Adorable Amigurumi Animals and Crochet Toys by Elena

Elena is the mastermind behind all the adorable creations at Simpatico Gufo. She hand makes crochet toys and amigurumi creatures with natural materials. Owl, cat, mouse, chameleon, bunny, and elephant are all hand knitted, painted and embroidered by the artist. The artist constructs these adorable creatures on wire frame, their legs and arms move and their head bends! There are so cute and are perfect to give as a Valentine's day gift. You can find her entire collection in her online store.

Mixed Media Artist Knits Sculptures with Found Objects

 

 

Evejacobs Carnahan is a mixed media artist who specializes in knitted sculptures. She explores human interactions with the natural world through her sculptures. She wants to address the prevalent issue in her work how human behavior is impacting our environment and its inhabitants. Each sculpture is first hand carved by the artist into foam then using the wire an armature is formed which is covered by mulberry paper for strength.

To display how people affect the planet the artist incorporates found objects into her sculptures. For example, birds’ legs or beaks are made from broken forks, plants and flowers are made with metal screws and electronic parts. "We had a new roof put on our house this summer, and I collected a pile of nails and screws that the construction crew dropped. Toes for birds? Spikes for a fence? I don’t know yet, but I’m saving them."

To add texture and color to her sculpture the artist makes use of yarn. "Using yarn to depict plants and animals creates an association between nature and society. It ties the life of the soil to our home life. It illuminates the bond between people and earth."

Her work has won national and regional awards. Her sculptures were featured in Lela Nargi’s survey of knitted art, Astounding Knits! 101 Spectacular Knitted Creations and Daring Feats.

Delicate Wildlife Paper Sculptures by Calvin Nicholls

owl family

close up, look at the feathers

dolphins

layers of paper to form waves

Calvin Nicholls is a Canadian paper artist who studied graphic design in college. He got intrigued in paper art while he was still in college and later discovered paper artist whose work encouraged him to experiment with paper. He creates amazing haut-relief sculptures inspired by wildlife using xacto knife, knife, scalpel, scissor and glue. 

Calvin consults with biologists, world-renowned photographers and makes trips into the wild to observe the subject in their natural environment. To add texture to his paper sculptures, the artist hand-cuts tiny pieces of paper that give delicate feel to the final sculpture. Every piece of paper is attached to the surface with glue and finally, with the subtle use of light his sculptures are brought to life. "My process is never complete until I have captured the form and detail in optimal lighting." It can take anywhere from two weeks to several hundred of hours to finish a piece depending on the level of difficulty. 

His work has been featured in several publications including Art Impressions, Canadian Living, WorthWhile, Century Home, Bliss and more. You can find the limited edition prints and sculptures on his website.

 

Tweed Cushions by Wag Tail and Willow

Alexandra is the designer and the creator behind the brand Wag Tail and Willow. She hand makes animal portraits and custom pet cushions from her studio in Cotswolds. The cushions are made with tweed, velvet, wool, silk, vintage and recycled fabrics.

For any custom design, Alexandra starts by requesting the client to send her a few pictures of their pet and then selects the ones she thinks works best. Next she draws a sketch and creates a color map to guide her which color of fabric will go where. She cuts the fabric, stacks them before stitching them all together. There can be 25 to 30 pieces of fabric pieces to construct one face. It's the amazing detailing that makes her work resemble to the original picture.

Visit her online store for more animal design cushions - Wag Tail and Willow.

Robby Kraft Combines Mathematics and Paper to Fold Incredible Origami

Robby Kraft teaches code and design to artists at Parsons School of Design and School for Poetic Computation, NYC. It was around 2013, he learnt more on origami by attending Erik Demaine’s lectures at MIT and through books by Robert Lang. Brooklyn based software engineer is dedicated to explore the beauty of math and physical sciences, and using the disciplines to create incredible origami sculptures. He has been making use of algorithmic code to design intricate origami patterns.

His work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Daily Beast, and Gizmodo. He and his team has won the final five slot in the global NASA challenge for developing paper prototypes of self-folding robots that could repair damaged rovers on Mars.

You can follow his work and learn about what is he working on currently by following his account on Instagram - Grid Paper.