Katie Hosmer's Blog – May 2012 Archive (64)

This luxury boutique hotel is not what you would expect from your standard vacation lodging! Located in Kenya, just about 12 miles outside of Nairobi, Giraffe Manor is 12 acres of private land and 140 acres of indigenous forest that is home to a herd of Rothschild Giraffe.

The website explains that the Giraffe Center, located on the Giraffe Manor grounds “was set up by AFEW…

The chase scenes in movies and TV shows are always so exciting, like when cars whip around corners and catch a little air as they speed over hills. Brooklyn photographer Matthew Porter’s cinematic landscapes are like exaggerated versions of these scenes. In his series of flying cars, we see old 1960’s and 1970’s muscle cars flying just a little bit too high over city streets for it to be real.…

These delicate paper bird sculptures by Colombian artist and industrial designer Diana Beltran Herrera are incredibly realistic. From a distance, the details of each feather, the shape of each bird, and the vibrant colors may lead you to believe that you are looking at a live animal! Originally an industrial designer, the now artist and illustrator has been developing her…

Artist William Pye creates incredible artworks that are inspired by the natural world. He draws on his interests in water formations and geometry to form these amazing, almost magical, fluid sculptures. Named after the mythical siren, Charybdis, who was struck by Zeus and turned into a whirlpool that swallowed up ships, this installation is one of Pye’s largest…

French artist and designer Sebastien Preschoux creates thread sculptures and ink drawings that are so complicated that they appear to be computer generated. However, the artist chooses to create the geometric designs with his hands, allowing for imperfections through this technical creative performance. He says, “With a computer you can make everything fast-paced…

As summer quickly approaches, it’s time to kick on some flip flops and head to the beach. In New York City, Coney Island is a great respite from the steamy city heat. The beach and amusement park area reached its peak during the early 1900’s, and these photographs by Minagraphy capture the magic of the place. Photographer Mina, aka Minagraphy, is a Romanian-born,…

Living and working in Mexico, photographer Alejandro Cartagena investigates many social issues through his documentary photography projects. His recent series, Car Poolers, features overhead portraits of workers in Mexico catching a ride to work on the back of a truck. Some riders are camouflaged into the scenes while others stand out against the solid color backdrop of the truck…

If you look closely, you’ll notice a pretty key element is missing from these photographs! China-born photographer Zhao Huasen created this fun collection of images where bicyclists float along city streets, pedaling and steering invisible bikes. For the project, entitled Floating, the artist captured hundreds of cyclists going about their every day lives and he then digitally removed the…

After a busy month, Portuguese street artist Vhils, aka Alexandre Farto, headed home to Lisbon to complete this new mural using his unique style. In a matter of days, the amazing artist used hammers to chip away at the wall, creating this exceptionally detailed portrait. He says his motivation for removing layers of walls in order to create his artwork is based on a deeper idea: “Our social system…

This paper craft artist loves finding bits of paper, which would otherwise be tossed in the trash, and transforming them into these lively butterfly sculptures. A master of working with her hands, Rebecca Coles is “fascinated with the process by which three-dimensional decorative forms materialize out of flat sheets of paper.” To create these sculptures, Coles draws each shape…

Glasgow-based artist Jim Lambie can transform any space into a visual delight with his geometric tape designs. Using everyday vinyl tape, he creates angles and lines of contrasting colors that suggest movement and optical illusions. He can convert a once empty and quiet room into a space filled with energy. As viewers enter a converted space, they instantly have a visual…

Ironing couldn’t get any better than this! The proposed E-board (Easy Board) concept, by designer Mohsen Jafari Malek, could possibly make the chore of ironing a bit easier. No more fumbling around to press out the wrinkles of one pant leg, as the other pant leg hangs clumsily off of the side.

The proposed design has five components that adapt to the particular garment that…

New York-based artist Zhang Huan integrates a variety of media into his art, ranging from performance and installation pieces to photography, sculpture, and painting. Initially, his artistic practice grew from a response to the expressive limitations of living in a rigid society. Today, the China-born artist continues to devote himself to social issues through conceptual and performance…

Alexander Semenov is at it again with his fascinating study of underwater sea life through the photographic lens. Previously, we saw some of his colorful and vibrant jellyfish images in the series here. This time we take a look at his images from the Red…

Currently based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, photographer Irving Lubis, aka Pink Sword, takes advantage of some gorgeous sunsets to produce this vibrant collection of silhouetted photography. Many photographers know that it is often difficult to photograph directly into the Sun, but Pink Sword doesn’t seem to have any problems with it!

The…

Born in Yokohama and now based in France, artist Hina Aoyama masterfully cuts details into sheets of paper to create these super fine, lacy, and fragile artworks. Her work conveys such things as the delicacy of small butterfly wings, the fine script of a handwritten letter, and the details of a lotus flower. Using just a simple pair of scissors, Aoyama says her passion is “to…

Armin Blasbichler Studio strives to develop innovative projects that combine architecture, design, and visual arts, and this house is no exception! The playful and well-designed home, called der Muslhaufen, is filled with architect Armin Blasbichler’s minimalist and modern décor concepts. Located in South Tyrol, Italy, the outside of the home resembles musls, or log stacks, and was…

Painting with light is a long-exposure technique used by photographers to create really complex illuminations in a photograph. Artist TigTab seems to be quite the master of this technique! TigTab, who prefers to keep her identity a secret, builds the creative light art scenes using stencils on light boxes lined with silver foil.

TigTab mainly chooses urban backdrops for her…

Artist Lee Jung sends all kinds of tangible messages with these neon text-based installations. The South Korea-based photographer creates the messages and then photographs them. In doing so, the artist makes a comment on modern day culture, and our tendencies to communicate via less intimate means like the Internet, text messaging, and Facebook.

The glowing letters are…

Three friends form the foundation of the company Ébullitions, a place that has been passionate about giant soap bubbles since 2006. Sylvain was the brains behind perfecting the bubble recipe, and Ophélie and Annaig later joined him to become a team of professional bubble makers.

The team uses custom-made wands to form all shapes and sizes, including giant…