Jeff Soto just released a limited edition print of War Cloud, taken from his latest exhibition Storm Clouds.

Edition of 50, 20" X 14" paper size, 18" x 12" image size. Signed, numbered and titled. $250. This painting was part of my "Storm Clouds" show last year in NYC. It was one of my favorites and I get a lot of inquiries for both a print and the original (sorry folks, Dave Choe owns it). This giclee will recreate the piece at it's actual size (18" x 12").

I'm glad this is the one Jeff chose to release as a print, because it's also my favorite of the whole  series.

According to Engrave Your Book "Your image + Moleskine + Laser = The Perfect Gift!" and I would tend to agree. The laser removes a thin layer from the top to the moleskine cover to reveal the brown layer below, creating a sepia toned image.

You can choose from a series of artist generated images or upload your own, and they'll even engrave the spine of either the small or large format Moleskine notebook.

[via Notcot]

This week's pick from NOTCOT:

#9323. I would love to have a blind with a tree silhouette printed on it even if it wasn't a giant piece of ASCII art. By dutch designer Nienke Sybrandy.

#9410. Take a look at Mike Rohde sketch notes from the SXSW 2008 sessions.

#9485. Firewinder is a wind-powered led light which works with the smallest breeze.

#9488. David Scheirer paints quirky contemporary still life all in watercolors.

[via notcot.org/oO]

Silvia Ji's most recent show Por Vida, was showing at the Corey Helford Gallery from Feb 23^rd until March 15^th and I wished I'd gone to see it.

Corey Helford Gallery is proud to present “Por Vida”, a solo exhibition of new works by much sought-after Los Angeles artist Sylvia Ji. For her first solo show in Los Angeles, Ji presents a series of acrylic-on-wood panel portraits that explore her fascination with morbid beauty. Known for painting alluring and mysterious women, Ji’s new body of work is a dark celebration of life, death and renewal. By incorporating symbols of death into her paintings, she transforms her subjects into powerful, seductive and dangerous temptresses. Ji’s style continues to evolve with the introduction of different color palettes, ornate decoration, and intricate illustration.

For her latest show, Sylvia started mixing her usual romantic portraits with day of the death makeup, giving each of her girls a mysterious look which reminds me of the tattooed portraits from Shawn Barber.

This must have happened this week, because the mural is right next to Digital Domain where I work, and I pass it on my way to Abbott Kinney Blvd at least once a week. I noticed the change on Thursday night and came back today at lunch to take some pictures.

I guess Italian artists Microbo and BO130 were visiting from Milan and decided to help Buffmonster refresh the mural which is on Hampton near the corner of Indiana in Venice (near the Brickhouse). That's great because that mural had been destroyed by taggers last year, and really looked like it could use the help.

More pictures of the mural after the break.

I'm currently reading The Secret History of Moscow, a novel by Ekaterina Sedia, which I picked up partly because of the illustration (yes, you should absolutely judge a book by its cover) and because of the quote by Neil Gaiman on the back.

Every city contains secret places, and Moscow is no different, its citizens seeking safety under the city during tumultuous times — a cavernous dark world of magic, weeping trees and albino jackdaws, where exiled pagan deities and fairytale creatures still whisper strange tales to everyone who would listen. Through their interlocking stories, a very different history emerges, full of betrayals and unseen hostilities, between the real world and the world below ...and now, in the early 1990's, the conflict is escalating.

I was going to wait until I finish this book before I post about it, but I go sucked into it from the first chapter, so I'll give an update when I finish it. So far, I love the juxtaposition of contemporary Russia and scifi/fantasy, which reminds me a little of Night Watch / Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.

I've added another girl to my notebook. Natasha thinks she should be called Trixy, with her eyepatch, pouty lips and tattoos.

More pictures after the break.

This week's pick from NOTCOT:

#9014. "Floorplan Plates, why rent when you can own?" available at Fishs Eddy.

#9108. CFSL.net stands for Café Salé a mostly French creative community filed with some pretty awesome visual artists.

#9231. These fabulous mirrors by Jean-Marie Masaud for Glass Italia slowly fade from reflective to transparent.

#9232. I'm just amazed by this piece by El Mac which was painted as a color negative. click to see what happens to the image when you invert it.

[notcot.org/oO]

I came across Charlie Owens in a small ad in the back of this month's issue of Juxtapoz magazine. Charlie's work combines tattoo-sporting hoodie wearing ingenues posing against messy splotchy backgrounds dripping with colors and overlapping transluscent paint layers.

His graphic style somehow reminds me of some the more manga-influenced european comic book artists, which is probably what attracted me towards Charlie's work in the first place. I particularly love the enormous 15'x200' mural that he did for Turner Studios in Atlanta, as well as the series of painted skateboard decks.

His next exhibition is opening April 19th at the Crybaby Gallery along with Bask, Bradley Hoffer and Porkchop in a show called "Floor, Ceiling, Wall".

Selected pictures after the break.

After the Bibliochaise and the Bookinist here's another mashup of a bookshelf and reading chair. Created by Canadian design house Fishbol Atelier, the Bookseat is a lovely bent plywood chair with room for all your favorite books and magazines.

[via Fubiz] (who doesn't really deserve the linkback because they never ever disclose their sources...)

Invented in 2006 by Hungarian engineers Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi the Gömböc (pronounced as ‘goemboets‘) is a strange object that can right itself up thanks to its special shape, rather than needing a counterweight and a big happy face. In geekier words: