Windfire Designs

When I was told to make a post about Windfire designs I thought 'What the heck is that'? Looking it up though I was impressed with what I saw. Last week I posted about kites from around the world, when you look at kites you tend to think of your standard childhood toy that only sometimes worked but as I look at these different designs more I'm impressed with what I see.

This looks like a butterfly wing to me. The colours and shape of it are really elegant.

 
I like the different colours used throughout the kite.


This might freak me out if I saw it flying in the sky.

Kites Around the World

Japanese


Malaysian


Maori


Indian


Sri Lankan


Chinese

Ancient Greek Sculpture

Today I felt like I wanted to focus on Ancient Greek sculpture. Greek sculptures are some of the most detailed sculptures I've ever seen. What I find most interesting though, is that once these pieces were full of colour.
    

   




What once might have been (Reconstructions)

Cardboard Art

Rather than focus on one artist I chose to share some particularly interesting pieces made from cardboard.

Faberge Part 2

Yay! Time for more Faberge! Like last time, I've highlighted four to focus on for this post.

Winter



This egg was made in 1913 for Maria Feodorovna and was given to her by her son Tsar Nicholas II. The outside of the egg is decorated with 1,660 diamonds and the surprise, a flower basket, is studded with 1,378. This egg is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! It looks like it's crafted from pure ice and I love that the surprise is a flower basket because to me that represents spring coming after the winter. This egg reportedly belongs to the Emir of Qatar.

Steel Military



The Steel Military was made in 1916 and given to the Tsar's wife Alexandra Fyodorovna. The surprise is a miniature painting by Vassily Zuiev. This egg reflects the events going on with Russia at the time as they were involved in World War I when this egg was made. The Kremlin Armoury owns this egg.

Twelve Monograms



Gifted in 1896 to the Tsar's mother Maria, this egg is decorated with the monograms of 'MF' for Maria Fyodorovna and 'AIII' for Alexander III. The surprise is missing. This egg is located at the Hillwood Museum in Wahington, D.C.

Rosebud



Alexandra received this egg in 1895 and was the first egg given to her. The egg opened to reveal a rosebud which contained the surprises. The surprises were a golden crown with diamonds and rubies and a cabochon ruby pendent, they are lost. The crown was a reference to Alexandra's new role as Empress of Russia after her husband's accession to the throne. The rosebud reminded her of the rose garden of Rosenhohe, Darmstadt in Germany where she was from. This egg is located at the Faberge Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Deco and Nouveau

Art Deco and Art Nouveau are two styles of art that were popular in the early 20th century. It is my belief the two styles complement each other because they both have an aura of elegance to them reminiscent of a bygone era.

Art Nouveau came first and was popular from 1890-1910. I often associate with it women in flow-y sheets, surrounded by flowers or trees or general nature. I also think of swans. To me,
Art Nouveau seems like an artificial ode to nature in general. It sees the beauty in it, but it is glamourised rather than shown realistically.

Art Deco is what I call 'Gatsby Art' because it is evocative of the era in which 'The Great Gatsby' takes place. It was most popular following WWI until WWII so it spanned at least three decades. I prefer Art Deco but I like both-just Art Deco a smidge more. Where Nouveau seems to represent nature, Deco represents the city and metropolitan life in general.

Nouveau:
   

Deco:
 
 

High Relief Sculpture

High relief sculpture is a type of sculpture where half of the figure is raised above the base and half remains flat. I call it 3D meets 2D.
Here's some cool examples:
 This one is really cool-it's like it's leaping out at you.