Paper, Naturally: 48 Gorgeous Works of Paper Art
May 23, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
From organic-looking installations that seem to have sprung from the forest or the sea to incredibly intricate scenes that can take months to complete, these stunning works of nature-themed paper art from 14 artists defy the disposable, ephemeral qualities of the material. Master paper artists slice, fold, bend and glue paper of all colors and textures into sculptures, collages and illustrations that variously elevate paper beyond its origins or take it back to its natural roots. See 56 more works by 14 additional artists at WebUrbanist.
Colorful Scenes by Helen Musselwhite
(images via: helenmusselwhite.com)
“Each piece combines the hand cutting, folding and scoring of a wide range of papers and card that are further worked on to create patterned and textured surfaces,” says artist Helen Musselwhite of her creative cut-paper collages. “They are then used to build scenes in box frames which are often complex and consist of many layers. This process means that each item of work is truly individual with no two pieces the same.Influenced by the natural world each piece is manipulated to become an intriguing place, a glimpse into another world of fiction and fairytale.”
Birds and Horse by Anna-Wili Highfield
(images via: annawilihighfield.com)
Sydney, Australia-based artist Anna-Wii Highfield creates these beautiful paper sculptures of animals from archival cotton paper which is then painted and sewn together. The artist, the daughter of puppeteers, works mostly by commission, sending her animal figures all over the world.
Black and White Birds by Christina Empedocles
(images via: davidbsmithgallery.com)
A former geologist, artist Christina Empedocles clearly feels an affinity to nature, as evidenced by the many plant and wildlife motifs in her work. Empedocles draws highly realistic images onto paper with wax pencil and then cuts and folds the paper into a mix of sculpture and collage.
3D Animals and Flowers by Jo Lynn Alcorn
(images via: jolynnalcorn.com)
Quirky and fun, Jo Lynn Alcorn’s three-dimensional paper collages spring forth from the artist’s treasured collection of beautiful papers in all prints and colors. “I do a pencil and marker sketch, which I scan digitally, and then rework within Illustrator and Photoshop as needed. I have a background as a graphic designer, which is very useful, as I often work closely with art directors and photographers to ‘imbed’ products such as jewelry or fashion items within my pictures. My artwork and the products are shot separately, then brought together digitally by the photographic retoucher.”
Intricate Cut-Outs by Emma Van Leest
(images via: emmavanleest.com)
Astonishingly detailed and cut by what one can only imagine must be the steadiest of hands, these paper scenes by Emma Van Leest reveal seemingly endless details the more you stare. A single piece could take the artist up to two months to complete, and it’s easy to see why: they’re all hand-cut, using archival paper and an Xacto knife.
In an interview with The Design Files, Van Leest said of her chosen medium, “It’s such an ephemeral, everyday material that we all use. We scribble on it, scrunch it up, throw it out. It’s lightweight and accessible which means that you don’t think of creating something so delicate and painstaking as a papercut with it. It’s exciting to create something of beauty and interest out of it.”
Vivid Illustrations by Kate Slater
(images via: kate slater illustration)
Don’t you want to just fall into Kate Slater’s lush, colorful paper world? The British illustrator creates these adorable scenes for children’s books, editorials, advertisements and pleasure, working in both flat collage and relief collages made with cut paper and wire.
Fresh Florals by Eloise Corr Danch
(images via: eloisecorrdanch.com)
New York City artist Eloise Corr Danch creates stunning paper flowers, garlands and even a full-sized dress. Her clients include Anthropologie, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue, with incredible displays in the pages of magazines, in retail shop windows and in galleries.
Trees from Trash by Yuken Teruya
(images via: inhabitat)
Japanese artist Yuken Teruya cuts the most delicate of trees out of everyday throwaway objects like toilet paper rolls and fast food bags. While the work calls attention to the role that such materials play in our lives, they’re also beautiful, a quality that the artist hopes viewers won’t take for granted. “I feel that my work shouldn’t only have the function of conveying the artist’s message. My works have a right to simply be beautiful or offer any kind of attraction.”
Pop-Ups by Lizzie Thomas
(images via: lizziethomas.co.uk)
Paper artist Lizzie Thomas of Brighton, UK creates these charming wooden books with hand-cut paper pop-ups inside. “My work is an exploration of narrative, myth and metaphor. I am particularly interested in the use of symbol in fairytale and folklore and also write my own stories. I take inspiration from the use of wood and paper in Japanese spiritual life. I use 2D to create 3D by introducing layering and movement into materials.”
3D Paper Sculpture by Jeff Nishinaka
(images via: jeffnishinaka.com)
“Paper to me is a living breathing thing that has a life of its own,” says renowned artist Jeff Nishinaka, whose work often appears in high-profile advertisements and galleries. “I just try to redirect that energy into something that feels animated and alive.” Take one look at his incredible, often life-sized paper sculptures, and you’ll agree that he succeeds on this front. Nishinaka crafts all kinds of scenes and objects from paper, but those that portray nature seem to be a heartfelt tribute to the very trees that provided his favorite artistic medium.
Playful Illustrations by Saelee Oh
(images via: saeleeoh.com)
Korean-American artist Saelee Oh crafts these playful, childlike cut-paper illustrations that explore themes like utopia, female empowerment, nature and animal symbolism. “I think about lace and delicacy and fragility,” she says. “I like the flatness of paper and all of its subtle textures and properties. I love paper. I want to make a paper burrito and eat it everyday. I love the different smells of paper too. The process of paper cutting is also more of a meditative exercise for me than painting or drawing with graphite or ink.”
Translucent Sculpture by Polly Verity
(images via: polyscene.com)
Edinburgh, Scotland-based artist Polly Verity makes these surreal sculptures of animals and mythological figures from wire and paper. Her work ranges from miniature to life-size figures as well as an array of paper costumes including masks and shoes.
The Paper Garden by Jade Pegler
(images via: spectrescope)
From afar, you might not even notice that there was anything ‘unnatural’ about these art installations by Jade Pegler. Her organic paper creations seem as if they really could have sprung from stumps and dead leaves. These temporary installations bring paper back to its natural environment, where its life first began.
Coral Reefs by Amy Eisenfeld Genser
(images via: amygenser.com)
Vast, mysterious ocean ecosystems in Caribbean blues and the dark, purple-black hues of the deepest seas are represented vividly by rolled and painted paper, mounted to canvas by artist Amy Eisenfeld Genser. “I often look to the natural world for inspiration. I am fascinated by the flow of water, the organization of beehives, and the organic irregularity of plants, flowers, rock formations, barnacles, moss, and seaweed.”
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Hunter Stabler: Visions In Papercutting
Hunter Stabler holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and is an extraordinary papercutter who has elevated the craft to new levels.
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4th China-UK Social Entrepreneur Seminar
April 26, 2011 by · View Comments
The last in the series of four social entrepreneur online dialogues hosted by i-genius in collaboration with the British Council and CISCO took place this week Wednesday 16th of March 2011 a day after i-genius arrived back from China. The series has been highly innovative, evocative and inspiring through which we’ve seen partnerships and friendships established, as well as social entrepreneur advancements and cross-cultural developments.
The Wonders of Watercress
March 25, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
As new research backs the cancer-fighting properties of watercress, Sarah Wilkinson digs up the story of the UK’s most historic salad leaf
Watercress is packed with 15 essential vitamins and minerals. Weight for weight, it contains more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach, more folic acid than bananas and has secretly enjoyed superfood status for centuries. Now, research from the University of Southampton has found new evidence that regularly eating the plant could prevent against cancer.
The benefits of watercress were first recognised in ancient Greece when Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is said to have deliberately located his first hospital beside a stream so that he could grow a plentiful supply of watercress with which to treat his patients. Greek soldiers ate it to increase their strength; Anglo Saxons took it to prevent baldness; Roman emperors believed it enabled them to make bold decisions; American Indians used it to dissolve kidney stones; and philosopher Francis Bacon claimed it could ‘restore a youthful bloom’.
Watercress sandwiches became a national institution during both World Wars when Britain had to rely on local produce, and experiments during the 1930s found it to be a powerhouse of nutrients. But through the latter half of the 20th century the popularity of watercress fell, mainly due to increased competition from imported and exotic produce.
In 2003 however, watercress farmers joined forces to revive the profile of this great British plant, forming the Watercress Alliance. The group is made up of the three largest producers in the UK, Bakkavor, Vitacress and The Watercress Company, who farm and distribute from 100 acres across Hampshire and Dorset.
Cancer-fighting properties
The new research from the University of Southampton, led by Professor Graham Packham and funded by the Watercress Alliance, has found that volunteers who ate a bowlful of watercress a day, had elevated levels of cancer-fighting molecules in their blood within hours of eating it.
The research revealed that the plant compound in the leaves of watercress that causes its peppery taste, phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), is able to block the function of a protein called Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF), which plays a key role in cancer development. As tumours develop, they outgrow their existing blood supply. To get past this barrier, cancer cells send out signals that cause the surrounding normal tissues to grow new blood vessels and supply the growing cancers with oxygen and nutrients.
HIF is necessary for this process to work. However, PEITC, which is abundant in watercress, blocks the function of HIF and thereby inhibits the growth of cancer, while also helping recovering patients avoid a recurrence of the disease.
Watercress Alliance member Dr Steve Rothwell says: “We are very excited by the outcome of Professor Packham’s work, which builds on the body of research that supports the idea that watercress may have an important role to play in limiting cancer development.”
The study follows a dietary trial by the University of Ulster, which found that DNA damage to white blood cells was considerably reduced in 60 healthy volunteers, including 30 smokers, who were asked to eat an 85 gram bag of fresh watercress every day for eight weeks.
The beneficial changes were greatest among the smokers, who had significantly lower levels of antixoidant compounds at the start of the study. Earlier research from Princeton University in New Jersey, found that watercress protected smokers from a key tobacco carcinogen implicated in lung cancer.
Other trials at Ulster found that eating watercress protects against eye diseases such as cataracts, and the raised levels of antioxidants also protect cells from the effects of free radicals, which are responsible for heart disease.
Claire MacEvilly, a nutritionist at MRC Human Nutrition Research in Cambridgeshire, says: “What is interesting to us, is that the scientists have been able to quantify the actual amount of watercress needed to reduce the risk of developing cancer and that the recommended amount is achievable in a typical day.”
Healing potential
Molecular biologists at Purdue University in Indiana discovered in 2005, that watercress could actually correct its genetic code if inheriting from flawed parents, to grow normally again like its grandparents. The results, described by researchers as “spectacular,” defy the scientific law of inheritance and present the notion that the plant, unlike any other species, can effectively heal itself and maintain its pure ancestral blueprint.
Whether this means that watercress is genetically geared as a ‘healing’ entity is a matter for further scientific research. History tells us that our ancestors believed in its revitalising powers, but wider studies into its medicinal properties have yet to be undertaken before bodies such as Cancer Research UK would be able to officially endorse it.
For now, scientists have awarded the aquatic plant natural superfood status and can back its supplementary health benefits. The encouraging findings from the University of Southampton however, are the first step to proving that one of Britain’s oldest salad vegetables might really be the key ingredient in the fight against one of the world’s oldest diseases.
More on this story: Watercress Factsheet
Beth
Singing and the Happiness Tie-in
March 21, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
All types of singing have positive psychological effects. The act of singing releases endorphins, the brain’s “feel good” chemicals. Singing in front of a crowd, a la karaoke, naturally builds confidence, which has broad and long-lasting effects on general well-being. But of all types of singing, it’s choral singing that seems to have the most dramatic effects on people’s lives.
A study published in Australia in 2008 revealed that on average, choral singers rated their satisfaction with life higher than the public — even when the actual problems faced by those singers were more substantial than those faced by the general public [source: MacLean]. A 1998 study found that after nursing-home residents took part in a singing program for a month, there were significant decreases in both anxiety and depression levels [source: ISPS]. Another study surveying more than 600 British choral singers found that singing plays a central role in their psychological health [source: ISPS].
But why? Could you just start belting out a tune right now in order to make yourself feel happy?
It’s possible. Some of the ways in which choral singing makes people happy are physical, and you get them whether you’re in a chorus or in a shower — as long as you’re using proper breathing techniques during that shower solo. Singing can have some of the same effects as exercise, like the release of endorphins, which give the singer an overall “lifted” feeling and are associated with stress reduction. It’s also an aerobic activity, meaning it gets more oxygen into the blood for better circulation, which tends to promote a good mood. And singing necessitates deep breathing, another anxiety reducer. Deep breathing is a key to meditation and other relaxation techniques, and you can’t sing well without it.
Physical effects, while pretty dramatic, are really just the beginning. Singing causes happiness for other reasons that have less of a biological basis.
Source: Discovery Health
Bella Voce Choir in Brooklyn, NY
Beth
Singing and the Happiness Tie-in
March 21, 2011 by admin · View Comments
All types of singing have positive psychological effects. The act of singing releases endorphins, the brain’s “feel good” chemicals. Singing in front of a crowd, a la karaoke, naturally builds confidence, which has broad and long-lasting effects on general well-being. But of all types of singing, it’s choral singing that seems to have the most dramatic effects on people’s lives.
A study published in Australia in 2008 revealed that on average, choral singers rated their satisfaction with life higher than the public — even when the actual problems faced by those singers were more substantial than those faced by the general public [source: MacLean]. A 1998 study found that after nursing-home residents took part in a singing program for a month, there were significant decreases in both anxiety and depression levels [source: ISPS]. Another study surveying more than 600 British choral singers found that singing plays a central role in their psychological health [source: ISPS].
But why? Could you just start belting out a tune right now in order to make yourself feel happy?
It’s possible. Some of the ways in which choral singing makes people happy are physical, and you get them whether you’re in a chorus or in a shower — as long as you’re using proper breathing techniques during that shower solo. Singing can have some of the same effects as exercise, like the release of endorphins, which give the singer an overall “lifted” feeling and are associated with stress reduction. It’s also an aerobic activity, meaning it gets more oxygen into the blood for better circulation, which tends to promote a good mood. And singing necessitates deep breathing, another anxiety reducer. Deep breathing is a key to meditation and other relaxation techniques, and you can’t sing well without it.
Physical effects, while pretty dramatic, are really just the beginning. Singing causes happiness for other reasons that have less of a biological basis.
Source: Discovery Health
Bella Voce Choir in Brooklyn, NY
Beth
Born Freezing: Meet Antarctica’s First Citizen
February 15, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel, History & Trivia, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
You say you’re from the Deep South? From Down Under, perhaps? Emilio Marcos Palma would like a word. Born in 1978 at Argentina’s Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsula, Palma can be considered to be the first native Antarctican.
Snow Kidding
(image via: Fotolog)
He may not be the last man on Earth but Emilio Marcos Palma (above, aged 30) was the first man born on the continent of Antarctica. While this unique claim to fame may not overly impress members of the opposite sex, Palma’s place in history is assured thanks to the cold hard facts of his birth.
(images via: Dinosaurios de Argentina, Taringa! and Skyscraper City)
A little background: The 1959 Antarctic Treaty (to which Argentina is a signatory) “does not recognize, dispute, nor establish territorial sovereignty claims,” and Argentina has staked out a triangular wedge of the continent that encompasses most of the Antarctic Peninsula and narrows to a point at the South Pole.
So-called Argentine Antarctica (Antártida Argentina, in Spanish) is administered as a department of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands with the governor residing in Ushuaia, Patagonia.
(images via: Filatelissimo and Taringa!)
Argentina has strongly supported its claim to Antártida Argentina with people power – the country has sent more humans to Antarctica than all other nations combined.
(image via: Skaboii)
Orcadas Base (above) in the South Orkney Islands was established in early 1904 and was the first permanently inhabited base in Antarctica. Over the succeeding century, Argentina set up 5 other permanently occupied bases including Esperanza Base, where Emilio Marcos Palma was born.
A Man, A Plan, Antarctica!
(images via: Fotolog, Andinia and Alfinal)
In the 1970s, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship with expansionist ambitions. The nation’s political hierarchy thought that announcing births in Antártida Argentina would help support Argentina’s claim to the territory. This was easier said than done: like Mars in Elton John’s “Rocket Man”, Esperanza Base ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids; in fact it’s cold as Hell.
(images via: Bill’s Movie Emporium and A Nerd Goes To The Movies)
Speaking of which… those who’ve watched the classic Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter (1973) will immediately note the resemblance between Esperanza Base and the film’s fictional Old West town of Lago, after the latter received an extreme makeover of sorts.
(images via: Search.com, Mezvan and Esacademic)
But back to the problem of population. The solution came courtesy of Captain Jorge Emilio Palma, leader of the Argentine army detachment at Esperanza Base, and his wife Sílvia Morella de Palma who at the time (late 1977) was 7 months pregnant. Once it was assured basic medical facilities and staff were on hand at Esperanza Base, Mrs. Palma was flown in to complete her pregnancy.
It was an ideal set of circumstances: Sílvia did not have to face nutrition issues in the sensitive early months of her pregnancy, and the child would be both an Argentine citizen (as were his parents) and the first child to be born in Antarctica.
(images via: Taringa! and La Casa de las Palomas)
Esperanza Base was one of the larger Argentine antarctic bases in 1978 and as of October 2010 had a population of 66. Once ensconced at the base, the remaining weeks of Sílvia Morella de Palma’s pregnancy passed without complications and on January 7, 1978, Emilio Marcos Palma entered the bottom of the world weighing 7½ pounds (3.4 kg). If it was any consolation to the family, Emilio’s birth occurred at the height of the Antarctic summer with the midnight sun shining bright and the average temperature hovering around 3°C (37°F).
He Comes From A Land Down Under
(images via: Welcome Argentina, Ecosolnorte and Nuestromar)
Sorry Aussies, you can’t get any more “under” than Antarctica but with that said, Esperanza Base lies north of more than 90 percent of the frozen continent. The base, founded by Argentina in 1952, is situated near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula – that long, narrowing tentacle of land that reaches up towards the southern cone of South America from Antarctica’s central massif.
(image via: Taringa!)
The rugged, mountainous peninsula is actually a continuation of the Andes, a geological fact that connects the two continents (and helps support nationalistic claims to Antártida Argentina).
(images via: Skaboii, Vibracobra23 and Britlink)
Territorial claims in Antarctica typically look like radial sections but unlike a pie, things are anything but cut & dried. The Argentine, Chilean and British claims (Antártida Argentina, Antártica and the British Antarctic Territory respectively) all significantly overlap and, on a lighter note, have their own unique flags.
On a further, even lighter note, Emilio Marcos Palma has a plausible claim to British nationality as Esperanza Base lies within the competing UK claim of the British Antarctic Territory.
Great Scott, it’s an Antarctic Baby Boom!
(image via: Far and Away Photographic Arts)
Antarctica: an ice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there… oh really? Emilio Marcos Palma may have been the first human born in Antarctica but subsequent blessed events proved he’s no fluke.
To date (2009), eleven children have been officially born in Antarctica or antarctic territories, which are defined as being south of the 60th parallel. Eight of these erstwhile Antarcticans were born at Esperanza Base.
(images via: YidnaMU and Ateneo Fotografico)
Three other Antarctican babies share a birthplace at Chile’s Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, situated on King George Island at an approximate latitude of 62° south. Chile’s first official Antarctican is Juan Pablo Camacho Martino, born on November 21, 1984.
(images via: Historias Con Historia and @rt Outsiders)
Well, it WAS an Antarctic baby boom but it seems to have become somewhat of a bust… all indications are that the most recent child born in Antarctica was Ignacio Alfonso Miranda Lagunas, born on January 23, 1985, in the Chilean Commune of Antártica.
As of 2010, the number of people working on scientific research and other work in Antarctica and islands nearby ranges from a low of about 1,000 in winter to around 5,000 in summer – and surely they aren’t all the same sex. What happened?
(image via: AntartidaAbierta)
Maybe now that the ice has been broken, so to speak, governments who operate Antarctic bases realize there’s no longer any good reason to risk the lives of mothers and babies far from large, modern hospitals. Penguins may have evolved to cope with Antarctica’s frigid conditions; humans still have a ways to go.
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Marc Ellis: What social entrepreneurship means to him
December 22, 2010 by · View Comments
Full video of event: www.gewsocialenterprise.springtv.co.nz Taken from GEW NZ’s 2010 September pre-launch panel talk with Marc Ellis, Rod Oram, Jade Tang, British deputy high commissioner Mike Cherrett and Sam Morgan.
Brush Your Beak: 10 Amazing Birds With Teeth
September 28, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series, Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Do birds have teeth? Ask any biologist and the answer will be “absolutely not!”, but “absolute” is a relative term and when one stretches the definitions of what makes a bird or a tooth, birds with teeth aren’t absolutely impossible anymore.
Greylag Goose Grazes Grasses
(images via: Digital Nature Photography and Mike Milo’s Journal)
The Greylag Goose is very common in Europe and western Asia though most people haven’t seen one up close. If they did, they might back away, and quickly. This is no “silly goose”, at least not if those rows of teeth along its upper and lower jaws mean anything. It’s close relative, the Canada Goose, shares the Greylag’s disconcertingly un-birdlike choppers. If you thought a goose’s bark was worse than its bite, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
(images via: Darrell Gallant and Mark David)
Tooth-like serrations called Tomia run along the outside edges of the Greylag’s beak, top and bottom, and help it neatly clip the shoots and grasses that make up the major portion of its meals.
Domestic Goose’s Devilish Grin
(images via: The Nature of Framingham and GooseGoddessS)
Domestic Geese may be white but they’ve sure got a bite; being closely related to the Greylag Goose they share their progenitor’s toothless – but tooth-like – dentition. Just imagine the glint off these pearly… yellows?… when a gaggle of domestic geese swagger into the barnyard. You talkin’ to me??
(image via: Indiana Public Media)
Making like a snake isn’t going to improve the above goose’s popularity much… guess he’ll have to just grin and bear it. Looks like he’s doing exactly that.
Not Your Average Baby Teeth
(images via: Conservation Report and Kintired)
Awww, cute cuddly baby birds! Hear them go “cheep cheep cheep”. Gently touch their warm, soft, downy feathers. Watch them open their tiny mouths wide and… Oh. My. Gawd!! No need to adjust your screen, there’s nothing wrong with this picture… well, not visually but certainly viscerally. Many species of birds have, to a greater or lesser degree, spiky tooth-like rearward-facing spines in their mouths that ensure what goes in won’t get out. Take another look at the above images – I ensure they’ll be in your dreams tonight.
Penguins Use Tongue Fu
(images via: Allan Hansen and ChrisRay64)
Penguins are chock full of amazing evolutionary adaptations that enable them to perform as efficient fish-catching, meal-processing machines that turn speed-eating into a lifestyle. You’d think that snatching fish in mid-swim would be a challenge without a mouthful of teeth to do the snatching with, but penguins have a trick up their natty sleeves… or in their mouths, to be exact.
(images via: PenguinScience and New Zealand Penguins)
The Adelie penguin above is showing off its spine-covered tongue (left) and similarly bristly upper palate (right). The spines function much as teeth would, holding captured fish securely as the penguin prepares to swallow it. The spines are raked backwards just in case any red herrings decide they want to make a break for it. Oh, and if you’re wondering how penguins kiss, the answer is… very carefully.
Toucan Chew
(image via: Liography)
“It’s hard to soar with eagles when you’re surrounded by turkeys…” Or Toucans, for that matter. It’s hard to take toucans seriously – between their ridiculously enlarged beaks and an unfortunate association with Froot Loops breakfast cereal its a wonder they haven’t been laughed out of the rainforest by now. Then there’s this guy, who stands his ground with a hint of a grin… a sinister smile that appears to reveal a brace of bodacious bird bicuspids! We’re unsure whether flashing faux dentition works to intimidate predators but one thing’s for certain: when Toucan Sam channels Yosemite Sam, any fur-bearin’ varmints in the area had best take notice!
Take A Seat, Tooth-billed Catbird
(image via: Oiseaux.net)
The Tooth-billed Catbird is a type of Bowerbird found in the forests of Queensland in northeastern Australia. There are several different species of catbirds but only the Tooth-billed Catbird has a tooth-like bill… and a seriously badass name to go with it.
(images via: Brooklyn Arts Council, Amazon.com and BB the Renegade)
The tooth-like appearance of the Tooth-billed Catbird’s bill really puts it in the catbird seat… wait a minute, what the heck is a “catbird seat”?? Derived from a folk expression originating in the American South, to be in the catbird seat means being in an enviable or advantageous position. Depending upon who you want to believe, the expression was popularized either by humorist James Thurber in his 1942 short story “The Catbird Seat”, or by the legendary late baseball broadcaster Red Barber who often used it when describing situations in which the batter had run the count to 3 balls and no strikes. The more you know!
Breakout The Egg Teeth
(images via: Backyard Chickens, Della Micah and Honolulu Zoo)
When the going gets tough, the tough get… an egg tooth? Yes indeed, birds have evolved egg teeth (an Egg Tooth, actually) on the end of the beak to assist about-to-be-born baby birds in breaking through their eggshells from the inside. Once they’re out, however, the egg tooth either quickly falls off or is reabsorbed. Though known as an egg “tooth”, the actual structure is more like that of a horn or a bone spur.
(images via: Gravityx9 and Ugly Overload)
All birds (except Kiwis) are born with egg teeth and the protuberance is also common to other egg-laying animals including snakes, crocodiles, turtles, certain types of frogs and -wait for it – spiders!
Prehistoric Toothed Birds
(images via: Life In The Fast Lane, Dalje and EMC/Maricopa)
Birds had teeth through much of their history, from the very ancient Archaeopteryx up to the relatively recent Pelagornithidae. These pseudotooth birds, looked a lot like modern seabirds with two major differences: most species were much larger and all had jagged, bony protrusions of their upper and lower jawbones that gave them a decidedly sinister appearance. It’s thought that these tooth-like projections helped the birds grasp slippery fish and squid, but that begs the question: if today’s seabirds also eat these foods, why lose these useful pseudoteeth?
(images via: IO9 and Coolislandsong24)
The last toothed birds died out early in the Pleistocene Epoch around 2.5 million years ago, possibly their specialized lifestyles rendered them vulnerable to severe environmental changes resulting from changing ocean currents and the advent of recurring ice ages. Their huge size may have also contributed to their demise, as some of these toothed birds really pushed the envelope when it came to practical limitations of the size vs flight equation. The extinct toothed bird Pelagornis Chilensis above, for example, had an estimated wingspan of 5.2 meters (17 feet) while the wingspans of other toothed seabirds approached 9 meters (30 feet)!
Fighting, Biting Warbirds
(images via: Spitcrazy, Tomahawks.us and Amazon.com)
Though the term “warbird” can denote most any retired military aircraft, what comes to mind to most folks are the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters flown with great distinction by the Flying Tigers in World War II. Now these birds had teeth… and were more than happy to use them.
(images via: Wikipedia and WW2Total)
As iconic as the sharkmouth P-40 may be, the actual history of the motif isn’t what most would expect. The first fighter pilots to paint their P-40s in this fashion were not Americans, but British – from RAF 112 Squadron, flying Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks against Rommel’s Afrika Corps out of Egyptian bases in the summer of 1941. That isn’t the end of the story, either. The pilots from 112 Squadron got their inspiration from seeing Messerschmitt Bf-110 fighter-bombers from the Luftwaffe’s Zerstorergeschwader 76 “Haifisch” (shark) Group, formed in the spring of 1940.
Cartoon Birds & Mouthy Mascots
(image via: Sodahead)
Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Heckle & Jeckle and more… these classic cartoon character birds were embodied by their creators with a wide variety of exaggerated expressions including some very expressive, toothy grins.
(images via: Upcoming Discs, Dinosaur.org, Railbirds and JohnKStuff)
No one (until now, at least) really questioned why these animated avians had teeth, let alone now you see ‘em, now you don’t choppers – and there’s a very good reason: pointing it out to someone like Duckman might just get you a “What the HELL you starin’ at?!!” in return.
(images via: Seahawks Central, Tom McMahon and HD Wallpapers)
From pro sports to beer leagues to school teams, birds have always been popular mascots but the recent trend is to make them look as fierce as possible. Even historic mascots and logos have gotten buff: check out the helmet logos of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, for example.
(images via: Chris Creamer, Fiveprime, Sportslogos.net and Sportslogos.net)
Sometimes though, a frown just ain’t enough; baring teeth bestows a much greater degree of ferocity on even the most timid of songbirds. The logos above all feature toothy birds who add some bite to their beaks… just beak cause, that’s why.
(image via: Morriscourse)
Can’t handle the tooth? Saying fangs with faint praise? Think canines belong on canines and ONLY canines? Fair enough, but just remember: birds with teeth really aren’t impossible, just implausible. Or, just maybe… inci-dental.
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Art from Decay: 11 Masters of Trash, Rust & Rot
August 23, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Food & Health, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
The inescapable cycle of life, death and decay will have its way with us all, and virtually everything else on earth… and while most people find this reality of nature less than pleasant, others seek to magnify and exploit it. Because while decay can certainly be disgusting – as some artists have portrayed with rotting animals – it can also be beautiful, like allowing the sea to etch a pattern into metal.
Dieter Roth
(images via: MOMA)
No collection of decay-themed art would be complete without the inclusion of Dieter Roth, whose entire oeuvre challenged the notion that art is immortal. Bananas, sausage and dung are just a few of the items Roth used to create pieces that blossomed with maggots and mold, falling victim to the relentless cycle of life and death even under the harsh lights of exclusive art galleries. Certainly the bust of chocolate that he made of himself, covered in birdseed and threw into a courtyard as a feast for birds looks very different than it did when he created it.
Dan Dempster
(image via: wikimedia commons)
The sea is a great and mysterious artist, carving rocks and scouring patterns into sunken man-made objects with its relentless tides and currents. Bermuda artist Dan Dempster submerged pieces of steel into the ocean and let it etch patterns into the surface with a rusty, dreamy and utterly aquatic result.
Nathan Slate Joseph
(images via: sundaram tagore gallery)
Many artists whose work is displayed outdoors dread the process of weathering; they lacquer and protect their work as much as possible to defend it against fading, rust, and other hazards of wind and rain. But Nathan Slate Joseph intentionally leaves squares of steel outdoors to “empower nature by allowing it to have a hand in the making of his art.” He even applies acids to facilitate the breakdown of the pigments he applies to each square, letting them age and change naturally before soldering them together into one cohesive piece.
Damien Hirst
(images via: my modern met)
Renowned British artist Damien Hirst is known for making death a central theme in nearly all of his works, the most notable – and controversial – of which being a series made from animal corpses. One work featuring a rotting cow and bull was banned from gallery exhibition by New York public health officials for fear of “vomiting among the visitors”. Another, “A Thousand Years”, consisted of a rotting cow’s head in a glass case, covered in maggots and flies. But not all of Hirst’s dead animals are left to the ravages of nature – some are preserved in formaldehyde, like his iconic (and somehow simultaneously iconoclastic) shark.
Tony Reason
(images via: tonyreason.com)
Rust is a powerful pigment, with its vivid hues of red and orange that it lends to all sorts of metals, whether desired or not. British artist Tony Reason must see a great beauty in rust, because he has made it the center of much of his work: giant metal panels with rust designs and even rust mixed with wax and painted on canvas.
Kathy Kelley
(image via: artslant)
Few artists enjoy being told that their work looks like a bunch of trash – but Kathy Kelley knows that that’s exactly what her sculptures are. Kelley, who holds an MFA in graphic design, turned to “revaluing objects of refuse” with her large-scale found-object sculptures, saying “I am drawn to the symbolic and formal elements of decay, the way in which an object has been altered by its mere existence. The worn, broken, torn nature of the aged object seems to make it more real, more honest. So I collect decayed urban refuse. I hold onto it for awhile. Cogitate. Eventually the formal and symbolic elements of the materials and my current research meld. Then I make.”
Matthew Barney & Elizabeth Peyton
(images via: c-monster)
Take one dead shark a la Damien Hirst, throw in some drawings that have been embellished by the sea over a period of a few months a la Dan Dempster, and you’ve got the strange collaborative project “The Blood of Two” by artists Matthew Barney and Elizabeth Peyton. Some of Peyton’s nautical-themed drawings were placed in a glass casket which was submerged in the ocean for months; the casket was ceremoniously lifted from the sea and taken on a funeral-like procession to a slaughterhouse where the drawings were removed and replaced with a dead shark. The shark was later served to onlookers. Barney is also known for his performance art videos featuring sculptures made from uncooked tapioca, which were left to decay as they would.
Rosamond Purcell
(images via: zymmogyphic)
Did you ever imagine that a dead fish could be so beautiful? Rosamond Purcell collects such natural and man-made curiosities for her assemblage art, which pays tribute to decay in all forms, from the remains of dead creatures to worm-eaten books and rusted metal. Purcell sources most of her materials at a junkyard in Maine and turns them into art installations, sculptures, collages and other collections as documented in her book Bookworm: The Art of Rosamond Purcell.
Joseph Beuys
(images via: 2thewalls)
Artist Joseph Beuys worked with all sorts of unconventional materials, but they were never randomly chosen. Beuys used edible items like butter, sausage and chocolate in some works, knowing that they would transform and decay over time, changing the way that people reacted to each piece. Fat in particular played a large role, used to signify “chaos and the potential for spiritual transcendence”. The images above show how the work ‘Fat Chair’, which featured a triangular slab of butter on a wooden chair, evolved as it decayed.
Zhang Xiaotao
(images via: saatchi gallery)
Perhaps hang Xiaotao’s art isn’t made directly from putrefying objects, but nearly as unusual is the desire to produce art that holds up decay as a subject worth portraying again and again. Xiaotao depicts moldy strawberries, rotting birthday cake, heaps of trash in the subway and ants feasting on forgotten food as lovingly as if they were stunning landscapes and beautiful models. “I am creating something that is disappointing and yet has great hopes – a cycle of positive and negative energy that is in a constant state of renewal,” he told China Daily.
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Micro-artist Makes Millions
August 16, 2010 by admin · View Comments
Willard Wigan never meant for his art to become a business.
In fact, he never really set out to be an artist; the vocation found him as he was hiding from the real world at 5 years old.
Now 53, Mr. Wigan is renowned for his “micro-sculptures,” ultra-miniature works in a rare genre he helped create. He makes the minutest of statuettes, fitting them in a needle’s eye or fixing them atop a pin head. He carves figures into matchsticks and puts lipstick and clothes on dead houseflies. In short, he takes life-size ideas and characters and shrinks them to a “molecular level.”
These uniquely small works, a sampling of which is currently on display at the Atlanta Art Gallery in Buckhead, fetch high-profile buyers at big prices. During an interview in February, Mr. Wigan said he was working on a commissioned sculpture that would bring seven-foot-tall basketball star Shaquille O’Neal down to nano size.
England’s Prince Charles, musician Elton John, boxer Mike Tyson and “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell all own pieces of Mr. Wigan’s work, which range in price from $35,000 to upwards of $100,000. David Lloyd, the former British tennis player, owns 72 pieces, almost half of Mr. Wigan’s total output of about 200.
Though his work has made him a millionaire, Mr. Wigan doesn’t do it for the money.
“If I wasn’t going to get paid for it, I’d still do it,” he said. “It’s like telling someone who plays basketball they won’t get paid. They’ll still do it. You do what you love.”
Source: GlobalAtlanta
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