Month: July 2016

Ceremonial Kapala

Ceremonial Kapala, Tibet, southwestern China, Ca 19th century CE.

Used in both Hindu, Tantra, and Buddhist tantric ceremonies, the kapala is a cup used as a ritual bowl. They are usually carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels. Many of the deities of Vajrayana, or tantric Buddhism, or depicted carrying the kampala, usually in their left hand.

The ceremonial kampala shown here is a horned goat skull ornamented with white metal applique and glass. 12″L x 6-½”H.

Reblogged with thanks to http://virtual-artifacts.tumblr.com

Uno Moralez

Illustrations by Uno Moralez

Uno Moralez is a Moscow-based pixel painter with a sinister and unique take on old computer game aesthetics. He is a Russian enigma whose LiveJournal is written in Cyrllic, whose work is both drawn and published in digital pixels, whose output comes in the form of bizarre and ferociously NSFW image/gif galleries as often as comics or illustrations, and whose name is not even Uno Moralez.

“Unquestionably menacing and monstrous figures lurk smiling in shadowy rooms, bodies and objects arranged in inscrutable ways that nevertheless imply an unimpeachable in-story logic. It’s the logic of nightmares, yes, but whether we’re talking about his standalone images, his animated gifs, or his keyframe-style comics, they give off the sense that what’s happening makes sense to the individuals involved, which is the most fascinating and harrowing thing about Moralez’s work. The distance from here to there seems insurmountable, but he bridges it time and time again, in a lo-fi digital style that makes it seem like these images are woven from the fabric of the Internet itself.” _Sean T Collins, The Comics Journal

Sachin Teng

Sachin Teng, “Making Soup”, Computer Graphics, Illustration Gifs

There are many really gifted graphic artists who do work with gif illustrations. Sachin Teng is one. He mixes realistic styles with the cartoonish and and the glitched-out. Sachin Teng has illustrated for Adidas, Wired, and the New Yorker, among others. He is a freelance illustrator originally from New York but now based in Los Angeles.

Edmondo Senatore

Edmondo Senatore, “Glimpses of Tuscany”

Born in Rome, Italy, Edmondo Senatore started life taking photos with an old Russian camera, which developed into his career in 2003 to a full-time photographer. Initially starting in the digital photographic market, he has since changed to the traditional camera which he carries with him daily. Senatore’s subjects includes landscapes in all its facets, street photography, portraits, and nature photography.

More information on his life and a gallery of his photographs can be found at: https://500px.com/edmondo

 

Deer Antler Ritual Mjolnir

Troll Blood, Deer Antler Ritual Mjolnir

Troll Blood is a craftsman for Bear Claw Handcraft, who works with antler, bone, leather, hides, wood and metal. Mjolnir is the name for the god Thor’s hammer. Though most famous for as a weapon, Mjolnir played a role in Norse religious practices and rituals, used in formal ceremonies to bless marriages, births and funerals, as described in the Old Norse 13th century work of literature “Snorra Edda”. This work is ascribed to the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson.

Fourth of July

Wishing Everyone a Happy Fourth of July!

July Fourth is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress declaring that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer part of the British Empire.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.