A husband and a wife. Weird dolls inhabiting Nagoro village

Weird dolls inhabiting Nagoro village
No Hallowe’en story can scare you more than the inhabitants of the real Japanese village of Nagoro, inhabited by weird life-size dolls of dead people. Slowly dying village, due to the natural death of its people, it is turning into a surreal puppet world of schoolchildren, teachers, and even a principal. Also, farmers working on the field, residents waiting for their bus at the bus stop, etc.
Everything in this scenery – a school, bus stop, field – handmade by a local craftswoman Ayano Tsukimi. She shares her thoughts and story in a 2014 documentary “The Valley Of Dolls” by Fritz Schumann.
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Duomo di Milano inspired doll “The Cathedral”. Artwork by Doll Artist Marina Bychkova

Doll Artist Marina Bychkova
Born and raised on the shores of the Siberian river Tom, in the city of Novokuznetsk, Marina Bychkova is a talented doll artist. From early childhood she was interested in the nature of the dolls and fell in love with them for ever. Meanwhile, when the girl was nine years old, her family immigrated to Canada. There she graduated from the Institute of Arts. According to Marina, she has always loved dolls, but in 2002, her love for them has grown into profession. After a long search of the media, Marina found perfect for her designs and ideas material – porcelain. Her very detailed dolls belong to the world of contemporary art – sculpture, painting, and jewelry art.
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The blue bridge over the river. Work by Maeno Takashi, Traditional Japanese patchwork Kinusaiga art

Japanese patchwork Kinusaiga art
In fact, this art is a combination of several techniques – patchwork and batik, and even wood carving, or painting on wood with pieces of silk. Also, the pictures – created from recycled materials.
Noteworthy, the the founder of the Kinusaiga art – Japanese master Maeno Takashi, professor at the University. Her works are permanent participants of art exhibitions. Besides, she has published some books on the art, which became popular and actively sold. Kinusaiga – pretty young art, year of birth – 1987, but these pictures has already gained popularity all over the world. Japanese and Chinese art is poetic, quiet, harmonious.
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A Fox. Miniature felted animals by Kiyoshi Mino

Miniature felted animals by Kiyoshi Mino
American self-taught artists of applied art Kiyoshi and his wife Emma create realistic miniature domestic and wild animals and life size sculptures of birds, entirely ​​of felt. The artistic duo work on their farm – Lucky Duck Farm in Illinois.
According to Mino, the desire to live on the farm appeared after he served in the army, in Afghanistan. It was there Kiyoshi saw village people growing all that they need in their gardens, grazing and gathering the harvest. Thus, he realized that it gives them the opportunity to be independent of what is happening around. Besides, the opportunity to live without too much fuss and anxiety, and take care of the family and the farm. Also, enjoy the simple things, such as the sun, rain and cold. Kiyoshi wanted to live closer to the ground and spend more time with his family. Then he with his wife moved to a farm. Inspired by farm life, the creative duo Kiyoshi and Emma have created the beautiful gallery of realistic felted animals.
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The inscription on the panel – ‘Each of us is an angel with only one wing, and we can fly only embracing each other’. Keramo Mano ceramic art studio

Keramo Mano ceramic art studio
Run by Russian duo of craftsmen and artists Maria and Vlad, who are a husband and a wife, the art studio is Siberian city of Berdsk. According to the artists, they became engaged in pottery more than 20 years ago. They just implement their creative ideas in clay. Meanwhile, clay is a special element that carries the power and energy of the earth itself. Their art works – closely interwoven with ancient ethnic cultures whose roots go far for our ancestors. And all characters are of a certain nature, have their own unique design and value. Radiating love, these creations aim to protect home and bring the good, the sun and happiness.
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Unknown artist of the XVIII century. Russian Grand Duke Paul Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna with sons Alexander and Constantine, planting a tree in front of the bust of Catherine II. 1784 – 1785. The State Hermitage Museum, Russia. Silhouette paper cut art

Silhouette paper cut art
One of the oldest kinds of art, history of paper cut art began in ancient China. The explanation is very simple – paper cut art appeared with the invention of paper in China. The ancient masters drew on paper, wrote Chinese characters, and used for government documents. However, the Chinese have gone even further. They used to cut silhouettes out of paper, stack them on the window, and the whole effect of this appeared in the evening, when the light lit the windows. Also, different cut silhouettes belonged to different national beliefs of the Chinese.
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Gorgeous Chinese Kingfisher art

Chinese Kingfisher art
First of all, this kind of art has more than 2 000 years of history. Chinese craftsmen and artists used the blue kingfisher feathers for creating fine art works – mosaics, jewelry pieces, decorative hairpins, fans, and wall screens. While art collectors all over the world search for such objects of Ch, however, Kingfisher traditional craft remains almost unknown.
Traditionally, Kingfisher art is the perfect combination of metal craft and feathers process, where blue kingfisher feathers carefully embedded to create various jewelry objects.
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