Australian designer Suzie Stanford has been collecting old, quirky tapestries that she then turns into wonderful upholstered works of art! The art of tapestry appears to be on the rise, with a growing number of artists taking it into new directions. As she says in her artist statement, "I collect in a magpie-like fashion from auction houses, curio shops and flea markets…
Fire and ice. Two forces so diametrically opposed unite in support of a noble goal: climate change awareness. Called the Glacier Project and designed by native Icelander Brynjar Sigurðarson for PCM Design, these pale blue candles are a palm-sized likeness of their much larger, natural cousins. And like their wetter, colder, cousins, they melt when hot, just like what is happening to the glaciers around the world. It's hard to watch the slow drip of these candles burning without feeling a sense of urgency, spurring you to consider taking immediate action to protect and preserve our natural environment. Likely starting with glaciers. If you'd prefer to relax, pick up some tealights instead.
As an artist working under the pseudonym "Miso," Stanislava Pinchuk, originally from Ukraine, has become one of the headliners of the Australian art scene. Currently based in Melbourne, she started creating tattoos about four years ago. Her tattoos are minimalistic, delicate and remind us of the constellations in the night sky, maps, and organic forms perforated on paper.
Parisian artist, Nathalie Lété, started painting on silk when she was only 13 years old. Inspired by her parents cultural heritage her father is Chinese and her mother is German Natalies art is naïve and colorful. Flowers, places and animals come to life in different mediums, using various techniques, with childlike freshness and a dash of nostalgia. We love this collection of cute and vibrant silk scarves!
During winter, time seems to stop as nature goes into hibernation However, locked in ice, life can be preserved and time can literally be frozen. In a new series entitled Locked in the Ether, Osaka-based photographer, Kenji Shibata, chose to freeze flowers in large blocks of ice and to photography the flowers as the ice thaws, creating stunning blurred colors reminiscent of the French impressionist artist Claude Monet.
Imagine, years ago, these charming signs were commonplace in Nepal. No generic dog silhouette here. These signs, hand-painted by a local artist, accurately render the dog in question and come complete with a warning you'd be unwise to ignore. During a trip to Nepal, these "Danger Dog" signs caught the attention of Michelle Page, an American film editor. After seeing these delightful signs slowly disappear over the years in favour of lower cost digital designs, Michelle decided to start a fair-trade initiative to save this dying art form.
David Woodward is no stranger to controversy. Asked by his school to display an art project at a donors event, he was quickly asked to take it down once they saw what it involved: undergarments embroidered with enigmatic (and occasionally obscene) phrases. His collage series is no less provocative. Words seem to come up short when trying to describe it. Mystical? Eerie? Strange? Maybe all of the above. There's a theme in the elements he's usingthe images look like they could have come from a vintage nature reference book. But his skill is evident in how he brings these disparate objectslimbs, fungi, birds, insects, stones, and serpentsall together into a coherent work. Even though your skin might crawl for a second, you find yourself sticking around for another, because you need a better look.
In 1896, the famed inventor Thomas Edison made history again by filming the first kiss in cinema in "The Kiss". The short 23 seconds clip directed by William Heise was filmed in Edison's Black Maria studio in New Jersey. This clip featuring the mustachioed John C. Rice and the Canadian actress Mae Irwin was considered scandalous, especially at a time when public kissing was considered a controversial act by the Victorian society of the 19th century.
Artist Naomi Okubo's bright and vibrant images are inspired by her experiences as a teenager growing up in Japan. As she explains it, "In my personal experiences, when I changed my own image, people changed their attitude toward me... I have been interested in appearances ever since". Okubo's paintings are beautifully saturated and visually appealing, featuring vivid florals, clear landscapes,…