Creative Stone Mason - Thea Alvin

I LIKE ROCKS; I LIKE WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY, AND I LIKE HOW THEY SAY IT.

- Stone artist Thea Alvin 

I'm on a "rock" mission lately while I design a pebble mosaic for my front yard, so my ideation travels brought me to the work of stone mason Thea Alvin. She makes the most amazing arches out of stone, which are shown in her video below. 

I love it when I can find video of an artist talking about their creative process - about why the love the medium in which they work. The essence of art is love; love of the creative, love of the making, love of ambiance, and most of all the love of the medium in which they work. 

Home Studio in Vermont -  Artist Thea Alvin

Pool Fountain at Tarr Steps House, UK - Artist Thea Alvin

Arch at Duke, Nicholas School for the Environment, NC - Artist Thea Alvin

Orchid Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc

Every time I look at one of Patrick Blanc's creations I start planning my own vertical garden for the back wall behind the garage.

Then I realize just how hard that project will be and I move on to easier tasks :) Art is always like that, no? It looks easy until you try it yourself and realize the skill involved.

Patrick Blanc, it should also be noted, has a really cool website that's worth the visit.
http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/

This particular exhibition was done for the New York Botanical Garden's Orchid Show and features 7,000 orchids in the display.

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc for the NY Botanical Gardens Orchid Show

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc for the NY Botanical Gardens Orchid Show

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc for the NY Botanical Gardens Orchid Show

Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc for the NY Botanical Gardens Orchid Show

Drops of Light - Art Lighting Installation by Torafu

In my fantasy world where I have a ton of rooms and spaces to decorate and create compelling experiences for people, I'd put these as the main overhead lighting in one of them. Probably combined with Troika's "Light Rain" so you get the movement under your feet, the sound of rain, and the visual of the glass beads suspended from the sky over your head.

Add in a bar, and the whole thing would be a rocking experience.

The bulbs in this installation by Torafu Architects are hand blown, from recycled materials.

Lighted Water Droplets by Torafu

Lighted Water Droplets by Torafu

Lighted Water Droplets by Torafu

Bioluminescent Caves of Waitomo

As a prelude to my showing off a bioluminescent build in Second Life that I've been working on, how about we tour some bioluminescent caves?

These strike me both beautiful and creepy at the same time. The light is emitted by a living organism and the idea of all those living things over my head in a cave is more than a little disconcerting. They could FALL! On me!  Yikes....

It also might be that I've seen too many nature-out-of-control horror movies ;) It's all fun and games until Glowworms are exposed to random nuclear radiation and grow to enormous size with a taste for humans ... Actually, I don't think anyone's made THAT movie, yet.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Lighting Art from Aqua Creations - Morning Glory Collection

So, I'm looking at Aqua Creations' website and trying to figure out which of these glories to blog.

Then it occurs to me that I've been sucking pretty hard at getting posts onto this blog (startups are really a time eater...) and boy howdy is there a lot of material here. So, I think we'll spend a few blog posts touring the various collections because they are pretty damned amazing.

This set is Morning Glory (for obvious reasons) and designed by Ayala Serfaty.

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Aqua Creations "Morning Glory" Collection

Lions and Sculptures and Artists..Oh, My!

Because we shall let no fine metal sculpture go unblogged, we present this beautiful piece of work by Turkish artist Selcuk Yilmaz. The sculpture was built over 10 months using 4,000 pieces of scrap metal. The artist has named his creation Aslan. 

Pretty danged awesome, don't you agree? 

Metal Lion Sculpture by Selcuk Yilmaz

Metal Lion Sculpture by Selcuk Yilmaz

Metal Lion Sculpture by Selcuk Yilmaz

Metal Lion Sculpture by Selcuk Yilmaz

Doolittle House in Joshua Tree - Kendrick Kellogg, Architect

This just went on the market and got all sorts of blog coverage. One thing I find interesting about following certain artists is how you see repeated themes in their work. I think I can recognize one of Kellogg's houses anywhere, now.

I love the roof on this one in particular because it lets in so much natural light, something those of us who live in standard boxes miss. I also really covet that copper fireplace hood.

BONUS! There's video on this house~!

Doolittle House by Architect Kendrick Kellogg

Doolittle House by Architect Kendrick Kellogg

Doolittle House by Architect Kendrick Kellogg

Doolittle House by Architect Kendrick Kellogg

Doolittle House by Architect Kendrick Kellogg