Based in France, botanical artist Denise Ramsay renders fleshy petals and pollen-heavy stamen in an exquisite series of watercolor paintings. She focuses on the capitulum, or the head of the flower, to give each lavender lady and glory lily an animated quality. “Corona,” shown below, appears as if it’s ready to scuttle across the otherwise empty work.
By painting less common florals, Ramsay tells Colossal that her Alien Nation series centers on the simple lines and shapes found in nature. “(Watercolor) gives me the fluid and transparent washes of color that I need to create the glow of color, light, and shadows to make each flower look like it floats effortlessly in space,” she writes. “My aim is to show them in new and interesting ways, to take a simple ordinary flower and elevate it.” With a background in fashion, Ramsay said she has a love for dramatic lighting that’s reflected in her floral pieces, which can stretch up to 46 inches.
Keep up with the artist’s refined artworks on Instagram, and see which are available for purchase on her site.
Dezeen promotion: creative school Istituto Marangoni is offering a scholarship worth 50 per cent of tuition fees on its new MA Product Design course at the school's London campus.
The Future Products competition, which has been launched in collaboration with Dezeen and is now open for applicants, invites young creatives to invent new typologies for domestic objects, or design improved versions of existing products.
The prize for the best submission is a scholarship for Istituto Marangoni's MA Product Design course, which will be taught at its London location from October 2020. The prize is worth 50 per cent of the total tuition fee.
For the chance of winning, applicants should propose "future products" that make use of new technologies and materials and also address sustainability concerns.
The deadline is May 15 2020.
Istituto Marangoni has launched four competitions that give designers a chance to win scholarships at its London campus
Istituto Marangoni launched the Future Products competition to support young designers that wish to embark on a career in the product design industry.
It is one of four other ongoing competitions led by Istituto Marangoni, for which the prizes are all scholarships to study a masters degrees at its campus in Shoreditch, London.
Also open until 15 May, the three other competitions have been launched with the likes of Zaha Hadid Architects and the French luxury fashion house Balmain Paris.
"The call for applicants has been developed in collaboration with leading fashion and design houses such as Zaha Hadid, Dezeen, Balmain and Diamond Producers Association," explained Istituto Marangoni.
"These scholarships will offer future designers and managers concrete support in developing their creative capacities while enjoying a truly unique experience in professional training and personal growth at Istituto Marangoni."
Istituto Marangoni is collaborating with Diamond Producers Association on the competition for the school's MA Fine Jewellery Design
The competition launched by Istituto Marangoni in partnership with Zaha Hadid Architects presents the opportunity to win a scholarship to study on the school's MA Interior Design course.
To win, designers have been asked to develop inclusive interior design solutions for "the new realities of fashion stores".
Meanwhile, creatives wishing to read the school's masters in Fine Jewellery Design can enter a competition being overseen with the Diamond Producers Association.
The brief asks applicants to develop a jewellery collection that celebrates the "value and uniqueness of natural diamonds".
Lastly, Balmain Paris is inviting applicants to develop a digital marketing strategy that can monetise its digital audience, with a chance of winning a scholarship for the school's MA Fashion & Luxury Brand Management degree.
Find out more about Istituto Marangoni's Future Projects competition here, and information about the school's other scholarships here.
Originally founded in 1935 in Milan, Istituto Marangoni is a private Italian school of fashion and design that has locations in London, Florence, Paris, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Mumbai and Miami.
It educates over 4,000 students every year from more than 100 different countries and has helped train more than 45,000 fashion and luxury professionals.
Los Angeles architect Jimenez Lai speaks to Dezeen in this Screentime conversation sponsored by Enscape as part of Virtual Design Festival today. Watch it live from 5:00pm UK time.
Lai, founder of architecture studio Bureau Spectacular, will speak to Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs from Los Angeles.
This Screentime conversation is sponsored by Enscape, a virtual reality and real-time rendering plugin for architectural design programme Autodesk Revit.
US firm Koning Eizenberg Architecture left worn-looking ornate walls, brickwork and columns inside this museum for children in Pittsburgh, which occupies a historic library that was struck by lightning.
The existing building, known as Carnegie Free Library, was commissioned in 1886 for the public by philanthropist and industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
It was completed by John L Smithmeyer and Paul J Pelz in the late 1890s and registered a historic building in 1974.
It continued to serve as a public library until the clock tower was struck by lightning in 2006, causing a chunk of granite weighing three tons to fall through the roof. The damage forced the library to relocate.
KEA's project sought to restore the damaged structure but also reveal the original architecture by peeling back the additions that had been made over the years.
Collonades that form archways with ornamental details are now left in a weathered, unfinished state, with patchy surfaces and cracked or peeling renders. They match brickwork and flooring with worn-out markings that are similarly exposed.
These areas typically form open spaces for casual activity, like a first-storey reading area or the open, ground-floor entrance. The latter is covered with permanent installation Over View, designed by US studio FreelandBuck.
Commissioned as part of the renovation, it hangs from the ceiling and is intended to represent a 3D-drawing of the surrounding space including the archways.
MuseumLab comprises three exhibiton spaces, two learning labs as well as programming space for young teens and older. Throughout, existing details are teamed with contemporary additions.
The Santa Monica firm added a white-mesh structure that forms a new staircase and elevated walkway topped by a skylight. The intervention delicately contrasts surrounding stained brickwork to wrap around an open area suited for gatherings.
One of the performing spaces is located in a room with brickwork walls and arched windows, while the ceiling is painted bright white to contrast darker details.
Ornate ceilings meanwhile top a double-height space punctured by a weathered metal beam. The large room forms the children's workshop complete with large benches and machinery.
Exhibition spaces are located in a vaulted space with brickwork and stone walls that are painted white to form a suitable backdrop. Additional spaces are also painted white and include large classrooms and meeting areas.
Now MuseumLab is complete, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is the largest cultural campus in the US dedicated to children.
Pittsburgh is a western city in Pennsylvania. Other cultural projects in the US State include the Frank Gehry-designed renovation of Philadelphia's Museum of Art.
Although most masks hide emotions, Ýrúrarí Jóhannsdóttir’s knits permanently display fervid grins and facial contortions to those she passes on the street or stands next to in the grocery store. The Iceland-based designer has been crafting grotesque knitwear with the intention of warding off anyone who gets too close through a series of monstrous features. Unruly mouths evoke Medusa, oversized lips grin too eagerly, and a lengthy tongue proves an impossible feat as it licks the designer’s eyeball.
Despite their effective scare tactics, Jóhannsdóttir won’t be wearing these in public because she says they’re not designed to guard against COVID-19. Even so, follow her unorthodox facial coverings and check out her similarly outlandish apparel on Instagram. (via designboom)
