.

Enlightenment by Kumiko S. McKee

We love this oil painting by contemporary artist Kumiko S. McKee. Entitled "Enlightenment" it is part of her Noh Mask Series.

To see more of McKee's work, please visit her site HERE

A table you won't mind the kids drawing on!

For the young artists in your family, a table that they

are actually allowed to draw on!

Made with a durable chalkboard surface and with a bowl in the center for chalks and erasers, we think this would be a big hit with any

pint-sized budding artist!

We spotted this at The Modern Shop which you

can visit HERE

Need a hat for the wedding of the year?

With the Royal Wedding, Ladies Day at Ascot and many other fabulous Spring / Summer events coming up, we were excited to come across milliner company, "Milli Starr", who design and make gorgeous fascinators and hats!

The company was established in 1999 by founding milliner, Laura Del Villaggio, whose love of vintage clothing and accessories from a young age inspired her to study History and Apparel Design in Austin, Texas, followed by Museum Studies: Costume and Textiles at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

If you like the pieces featured above, be sure to check out more

of their work by visiting her site HERE

Light Harmony

Light Harmony is a family run business based in Shropshire. They were concerned about the abundent use of toxic paraffin candles and wanted to find a non-toxic alternative

that is safe to burn and enjoy. Hey presto - the soya bean wax candle!

Light Harmony hand make and hand pour these beautiful eco-friendly candles from soya bean wax which is not only from a renewable and sustainable source (soya beans!) but also burns cleaner and much longer than ordinary paraffin scented candles. Unlike paraffin candles, they also produce a lot less soot, are non toxic, non carcinogenic, free from pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified materials.

To learn more please visit their site HERE or find them on Twitter @lightharmony

Meet Cecil! Lighting by Alex Féthière

Photographs (c) Alex Fethiere

We fell in love with Cecil whilst checking out the work of lighting, jewellery & sculpture designer, Alex Féthière.

We'd like our very own Cecil light for our CO9Cloud studio, so thought you all may like him too!

Alex makes all his products, which range from some really unique and gorgeous bracelets to a wine rack the size of a wardrobe and named 'Nasa', from industrial metals. The colour on his bracelets and belt buckles are unique to each individual piece as it’s not paint, it’s a pigmented porous layer of crystallized oxides. We learnt from Alex's blog that this is the greenest, most low-impact way to colour metal.

To check out more of Alex's wonderful and original pieces find his site HERE

He also has a brilliantly written blog, a really good read, which you can find here... ART OF OLIVE GREEN

Uncomfortable Chairs

Cactus Chair - Source http://www.suramya.com/blog

Spoon Chair by Osian Batyka-Williams

Pencil Chair- Source www.designboom.com

In preparation for a twitter chat "Uncomfortable Chair Party" (yes, really! - check out #HomeSpaChat), we spent some time scouring the web for some really uncomfortable chairs. Here's just a few of the best we found.
Although perhaps uncomfortable, we also think they're pretty damn cool!

Steampunk Jewellery

Steampunk Jewelry - RING - Bermuda Blue Swarovski Crystal

Cyberpunk Jewelry - RING - Dark Purple with Onyx - Limited Edition CatherinetteRings 3rd Anniversary

Steampunk Jewelry - RING - Copper

Spotted as a feature on ArtOfDay , we love these unique rings by Catherinette's Rings for Steampunk Jewellery & Sculptures.

To see their full line please check out their store HERE

Waterbobble Filtered Water Bottle

Everyone is aware of the huge impact disposable plastic bottles have on the environment, not to mention your wallet. CO9 Cloud are therefore pleased to share with you all this unique new design by Karim Rashid available through Utility Design.

"Waterbobble works like this: you fill with ordinary tap water; the coloured carbon filter at the neck of the bottle filters out all impurities, including chlorine, as you drink. It can be reused up to 300 refills - that's a lot of bottle water!

Made from recycled plastic which is free from BPA (that's Bisphenol which contains phthalates and PVC) Watterbobble has an ergonomically designed shape, making it easy to hold, and comes available in two sizes : 1 litre and 550ml in 6 colours. Additional filters can be purchased separately as and when you need to replace them."

Check them out HERE