Matte Stephens: Paintings

I fell in love with these whimsical paintings by Stephens, a painter from Portland, Oregon. I want to buy them all. 

The Beatles on Toast

Why not?

Creative Truths

Quotes by famous artists in modern colorful posters, by Shirley-Ann

Tidying Up Art

"Swiss artist Ursus Wehrli is releasing a new book on The Art of Clean Up, where he takes everyday scenes of disorder and rearranges them into neat rows, sorted by different attributes such as color, size, shape, and type, etc. Some of the preview images from the book seem borderline OCD, such as the pine branch that has been ordered by the needle size– others are on such a huge scale that it almost seems laughable, as if a giant had come along and re-organized a lawn full of towels and people."

Framed Objects

I love this idea of framed objects. It is so unique, and artistic, and functional.

"These frames—with a vase, shelf, or hooks—decorate and emphasize the objects held within. Turn flowers, books, keys, jewelry, articles of clothing, and other ordinary objects into works of art."

Travel Destination: St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Russia, the second largest city of Russia is an incredible place to visit. Russian culture is very unique. This city has a lot to offer and it was a great experience for me as a lot of things to do were artistic. From the largest art museum of the world, to dance performances, and amazing architecture, St. Petersburg was a treat. There are other things to enjoy like the Leningrad Zoo and the Cosmonautics and Rocket Technology Museum. 

I don't know if language is a barrier now, but it was when I visited in 2008, which made it a more adventurous and interesting trip. I did not stay at fancy hotels nor at good locations where it is probably easier to communicate and get advice about the city, but after a 10 day stay in Russia, I had learned how to read the Russian alphabet from pure survival instinct. It probably helped that I knew the Latin alphabet, which has a few similar letters. By day 5, I was using the metro like a local. 

Below I will show you a few good places and things to do if you visit St. Petersburg, Россия (Russia).

Hermitage Museum

This museum is my favorite in the world. It was founded by Catherine the Great and it is one of the largest and oldest museums of the world. 

Inside the museum. 

The Winter Palace

This palace is one of the six buildings of the Hermitage Museum and it is where the Russian monarchs resided. 

Really Cool World Map Print

I love this print. I would totally frame it and put it up in my home office or even in the living room. I love traveling, I love the world, I love culture, and I love these pattern designs on each country that look like different pieces of cloth. 

Exploded Flowers

Hydrangea

These series of photographs were created with the hands of artist and photographer Qi Wei. He deconstructed different flowers and laid down every part of them from every single petal to the stamens and pistils showing radial symmetry and relative surface area.

Lotus

Qi Wei says: “Of course, the incredibly ordered world of flowers lend itself to this technique wonderfully. My layout is slightly different in that I try to show (as far as possible) the relative positions of the petals, stamens and pistils with each other so that the radial symmetry is preserved and the flower is recognizable, but only just so.”

Gerbera

Classic Photos in Lego

"Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon" Neil Armstrong (1969)

Mike Stimpson, a 35-year-old British photographer, has spent his career recreating some of the world’s most famous photographs using his favorite childhood toy.

Stimpson hopes his Lego creations will attract attention back to the original work. “I enjoy the fact that I'm bringing classic photographs and photographers to a new audience through my Lego recreations,” he says. “Hopefully that might get a few more people interested in finding out more about some of the world's great photographers.”

Culinary Flags

In 2009, the The Sydney International Food Festival came up with a brilliant idea to promote the event. They used traditional ingredients from the participating countries to create their flags. From olives and feta to tikka masala and rice, the turn out is both very visually appealing and appetizing flags.

How many nations of these edible flags can you identify?

Italy