"Il Était une Fois" by Benjamin LaCombe

In and of themselves, books for children can be these shiny, little packages of artistic awesomeness. By all appearances, "Il Était une Fois" (once upon a time) by french illustrator Benjamin Lacombe, with paper pop-up construction design by Jose Pons, is no exception. Coffee table worthy, it features eight classic fairy tales... Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Peter Pan, Little Red Riding Hood, Madame Butterfly and Thumbelina.

Here's a promotional video of this beatific work produced by Romain Berthou and Laurent Covet from B & C Wall, a Paris collective of directors, character designers and CG animators... followed by a few stills taken from the pages of Il Était une Fois.

Feast your eyes @ http://www.benjaminlacombe.com

(source article and image credits)

Cardboard Cameras by Kiel Johnson

Continuing on with paper art forms, here's a peek at what Kiel Johnson can do with cardboard...

SLR 1















POINT & SHOOT















TWIN LENS















8 MM















POLAROID 2















SLR 7
















Find out more about Kiel and get an extensive look at his various projects @ http://kieljohnson.com

Decourama!... a'la TP Rolls

Last year, TP roll sculptures by artist Junior Fritz Jacquet popped up on my radar and became one of my favorite blog topics to date. Today, I found that the fascination with using toilet paper rolls as an artistic medium still holds strong. I like the idea of creating art from what most of us take for granted and discard without a second thought.

Decoupage, from the French word decouper, meaning to cut, is a craft or art form that entails pasting cut-outs (typically paper) to an object and then covering it with several coats of varnish or lacquer... and as most of us are also aware of by way of our school~daze; a diorama is a mini-world... an entire landscape in a box, carry case, or window which displays model figures that can appear as a freeze frame of an historic event or anything else you want to create.

Rather than contorting the actual composition of the roll into art as Jacquet did byway of transforming the cardboard into grimacing faces, artist Anastassia Elias uses the roll itself as a platform, or frame of sorts, to hold and showcase her tiny, what I like to call, "decourama's". Armed with paper the same color as the roll, cutting tools and a pair of tweezers, she arranges various scenes captured from everyday life.

Here are a few of my favorite rouleaux's...

Peche
























Boxe
























Linge
























Girafes
























Tango
























For a detailed view, check out Anastassia's blog post @ http://blog.anastassia-elias.com/category/rouleaux
For more about Anastassia Elias, check out her website @ http://www.anastassia-elias.com

Nuit Blanche

You lock eyes with a beautiful stranger and a moment passes between you... and just as quickly, you separate never to see each other again...

Can you have a love affair in a second?

The two protagonists in this little 4 minute movie by Spy Films experience just such an encounter.

Nuit Blanche from Spy Films on Vimeo.

spyfilms.com

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Here's a bit of sadistic fun... a dark version of Sleeping Beauty. This film tells the story of a seemingly sweet old lady who terrifies her little granddaughter at bedtime. A 2010 Academy Awards nominee for best animated short film, Granny O'Grimm is directed by Nicky Phelan and produced by Darragh O'Connell... written and voiced by Kathleen O'Rourke.

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty from Darragh O'Connell on Vimeo.