animals

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Art

Animals Evolve into Islands Teeming With Coral, Succulents, and Tropical Fish in Hyperrealist Paintings by Lisa Ericson

Lisa Ericson (previously) deftly paints animals in scenes that reach outside of their natural environments, creating unique relationships that defy the natural order of the animal kingdom. In her newest series a deer, flamingo, and multiple turtles form miniature ecosystems in glassy blue water. Coral sprouts from the hooves and legs of the two larger creatures, while brilliant flowers and butterflies surround the smaller turtles. These paintings are featured in Ericson’s current exhibition Islands, which runs through August 25, 2019 at Antler Gallery in Portland, Oregon. You can see more of her beautifully rendered plants and animals on Instagram.

Art

Wild Creatures Emerge From Thrown Sand in Photographs by Claire Droppert

Netherlands-based photographer Claire Droppert (previously) has created a new series of images that depict the silhouettes of animals appearing in clumps of thrown Holland beach sand. Dolphins, snakes, lizards, and other animals in the Sand Creatures II collection defy gravity and float through the air in Droppert’s photographs. The “Gravity Project”  highlights natural elements set in nature but unencumbered by the force that keeps them grounded.

“The Sand Creatures series focuses on nature in an unexpected way,” Droppert writes on her website, adding that the “explosive and at times powdery scenes of the grainy sand being thrown into the air can be taken as a manifesting life form” as images of silkworms, cobras, and dogs appear against the backdrop of the horizon and the hazy sky. The photographer has labeled each animal in the series, but the abstract nature of the images gives the viewer some freedom to determine where the boundaries of their anatomies lie.

Prints of Claire Droppert’s photos from this series and others are available to purchase in various sizes from her online shop. To see more of her finished work and a few behind-the-scenes shots, follow her on Instagram.

Photography Science

A Rainbow of Light Diffracts Through Hummingbird Wings in Photographs by Christian Spencer

Australian photographer Christian Spencer has lived within Brazil’s Itatiaia National Park for nineteen years. The lush natural surroundings offer a multitude of photo opportunities ranging from pumpkin toadlets to false coral snakes. One of Spencer’s most fascinating finds is the way that light diffracts through the wings of hummingbirds in flight, resulting in a rainbow of colors within the birds’ feathers. The photographer has been following the petite birds for years, and his film recording of the phenomenon was included in his award-winning 2011 short film, The Dance of Time.

More recently, Spencer has returned to these full spectrum moments. Each image in the artist’s hummingbird series captures sunlight filtering through the wings and tail of a black and white Jacobin hummingbird. Despite our age of post-production and photo manipulation, the images were not digitally manipulated; the visual phenomenon is naturally occurring.’WINGED PRISM’ (below) won a prize at the Museum of Modern Art in Resende RJ Brazil, and is available as a fine art print on Spencer’s website. You can follow along with Spencer’s animal encounters and nature-inspired paintings on Instagram. (via My Modern Met)

 

Art

Sculptural Carvings of Mankind’s Best Friend by Gerard Mas

The likenesses of domestic dogs and cats are deftly carved into tree trunks and alabaster stone by Spanish sculptor Gerard Mas. Using very minimal materials, Mas creates the signature folds and frowns of French Bulldogs, the sleek muzzles of English Bull Terriers, and the inquisitive faces of Siamese cats. Mas forgoes additional pigmentation, restricting the coloration of each animal to dark “fur” achieved through charring the carved surface.

Mas is also known for his contemporary updates of Renaissance women blowing bubble gum bubbles and sporting bikini-outlined sunburns. The artist is represented by Barcelona gallery 3 Punts, and most recently exhibited at KunstRAI art fair in Amsterdam. He shares his in-progess and completed sculptures on Instagram. (via My Modern Met)

Design

Neko Cup Creates Adorable Napping Cat Sand Sculptures

If you’re walking along the beach this summer and you see a group of napping cat sand sculptures, there’s a good chance it’s the work of a Neko Cup (neko is the Japanese word for cat). Neko Cup is the latest product from Japanese design brand h-concept. Made from biomass plastic (bamboo and scallop shells) the hollowed out object creates a silhouette of a napping cat.

It can be used on the beach, in your park’s sandbox and, in the winter, with snow. And when it’s not in use, it also functions as ab adorable little sculpture. Designer Yuka Morii says she loves seeing cats sleeping on the sidewalk and she wanted to preserve that warm feeling she gets when she spots one out of the corner of her eye.

If you’re in Japan you can purchase one from the h-concept online shop. They come in white, beige and black and retail for 2,916 yen ($26.95). (Syndicated from Spoon & Tamago)

Design Illustration

Woodblock-Printed Matchboxes Light up with Canine Personalities

As a follow-up to last year’s wildly successful woodblock-printed matchboxes featuring the questionable decisions of tipsy cats, Ravi Zupa has just released a set of canine designs. Comprised of ten designs, the set includes a Boston Terrier with a high opinion of himself, a loyal hound, and an endearingly self-deprecating pug.

“These are the people in our lives with complicated dispositions and attitudes who never fail to bring
us joy, even when they’re jerks,” Zupa explained in an artist statement. “This new set of matchboxes is an effort to give the overly expressive, stubborn, supportive, unpredictable, confused and self important beings in our lives the recognition they deserve.”

Zupa used oil-based intaglio ink to create the three-color prints, and each one includes a pint-sized certificate of authenticity. The matchboxes can be ordered in the artist’s online shop, along with pre-orders for larger prints of the same designs. You can see more of Zupa’s vintage-inspired and humorous works, ranging from prints to paintings and sculptures, on Instagram.

Craft Design

Quilled Paper Sculptures by Sena Runa Embellish the Natural Forms of Everyday Objects and Animals

Sena Runa (previously) twists, folds, and stacks layers of thick paper to create dynamic paper sculptures. The Turkish artist uses a wide range of hues to create chromatic elephants with a rainbow of shades, or work all of the brilliant blues of the ocean into a single sea turtle. Runa left the corporate world to make quilled paper works full-time in 2015, and wrote her own book on the topic in 2017. You can see much more of the artist’s work by following her on Instagram, and purchase one of her pieces on Etsy.