Cuie&Co Creative - Home

Tea for two

2008-05-05T12:22:00Z

Last weekend we decided to take a drive to Kalk Bay on the way to Cape Point. We took a stroll down Main Road popping in at all the interesting little Antique Shops when suddenly I found it …

Last weekend we decided to take a drive to Kalk Bay near Cape Point. We took a stroll down Main Road popping in at all the interesting little Antique Shops when suddenly I found it …

Tea for two

... the most exquisite tea set, hand-painted from China! Who would have thought a teaset can make me this happy :)))

Last bite out of the apple...

2008-01-28T05:29:00Z

Today was my final day in NYC and I saved the best for last – a visit to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).

On my way… a cool poster promoting NYC arts & culuture

MOMA on West 53rd Street…

Came across a few of Picasso’s works – amazing what a variety of styles he had and he was so brilliant in each of these.

Three different paintings depicting only some of the many styles Picasso had.

I also saw this original Red Room from Matisse – I remember when I was still in High School – we had to choose an artist’s style to copy and I chose this particular painting of his to do my own interpretation of my Blue Room.

The Red Room by Henri Matisse, 1908

Another favourite artist of mine is Mark Rothko – these oversized canvases – with it’s divine choice of colours…

Mark Rothko

Untitled (Orange & Yellow) by Mark Rothko, 1956

I’m inspired to paint one of these to liven up the bare wall in our Lounge…

My Belle

2008-01-27T15:49:00Z

About two years ago, while researching various brands of chocolates around the world, I came across this most exquisite company called MarieBelle. It is then that I vowed that on my next visit to New York City I’ll just have to visit this shop… and so I did.

MarieBelle New York on 484 Broome Street…

W-O-W! The packaging, store interior, The Cacao Bar, the Crepes, the Espresso size Aztec Hot Chocolate… everything was so delicious.

I was really amazed by the thought that is put into the detail of every flavour of chocolate with it’s own hand screen-printed illustration, the packaging, from paper boxes in a two tone brown & blue to bright red stackable leather trays filled with carefully selected chocolates – such a feast to the eye.

MarieBelle window display…

Read more about owner Maribel Lieberman’s sweet success in the February 2008 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine.

The Hot Chocolate tin and beautiful little box holding four bite-sized chocolate delights…

If you can’t wait to get to NYC for a first hand experience – visit Melissa’s Food Shop to get your fix of MarieBelle’s Aztec Hot Chocolate…

Algea

2008-01-25T16:15:00Z

Thursday lunchtime we visited a store in Boston called Vessel. They showcase products they themselves develop as well as the work of other like-minded companies. The main aim of these products are to be beautiful yet functional in day to day life. There are some amazing things in this store… mmmh… if only I had more space in my suitcase.

I did however buy myself some Algea – the guys responsible for this innovative product are the Bouroullec brothers, Ronan & Erwin.

This is one part of Algea – you can buy as little as six in a box or up to 50 pieces in eight different colours. I chose RED for our Cuie office.

These brothers also collaborate on projects with well known manufacturers such as Vitra and the Kreo Gallery in Paris.

In collaboration with Vitra – view more of these photographs on their site.

Algea as instillation art…

I can’t wait to get home to assemble it!

Meet Oscar

2008-01-24T04:07:00Z

THE coolest dog in the whole world!

Oscar giving a high-five.

He is a 2 year old Brussels Griffon who lives in NYC and is training to become a theraphy dog. Read all about his adventures on the snifNYCdogs blog.

Wouldn’t this face make you feel better?

Besides being able to do lots of cool tricks like giving a high-five & rolling over, Oscar can also fetch you a tissue when you sneeze… as he demonstrated to us three times in the SNIFLABS office today.

View a video of his delightful trick here.

Bless you.

Oscar is currently also recovering from a broken toe – hope you feel better soon! :(

Rise and shine...

2008-01-23T02:44:00Z

Day two and time to get ready for work…

Sunrise over the Charles River…

A quick stop for coffee at Starbucks & we’re ready for the day!

The perfect ending.

2008-01-22T02:33:00Z

On Tuesday evening, after an honest days work ;) we took a long walk through the streets of Boston – which I found to be very quaint and VERY COLD! First stop was The Miracle of Science restaurant – more burgers.

The menu board at The Miracle of Science…

We continued our walk finding some interesting things on the way to our next destination for a decadent treat.

Nice illustration for a bus stop poster.

Drawing on an electric box…

Finally we arrived at Finale where I had THE most delicious Tiramisu.

A work of tart.

It was the perfect ending to a very long day. :)

Snif headquarters

2008-01-22T01:25:00Z

Besides coming to NYC to visit one of my siblings, the other reason was to take a trip up to Boston to finally meet the team from SNIFLABS, whom I’ve been fortunate to work with over the past two years through virtual collaboration.

Our first project together was to develop their logo & corporate identity which led to a multitude of other web & print based projects.

Down the stairs to SNIF headquarters…

SNIF office set in a basement with raw stone and bright yellow walls.

The kitchen where we all have lunch together…

What a great space – I hope Cuie can also have such a cool office in the near future. :)

A study of lines...

2008-01-21T03:52:00Z

Today we took a drive up north to the city of Beacon, about 60 miles north of NYC where the Dia:Beacon gallery is situated. A 1920’s concrete, glass and steel factory housing permanent collections from artists like Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Richard Serra and many more, particularly artworks that could not be accommodated by conventional museums.

One artists work which I found most inspiring was Sol LeWitt’s Drawing Series which is a body of work dating back to the 1970’s and which was installed in the gallery in 2006.

His work is the simple use of pencil lines – drawn at different angles and weights creating various shades of grey by simply overlaying and repeating. From a distance these walls which stretch about 8m wide by 6m high seemed to have different tints of flat grey blocks painted on them – but as you move closer you realise each of these blocks consist of smaller blocks with lines drawn meticulously 5mm apart, line after line after line…

I felt the work to have an amazingly calming effect within it’s mathematical precision.

After 4 hours of absorbing art, concepts and space – it was time for a bite to eat…

What better way to finish off our afternoon in Beacon than at a local diner, The Whistling Willy, for some true American Style burgers. ;)

A girl has got to eat.

2008-01-21T02:28:00Z

Saturday was a day of shopping! Taking the metro from Brooklyn into Manhattan – only a 15min trip and we were in the heart of the apple’s shopping mecca, 5th Ave.

Sacs was our first stop – floors and floors of Haute Couture – from Marc Jacobs to Vera Wang – designer creations you only get to see on the pages of Vogue… a suit here, a tank top there… and we swiftly moved down to the Cosmetic department – in search of the perfect lip gloss and ended up with SOOOOooooo much more! Gifts packs, eyeshadow’s and a whif of a new perfume so as to follow the wise words of Coco Chanel that “A woman isn’t fully dressed until she has perfume on.”

A yellow cab down to Soho and a delicious lunch at (The Mercer) Kitchen and we were ready for more shopping, braving the stampede caused by the end-of-season SALES.

Two hours later and were in desperate need of refreshments, the perfect pitstop: Dean & DeLuca for a gourmet hot chocolate and a visual feast of beautiful packaging and decadent delights.

I'm not there...

2008-01-21T01:38:00Z

On Friday we saw a great movie on Bob Dylan reinterpreted by 6 different actors and directed by Todd Haynes – the performance that stood out most for me was that of Cate Blanchett. Although these actors did not at all look like the Bob Dylan Icon we are all familiar with – they all portrayed a piece of what he was all in their own way…

... view the trailer here.

Life imitating art...

2008-01-18T17:46:00Z

Yesterday I took time to visit some of the Galleries on the Museum Mile (5th Avenue).

I paid a visit to the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum and saw a beautiful exhibition on Ingo Maurer’s work. From floating sheets of metal to exploding crockery – all bursting with light. One of the works he’s quite well known for is a light bulb with feathers attached at the base – making it seem ‘bird-like’.

I then took a walk down along Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view their permanent collection of Modern Art – I did take time to view Degas Ballerina’s and Monet’s Water Lillies on the way… :)

I came across a beautiful portrait by Van Gogh which I’ve never seen before as well as one by Matisse.

A walk down Madison Avenue thereafter – and I found a window display imitating the very famous Piet Mondrian’s use of colour blocks and black lines to seperate…

All of this is inspiring me to pick up my paint brushes as soon as I get home.

Window art...

2008-01-17T03:51:00Z

Nice window graphics South of Houston…

I saw some amazing window displays and shop interiors today – will try get some more pics to post here for inspiration.

To sample or not to sample...

2008-01-17T03:37:00Z

Having just arrived in the big apple yesterday… we we’re out in -5’C temperatures exploring SoHo and armed with the ‘must have’ survival item – Starbucks Hot Chocolate… mmmh… when suddenly a tray of Frozen Yoghurt samples jumped out in front of us… I was very quickly advised that I cannot miss the opportunity to experience the most delicious taste of Pinkberry Frozen Yoghurt…

... check out their beautifully simple branding on Pinkberry. I’ll be back there tomorrow for another taste… YUM.

The talking toast

2008-01-08T13:27:00Z

Now your toast can leave you messages!

Look at this cool device that was showcased on Smashing Magazine yesterday. Scroll down to ‘Toast Messenger’.

I want one – yum! :)