Fun, Factual, Weird, and Breathtaking

Saturday, June 12, 2021

“Tach Pollard” – Surfing the Grain

Living in the United Kingdom near the woods, Tach Pollard began collecting oak roots in a wheel barrow while still a child and sold them outside his father’s shop.

Fire Antler
Burnt Hawthorn

Using mostly oak roots from the local woods, Tach views carving as a way to honor the tree from which the gnarled roots were born.

Cordoba
Hawthorn Gold Leaf

The inspiration comes from the skeletal structure of the wood itself. “Oak root often whispers in the shadows that dance and describe ancient faces.”

Ephemeral II
Hawthorn

During the last few years, Pollard has also added carvings from the hawthorn, which is very hard and tight grained and is a tree with mystical ties and designated in folklore.

Melissa Returns
Burnt Hawthorn

The whiteness of the wood combined with the splits, cracks, and shifts during burnishing give each carved piece its own unique design.

Dark Light
Burnt Oak

Forming the dark bodies using a blow torch creates the incredible contrast to the pale, peaceful faces.

Beltane
Burnt Hawthorn

Worldwide myths and traditions, along with Celtic and Inuit traditions, help create the inspiration from which Pollard works, including a fascination to the ideas of shapeshifting and sea creatures.

Unicorn
Burnt Hawthorn

“I love carving. I really feel honoured to go on a journey with the spirit of whichever wood I’m working with. It feels like a dance, a way in which to express and give life to the folkloric songs embedded and infused into the wood.”

Wolf Mother
Burnt Hawthorn

RA
Hawthorn Gold Leaf

Visit the links below to see many more fluid sculptures by Tach Pollard.

SOURCES:

Art Toy Gama

Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize

Note: My mother, who was also a wood carver, stated that she simply removed the unnecessary wood to allow what was already there to emerge. (N.F. Lewis)

All images used with the courtesy of Tach Pollard

Sunday, June 6, 2021

“Bruno Romanelli” – The Art of Lost-Wax Glass Casting

Hand-held Bowl 2012
Collaboration with Peter Layton

Based in London, Bruno Romanelli specializes in the technique of lost-wax glass casting.

Telesto

First experiencing glass in the 1980’s at Staffordshire Polytechnic, he then continued his study at the Royal College of Art.

The Offering

Romanelli made a name for himself by incorporating body casts of his own body when creating some of his glass sculptures.

Caelus 1

In the last 15 years, Bruno’s focus on the relationship between form, colour, light, and material have resulted in more abstract pieces of art.

Daphnis

His quest to achieve the perfect balance of form, colour, and light has required the use of many complex processes and techniques, particularly lost-wax glass casting which often results in one piece taking from four weeks to four months to reach completion.

Triton 1

Romanelli’s most notable commission is producing the Rising Star glass trophy for BAFTA’s annual award ceremony.

BAFTA Commission
EE Rising Star Award

“It is this combination of light, colour, form, material and their relationship that creates harmony and energy within the work.”

Beethoven

His more than 30 years of experience working with glass has led to him becoming an established artist who exhibits both nationally and internationally.

Blown Vessel

Visit the links below to see incredible art sculptures by Bruno Romanelli.

SOURCES:

Peter Layton - London Glass Blowing

Pyramid Gallery

Website

NOTE: Lost-wax casting, also called “investment casting,” is a process by which a duplicate can be cast from an original. My father used lost-wax casting through his work with the dental industry for many years but later used it to cast gold and silver jewelry from small pinecones. I have one I still wear. (D. D. Lewis)

All images used with the courtesy of Bruno Romanelli

Friday, June 4, 2021

“Paper Comes to Life” through Lisa Lloyd

Finding her inspiration in nature, Lisa Lloyd creates her amazing sculptures using only paper, except for the feet, with different finishes and colors following construction of the internal structure of her subject.

Chameleon

Lisa began in London as a graphic designer and animator for television commercials for the movie industry until about eight years ago when her career evolved into only the use of paper.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The installation of the White Egret Orchid in the denim brand’s flagship store, 7 for all mankind, on Regent Street in London was the end of May and will be on display until the beginning of July (2021). This Orchid has been replicated for six more of their stores in Paris, Knokke, Geneva, Milan, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.

White Egret Orchid
Special Commission for 7 for all mankind

After studying the subject through videos to capture their personality, Lloyd begins her sculpture by creating the skeleton using card and paper, then completes the work through the addition of a variety of different papers to portray movement.

Mary Katrantzou vs Bumble Bee

Details are labor intensive and defined by scoring, folding, and fringing the paper which at times has culminated in the use of 4,000 pieces on a single project. Weeks or even months can be spent on a single project.

Prawns

Her local natural history museum in Hove, the Booth Museum, provides additional subject study by allowing Lisa to go behind the scenes to study their more exotic animals.

Eagle Detail

Lloyd's art sculptures have found their homes through both private collectors and commercial customers.

Reptile Details

A self-taught photographer, Lisa’s images of her sculptures are both an outlet for her creativity and a therapeutic process.

Hummingbird

“I can’t imagine ever not working with paper!”

Robin

Visit the links below to see many more sculptures and sculptures-in-progress by Lisa Lloyd.

SOURCES:

All images used with the courtesy of Lisa Lloyd

Monday, May 24, 2021

“Glen Martin Taylor” - Reinvention, Recreation, Repair …

Mended

When first viewing the fascinating art of Glen Martin Taylor on my timeline, identification with his pieces was immediate.

"Life will never be what you
thought it would be."

Recreating broken items speaks not only to those items but to center of who we are. Life creates the fissures in our being, both by accident and intention, and only through reinvention can we continue to function and exist.

Teacup in Chains
"What keeps you safe,
holds you down."

Glen’s use of spools, bobbins, and weaving speaks both to items I use and the history which has held me together during times when nothing else did. These works drew my attention and invited me into their being.

"... and in the end,
it wasn't about what was broken,
but how it was mended."

Taylor brings new meaning and methods to the art of Kintsugi, creating a new, relatable version with items from our everyday lives.

Leaving the Table

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. It treats breakage and repair as part of the history of the object, which should be celebrated and highlighted, rather than something to disguise. (Conscious Panda/Wikipedia)

"... and the things that cut you,
will be what heals you."

Illustrations by Glen reveal another facet of the talent with which he creates.

Illustration

"I think I need a long nap ..."

Visit the links below to see more incredible work by Glen Martin Taylor.

SOURCES:

All images used with the courtesy of Glen Martin Taylor

Friday, May 21, 2021

“Vincent Cacciotti” Paints the Inexplicable

CODE

Living and working in Los Angeles, California, Vincent Cacciotti is a neo-surrealist painter who at an early age was inspired by his father’s passion for art.

Exposed
Work in progress

Vincent began study at The Art Students League in New York City in 1998, where his break from artistic and social conventions evolved into the art he creates today.

Jack Magic

Fleeting thoughts of unrest, dreams, and the inexplicable inspire Cacciotti as his paintings delve into imagination, the travels of the human mind, and body and soul.

Time Machine

Creating surreal images displaying hidden meanings, his work captures body-centered females, provocative, powerful, and quasi-erotic.

Social Media

When using a model, Vincent tries to create the entire painting in his mind before tackling the painting, rather than beginning to paint and having to add to it.

Raven

“Engrossing and deeply moving, his latest work mostly shifts attention away from the feminine form, relying on metaphor for concerns. The theme is elusive, but potent nonetheless; it is material and psychologically inviting, pushing the boundaries of the viewer’s imagination.” (Artist Bio)

Fisheye

Then, no Lost in Space fan can resist the robot who waved his arms constantly warning, "Danger, Will Robinson!"

B9 in the Study

See Alter Ego by Cacciotti in my previous post, The Masks Behind Which We Remain Hidden.

Visit the links below to discover more amazing art by Vincent Cacciotti.

SOURCES:

All images used with the courtesy of Vincent Cacciotti

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

"Wire Sculpture" by Nicolette Dawn Trapp

Dragon

After previously pursuing a career in Financial Services, the summer of 2013 and chicken wire have taken Nicolette Dawn Trapp in a completely new artistic direction.

Piggy

Drawing inspiration from wildlife and the countryside, Nicolette’s art represents both our domesticated friends and wonderful representations of animals found in the wild.

Penguin

While her initial sculpting venture using old chicken wire from the garden was of a small Indian Runner Duck, Nicolette then began creating larger, more detailed pieces to achieve life-size sculptures.

Boxer

To minimize damage to the hands, the use of thick leather gloves is necessary although they make it difficult for creating smaller sculptures or working on a sculpture’s intricate details.