Miyu Kurihara’s charming bird vases.

This sweet hotel in Laguna Beach.

Green design by act_romegialli.

Frescos by David Novros.

Bisti Badlands in New Mexico.

Lucie Rie at work in her studio.

Artist, Sarah Boyts Yoder has developed a visual vocabulary of shapes and motifs that are the basis of her wildly colourful and expressive paintings. To watch her at work in her Charlottesville studio, mixing paints with well-worn brushes and fingertips and sweeping across her canvases as though she’s a five-year-old at play is such an energizing sight. She describes her work as “thoughtlessly careful, casually precious and carelessly precise,” all of which can only be achieved when one’s grip on the brush isn’t too tight. “I love the idea of letting go of control and in doing so, making room for the unexpected—for surprise.”

Quilting –– much like pottery, papier-mâché and printmaking –– is both a humble craft and a fine art. While Kathleen Probst‘s bold colours and minimal patterns grace gallery walls, Brigitte Singh‘s intricate paisleys live in baby cots. Both are skillfully made, and designed with huge imagination, and neither is more than a humble quilt, nor less than a work of art. There are no quilts more beautiful, and more original than the ones created by the residents of Gee’s Bend in Alabama’s Black Belt. Last year, Gee’s Bend artist, Sally Mae Pettway Mixon‘s multi-hued quilt landed on the wall of London’s Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition. “No needlework, flowers, cut paper, shell-work or any such baubles shall be admitted,” read the original requirements of the show back in the 1770s. How far we’ve come, and how long it took.

Custom rosettes in velvet and grosgrain by Leila Sanderson.

Harriet Powers’ quilting legacy.

Hinke Weikamp’s nature inspired monoprints.

An eclectic home in Mexico City.

A kitchen of soft edges and pastels.

Garth Buckles‘ ancient oaks.