Oddity Central |
- Ukrainian Artist Creates Unique Paintings with Fish Bones Scales and Eyes
- Unique Spanish Festival Celebrates Near Death Experiences
- Russian Artist Creates Miniature Models from Pasta
| Ukrainian Artist Creates Unique Paintings with Fish Bones Scales and Eyes Posted: 31 Aug 2012 05:25 AM PDT
Elena Zhuravskaya, an amateur artist from Kiev, Ukraine, uses fish bones, scales and even their boiled eyes to assemble amazing paintings on velvet canvases. Although her work is virtually unknown outside her native country, I hope this article changes that. I found photos of Elena’s works on a wonderful-yet-obscure blog called Viola, and after doing some “digging” I was able to find more info on this wonderful artist and her unique trade. Ms Zhuravskaya, who works as an architect in Kiev, has a very interesting hobby – she likes to use fish leftovers (bones, scales, eyes) to create detailed ivory-like paintings on dark velvet canvases. The self-taught artist has invented a number of bone-processing techniques which allow her to manipulate the fine medium into whatever shape she desires, although she admits working with such delicate materials is a painstaking process. So far, her fishy artworks have been displayed in various galleries around Kiev, leaving art-enthusiasts in awe of both her bizarre medium choice and amazing attention to detail. Elena began working with fish bones and scales seven years ago, after meeting a girl artist whose works also incorporated fish parts. After seeing some of her works, she felt inspired to use the strange material to create her own original art. It was a good thing both the artist and her husband were avid fishermen and thus able to catch their own work material, instead of buying fish from the market. She likes to think that the whole family is involved in the creative process, even the cat, who nibbles on the bones clearing any leftover meat. They all love meat dishes and that means there’s always material to be found in their refrigerator. Even her neighbors and friends help out by bringing her all kinds of new fish, some with really nicely-shaped bones. As you can imagine, creating this kind of detailed paintings requires mountains of patience, but Elena Zhuravskaya doesn’t mind spending time doing what she loves. Asked how long it takes to finish one of her beautiful artworks, she said it depends on the complexity of the project. It can take anywhere from one night to a whole year. In the seven years since she began working with fish parts, her skill has constantly evolved, and she continues to find new ways of using the unique medium to create more complex compositions. For example, she was recently working on a piece called “a girl walking on waves” and spent a long time pondering on how to give a wave volume using just fish bones, scales and eyes. Finally she discovered finely chopped scales make great waves. Elena says most people ask her how she bends the bones, and she always answers that she has yet to see a perfectly straight fish bone. The artist uses naturally curved bones, but her real talent lies in arranging them perfectly on the velvet canvas, a skill required by her profession as an architect. Imagination also plays a crucial role, as using boiled fish eyes and scales in artistic way doesn’t exactly come natural to everyone. To create her beautiful paintings, Zhuravskaya uses a small hammer, a nail file, scissors, a simple toothpick and a brush to clear the dust off the velvet. She also unses nail polish to preserve the fish parts and PVA glue to make them stick to the canvas.
video in Ukrainian Sources: Horoshienovosti, K1.ua Ukrainian Artist Creates Unique Paintings with Fish Bones Scales and Eyes was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Unique Spanish Festival Celebrates Near Death Experiences Posted: 31 Aug 2012 03:30 AM PDT
Did you manage to survive a near death experience during the past year? Well then, congratulation, you’ve earned the privilege of being placed in a coffin and paraded through the streets of Las Nieves, as part of a festival called La Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme. The small town of Las Nieves is located in the isolated northwest part of Spain called Galicia, where pagan rites have been a part of local culture since anyone can remember. Although it has tried very hard over the centuries, the Catholic Church has never been able to fully integrate their teachings here, and witches or evil spirits still exist in people’s spiritual beliefs. La Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme is one of the Church’s attempts to adapt its dogma to the region’s more primitive beliefs, a sort of “Catholicism meets Paganism” type of event which has often been labeled as one of the most outrageous religious pilgrimages in the world. The unique event that takes place every year on July 29 celebrates those who have managed to cheat death in the previous 12 months by placing them in coffins and parading them through the town, and honors Saint Marta de Ribarteme, the patron of resurrection. Photo: Teresa la Loba As you can imagine, this unique event draws quite a crowd, so on the day of the festival the streets of Las Nieves are packed with thousands of believers and gawkers. At around 10 am, the coffins carrying the lucky almost-dead start to arrive at the local church, carried by solemnly-dressed relatives of the lucky ones. People who don’t have any family can also attend the macabre ceremony, but they have to carry their own coffins. A special mass starts around noon and is broadcast outside the church via loudspeakers, so the crowd can listen as well. When the mass is over, the church bells start to ring and the coffins carrying the dead-looking lucky survivors are carried uphill to the town cemetery and then brought back to circle a few times around the church. As a larges statue of Santa Marta de Ribarteme is taken out of the church and paraded around with the coffins, the crowd starts chanting ”Virgin Santa Marta, star of the North, we bring you those who saw death”. Photo: Alberto Varela Once the bizarre coffin-carrying part of the festivities comes to an end, the almost-dead rise and start telling people about their extraordinary near-death experiences. Than everyone dances the night away and celebrates life. Photo: Asneves
video in Spanish Unique Spanish Festival Celebrates Near Death Experiences was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Russian Artist Creates Miniature Models from Pasta Posted: 31 Aug 2012 01:09 AM PDT
Sergey Pakhomov, an artist from Russia’s Perm region has recently made headlines in his home country for using various types of pasta to make miniature models of cars, planes, boats and even a small pasta town. If you’ve at least heard of Canada’s wacky Spaghetti Bridge Building Championship, then you already know pasta can also be used outside the kitchen. Take Sergey Pakhomov, an amateur artist who discovered Italian pasta is a great material for creating detailed miniature models. It all started six years ago, when Pakhomov was working for a PR company, and was asked to do a creative advertisement for a Russian macaroni company. He was brainstorming one night and came up with the idea of creating various thing out of macaroni. The advertisement campaign was eventually canceled, but the idea stuck with him, and after studying the works of other artists who had used stuff like vermicelli or rigatoni to make art, he decided to pursue a career in pasta models. After six years of experimenting with the strange medium, Sergey Pakhomov has an impressive collection of over 30 miniature pasta models, some of which are pretty complex. Sergey looks for building material in supermarkets and uses all kinds of pasta, from simple spaghetti and lasagna to farfalle and ruote, spending between 20 and 30 hours on each of his models. He says his hardest work yet is a small car with reclining front seats, doors that actually open and lots of other small details, and his most time-consuming project was a small town which took three years to complete. All of his small creations are stored in his home and need a certain temperature and humidity to pass the test of time. What started out as a fun hobby, has now become a passion, and Sergey Pakhomov has recently patented his pasta model-making technique to be able to receive commercial revenue from his art. He recently staged a “Pasta Show”, to showcase his unique talent to the world.
via Pravda.ru Photos: ITAR-TASS Russian Artist Creates Miniature Models from Pasta was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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