Meet Me In Paris

Meet me in Paris at the Jardin des Plantes at the National Museum of Natural History, Place Valhubert, 5th arrondissement.  Together we will admire the wonderment of the Cabinet Bonnier de la Mosson.  "A unique manifestation of the intersection between aesthetics and science".  Dating back to 1735 the flora and fauna are fantastic and encased in the most beautifully carved cabinet.

Celeste Olalquiaga's well written column about the history of the cabinet, it's owner and it's place in society is worth the read.  Be sure to take a look at all the beautiful photographs by Joanna Ebenstein which can be found on her blog Morbid Anatomy and on her Flicker page astropop.

Photos above are from Morbid Anatomy's website.  Photo below is from Cabinet Magazine's article by Celeste Olalquiaga.

Insects Up Close

Recently I came across Igor Siwanowicz's macro insect photography.  His photos are stunning.

I was studying images of insects and beetles quite a bit lately for jewelry concepts for my Science Project Gone Wrong sketchbook for Art House Co-op.  I have become a fascinated by their little buggy parts and they don't creep me out much any more.  Until I found Igor's photos.  Many of his photos I haven't even attempted to look at beyond the thumbnail size which is more than close enough for me.

Sketchbook Project 2011

The Art House Co-op received my sketchbook and it has been cataloged and checked into the exhibition.  The sketchbooks will be on display at the Brooklyn Art Library at 103A N. 3rd Street until February 27th at which point they leave for their cross country trek.  The first stop will be Austin, Texas on March 12th.  See the full schedule for an opportunity near you to check out the artist's sketchbooks.

With my sketchbook theme "Science Project Gone Wrong" I explored jewelry design concepts that bordered and crossed into the obscure and odd.  Below are a few of my favorite sketches.

insectes éthérés

It arrived.  Last week.  The most amazing hammer in the world.  Okay that is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.  What is it you ask?  Insectes éthérés is a custom engraved macro spiculum hammer for jewelery fabrication.

How did this happen?  It is sort of hard to explain how one falls in love but it went something like this.  I took a workshop led by NC Black, they teach micro forming for jewelry fabrication.  I made my first spiculum, then a furry bracelet and other cool shapes and jewelry bits.  The spiculum hammer was my favorite tool of the workshop.  I thought it was the most unique of the tools used for micro forming and when you look at the hammer shape you know it is something special.

Then I took an engraving workshop from NC Black.  While I did a good job for a beginner I am years away from being proficient.  The teacher, Les Byrant, was amazing.  An excellent, patient teacher with a great sense of humor and a huge amount of creativity and talent.  You can see Les' work on his website Le Graveur De Vol or on his etsy page Fluffy's Corner, be sure to check out the Bad Kitty cuff bracelet.

So I fell hard and wanted Les to custom engrave a hammer for me and I requested it to be in the theme of a cabinet of curiosities. 

If micro forming metal sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend NC Black's workshops and you can find dates for a workshop near you on their NC Black website or their updates under NC Black on Facebook.

So here it is, insectes éthérés with a beautiful Wenge wood handle, and the last photo is that of the first spiculum I made.

Love Bug

Spending Valentine's weekend with my honey.  Look at these love bugs I got for him from Moonstruck Chocolatier in Portland.  Raspberry and strawberry chocolate truffles.  Hopefully he will share one or two!

The Bees Knees

Last year researchers found the nests of the bee Osmia avosetta in Turkey and Iran build nests layered with colorful flower petals.  The female bee digs a tunnel in the soil and then collects whole flower petals by biting them off of local flowers.  She takes the petals back to the nest and layers them with a thin middle layer of mud to create a cavity for her eggs and provisions.  The nests are beautiful natural art forms.

 

These photos are taken from the researcher’s abstract published by the American Museum of Natural History.  The full abstract can be found with on the American Museum of Natural History Research Library site along with the captions for the numbered photos.

 

 

Un-Common House Fly

I am fascinated!  All this time the amazing colors and patterns of the innocent (uh sort of) house fly have been unseen and undocumented.

Why?  Because insect wings are studied by biologists against a white background.  But as soon as they are studied on black backgrounds they are as incredible as butterfly wings!

Check out the full article on WIRED.

Jizai Okimono

I had the opportunity to see these amazing Japanese Jizai Okimono in person and move their incredible bug parts.  The life size metal bugs are intricately made of many small pieces assembled together with articulating legs, antennae and movable wings.  The copper colored wasp in the middle has a stinger that retracts into it's abdomen!

Jizai Okimono were created by the Samurai armor craftsmen and the art emerged in the late 1800's when the Samurai class was eliminated and the bearing of swords banned.   

 

 

Insect Robots

Elegantly executed using a combination of gears, parts, springs and insects.  Mike Libby has created Insect Lab.  His recently published book touches on his process and includes photos of his finished work.

This one is definitely on my book list.  www.insectlabstudio.com

19th Century Documents

Hand painted lithographs are so beautiful and I adore them.  The depiction and documentation of nature in an artistic and scientific manner is fascinating.  These originals from 1826 are part of Louis Isidore Duperrey’s 3^rd volume of work “Voyage autour du monde:  Sur la corvette la Coquille”.  

Every detail, hair and dimple was carefully rendered showing each leg, antennae and armature.  Iridescent paints were used to reproduce the metallic shells of beetles and vivid colors for butterfly wings.  The colored depictions are accompanied often with line illustrations showing the segmentation of the insects. 

More information on the voyage and additional lithograph images...