While I typically prefer coffee over tea, I still enjoy a good mug of tea to change things up. Normally, my used tea bags are tossed into compost and I go on about my day, but after seeing Ruby Silvious's work I'm seeing things differently.
Ruby Silvious is a graphic designer and she views tea bags as a blank canvas. She took on a project called "363 Days of Tea" this year where she draws, paints and collages art on to used tea bags. Unconventional to say the least, her work has become a journal of sorts where she documents her thoughts and feelings through art.
She's nearing the end of this project and let me just say that I plan to see this through to the end. You can follow along too on her Instagram or her Facebook page.
If drawing on a minuscule scale hasn't blown you away (like here or here) then how about using the discarded shavings from a pencil to create art? That's what teacher by day, artist by night Meghan Maconochie is doing. She began a 365-day Instagram project where she uses hand-sharpened pencil shavings as a medium and creates various art works (animals, pop art, food, celebrities, etc.) layered on card or paper. Some are completed as quickly as 10 minutes and others take hours to create. For more of her amazing creations, check out her IG!
The idea of being in a hospital isn't associated with any sort of whimsical environment. But, the London Children's Hospital has been transformed to change that notion. A British art organization called Vital Arts has worked with various artists and designers to create a new environment for patients to be in. Bold designs and colors are used to invoke a place a child would want to be in. The kid-friendly spaces invoke a cheerful and upbeat vibe, which definitely helps create a positive and happy experience. And when you're a child who is feeling ill that's a game changer.
For more ward images and information on the artists that designed each ward, click here.
Trauma and gastroenterology by Morag Myerscough (photos by Gareth Gardner)
The Ann Riches Healing Space by Cottrell and Vermeulen and Morag Myerscough (photos by Gareth Gardner)
One of the best things about fall is seeing the changing of the leaves. As a kid, I loved the crunch of the leaves on the ground. Something about that process felt so magical to me.
When I came across this project called Leaf Beast by Japanese artist, Baku Maeda, I loved the concept of using the leaves as a medium for art. Maeda used Magnolia leaves and took advantage of the shape and "veins" of the leaves. With minimal manipulation, Maeda changed the beauty of these majestic Magnolia leaves.
What looks like delightful cotton candy is actually foam created by Dresden-based artist, Stephanie Lüning. A foam machine, which is connected to various water tanks filled with different colored foam liquids, produces a large of pile of colored foam that spews out in circles and grows larger and larger. The process is entirely controlled by Stephanie Lüning. In this respect, someone can actually see her art take form in front of his eyes.
Stephanie Lüning began her foam art in 2012 and recently won a BLOOM award in 2014. For Stephanie, "the process of creation and change is always emphasized in her works."
