—Linda Hogan, Native American writer

Moorside (Consett), UK

Tommy Craggs carves naturally-fallen trees using a chain saw. Imagine walking along a familiar path in the woods and the pleasure one might experience chancing upon a “dead” stump freshly transformed into a sculptural affirmation of life…

See more of his painstaking work here. Thanks to colleague Maggie MacNab for the link.

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—Louis-Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

San Francisco, California

Andres Amador is an artist who makes awe-inspiring, large scale eco-paintings in the sand. His beautiful designs range from organic, nature-inspired circuitous patterns to geometric, angular and hard-edged shapes, to spiritual symbols like the triquetra or the Celtic knot.

Getting to the beach early, about an hour before the ocean recedes and usually under a full moon, is where and when it all begins for Andres. He starts with a fine-tip stick, drawing the framework and giving structure for his designs. Once outlined in the sand, he then adjusts his home-made painting utensil to a thicker line (about an 8″ rake) to “fill in” the lines, making the sketch come alive. Once this is complete, he uses an even thicker rake to shade in different areas of the design before seeking higher ground to capture the sand painting on film.

“Sand is wonderful,” says Amador, “When I come to the beach it’s all ready for me as it’s been smoothed flat by the ocean.” Much like fellow landscape artist Sonja Hinrichsen’s snow drawings, cleanup isn’t an issue with Andre’s sand painting as nature takes care of this for him. “It’s ephemeral,” he explains, “It cannot last and it cannot be maintained.” That’s the beauty of it – but that’s also why he and his team have to work fast.

He does preliminary sketches based on the area he’ll be working, and gives himself about a two-hour window to complete the painting and capture the image. And painting on a canvas anywhere between a few thousand square feet, to 30,000 square feet, this can often be a race against time. “The perspective is the hardest part.” explains Amador, “To be aware of where I am in the image, and what’s happening in the image and hold it all together, that’s the biggest challenge.”

See more images and read more here. Visit Andres Amador’s website here.

San Francisco, California

Brent Couchman is a contemporary illustrator/designer with a stylish mid-century modern flare—see more of his work here and here.

Thanks to Carole Guevin for the cue.

Budapest, Hungary

Frustro is a display typeface designed by Martzi Hegedűs based on the Penrose triangle, an impossible object.

Thanks to Bob Roach for the link.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Typeface designers Robbie de Villiers and Jeremy Dooley have developed a custom typeface called Chatype that they are hoping will become the city’s typeface. They’ve successfully raised funds for this venture through Kickstarter…

The goal is to help the city and its businesses forge a distinct and cohesive identity through a custom typeface, sending a visual message to the world that Chattanooga—a rapidly growing city in the midst of a creative renaissance—is “more than just your average Southern town.”

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Bangkok, Thailand

‘koh’ is a modular seating system designed for use in public areas such as lobbies, pools, spas, and courtyards. Capable of being customized in material and colour, and either movable or fixed, the sofas encourage dynamic interaction among visitors while offering organizations a flexible way to furnish various spaces. The word ‘koh’ in Thai means ‘island’… reflecting the way that the seating scheme appears as an archipelago when seen from above.

Conceived by Israeli designer Eyal Soodai (sooda-e studio), ‘koh’ is the winning design in the category of ‘hotel and hospitality’ for the TIFF 2012 Award, whose theme ‘inside outside’ celebrates designs in which aesthetics and the environment share an equal role. The competition included participation by 3025 designers from 87 different countries, and was organized by designboom in collaboration with the Thailand Department of Export Promotion (DEP), the Ministry of Commerce, Royal Thai Government, and TIFF — the Thailand International Furniture Fair.

Source: designboom