Weird and Wacky : Fright Lights!

 

Weird lamps for old!   Lighting has always been a valuable consideration when creating ambiance to a room.  But  if you  want to  add  thrills, drama, laughter or just simply offer an unusual focal  point that will get your guests talking (and maybe reeling with shock a bit) – then look no further than these very original and enigmatic lamps!

This naughty ‘pooping’ doggie  is actually called ‘Good Boy’.  He may not be to everyone’s taste, however he’s no shrinking violet in the design stakes. Crafted by  UK artist Whatshisname (really) the doggies little brother Good Puppy is also an attention seeker.  The lamps are floor lamps and  to activate them, one must tread on the accompanying dog turd switch.  They are available from the artist ‘Whatshisname’.

 

Pondering the age-old question about what to do with those dolls heads you keep falling over? I know I am.  Check out this video which shows you how to make your own exciting lamps out of them.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQAxQ9wMXUA&feature=youtu.be

Alternatively you can buy a ready-made weird wired baby lamp from many sources featured here.

Here’s one I saved from an early art project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Out Demons Out’ How to out your demons?  Bring them into the light with this cheeky  Demon lamp via here  He’s made from the skull of a land turtle which was found in the hills of Polk County.  His wings are made from copper and brass tubings and when he’s lit (2 x 15w bulbs) he will creep you out!  Maybe not one for the bedroom?

The Demon Lamp

Thought dummies belonged in a shop window?  Here’s some that have escaped. These mannequin lamps from AL-Hamad Design remind me of the veiled mourning statues the Victorians loved so much.

 

Embarakiya

However, when anyone  puts these babies in the corner they won’t be ignored for long.  The male ones talk via a built-in speaker in the torso!  All the lamps have a touch sensor in the hand which include three dimmer setting.  Shaking hands with them will turn them on – and off!  The costumes are dressed in  traditional  Kuwaiti costume.  I think they’re great!

Pooping dog images from here and here.  Video ‘How to make a Dolls Head Nightlight  mausoleum Statue image from here.  Thanks to all.

 

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A bit of Ruff, a bit of smooth, good patches and a golden eggstravaganza

were

I have  not featured any jewellery on Echostains for quite a while.  I have been looking for something really unusual – something that can inspire me into flights of fancy.  I am writing this on the birthdate of the Faberge egg (29th May  1885 – 1917) The Faberge egg is instantly recognisable – sumptuous, bejewelled and opulent.  The eggs were  developed by  the House of Faberge (1885 – 1917) in Russia and the miniature eggs were Easter gifts, that were given singly or were worn on a neck chain.

The Karelian egg

The larger more famous eggs (also known as the ‘imperial’ eggs) were originally made for Alexander 111 and Nicholas 11 of Russia.  Only 50 of these eggs were made, and 42 have survived.

The Karelian and Constellation eggs, planned for 1918 were destined never to be delivered.  Nicholas 11 and his whole family died in an assasination that year and  the year before Nicholas had  abdicated.  The eggs themselves are gorgeous, opulent and seen as a symbol of luxury – jewellers masterpieces.  But it is not these little baubles which once hung from necklaces which caught my eye, but this strange face distorting jewelery by Burcu Buyukunal.   

My first question is ‘why?’  How does this enhanse the face?  By  distorting her face, do we then notice how attractive the woman really is?  They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, different ‘looks’ have their admirers, as do fashion, design ect. Maybe one day ‘beauty’ will be played down to be the new beauty. It is this example which  reminded me of how Elizabethan ladies used to pain their faces white and how patches made of velvet were used on the face in the 18th century to disguise blemishes, make the face appear even whiter or draw attention to certain facial features.

circa 1780 patch box

‘Her patches are of every cut,
For pimples and for scars;
Here’s all the wandering planets’ signs,
And some of the fixed stars.’

 In this very short video we see the owner of the painting ‘Une Dam a sa Toilette’ by French painter Francois Boucher (  1703 –  1770)  explain the delicate operation of patch application.  Boucher ‘s art is known for his  voluptuous and idyllic subject matter which is well suited to the Rococo style.  His patroness was  the famous Madame Pompadour, he painted many portraits of her.

Whirls of cigarette smoke enveloping beautiful women in black and white movies  lend such mystique and intrigue to the silver screen.  The actuality is rather different.  Cigarette Smoke permeates everything it touches, including, flesh, clothes and hair – there’s nothing mysterious about that, but I was quite tickled about this cigarette collAr – though I think they missed a trick by not making it a prisoners or slave’s collar to emphasis the entrapment of the noxious weed.  The ‘chain’ association is still there though, and there is something of the chain smoking beagle about this collar.  These types of collars are not new though – the actual shape of  the ruff collar goes back to the sixteenth century and was worn by men, women and children.  The pleats of the ruff was accomplished by the use of  cone-shaped goffering irons. which were heated.  Ruffs were made from a lot of material.  Elizabeth1 had a ruff of ‘ten yards for the neck and hand’.  During starching, ruffs could be coloured with vegetable dyes, though Elizabeth herself disapproved of the light blue colour;-

“Her Majesty’s pleasure is that no blue starch shall be used or worn by any of her Majesty’s subjects, since blue was the color of the flag of Scotland”

Stiff collars, smooth complextions, disguises used as enhancements – beauty will always be subjective and is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Karelian egg image here

Lots of these beautiful eggs here

Distorting jewlery from here

Patchbox from here

Video by AndSper with thanks

More about Boucher here

Smoking Dietrich from this article

Elizabeth1 image here

The verse and the source of a lot of delightful information about the history of the patch can be found in Chambers Book of Days

Barcode Messages

 

Red Dragon by William Blake

 

Barcodes are on more or less everything we buy.  They are an optical  machine readable representation of data (the Wikipedia definition).  There are many types of bar codes and lots of combinations.  Some think bar codes are the mark of the Beast 666, mentioned in the bible (here).

As usual though, I am only interested in what can be done artistically with these codes.  Unlike an earlier post about pylons, (the idea did not catch on) in Japan the elevation of bar codes into decorative and interesting design has caught on.  How much nicer it would be if this was done all over the world!  We might start looking at our product a little more carefully whilst we are queuing at the checkout (and start thinking about what we are actually buying – and asking ourself do we really need it, and put it back!:)). 

 Then again…we might just buy anything because it has a great bar code on which we haven’t yet got in our collection:D  Yes!  Our collection!  Maybe these will eventually become collectible:D

Bar code images from HERE and HERE and if you want to have your own exclusive one made HERE

Some have linked barcodes with biblical

Meanwhile, over on Bookstains…

The Mona Lisa Poetry Challenge is still on my other blog Bookstains and open to all!  (6 poems now)Just click Mona

 

PLUS 

 

 

 

Plus

The Van Gogh poetry Challenge is still going on – read them all  (theres 10  poems now) and contribute by clicking Vincent

Weird and Wacky Umbrellas

The Nubrella - don't leave home without it

A while ago I did a post on umbrellas and parasols which appeared as props in famous paintings (here).  According to Wiki, umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning a shade or shadow, which in its own turn originally derived from Greek.  Umbrellas and parasols are to be found all over the world and throughout history including ancient Egypt.

We’ve all seen the colourful designs and handles that umbrella manufacturers have come up with, but these creative and somewhat wacky contraptions recently caught my eye.  A very unusual type of umbrella – the Nubrella, turns the traditional design on its head leaving the hands free.  It can’t blow inside out and it won’t poke others in the eye!

Snoozer pet umbrella

Please spare a thought for your poor drenched pooch.  This pet umbrella clips on to the collar and has a lead attached – thereby assuring that your animal doesn’t end up looking like a drowned rat.   It would be interesting to hear the opinion of these pets……

when a lovely flame dies - smoke gets in your eyes

 

Lastly an umbrella for smokers, complete with ashtray!  I’m just speechless:O

Pet umbrella from here

Nubrella info from here

Smokers umbrella and other most unusual ones here

Going going GONE

just one of the many mags I used to collect

I’ve been busy having a huge clear out at the moment.  I was amazed at  just how much rubbish I had held on to.  Of course it’s not all rubbish.  A lot of it is of sentimental value, like a tiny baby dress that belonged to our daughter,  holiday mementos, ornaments.  I have a lot of clothes that are now retro they are so old:) .  I can’t believe how tiny some of the belts were that I found.  Just another reminder of a middle age which I don’t even remember joining.  Perhaps someone enrolled me whilst I wasn’t looking:)

Sunburst mirror

I threw a LOT of home magazines away, lot and lots and lots went to the recycling plant to be recycled. I would like to think that perhaps some of them might be recycled into designs like this beautiful sunburst mirror.  If I had more time on my hands, perhaps I could have created a shelf like Sean Miller from Seattle who pasted this magazines together with cornstarch, left them to dry and harden under pressure, then carved out this shelf using a bandsaw!  

Sean Miller recycled bookshelf

 

Mirror available from here shelf info from here, Period Living image here

Take these chains from these shoes and set me free

 

Did you know that there are actually shoe competitions?  I didn’t.   The Shoemania Design winner of 2009 was Tove Jansson and Per Emanuelsson for their Chain shoe design.  They make a man’s version of this shoe with the chains wrapped around loafers.

chain shoes for men

The Swedish design students came up with the opposing concepts of floating and of being chained down.  I quite enjoy looking at them, but I don’t think I would enjoy wearing them.  I wonder how heavy these shoes are to wear though?

Chain shoes pictures from here and here and here

Weird and Wacky design – Paper apartments? now with pictures

People are always wallpapering their apartments, there’s nothing unusual about that.  Artist Don Lucho however has gone one step further, he has actually made a whole apartment out of paper and cardboard! 

 He has even made a paper car to park outside his paper building.

Don Lucho paper car

 

a paper loo how does this work?

 

The paper and cardboard are all recycled of course.  I am astounded at how creative this artist has been with these materials!   There are some wonderful pictures, like the inside of the bedroom, complete with trainers on the floor. 

inside the bedroom

 Such fun and so innovative and inventive – I bet the artist had great fun planning it out and making it:) 

I am reminded of a story I once read as a child.  It was about a little girl who was sick and had to spend a lot of time in bed.  Everything she drew became real.  I can’t remember what it was called or be positive the dreamer was a girl.  Does anyone remember this tale?

Not for smokers of course

Lots more pics to enjoy from Don Lucho’s photo stream  here

PS   Apologies to those who saw this post WITHOUT images!  I wrote the post, scheduled it, meaning to insert the images…. have only just looked at it sorry:)