State-Shaped Hand Cast Iron Skillets by Alisa Toninato Are Fun and Functional.

Thirty-year-old metal designer Alisa Toninato, who as been featured on Martha Stewart, creates handmade substantial and beautiful examples of craftsmanship with iron skillets in the shape of each of the 48 contiguous United States.


above: Alisa with her Wisconsin skillet

Her Madison, Wisconsin studio named FeLion (that's FE, the chemical symbol for Iron and Lion represents the sign, Leo, under which the artist was born) creates iron art that is a functional example of a design concept blended with utility.




Every state-shaped skillet from her Made In America collection, is labeled with the FeLion Studios logo on the back, and stamped with a production number. The iron skillets can be shipped "raw" or "seasoned" and come with a custom made magnetic hanger for display.





All pans are made to order, and will be shipped in a timely fashion after the day its poured, approximately 6-8 weeks from the day of order. Please contact the artist for multiple state-pan orders. Also, visit the “Geographic Compositions” page for examples of several skillets composed into regional maps, such as the Midwestern set shown below.



A 2005 graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Alisa Toninato's credits include an internship with Chicago public artist Jin Soo Kim & experience as a thematic sculptor with the design & fabrication firm Cost of Wisconsin building zoo & aquarium habitats.



Her full map consisting of 48 contiguous state-skillets of America (above) was part of the 2011 ArtPrize exhibition in Grand Rapids Michigan, and made it into the top 25 among artists in the Center City neighborhood.




Buy the skillets here
or at the following retailers:
All Through the House (Stoughton, WI)
Bekah Kate's (Baraboo, WI)
BRAISE RESTAURANT ~ !!! ( Milwaukee, WI )
Cornacopia (Sturgeon Bay, WI)
Duluth Trading Co.
Kitchen Gallery (Madison, WI)
Kitchen Window (Minneapolis, MN)
Volume One (Eau Claire, WI)

Babycotpod Introduces Even More Modern Magnificence For Baby. Badass Bassinets and Cool Cradles and Cribs.

When I first introduced you to Babycotpod and their first product, the Cascara, the company had just begun and their first product was not yet on the market. Since then, the handmade bassinet launched in May of this year and was refined to include new colors and patterns. Also new to Babycotpod is another modern bassinet (The Nuna) and The Metro Swinging Crib. Soon to be added to the collection are add-ons for the Cascara, a rocker and the Me Me Crib.

The Cascara:
With it’s built in hood, carry handles and collapsible Tang stand the Cascara is a true around the home bassinet.


The CascaraTM bassinet, which is suitable from birth up until 6 months, includes the Tang stand, deluxe mattress, interior bumpers, one set of luxury white bumper fabrics and two white fitted sheets for your mattress and comes in shiny red, blue, white, black and union jack.








Price: £550.00 (buy it here)

The Nuna:


With its design taken from the successful Cascara bassinet, Babycotpod created the Nuna crib. The beautifully hand carved wooden Nuna crib and stand are made from the finest hard woods and and can be painted the color of your choice or natural.



Price: £2350.00 (buy it here)

The Metro Swinging Crib:


The Metro™ swinging crib, the premiere design from the all new Babycotpod range, is turning heads with its fresh contemporary design. Created to appeal to those parents who prefer the more traditional styling, using more natural materials, but who are searching for a more colourful and vibrant look.




Suitable from birth it is sure to provide a comfortable and soothing environment for your newborn baby as well as being a wonderful addition to your nursery.





Designed to include all the functionality and safety features that all new parents have come to rightfully demand, the choice and quality of materials used provide arguably the strongest crib in the world giving added protection and peace of mind for parents.
Price: £375.00 (buy it here)

And coming soon....

The Me Me Crib:




The Jumbo add-on for the Cascara turns it into a plane and is coming soon:


The Cascara Rocker (to be introduced in 2013):


Babycotpod

The World's Largest Crochet Sculpture & Crochetdermy by Shauna Richardson.

above: Shauna Richardson stands by her Lionheart project, the world's largest crochet sculpture

Artist Shauna Richardson turns game hunters into knit wits with her mounted animal heads and animal statues made of hand crocheted knits. Taking the old tradition of taxidermy and giving it a politically correct and artful spin, she creates life-sized and oversized sculptures that blend craft, realism and collecting.

I will first share with you her Crochetdermy mounted heads and animal sculptures, followed by her Lionheart project, featuring the world's largest crochet sculpture.

Crochetdermy





















The Lionheart Project

In 2009 Shauna won ‘Artists taking the lead’ part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad with the ‘Lionheart Project’.



For two years she has been creating the largest single-handed crochet sculpture in the world, three giant lions.






The finished piece will be housed in this mobile glass taxidermy style truck case and tour throughout 2012:

The building of the glass case:



Tour Dates
Shauna Richardson’s ‘Lionheart Project’ has announced its UK tour, which will see three giant crocheted lions travelling the country in a 16 metre long illuminated glass case (shown above). Starting on 1 May 2012 at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, the three giant lions will tour the East Midlands before arriving at the Natural History Museum in London in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Harking back to a travelling menagerie show, the lions will also visit venues in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northampton and Nottingham, calling in at events such as SO Festival and Twycross Zoo. The lions will reach out to an estimated audience of over half a million visitors across all venues, with countless more sightings when they take to the road.

Learn more about the Lionheart Project.

Shauna at her studio on the outskirts of Leicester, photographed and made into this slideshow by Nick Hand:


About the artist:



Shauna Richardson’s background is in conceptual art. The unique body of work she terms ‘Crochetdermy’ evolved out of the exploration of the theory that ‘Anything can be art’. She uses crochet to sculpt realistic life-size animals – uncanny taxidermy-like forms. Crochetdermy combines themes such as objects, collecting, craft and realism and experiments with accessibility and audience. Richardson has received much critical acclaim. Her work is receiving worldwide media coverage and selling into collections across the globe.

Despite the enormity of the Olympic Lionheart project in the last six months Shauna has managed to fit in a very unofficial portrait of Prince Harry commissioned by the Guardian Weekend Magazine, and winning ‘Best Sculpture’ and the ‘Overall Gold Award’ at Art of Giving held at the Saatchi Gallery.

She will is presently exhibiting the life-size brown bear (shown below) in ‘The Power of Making’ at the V&A – Sept 2011 – Jan 2012.




images courtesy of the artist. Additional lionheart project images courtesy of Inspire LeicesterShire

Crochetdermy pieces are created to commission. Selected works on her site are available for purchase.

Shauna Richardson