September 27, 2009 by Designsquish

Mandra on Earth Day Network writes: When I was a child, the cornflower was a very common view in every grainfield in Sweden (we grow barley, wheat, rye and oat), as in many other countries. Then, because of the over-use of herbicides, they disappearded, I haven’t seen them in over 40 years!
When I last traveled from my country-house to Stockholm - they where suddenly there again! Not everywhere, of course, but i saw a huge field with this blue in it - it was a lovely scene! :—)
Centaurea cyanus (cornflower) in the past often grew as a weed in crop fields all over Europe, hence its name (fields growing grains such as wheat, barley, rye, or oats were formerly known as “corn fields” in England). It is now endangered in its native habitat by agricultural intensification, particularly over-use of herbicides, destroying its habitat.

September 17, 2009 by Designsquish

September 13, 2009 by Designsquish

Book’s Shelf. Bookshelf made from books by Bernardo Gaeiras, Rietveld Academie Sandberg Institute.

September 12, 2009 by Designsquish

Wolfgang Laib ar Work



Wolfgang Laib was born on 25 March 1950 in Metzingen, Germany. Laib studied medicine in the 1970s in Tübingen. From early on he had been interested in art, foreign cultures, Zen Buddhism and Taoism as well as in the mystics of the European middle ages.
Wolfgang Laib employs natural materials, such as beeswax, rice and large quantities of intense, yellow pollen that he collects by hand near where he lives in a small village in southern Germany.  He has spent time in the Far East and in New York.




Wolfgang Laib
Rice House, 1990
marble and rice
7 3/8 x 25 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches



Wolfgang Laib
Ziggurat, 1999
Beeswax, wood



Wolfgang Laib
Ricehouse, 1988/89
White marble, rice, pollen from hazelnut



Wolfgang Laib
The Five Mountains Not to Climb On (Die fünf unbesteigbaren Berge), 1984.
Hazelnut pollen, height: approximately 2 3/4 inches.



Wolfgang Laib
Milkstone, 2001
Marble and milk
2 3/8 x 23 7/16 x 28 3/4 inches

Milkstone sculpture is a block of marble into which very shallow depressions are sanded and then filled with milk.

September 08, 2009 by Designsquish

Untitled
Ink on paper, 33 x 60 inches
2002


These works of ink and watercolor on Chinese paper are influenced by Terri Zupanc’s continued interest in Japanese and Chinese painting and Zen Buddhism. Zupanc’s forms record a moment in time. Terri: “my interest in simplifying form has continued into an interest in simplifying process, with many of the pieces being done in one breath.”



Terri Zupanc
Untitled, 2002
Watercolor on paper
30 x 30 inches



Terri Zupanc
Untitled, 2002
Ink on paper, 55 x 70 inches



Terri Zupanc
Untitled, 2002
Ink on paper, 30 x 30 inches



Terri Zupanc
Untitled(Creek) 1997
etching, Edition of 35
24 x 22 inches




Terri Zupanc
Untitled(Brown Creek) 1997
etching, Edition of 35
24 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches

September 07, 2009 by Designsquish

Biodegradable moss planter(organic carpet consisting of assortment of mosses) by Japan-based flower artist Makoto Azuma  

September 06, 2009 by Designsquish

Hummingbird




Humming bird, detail



Crimson necked bullfinch

by Designsquish

Brunonia Serica
Ferdinand Bauer
1760-1826
from Floral Illustrations of New Holland

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
15th or 16th century
Gouache on vellum

From Vienna Dioscorides



From Vienna Dioscorides



Botanical Illustration from Codex Anicia Juliana, AD 512

From Vienna Dioscorides



Banksia coccinea (Scarlet Banksia)
Ferdinand Bauer
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae
Early 19th century



Adele Morosini Rossetti (for Botanic Garden)
Rosa Abraham Darby
Watercolor , color pencil, tempera on paper




California flowering plant





California snow flower

Peruvian flowering cactus

September 05, 2009 by Designsquish

September 04, 2009 by Designsquish