when i was a junior in college i studied abroad in london for a summer. i had the brilliant idea to take a series of art classes that were focused on drawing outdoors when clearly a british summer doesn’t allow for much of that. looking back on my rain-filled summer (spent indoors sketching whatever cans, boxes and flowers we could find) i regret not taking advantage of some of the incredible classes that were offered at other universities there- especially central st. martins college. so i was excited to hear from recent central st. martins grad maria gil ulldemolins about the work she just debuted as part of her degree show.

as part of her product design major maria created the beautiful collection of “bloom stools” above. inspired by the idea of craft in the 21st century, maria set out to mix hand-drawn patterns with laser-cutting technology. using sturdy acrylic as her main material, maria created this rainbow of seats that would be perfect for residential or commercial projects.

maria also created this adorable frame for children’s artwork. the roll of paper at the top is attached and you can simply pull a clean patch into place when you’re ready to swap out your drawing. can’t beat that orla kiely paper in the back either. if you’d like to see more of maria’s work (or contact her) just click here.

[finalist #9: paige smith]

-paige is a senior studying fibers at the savannah college of art and design (those are her pattern designs above)
-click here for more of paige’s work
-click here to vote for paige smith (voting opens at 1pm)

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[finalist #10: zena pesta]

-zena is an undergraduate studying ceramics at the cleveland institute of art
-click here for more of zena’s work
-click here to vote for zena pesta (voting opens at 1pm)

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[finalist #11: sharon levy]

-sharon is a junior at the art center college of design
-click here for more of sharon’s work
-click here to vote for sharon levy (voting opens at 1pm)

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[finalist #12: reina takahashi]

-reina takahashi is studying communication/graphic design at carnegie mellon university
-click here and here for more of reina’s work
-click here to vote for reina takahashi (voting opens at 1pm)

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[finalist #7: meg boling]

-meg is a senior at the university of georgia
-click here for more of meg’s work
-click here to vote for meg boling (voting will open at 1pm)

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[finalist #8: jamie karoses]

-jamie is a senior studying graphic design and print making at the university of wisconsin stevens point
-click here and here for more of jamie’s work
-click here to vote for jamie karoses (voting will open at 1pm)

[finalist #5: julia bonnell]

-julia is a sophomore studying furniture design at the sheridan institute
-click here to view more of julia’s work
-click here to vote for julia bonnell (voting will open at 1pm)

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[finalist #6: katie jung]

-katie is a senior at concordia university (the images above are her weavings)
-click here to view more of katie’s work
-click here to vote for katie jung (voting will open at 1pm)

[finalist #3: chris wronski]

-chris is a freshman studying industrial design at the savannah college of art and design
-click here to view more of chris’s work
-click here to vote for chris wronski (voting will open at 1pm)

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[finalist #4: talia bromstad]

-talia is a junior studying printmaking and book arts at the university of georgia
-click here to view more of talia’s work
-click here to vote for talia bromstad (voting will open at 1pm)

sifting through nearly 2,000 applicants for this year’s scholarship was a herculean task. i was completely bowled over by the talent and thoughtfulness of each applicant. to narrow this group down to a top eleven twelve would only have been possible with the help and input of our judging panel: the d*s staff (contributing writers and ad team) and this year’s scholarship sponsors: domino magazine, 2modern, and paper studio. we narrowed it to a top ten and i had to add one two more candidate that i felt really deserved to be in the final round. 2 finalists will be introduced every hour until 1pm, at which point the voting survey will become active and votes will be recorded. voting will continue until 10pm next thursday, may 22. and our winners will be announced the next day, friday may 23. and now, for our first two finalists- drumroll please…..

[finalist #1: chelsea walkenhorst]

-chelsea is a junior studying interior design at utah state university
-click here to view more of chelsea’s work.
-click here to vote for chelsea walkenhorst (voting will open at 1pm)

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[finalist #2: yeawon kim]

-yaewon is a senior studying textile design at the ontario college of art & design
-click here to view more of yaewon’s work.
-Click click here to vote for yaewon kim (voting will open at 1pm)

i’m a little sleepy from this west coast jet lag but i wanted to say good morning and thank everyone who came out to last night’s LA biz ladies meetup, which was incredible! i can’t get over how many of you came out- thank you to everyone, to design within reach (thanks, susie and co!) and to our incredible speakers: lindsay at smith barney, tanya aguiniga and billie and tootie of reform school. if you’re looking to download the notes from the PR/marketing portion of last night’s talk they’re right here. thanks again and to everyone who’s not in LA- stay tuned- i may be adding two more surprise cities this summer because of some personal traveling i’m doing. i’ll be announcing those in the next few weeks when i’ve hammered out the details.

i also wanted to share this beautiful cut-paper installation from helen friel- a student designer from central saint martins in london. helen specializes in illustration and cut paper and these pieces were part of a recent school project. i couldn’t get over the beautiful cuts in each piece and had to share them as i pack up and get ready to head to the airport. click here for more information on helen’s work.

my visit to the savannah college of art and design was one of the most inspiring trips i’ve taken in years. the students in the fibers department quite simply blew me away with their dedication to craft and tradition. one of the students who stood out most to me was haylie waring. it’s hard to describe that feeling you get when your gut tells you “this is someone with something special” but that’s the way i felt about haylie’s work. she had such a distinct style and feel to her work that instantly appealed to me. haylie recently launched a blog where she’s showcasing some of her work- my favorite being this line of bags
made from recycled heavy duty feed sacks. designed as a reusable grocery bag (though i’d proudly tote it as an everyday bag), haylie’s bags play with the idea of altering an object that once carried goods to carry food once again, but in a new context. each bag is hand dyed using natural dyes to achieve a linen color, then screen printed, appliquéd, and hand embroidered. in addition, each bag is lined with matching commercial fabric- a reproduction of a traditional feed sack floral. i can’t wait until these are available in one of my neighborhood stores but until then, haylie is selling these original prototypes for $125 each. you can choose from E for eggs, T for teapot and M for meat (sadly the cake and strawberries just sold). click here to check out the rest of haylie’s work or shoot her an email right here if you’re interested in purchasing a piece or would like to discuss working with her on another project (someone should definitely scoop her up while she’s still available. if i had my own design firm i’d already be asking her to work for me). [thanks, haylie!]