Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Multimedia Cacti

The elusive cactibou, linocut by Ele Willoughby 2014
I've been working on a sort of quite possibly completely imaginary cryptozoological menagerie, which began sometime after the elusive cactibou a prickly desert cat-cactus hybrid complete with caribou/saguaro antlers improbably appeared fully formed in my mind. (Part of the delight of this project for me is to write the pseudoscientific description of each of my beasties. You can find the cactibou's description, from zoology to ethnobotany here.)

People sometimes ask me where I get my ideas. It's not an obvious question to answer well ("from my head?"), but I do know that cats are indeed prickly, mine seems to store water and disdain drinking, and that cacti seem to be more an more apparent in art I see. I thought today I would share some of the cacti art I've been admiring.

Valentina Glez Wohlers' Prickly Pair Chair- Classic
Their unusual though organic forms are appealing, but I love the whimsical improbability of cactus as home decor, as the prickly plants do not suggest comfort. Mexican born London-based designer Valentina Glez Wohlers' heritage shines in her delightfully whimsical Prickly Pair Chairs, which merge Mexican cactus shapes and colours and patterns with traditional European chair designs.

Valentina Glez Wohlers' Prickly Pair Chair- Tenango de Doria











More straitghtforward perhaps would be a simple cactus shaped pillow. Here's a cute one complete with DIY from everything emilty

DIY a cacti sampler with a Japanese craft book
It's easy to find cacti in all sorts of different forms and media. Check out ceramicist Lina Cofán’s
amazing wunderkammer of cacti and other plants.  

Lina Cofán

Lina Cofán


Lina Cofán

There are even functional ceramic cacti, like this beauty of a teapot:

lofficina ceramic cactus teapot
 
I love also the cacti in perhaps even less expected media.

ThornAndNeedle has a series of knit cacti

Cactus cake by Tetyana
Cactus cupcakes via Alana Jones Mann




Czech artist Veronika Richterová's magical sculptures from recycled PET bottles include some truly magical cacti (and jellyfish, amongst other things, via thisiscolossal).

Veronika Richterová PET cacti

Veronika Richterová PET cacti

Veronika Richterová PET cacti detail

There are also some beautiful illustrations in more traditional media.

Cactus Nest by Michelle Morin (unitedthread on Etsy)

Cactus Trio by Michelle Morin

Bird Sanctuary No. 5 by Michelle Morin



Anatomy of a Cactus by Rachel Ignotofsky


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