Ocean Vessels

Crashing Glass Waves Frozen Into Elegant Vessels by Marsha Blaker and Paul DeSomma Husband and wife team Paul DeSomma and Marsha Blaker translate their oceanic inspirations directly into their collaborative glass sculptures, frozen glass waves caught mid-crash and appearing to spray surf from the contained vessels. The works exist as seamless gradients, dark blues circling the base while white froth circles the top of the pieces crafted from molten glass.   Dancing Droplets: Researchers Solve the Strange Puzzle of Attraction Found in Drops of Food Coloring A trio of researchers at Stanford recently published an article in Nature that explains the curious attraction found in droplets of everyday food coloring. While working on another project, Nate Circa noticed that when drops of food coloring were placed on a slide they exhibited bizarre behaviors: identical colors would find matches while different colors would seemingly hunt each other. Dance, science, dance!   Sponsor // Get 50% Off the Craftsy Online Class 'Sketchbooks: Drawing the Everyday' Masterpieces are born in the artist's sketchbook, but are your drawing skills up to the challenge? Luckily, Craftsy is here to help. For a limited time, get 50% off the online Craftsy class Sketchbooks: Drawing the Everyday — a special offer for Colossal readers — with guidance from internationally renowned artist Paul Heaston. In these video lessons, you'll learn how to draw the world around you, how to think of your sketchbook as a versatile companion, and how to use pencil, ink, and watercolor in your on-the-go "studio." First, Paul will walk you through realistically depicting your subject in dimensional space. Then, build texture using ink and infuse your work with color as you add smooth watercolor washes. Finally, you'll learn how to combine what you've learned to create finished works that your audience will connect with in a meaningful way. Visit Craftsy.com to get 50% off the online class, Sketchbooks: Drawing the Everyday, and start creating more compelling compositions today. Offer expires April 14th, 2015 at 11:59pm MT.   Recycled PET Plastic Bottle Plant Sculptures by Veronika Richterová Czech artist Veronika Richterová creates new life from repurposed plastic PET bottles. For the last decade the artist has used various methods of cutting, heating, and assemblage to build colorfully translucent forms of everything from crocodiles to chandelier light fixtures to plants.   Artist Adam S. Doyle Utilizes Simplified Brushstrokes to Organically Conjure Animals to the Blank Page Adam S. Doyle creates sweeping monochromatic animals, painting creatures that jump, fly, and swim from his simplified brushstrokes. Doyle doesn't attempt to mask his brushstrokes, but rather lets them evolve organically. He explains that his work always begins with his love of the magic of creation, transforming a blank surface into a living thing.   Sushi Bath Towel Concept by Jenny Pokryvailo Designer Jenny Pokryvailo came up with this amusing concept for a series of towels that when properly folded resemble different types of maki rolls. You may previously recognize Pokryvailo's design work from her wildly popular Nessie Ladle, Sardine Paper Clips, and Rainbow Marker Set.   A Photographer Lovingly Captures the Unlikely Bond between His Family and an Orphaned Bird The stories of a unique bond between a child and their pet are as timeless as they come, but rarely does the pet have wings. Such is the case with photographer Cameron Bloom whose son Noah happened upon a baby magpie in 2013 when the family was out walking near their home in Newport, Australia. A year later the bird—affectionately named Penguin—has become a part of the family.   A Towering Home in the Alaskan Wilderness Looks Like Something Right out of a Dr. Seuss Book As the story goes, the original owner of this unwieldy building located in Willow, Alaska built his house shortly after a forest fire with a clear view of Mount McKinley and Denali National Park. As the surrounding trees recovered, the pristine view was obscured and the owner decided to add few more storeys, eventually spending a decade adding floors until it reached the 12-ish story tower you see today.   From the Colossal Shop: Monarch, Reflection Here in Chicago, we're still a long way from summer and the return of the monarch butterfly. However, this brand new print from artist Rafael Araujo is more than enough to hold us over. Monarch, Reflection explores the subtle motion of monarch flight in vivid color and a complex geometric framework. Appearing to be the output of a complicated computer, Araujo uses only basic tools. The Colossal Shop is proud to collaborate with Rafael to share his incredible work with a worldwide audience.