Amazing Driftwood Life-Size Sculptures by Tony Fredriksson

Tony Fredriksson was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. He discovered his talent and learnt that he had a passion for art at an early age.

After studying fine art at the Eastborne College of Art and Design, UK, Tony moved to South Africa. While living in South Africa he explored various art fields such as painting, drawing, and sculpting but it's his driftwood sculptures that he is well-known for.

He creates amazing life-size sculptures of birds, mammals, fish, insects and man made objects using driftwood found on the beach. It's the shape and size of the single wood piece that helps determine the subject matter and then smaller pieces are strategically arranged to render the final form. 

Tony uses a wood cutting device to shape the wood and sands to smoothen the sharp edges. His final piece can take weeks before it's ready, he once created a 13 meter sculpture of a whale which took five weeks to complete.

"Tony finds most of his inspiration for his driftwood sculptures in organically weathered pieces of wood. Every piece tells a story and is uniquely shaped and textured; some by oceans and rivers and others by insects and the elements." 

He makes the sculptures in his studio Open Sky Wood Art based in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

 

Surreal Animal Portraits by Claudia Twardowska

Claudia Twardowska is a Polish artist who creates surreal animal portraits. The artist primarily uses colored pencils to draw her subjects but also likes to use oil paints. In her artwork you can observe the incredible precision and attention to detail. It's mind blowing to observe the tiniest pencil strokes to make fur and feathers of her creatures. Besides animals, Claudia also draws human portraits, florals, and food with flawless accuracy and realism. You can follow her and learn more about her work by following her Instagram.

You can see her in action by watching the following speed drawing video of the owls.

Metal Sculptures Made Using Wire, Scissors, Pliers and More

I stumbled across this Instagram account called Maftoolism. The artist is based out of Iran specializes in wire sculptures. The sculptures are made using galvanized or copper wire, and other found metal objects. The artist makes sculptures of creatures from the animal kingdom plus inanimate things. 

Each sculpture is mainly made by bending, twisting and wrapping wire but the artist uses a rusty knife, old hole punch, a pair of scissors or pliers to make horns, ears and beaks. These extra elements make the sculptures look funny and give them a unique personality.

Paul Lewis Transformed Not Only His Life But Also Esquimalt Lagoon

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are staying safe in your homes. In India (where I live) things are going out of control. I am dealing with the situation like everyone else and the best thing one can do right now is not over think things. After all, what can not be changed must be endured and it should be endured calmly.

Coming back to the post, Let's wrap up the week with these sculptures by Paul Lewis. There is a very interesting story behind how Paul Lewis turned into an artist, you can read more here. When Paul was in jail his grandmother would send him pictures of owls from magazines. He would draw them and later got inspired by driftwood sculptures by Alex Witcombe. When he got released he started to collect drift wood as he could see shapes in twisted driftwood and turn them into sculptures.

Paul is from Victoria, BC who specializes in sculptures. He makes amazing sculptures on Beach Ent at Esquimalt Lagoon using driftwood. The sculptures have transformed the beach into an art gallery that has been visited by thousands of people who came to admire and take picture his work. You can follow his facebook page for new work.

Ceramics Inspired by Paper Mache and Tribal Patterns

Sarah Farrelly is a painter and a ceramic artist based in Cork, Ireland. After graduating from the National College of Art and Design, she worked as a designer and illustrator for several years. While working she pursued her passion for ceramics and painting, working mainly in acrylic and oil.

She makes one-of-a-kind sculptures inspired by native animals. Each piece is completely hand built, bisqued and painted with velvet underglaze which gives sculpture a smooth surface. Her animal sculptures are painted in patterns inspired by tribal designs, mostly painted in monochrome. All though her sculptures are made with clay, there is a very light feel about them. They almost look like something made out of paper mache.

In 2014, Sarah won the Etain Hickey Award in Irish Ceramic Awards. Her work was featured in the book - Irish Ceramics by John Goode.