Salty sunset

At first sight, it is not clear why the art works of Kelly McCollam would feature here - until you find out that they are made of salt and spices.... Beautiful results with such alien material. First seen here.

Money money money

A wonderful piece of graffiti variation on the three monkeys (see/hear/speak no evil), both funny and unfortunately true. The fact that money and monkey are almost the same word is a bonus. First seen here.

Snow art

Astonishing in its scope and its short life: artist Simon Beck spends days plodding through the snow in snowshoes, creating fascinating extremely large-scale patterns along the frozen lakes of Savoie, France. First seen here.

Naga Chilli Vodka

Whoever comes up with ideas like this? This special vodka is made by fermenting liters of regular vodka with 18 kg of Naga Jolokia peppers. Naga Jolokia? Yes, the hottest peppers in the world, twenty times hotter than Jalapeno peppers. Drinking this is guaranteed to burn holes in your oesophagus. First seen here.

Book of Life

Chances are you have seen this before because it has appeared in many blogs. But not always with sufficient information. Another case where the choice between Potpourri and Art for Art's Sake was difficult. Artist David Kracov created this sculpture in honor of the late Rabbi Yossi Raichik, who saved thousands of childrens' lives from the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster. The metal sculpture has pages filled with words from those he touched, and also features a flurry of butterflies, each representing the 2,547 children he helped save and give new lives. The link also includes shots on the creation of this amazing work. First seen here.

Triple Bypass Burger

Yes, you can eat that, but no-one in their right mind would recommend it. This 6000-Calorie monstrosity is served at the Heart Attack Grill restaurant - and indeed, recently made its first victim when a forty-odd years old customer suffered a heart attack whilst battling with the specialty. First seen here.

Top 10 most expensive USA military planes

The linked site gives an overview of the 10 most expensive USA military planes, ranging from the $94 million F/A-18 Hornet shown above to the $2.4 billion B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. First seen here.

Pillow faces

Special designs or mixed nuts? I picked the latter based on the example given in the link, as I cannot imagine why anybody in their right minds would want to have pillows like this on their beds. On the other hand, you can choose the faces yourselves, which might just drag it into the special designs category. In any case, the American company PillowMob where you can order these, has come up with an original idea for sure. First seen here.

Spiderman

Another wonderful example of a visual play on words: by using fonts in an imaginative way. First seen here.

In Arabic please!

I have seen these kind of blunders before (e.g. on cakes) but never on such a scale. Unless it is photoshopped of course. First seen here.

Envelope Art

Amazing envelope art created with a ballpoint (byro) and envelopes by Mark Powell. I have had this link in my favourites for a while, not able to decide until now whether to post it here or in Art for Art's sake. First seen here.

Rule of odds

Here we have a Japanese photography site (Naver) highlighting four basic rules of photography composition (rule of thirds, rule of odds, rule of space, rule of diagonal), using one of my shots to illustrate the rule of odds concept. Incidentally, I used the same shot for the same subject in my main art blog. First seen here.

Batman meets South Park

Some of the best quality (and funniest) graffiti I have seen, courteccy of Brisbane artist Fintan Magee. This one is a delightful mix-up of Batman and South Park. First seen here.

Genetics

I had seen this before, but I don't think I posted it on the blog. A lovely funny picture on the theme of genetics. Most recently seen here.

Doctor Whouse

Last week it was announced that the immensely popular and successful TV series House will not be continued. This frees up Hugh Laurie for other roles - and he would make an awesome Doctor Who! First seen here.

Alphabet

A wonderful idea, and excellent execution. Abba Richman photographed 26 subjects that represent the shapes of the letters in the alphabet. Some choices are obvious, some absolutely brilliant. I will probably attempt something similar myself one day. First seen here.

London and Venice

Taken from a post at the Retronaut blog. Long before Photoshop, people creatively mixed images to come up with their own dreamworlds, in this case transposing Venice into London. First seen here.

Upkeep

Another gem by Audrey Heller, a relatively new name in the growing legion of artists who use small plastic figurines in real world settings. First seen here.

Elfstedentocht

Three for the price of one... My recent shot Preparing for the Elfstedentocht (top left in the mosaic) proved to be very popular in recent days, as it was used to illustrate three different web based articles on Dutch skating tours, including the Elfstedentocht itself (which was unfortunately cancelled). First seen here, here and here.

Swiss flag

Is it a crime to eat a flag? Anyway, the link gives a series of edible flags, created with typical food from the countries the flag belong to, as part of an advertising campaign for the Sydney International Food Festival. The Swiss flag shown above is made with Swiss ham and Emmentaler cheese. First seen here.

Skull USB hub

I have posted especially shaped USB sticks before, but I think this is the first time a USB hub is featured in the blog. Macabre as it is, this skull is a great alternative for the boring hubs you buy in the PC shop. The top of the skull is hollowed out to serve as extra storage on your desk. First seen here.

Clock

A new subject, after seeing a number of these recently on the web. Brilliant depictions of terms just by playing with the font. A case in point is this clock, where the L and O are combined to define the subject visually. First seen here.

Floral art

Chinese artist Fong Qi Wei recently created a collection of floral art that includes remakes of famous art pieces, such as The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusa. First seen here.

Another meme...

Most meme's bore me, but I have a weak spot for the Musically Oblivious 8th Grader. I created this one myself with a text taken from some one else (but used with a less appropriate meme). Created with the on-line meme generator here.

Nano rose

Proof that similar shapes re-occur in nature at orders of magnitude difference in scale. This beautiful rose is actually an indium crystal at the size of a few micrometers. First seen here.

The Russian Banksy

Here is an example of the impressive graffiti work of Moscow street artist P183, who has been nicknamed the Russian Banksy. First seen here.

Bottom

Insert a variety of rude jokes here.... once more, not photoshopped, but an unfortunate angle for a news item, as photographer Sari Gustafsson captured Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia in the pairs free skating event at the European Figure Skating Championships 2012 in Sheffield. First seen here.

Celebrities then and now

Taken from a Visboo blog post, where celebrities are depicted with photographs from their teenage years. Amazing how some people have hardly changed, and some a lot. Alice Cooper, for obvious reasons, is in the latter category. First seen here.

Model Airplane News March 1953

Another lovely cover of days gone by for model aircraft enthousiasts - like myself when I was a teenager. Pure nostalgia, but not artistic enough for the under cover series in Art for Art's sake. First seen here.