inspiring articles, features, rant and raves on all things design related. your resource for useful tips techniques and sources for independent artist.
when i first came across the life-size sculptures by greek artist, vally nomidou, i became completely intrigued, not only by the translucent quality she used to create depth in her layering technique, but also by the depth of story each sculpture is trying to tell.
constructed mainly from paper, cardboard, wire, paper towels, newspaper, handmade paper, PVA medium, and white wood glue, nomidou does an excellent job bringing the viewers in and allowing them to complete the story for themselves. i began to wonder about their lives and how they became broken figures that nomidou so expertly sculpts.
i was so touched when i stumbled upon this video i just had to share it. its funny how one day you can feel inspired to paste a photo on a wall and the next day you are making the world a better place.
that’s the story of 2011 ted prize, jr, a street artist who has captivated areas of the world not usually known for their adornment.
working with a team of volunteers, jr has traveled around the world bringing art to those who do not visit museums. by applying enormous black-and-white photo canvases to the buildings of the slums around paris, on the walls in the middle east, on decaying bridges in africa, and across the favelas of brazil, jr has brought art to people where they wouldn’t expect it and create it when they didn’t know they could.
in rio, he turned hillsides into dramatic visual landscape by applying images to the facades of favela homes. in kenya, for his “women are heroes,” project turned kibera into a stunning gallery of local faces. and in israel and palestine, he mounted photos of a rabbi, imam and priest on walls across the region –- including the wall separating israel from the west bank.
remaining anonymous jr, never shows his full face, reveals his name, or explains his huge portraits. his art inspires people to view the world differently and want to change it for the better.
if you’d like to get involved, anybody can upload a photo of him or herself for free to jr’s inside out project site. the team will then create a large print and send it back to you to display in your community.
tokyo-based artist koshi kawachi recently demonstrated his “manga farming” technique. he recycles old manga comic books as a growing medium for vegetables. after unsuccessful attempts to grow spinach and carrots, kawachi hit the jackpot with radishes, whose spindly shoots echo the lines of the cartoon images in the magazine. this crop of radish sprouts are an installation at the matsuzakaya department store in nagoya.
jacek yerka was born in toruń, poland, in 1952 – where he later studied fine art and graphic design. while at university, yerka resisted the constant pressures of his instructors to adopt the less detailed, less realistic techniques continued to work in the classic, meticulous flemish style he still favors to this day. yerka graduated from the faculty of fine arts at nicolaus copernicus university in toruń, specializing in printmaking. He began working full time as an artist in 1980.
yerka cites hieronymus bosch, pieter bruegel, cagliostro, jan van eyck, and hugo van der goes as formative influencers of his work. his subject matter ranges from odd beasts to whimsical landscapes incorporating extraordinary architecture, and include imagery gleamed from his childhood.
yerka has won international awards for his art, and has exhibited in warsaw, dusseldorf, los angeles, paris and london. he currently works and resides, with his family, in a rural enclave of his native Poland. (Bio from artist’s website)
simply incredible…such beautiful pictures carved into the leaves! natural leaf carving is the manual cutting and removal of a leaf’s surface to produce an art work on a leaf. the process of carving is performed by artists using tools to carefully remove the surface without cutting or removing the veins. the veins add detail into the subject matter of the carving. check out more work by the chinese artisans from longal craft co. ltd!
england based artist, caroline saul, who works primarly with recycled plastic milk bottles to create her colorful bulbous sculptural vessels and bowls. she recycles the milk bottles and adds fibers and color to create new sheets of plastic that she then uses to create her pieces. i just love knowing that something used and discarded [...]
fil dunsky is an amazing illustrator from khabarovsk, russia, with an incredible talent for creating endearing and whimsical characters that are full of life. he expertly uses color, shading, texture and soft focus to create depth and movement. Share on Facebook
u.k. artist, su blackwell takes everyday books and turns them into something extraordinary. her incredible three dimensional dioramas manage to capture the essence childhood vulnerabilities in haunting, fragile settings, while also conveying a sense of childhood anxiety and wonder. there is a quiet melancholy in the work, depicted in the material used, and choice of [...]
anne stahl, born in germany in 1968, spent her formative years in ireland, where she studied painting and printmaking at dun laoghaire college of art and design, graduating in 1994. stahl’s amazing multi-layered paintings seek to open our eyes to the delicate beauty of nature. while continuing to maintain strong links with ireland, she works [...]
french artist Bruno Catalano was born in southern france in 1960. starting with clay, this self taught artist has brought to life over one hundred of his trademark travelers. since then, he has had numerous exhibitions in france, england, china and the united states. see more of his work here. Share on Facebook
Vladimir Kush, a russian-born surrealist painter and sculptor, was born in moscow, in 1965 and first began drawing and showing artistic ability at the age of three or four. he started attending an art school at the age of 7 and entered the moscow art institute at the age of 17. at 18 spent a mandatory [...]
