Artist Jeff Soan Creates Cute Wooden Animal Sculptures with Articulated Torsos and Tails by

Sculptor and toy manufacturer Jeff Soan transforms old furniture, driftwood, industrial pallets, and other reclaimed wood into monsters of the land and sea. Employing a self-described technique referred to as”Wobbly Wood,” Soan generates articulation in his sculptures by scoring the timber into multiple sections together with their tails and torsos. This permits them to wiggle and gently move side-to-side as they are picked up or stroked. To be able to remove as much waste as possible, the artist considers future sculptures throughout the building of every otter, pangolin, or mollusk.

Soan studied design and art in Goldsmiths College in London in the 1960s and followed up his art instruction with a class in toy manufacturing in the London College of Furniture. You may see a lot of his sculptures and illustrations of “Wobbly Wood” works on his website and Instagram.

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Playing with paint, Carly Silverman’s Sartorialist Style

For artist Carly Silverman, taking paint off of the canvas is just as crucial as putting it on. Her artistic process involves placing strokes of paint down and then wiping them away with a cloth to blur the lines of her images and reveal the multiplicity of layers underneath. the gradual accumulation of oil paint washes creates a gauzy, dreamlike environment in which Silverman’s figures are depicted stealing a moment of self-awareness amid the endless bustle of city life.

Using a combination of figurative and abstract painting styles, Silverman captures her subjects in a fleeting moment of time. Perpetually in motion, figures seem to be transfixed by their destinations; their current settings merely passing by, a means to an end. Their blurry, washed out surroundings threatening to disappear behind them serve as a constant reminder of their outside concerns, the unshakeable need to keep moving forward and remain productive, lest they cease to exist. However, amidst the fast-paced commotion of their cosmopolitan lives, subjects are depicted as having found a moment, however briefly, to take pause and remember themselves; the loose strap on their sandal, their hair coming undone.

Silverman manages to find moments of meditation and serenity even in the hectic surroundings of metropolitan life, and brings them to life with a series of brush strokes placed on the canvas and then wiped away, just as the transitory moments captured in her compositions come and go like waves.

Deeply inspired by fashion and the aesthetics of clothing, the garments depicted in her compositions offer hints into the lives and personalities of the subjects, accounting for the absence of facial features. The faces of the women depicted are either turned away from the viewer, or blurred to the point of abstraction. Silverman intentionally omits these details from her figures so that her expressive brush strokes and dynamic configurations, and surroundings can tell the story of the scene for themselves.

The layers of paint on each canvas echo the infinite layers of culture and stimuli found on the streets of New York, which bleed into each other as they move out of one’s focus and into their peripheral vision. As Silverman’s figures are swept up in the frenzy of their ever-evolving metropolis, small gestures are able to remind them of themselves, that they are individuals as well as faces in a crowd.

Check her work at Bee in the Lion or on her website here.

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Tips to Choose the Best Appliances for your Kitchen

If you are out there looking to buy appliances for your kitchen, then you most probably will be overwhelmed by the variety of options that are available in the market. Kitchen appliances are available in different price ranges and with different configurations which suit most modern kitchen setup.

However, while buying a kitchen appliance, buying the most expensive feature-packed option need not necessarily mean that you can get the best deal. To help you buy the best kitchen appliances, today we bring you a list of tips which will help you in choosing the best appliances for your kitchen.

Tips to Choose the Best Appliances for Your Kitchen

Set a Budget for Your Purchase:

Kitchen appliances are available in a variety of price ranges. Therefore, having a fixed budget for your appliances shopping will make it easier to select products.

The time of the year when you make the purchase also affects the pricing a lot. Both offline and online retailers provide huge discounts on kitchen appliances during festivals and significant holiday seasons. So, in case you are looking for the best bargain, then you should probably hold on until some discount season.

Always Think About the Running Cost:

When you buy a kitchen appliance, you should be more thoughtful about the running cost of the appliance rather than what you pay upfront for it.

For instance, while choosing a cooktop for your kitchen, you may come across different varieties of cooktops like gas cooktop with griddle, induction cooktop, and electric radiant cooktop.

Gas cooktops are cheaper and help in cooking faster. Electric radiant and induction cooktops are pricier than gas variants. However, they are highly energy efficient and will offer your kitchen with a flushed and modern look.

When it comes to appliances like a refrigerator, which will most likely be working all the time, look for the Energy Star rating. Appliances with higher energy star rating will consume way less electricity, which will help in lowering your monthly bill.

Understand Your Requirements:

It is essential that you understand the requirements you have for the appliance before buying one. Prioritizing your needs makes it quite easier to pick an appliance and prevent yourself from paying more than what is necessary.

For example, for appliances like a refrigerator, which will run mostly throughout the day, make sure that you check out the Energy Star rating for energy efficiency and minimum power consumption.

Similarly, when choosing a dishwasher, make sure that your pick has enough racks that comfortably fit all the cookware and other utensils that you regularly use in your kitchen. If you are someone who doesn’t prefer noisy appliances, then do note that dishwashers do make some noise while working. Therefore, check out for the decibel (dB) rating and pick a dishwasher with a lower dB rating.

Take the appropriate measurements:

If you are looking to buy kitchen appliances that fit within a confined space or go well with the design of your kitchen, then it is essential that you take appropriate measurements before purchasing any appliance.

Taking appropriate measurements before buying kitchen appliances will make sure that you can easily use the appliance within the space it fits and also helps in narrowing down the search as you only need to consider appliances that match your desired space.

Choose Stainless Steel over Other Materials:

If the appliance of your choice is available in a stainless steel finish, then always choose it over other material options. Stainless steel finishing will make your appliance utterly prone to rusting and germs thus helping your appliance to last longer.

They are also easier to clean than other materials, and stainless steel features a much more premium and elegant look than other materials.

Be Aware of the Metrics:

Most kitchen appliances come with some metric value ratings which show how efficient and functional they are.

For example, the power of a microwave oven is rated in watts. Microwave ovens with higher wattage rating will offer more heat output and thus will heat faster. A microwave oven that has a score of 1000-watts or more is adequate for regular kitchen use. However, microwave ovens with up to 700-watts rating may not be sufficient for any serious cooking.

It is also to be noted that a difference of 100 or so watts won’t make much difference regarding the heating.

Final Words

We hope that the tips to choose the best kitchen appliances mentioned in this article was informative.

As kitchen appliances are the most critical electronic items in a house, they are expected to have a very long running life with low maintenance. Following the above tips will make sure that you get the best kitchen appliances that fit your requirements and work for a long time without any hassles.

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The Best Swimming Pool Designs for a Small Backyard

Owning a pool is a great way to relax and have fun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to own a big backyard as well in order to do that. On the contrary, the size doesn’t really matter as long as you get what you came for. Nothing compares to a nice soak during hot summer days when nothing really cools that heat off like a bath in a pool.

We’ve talked to guys at So Cal to see if it was possible to fit some kind of pool in a limited space and the answer is yes. So here are some ideas for swimming pools that can fit just about anywhere.

A nice, cold bath in a plunge pool

This is probably the best way to combat relentless heat during July and August when no amount of air conditioning seems to help. The good thing about plunge pools is that they can be placed in very small backyards because they are deep and similar in diameter to an average hot tub.

They are not designed for swimming or exercise, but they provide a quick refreshment and low maintenance costs due to their compact size.

What is even more interesting is that you can upgrade it to a regular spa by adding seats and jets and use it even during winter because of its cost efficiency.

A pleasant swim in a lap pool

So you have some room in your backyard between your house and outer wall and you haven’t really found any use for it. This is a perfect place for a lap pool which is long and narrow and ideal for a quick swim.

A pond in your garden

Not an actual pond, but a pretty little pool surrounded by beautiful greenery, rocks and wood. This is an amazing addition to your garden if you can find enough room. The payoff is great because not only would you have a pool in your backyard garden, but the whole exterior would aesthetically explode by adding water as another natural element to the picture.

Not enough room? Try a custom shape

You really struggle with space and can’t really fit a rectangular or circular pool. No problem! You can opt for a completely random shape that would leave no corner unused.

These small, in-ground pools made of concrete are always convenient as their flexible design offers a lot of room for improvisation.

Infinity pool for finite space

No special tricks here. Infinity pool serves the same purpose, but it gives an illusion of endlessness as it melds the level of water with the horizon since the edge of the pool is beneath the water, a perfect little addition to your long summer sunsets. If your house is on a hill and the backyard is on a slope then you meet all the necessary conditions.

Now you see it now you don’t – A Hidden pool

This sort of technology is the one you’d probably see in Bond movies, and the price is not too far from that image either. However, this investment will give you the best possible way of using all the space you have at your disposal and lose nothing.

So what is a hidden pool?

It is a normal pool with a cover on the top which you can simply close or open just as you would any garage door. You would actually be getting a 2 in 1: a beautiful green grass backyard and a pool beneath which you can reveal on a whim.

Now, how awesome is that?

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Indoor Installation of 10,000 Plants Explores Connection Between Threatened Australian Grasslands and Architecture

Australian design studio Baracco+Wright Architects, worked together with artist Linda Tegg to create ‘Grasslands Repair’ for Australia’s Venice Architecture Biennale pavilion, a 10,000-plant recreation of the grasslands of southeast Victoria.
The indoor installation spans a lot of the pavilion and extends into its outdoor space, with walkways that allow audiences to move among the 65 classes of Western Plains Grasslands plants.

The topic for the 2018 Biennale (which opened in May) is”Repair,” that was described in a press release as a way of considering how structure can”play a role in fixing the places its part of.” Just 1 percent of those grasslands of mid-18th century Victoria still exists– largely the result of urbanization and industrial land use — for Baracco, Wright, and Tegg, Grasslands Repair indicates the actual cost of human land occupation. “The area of plants exhibited is very similar to that consumed by the pavilion,” that the curators stated. “It is also a smaller place than that of a typical Australian household home. Such an area takes around an hour to bulldoze.”

Supporting the living backyard from above is an installation called Skylight, which uses LEDs as a natural light source since the ceiling and walls of the structure block the sun. Through the Biennale, films that explore the subject of Repair are screened to the walls of the Grasslands Repair installation, including Ground, Baracco+Wright and Tegg made that in collaboration with David Fox. Without the history of the area for circumstance, the installation is just another indoor garden perfectly suited to selfies, but using all the understanding of what human interaction has done to native species, it turns into a call to action to attempt to undo the harm we have done.

(via Dezeen)

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Canadian Duo Creates Life-Size Origami Costumes for Ballet Dancers

Montreal-based artists Melika Dez and Pauline Loctin joined forces in January 2018 to combine their imaginations in a creative collaboration. The end result, PLI.Ē Project, fuses Dez’s abilities as a motion photographer with Loctin’s experience in paper artwork and showcases dancers across the globe sporting hand-folded paper costumes. Loctin specifically designed each dress’s shape and color palette into the dancer who would be wearing it, and Dez worked to situate her models in iconic surroundings from the streets of New York City into the Louvre Museum in Paris. Loctin’s paper creations vary from resembling traditional ballet tutus to folded experimental contours.

Dez shares that the job came together in 2 stages: first as a studio shoot professional ballet dancers wearing Loctin’s creations, and afterward as a worldwide undertaking photographing dancers and costumes outside.

 

“Paper can be a delicate material to work with, and that is precisely the reason why we decided to make the impossible, possible. Whichever element we would be confronted with, water (rain), wind, we desired to show that we are limitless.”

You can view more from Loctin on Instagram and out of Dez on Instagram.

H/T fubiz

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Josh Keyes’ New Paintings of Post-Apocalyptic World

Portland-based artist Josh Keyes paints hyperrealistic paintings of what he perceives the world may look like after the fall of humans. Animals such as sharks, tigers, and bulls remain as the last witnesses to the aftermath of individual destruction–observing blazing fires, investigating displaced industrial items, and swimming amongst melted ice caps. Monuments and statues also remain in this post-apocalyptic world, like in the artist’s recent painting Siren, which observes a graffiti-covered angel with a horn being splashed with the sea’s high tide. You can see more of his paintings on his Instagram and website.

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New Book Celebrates Uviversal Beauty of Glass Greenhouses

Photographer duo India Hobson and Magnus Edmondson, known as Haarkon honor the celestial beauty and rich history of glass greenhouses in their new book, ‘Glasshouse Greenhouse‘. Filled with lavish images of greenhouses from all over the planet, the book is divided into seven thematic chapters including History, Research, and Pleasure. The duo matches the visual storytelling with written reflections that explain each location and their expertise in discovering it.

The UK-based duo goes widely for their editorial and commercial work as visual storytellers, and seeking out greenhouses has come to be a touchpoint in their explorations of new areas. In an interview together with the Telegraph, Hobson shares

 

“It’s a combination of both botanicals and architecture, an odd but extremely satisfying mixture of the engineered and organic which I think appeals to a broad range of audience. To me, they’re a universal language in a few ways: the fusion of many cultures and nations all under one amazing glass roof.”

Recently published by Pavilion Books on October 4th, Glasshouse Greenhouse is Haarkon’s debut book, and it’s accessible on Amazon. You can see more from Hobson and Edmondson in their website and Instagram.

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4 Amazing US States to Visit This Year

Alexandra Kehayoglou Creates Rugs Inspired by Argentina’s Diverse Landscape

Textile artist Alexandra Kehayoglou creates natural landscapes of her native Argentina. Her chosen locations are often ones attached to political controversies, such as the Santa Cruz River, or regions dramatically altered by human action, like the Raggio creek. Kehayoglou uses her craft for a chance as a call for environmental consciousness, embedding her memory and explore of the disappearing waterways and grasslands to her hand-tufted works.

Every tapestry employs surplus substances from her family’s factory, which has manufactured machine-made rugs for more than six decades. The one-of-a-kind rugs are often installed against the wall, using a section of their work trailing along the ground so people can walk or put around the woven rugs.

Back in December 2017, her work Santa Cruz River was included at the National Gallery of Victoria Triennial at Melbourne. The installation showcased her exploration behind the upcoming damming of the river and also her interpretation of the harm that’ll continue to influence the surrounding area. After this month Kehayoglou will present a brand new site-specific tapestry that investigates the tribes of Patagonia in the group display Dream at the Chiostro del Bramante at Rome. You may see more of her job on her site and Instagram.

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Anna Mantzaris’ Quirky Stop Motion Explores Inner Desire to Lose Control

Swedish director Anna Mantzaris has a penchant for its darkly humous as noticed in her 2012 movie “But Milk is Important.” Her latest brief ENOUGH was created throughout her first year in the Royal College of Art where she graduated earlier this season. The stop-motion film follows several kind-looking personalities as they snap during regular occurrences like bothersome board meetings, dealing with demanding customers or only narrowly missing the bus.

“I wished to have very soft and sympathetic personalities, compared with the soft activities,” Mantzaris clarified to Directors Notes. “I liked them to feel somewhat uncomfortable and awkward, as we could occasionally feel in social circumstances. Additionally, I needed it to feel somewhat dull and grey, to improve the sensation of everyday life we occasionally wish to split from.”

This amusing animation is a cathartic release of this darkness we take bottled up inside and showcases exactly what may occur in case you eventually allow yourself to lose control. You may view more of her short movies on her website and Vimeo.

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In Search of the Near Threatened Whiskered Pitta

The Whiskered pitta is one of the beautiful pittas from the Pittidae family. It is endemic to Luzon area in the Philippines. Many have tried trekking in this area to photograph this beautiful bird. Only a few success stories.

My travel to the Philippines was mainly for the rare Whiskered Pitta. I got a news from my friend that currently there is a breeding pair of Whiskered pitta nesting high up in the mountains of Luzon. This was a good opportunity to photograph both male and female together. Since they are breeding they would be bold in nature, which makes it a good photographic opportunity.

In the Picture: Male Whiskered Pitta with bright red belly

I traveled all the way from India to Philippines and finally reached Luzon. I had to trek almost 3kms all the way to the top. It took me more than an hour to reach the habitat of this bird. I was accompanied by a guide. The forest was very thick and we can locate it only through its call.

In the Picture: Female Whiskered Pitta

We managed to locate the breeding pair and made some good photographs of both the male and the female bird. This breeding pair was so bold that one of the birds came and sat next to me. One of my great experiences in my birding career.

For more images of Birds Of Philippines, please have a look at the link below:

https://www.photographyaxis.com/portfolio/birds-of-philippines/

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