Alyson Fox likes doing things. In her case, ‘things’ mean drawing, taking pictures, designing clothes, making shop windows pretty - and probably one or two more ‘things’ since we last talked.

But Alyson hasn't always been so dexterous; rather, it was a series of events that gradually gifted the Austin-based twenty-something with her now ample selection of talents. She started as a photographer, where the time she spent in the darkroom quickly turned her on to the happy powers of creativity. Then, it was on to drawing, where her faceless forms still managed to bleed emotion all over the page. Not to be deterred, or to abandon her past pursuits (which she hasn’t), it was on to fashion design, where her hand-drawn characters were suddenly permitted to step off of the page to share their clothes with real people.

It's good thing for her that she has done all of these things – but it's an even better thing for us, because Alyson Fox happens to be incredibly talented at all of them. Recently, we were blessed with another good thing, when Alyson decided to take some time out of her crafty days to chat with us.

Joshspear.com: Your first interest was photography, which then branched out into visuals, fashion design, and drawing. How did this progression unfold itself?

Alyson Fox: The first medium that I really connected to was photography. Maybe because it was my first studio class? I was able to shoot rolls and rolls of film and then edit them in the darkroom. READ MORE…

You may not know the name Greg LaMarche, but if you count yourself as a connoisseur of urban artwork, then there's a good chance you're familiar with his work. LaMarche spent his early days spraying tags in the streets of Queens in the early 80's, under the monikers Spanky, SPY, and most notably SP One. He even went on to found the graffiti magazine Skills in 1992. Just as LaMarche's name has gone through an evolution, so have his skills as an artist. While he still employs the ‘clean-hand style’ he is noted for, his new work is fused with certain ‘collage aesthetics’ as well as that of other mediums that reinforce his own sense of personal style. It's that personal style that has LaMarche in high demand from folks like Zoo York and Quiksilver, as well as magazines like Mass Appeal and Juxtapoz. He's also had his urban aesthetic displayed across the country from Brooklyn to San Francisco. If his particular sense of street style hasn't hit you yet...maybe you're living on the wrong street.

Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s New York artist Paul Villinski. The glider-flying sculpture artist makes it no secret that flying is at the heart of his work. Whether it’s the fragile beer can butterflies that he creates using the city’s numerous ‘dead soldiers,’ or DaVinci inspired flying machines, Villinski makes them all seem fantastically weightless. One of his pieces is currently on display through April 27, 2008 at The Museum of Arts and Design in the ‘Pricked: Extreme Embroidery.’ Do you remember the music video for R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion? There was the weird cupid guy with an arrowed taped to his heart, Michael Stipe flailing his arms around in an empty room, and the blacksmith’s that made the Icarus wings? Well, tada. His piece ‘Lament’ was probably not modeled after Tarsem’s video, but these hand-stitched wings certainly remind us of it. What? Out of Time is a fantastic album. It’s a compliment.

All of us have had the crushing moment when after typing in a web address we visit with frequency, we are told that site is unavailable. Our first instinct is to freak out. Our second is to check our connection or think something's wrong with our computer. The next instinct is to say, ‘hey, maybe it's not just me, maybe it's down for everyone.’ Well, instead of freaking out and checking your connection, we recommend skipping straight to step three and heading to downforeveryoneorjustme.com. We know it's a mouthful, but the simple site allows you to skip those first stressful steps and type in the site that's been giving you trouble to find out if there's anything worth freaking out over. However, if you can't find our site we recommend freaking out first.

Via CrackUnit

If you're looking to find a way to prove you know all about the bling on your ring, well then we've got just the thing. Periodic Rings from Brooklyn-based husband and wife design team ITSNONAME, show that you know all about the elements that show off your elegance. The three ring set displays the information, including their elemental abbreviation, atomic number and weight of the element making up each particular ring, whether it be silver, gold, or platinum. That'll teach them to question your credibility...and about certain scientific properties.

Taiwan resident Clark MacLeod’s personal posts on Pop Wuping (we’re saying that three times fast in our mind) fall into the category of blogging we really appreciate. You’d expect a guy who lives in a manufacturing epicenter to have the inside scoop…and you’d be right. Right now his blog is a scattered, but well edited, round up of all-things travel related. Messenger bags and laptop cases seem to be the soup de jour over there, but MacLeod also puts up the occasional travel tip like Don’t eat street meat. Sounds like solid advice to us.