Art Kaleidoscope

Glass wildflowers by American self-taught artist Ronnie Hughes

Glass wildflowers by Ronnie Hughes are called “Liberty in bloom”, so natural, realistic and detailed these glass sculptures are. Ronnie Hughes was born in 1954 and grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. He learned about glass blowing from a friend after he had graduated from the Wake Forest University in 1976. The glass artist admits that having spent two weeks working with glass, he was hooked. Since Ronnie Hughes did not receive special art education, his aptitude for blowing glass had become a great and pleasant surprise for him. Glassblowing became his career, on which he has spent 35 years, creating a large gallery of glass sculptures, which are now in galleries, art exhibitions and private collections.
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A bear, a tiger and a pig rings. Work by Japanese self-taught artist and designer Jiro Miura – Count Blue Animal Cling Rings

Count Blue Animal Cling Rings
Made by Japanese self-taught artist Jiro Miura cling rings are, in fact, miniature sculptures of animals. Japanese designer and artist of applied art Jiro Miura has created a stunning gallery of pieces of jewelry. These cling rings are made in the form of various animals. The artist couldn’t even imagine these animal rings and earrings would become so popular that he would have to create his own brand name – ‘Count Blue’, under which he works now. The price for such artful pieces of jewelry is quite affordable ranging from $15 to $200 for one ring.
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Child & Mother, pencil on paper. Drawings by Laurie Lipton

Drawings by Laurie Lipton. Laurie Lipton is one of the leading contemporary artists of our time. Her ideal from the point of view of technology and frightening content pictures leave no one indifferent: her drawings are loved or hated. Laurie Lipton has been drawing since age 4. Laurie Lipton studied 17th century Dutch masters to develop her own unique style of pencil drawing. The subject of her art – death in beautiful detail. Now the artist lives and works in England
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A couple of doves. Rene Lalique Art Deco glass design

Rene Lalique Art Deco glass design
Born in the French village of Ay on 6 April 1860 (died 5 May 1945), Lalique started a glassware firm, named after him, which still remains successful. Lalique experimented with glass. If he performed his first works by the “vanishing wax” (taken from jewelry techniques), then he developed and implemented at the plant in Vinh-sur-Moder method of injection molding. So were many of his sculptures and vases. French jeweler engaged in production of a variety of glass items, including perfume bottles, lighting, chandeliers, clocks, jewelry using colored glass and figures. In addition, he made automobile hood ornaments, and symbols for automotive radiator grilles. In particular, Henry Citroen commissioned the first one.
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Michael Canning, Allemande, oil on gessoed wood panel

Irish artist Michael Canning
Born in County Limerick, Ireland in 1971, Michael Canning studied art at his native Limerick at the School of Art and Design. After finishing school he went to Greece to study at the School of Fine Arts in Athens. But his master’s degree in fine arts he received in 1999 in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Michael actively participated in art exhibitions across the United Kingdom. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Hennessy Craig Award, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. His paintings of hedgerow plants confront the traditions of northern European painting.
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Self-portrait with owl. 1911. Dutch painter Jan Mankes

Dutch painter Jan Mankes(15 August 1889 – 23 April 1920, Eerbeek)
For his short life (he died of tuberculosis at the age of 30) Mankes has created a priceless collection of 200 paintings, 100 drawings and 50 prints. Jan Mankes led a quiet life in a self-chosen isolation in De Knipe, Friesland, far from the cultural capitals of Europe. The talented artist had a reputation as an ascetic. His paintings included self-portraits, landscapes, flora and fauna studies. Artworks of Mankes are mostly exhibited in the Scheringa Museum of Realism, the Museum of Modern Art Arnhem and Museum Belvedere Heerenveen, in his native Netherlands.
Born into the family of tax inspector, he went to high school in Meppel in 1902, but in 1903 his father received a new assignment, and the family moved to Delft. In 1904 Mankes studiesd at artist Jan Schouten’s workshop in Delft. In his spare time he learned the art of stained glass at Hermanus Veldhuis’ (1878-1954) workshop, and serves as an assistant in his work. There is evidence that Mankes participated in the restoration of stained glass in St. John’s Church in Gouda.
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Flower composition. Metal art by Junko Mori

Metal art by Junko Mori resembles delicate glass creations in the Art Nouveau style. Japanese artist Junko Mori was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1974. She graduated from the University of Arts in Tokyo in 1997 and defended her bachelor’s degree in three-dimensional design. Mori then worked as a welder at the plant for one year. From 1998 to 2000 she studied at the Camberwell College of Art in London, where she received her second bachelor’s degree.
The artist’s statement – “The uncontrollable beauty is the core of my concept”. The assembling of forged and cast metal is the key to Junko Mori’s work, whether mild steel or almost pure silver. Her observations of tree and plant matter are the driving force behind many of her sculptures which vary in scale from small objects in precious metal through to fairly massive welded steel works of art.
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