The Flaming Lotus Girls Light My Fire

I believe I have just found my people.

Kinetic sculpture? check.
Large scale art installation? check.
Fire? check.

Where do I sign up?

Flaming Lotus Girls - Merope 2

Flaming Lotus Girls - Serpent Mother

Flaming Lotus Girls - Tympani Lambada

Flaming Lotus Girls - Xylophage

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

It's a rare treat when I get to actually go see some of the amazing things I feature on this blog!

I was delighted (DELIGHTED, I tell you) to run across this fantastic lighting sculptural display at the LA County Fair this week called Luminasia.

49 artisans from China have built this spectacular display right on site in Pomona over the course of 6 weeks. I have to admit that I have no love for the gaudy, carny atmosphere of county fairs but this is worthy of the trip if you can avoid the instant-heart-attack food offerings. Bonus: you want to see this at night when temperatures have cooled off.

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

Luminasia at the LA County Fair

Rock Mosaics from Ancient Art of Stone

Sometimes art is not only a love story between a creator and a medium, but between two creators and a medium. 

Frankly, I'm more than a little envious that Naomi Zettl & Andreas Kunert have a relationship based on love of each other and their art. We should all be so lucky to have someone share our passions so completely and be able to translate that into something beautiful that can be shared by everyone. 

I've been making my first forays into working with Pebble Mosaics and they are so much harder than they look. My tendency is to not want to waste material, but that's just not possible within the confines of a pattern. You have to choose the right pieces, the ones that result in the best design realization, and not all your pebbles meet the grade. 

What's not shown in the photographs - the piles of rock that didn't make the cut. The challenge for those of us who hate to waste is to find ways to use them somewhere else. 

Rock Wall Mosaic from Ancient Art of Stone 

Fireplace Mosaic from Ancient Art of Stone 

Rock Wall Mosaic from Ancient Art of Stone 

Rock Wall Mosaic from Ancient Art of Stone 

Pebble Mosaic from Ancient Art of Stone 

Cave Digging with Ra Paulette

I've long been a fan of James Hubbell's statement "A house is a piece of sculpture that you live in" and I'm adding a second quote to that from Ra Paulette "I want to create a space that's transformative".

This is exactly what draws me to organic architecture - transformative spaces. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find boxes transformative. They're just boxes that hold your stuff. The curves and softness of organic shapes is what I find transformative. 

I find beauty transformative. 

I find artistry and craftsmanship transformative. 

I hope you find Ra Paulette's work as transformative as I did.

The caves are carved by hand into the sandstone cliffs of Northern New Mexico by Ra himself. 

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Wire Fantasy Sculptures by Robin Wight

It's fascinating how fast word spreads amongst the arty folk when something "cool" is discovered. Robin Wight is enjoying his newly acquired fame and I'm going to pile on because pretty must be shared....everywhere!

By the way, if these inspire you, there are kits available and the artist has detailed drawings and photos of the works in progress. It always looks so simple...hey, I've got wire in the garage!...but the reality is always that creating takes time and mastery.

Butterflies by Robin Wight

Cobwebs by Robin Wight

Wishes by Robin Wight

Raindance by Robin Wight

YinYang by Robin Wight

Awesome Glass Artist Dale Chihuly

Apprenticeship wanted.

With one Dale Chihuly, glass artist.

Teach me your ways, oh great one, for you make magic and I would make magic, too.

Drink in the lovely....

(The Dream House definitely has a glass studio!)

Macchia Forest - Dale Chiluly, Glass Artist

Persian Blue - Dale Chihuly, Glass Artis

Neon Forest - Dale Chihuly, Glass Artist

Ikebana Boat - Dale Chihuly, Glass Artist

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