Hercules XIII - Classic Meets Cool In Scott Eaton's New Universal Tablet Stand

I thought it would be impossible for Scott Eaton to outdo the cleverness and aesthetic appeal of his Venus of Cupertino iPad docking station, but I was wrong. Behold, his new Hercules tablet holder/stand, a great counterpart to his functional female sculpture.



While Venus is an actual charging station for the iPad ($239.57), Hercules XIII  ($159.71) is designed as to be the perfect height and angle to browse all your media on your iPad, iPad Mini, Samsung, Google or Amazon tablets.  Available in matte white or glossy grey, the resin cast sculpture of the mythological son of Zeus cradles your tablets in a heroic pose that works in vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape) formats.






Each Hercules is hand-cast in museum-quality resin and costs $159.71 USD, but they have a pre-order special going on for 20% off.

EDITION: open
SHIPPING: worldwide
ARTIST/DESIGNER: Scott Eaton
PRE-ORDER estimated shipping in 8-10 weeks.

A shout out to my friend Bill Bowersock for bringing this to my attention!

Big Rice Straw Beasts Sculpted For The Wara Straw Art Festival.

You may or may not have seen images of large sculpted straw beasts, recently being shared all over the internet. Truth be told, they are not new, but are actually a few years old (from 2010 and 2011) from the annual Wara Straw Art festival in Niigata. According to CNN Travel, The Wara Art Matsuri takes place every year in two locations in Niigata, at Kanko Shisetsu Iwamuroya (96-1 Iwamuro Onsen, Nishikan-ku, Niigata) and Uwasekigata park (1 Matsunoo, Nishikan-ku, Niigata).










The festival is an annual celebration of Autumn where local people and college students of Art and Architecture departments create some impressive straw art in Nishikan-ku, an area is said to have the "largest paddy fields in the country," according to Japan Style.













The art is created from rice straw by locals and college students. The structures are made from pipes and wood sticks, then the straw is added, taking about a week per piece to complete.

images are courtesy of Kotaku and CNN Travel

Photographer Christian Tagliavini And His Unique Paper, Plywood and Cardboard Dressed Portraits.

Recently, artist and photographer Christian Tagliavini completed a stunning series, 'Cartes', an artful take on playing cards using models clad in his paper fashions and decorative accessories.


above: Christian crafts the hat for the "Carte" shown below


Seeing those here on Huffington Post, inspired me to take a look at more of his work. As a result, I want to share with you two other series of his, Dames di Cartone (Cardboard Women) and 1503, both of which are formally photographed portraits of models clad in artful representations of historical fashions crafted out of cardboard, paper and plywood.

Dames di Cartone (Cardboard Women)
His series, Dames di Cartone, consists of two dimensionally outfitted portraits that emulate Cubistic, 17th century,and Fifties fashions. Using corrugated, cut and colored cardboard and plywood, the craftsmanship applied to live models makes for an interesting series.

#1, Dame di Cartone, Cubism I:


#2, Dame di Cartone, Cubism II:


#3, Dame di Cartone, Cubism III:


#4, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century I:


#5, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century II:


#6, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century III:


#7, Dame di Cartone, Fifties I:


#8, Dame di Cartone, Fifties II:


#9, Dame di Cartone, Fifties III:


1503
Similar creations of his can be found in his 1503 series. These represent 16th century fashions and combine textiles with paper and cardboard for a unique look. Several of these photographs have been featured on the cover of many photography and arts magazine worldwide.

#1 1503, Lucrezia:


#2 1503, Donna Clotilde:


#3 1503, Bartolomeo:


#4 1503, Ritratto di giovane donna:


#5 1503, Ritratto di signora in verde:


#6 1503, Ritratto d'uomo:


#7 1503, Artemisia:


#8 1503, Cecilia:


#9 1503, Ritratto di giovane uomo con cappello piumato:


Born in 1971, Christian Tagliavini was educated in Italy and Switzerland, where he lives and works as a photographer. This provides him the perfect frame and background to invent, create and totally produce images that blend fine arts and craftsmanship.


above photo of Christian Tagliavni by Paola Bergamaschi (courtesy of his Facebook page)

Christian Tagliavini

Lipstick Sculptures by Artist Maya Sum Will Leave Your Mouth Agape.

You may have seen some novelty shaped lipsticks such as the cute cat-shaped lipsticks by Paul and Joe and the Pipedream Products Lipstick Penises, but Hong Kong artist May Sum takes the concept of a sculpted and shaped lipstick a step further. 

Hand-sculpting individual lipsticks into stunning scenes as well as the likenesses of fashion designers, celebrities, objects and animals, her work in Asia is gaining much attention. But few here in the U.S. are aware of her work... yet.

Take a look at some of her "storytelling" lipstick sculptures:





And her Woman Power series which includes carvings of famous and powerful women in the arts, fashion and entertainment industries:









You may recognize some of the above lipsticks carved into the likenesses of fashion icons and celebrities:


Here's a few enlarged for you....
Anna Wintour:

Audrey Hepburn:

Coco Chanel:

Iris Apfel:

Kate Moss:

Lady Gaga:

Elizabeth Taylor (as Cleopatra):

Twiggy:

Vivienne Westwood:


In her etsy store, Wahahafactory, she now offers ther tailor-made lipstick sculptures. She provides you a choice of lipstick colors from five brands and then sculpts either an object (for $450) or a custom likeness (for $650).

Objects:

Custom:


It takes two weeks and can only be shipped Speedpost or DHL because of its fragility. Remember these are art pieces and are sensitive to climate and handling.



Artist May Sum:


images courtesy of the artist, May Sum, The Wahahafactory blog and website and her etsy store.

The Wahahafactory