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Tree Spirits of Saint Simons Island
Mysterious faces, called Tree Spirits, are carved into live oaks and hardwoods throughout Saint Simons Island off the Georgia coast. There are 20 Tree Spirits commissioned on the island, each crafted by sculptor Keith Jennings. Jennings feels that each carving reveals the tree’s inner spirit.
Jennings took two to four days to sculpt each serene face throughout the forest, allowing them to intriguingly blend into their surroundings. The artist says that each face he carves into the wood is created entirely according to the tree. He insists, “I don’t have that much to do with it. The wood speaks to you, ya know?”
(Source: mymodernmet.com)
Long Term Exposure Photos of Fireworks
Photographer David Johnson captures the International Fireworks Show in Ottawa, Canada using an unusual photographic technique of long term exposure. His photos of fireworks look more like bacteria under a microscope. The results are amazing.
(Source: daveyjphoto.com)
Illustrated Lunch Bags by Dad
Since 2008 graphic designer David LaFerriere has been drawing illustrations on his children’s sandwich bags. He photographs almost all of them. You can explore the entire collection on Flickr.
(Source: thisiscolossal.com)
Buddha Park
Buddha Park, also known as Spirit City (Xieng Khuan), is a sculpture park located 25 km southeast of Vientiane, a small city that sits along the Mekong River in Laos. The park was started in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat who was a priest-shaman. The park displays over 200 Buddhist and Hindu statues of deities, along with other beautifully carved strange figures. The main attraction is the giant reclining Buddha resting on the grass (first photo).
(Source: roundtheworldtraveler.com)
Extremely Realistic Pencil Art
The following look like photos but they aren’t. All three of these pictures were drawn with a pencil. The attention to detail, hair, shading, features, everything perfectly proportioned. I think even Ray Bradbury would think he was looking at a picture of himself. The artist, Franco Clun from Italy, says “Unfortunately I did not study art, and everything I know I learned from experience and from reading some drawing manuals.”
(Source: unfinishedman.com)
Carving Limestone from a Cliff
These amazing photographs by Canadian Edward Burtynsky show men working on a cliff face cutting into the limestone creating beautiful step-like shapes. This rock quarry must harvest gorgeous limestone given the colors of the rock.
(Source: butdoesitfloat.com)
Recycled Animal Art
Driven by a combination of her passion for fitting odd shapes together and a sympathy toward discarded objects, Japanese artist, Sayaka Ganz creates animals from thrift store plastics. She only select objects that have been used and discarded. She believes the best way for artists to help reduce waste is to show how beautiful the materials can be and what can be done with them.
(Source: sayakaganz.com)
Neon Waterfalls
An ongoing series of lit waterfalls titled Neon Luminance is part of a collaboration between artists Sean Lenz and Kristoffer Abildgaarg. The duo dropped high-powered Cyalume glow sticks in a variety of colors into various waterfalls in Northern California and then made exposures varying from 30 seconds to 7 minutes to capture the submerged trails of light as the sticks moved through the current. To accomplish some of the more complicated shots, they strung several sticks together at once to create different patterns of illumination.
(Source: fromthelenz.com)
The Ancient Rock-Cut Tombs of Myra’s Lycian Necropolis
The ancient town of Myra in Turkey may sound familiar to you, because St. Nicholas (one of the Santa Claus origins) was the bishop of Myra. Another claim to fame for the region is the many ancient ruins one can see there.
Perhaps most striking of all the ancient ruins in Myra are the rock-cut tombs of the ancient Lycian necropolis. Two burial sites, the river necropolis and ocean necropolis, with frontages resembling classical temples, are hewn from the cliffs towering above the town.
You can imagine the years of work that went into carving these tombs out of the cliff faces.
(Source: neatorama.com)
