All of Alexa Meade’s artistic creations look like they’ve just escaped from a famous painting and are trying to fond their place in the real world. One of the best body-painters in the world, Alexa Meade uses acrylic paint to make her subjects look like real-life paintings.

I know it’s hard to believe, but these are indeed just photographs, not paintings. Ms. Meade skilfully applies acrylic paint onto the subjects and their backgrounds, creating the illusion of a painting. It’s not until the subjects appear in real-life settings that you realize they’re actually real people.

Check out more of Alexa Meade’s real life paintings on her website and flickr stream.

Photos are copyright of ALEXA MEADE

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Printed circuit boards (PCB) are one of the biggest environment threats of our time, and recycling them, instead of dumping them in a landfill, should be a top priority.

Artist Steven Rodrig took PCB recycling to another level, when he created a series of sculptures made entirely from circuit boards and other electronic parts. His collection includes a series of pieces he calls “Organic Life Forms” that depict various insects, animals and plants.

Very Similar to the ASUS Motherboard Mona Lisa, Steven Rodrig’s entire PCB art collection can be admired at xactstudios.

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46-year-old James Kuhn uses his face  as canvas, to create some of the most eccentric face-paintings you’ve ever seen.

Kuhn says he has always been an artist, drawing in his oatmeal, as a child, but found his passion for face-painting, one day when he was snowed in, and couldn’t get to work. He is famous for taking on a project that implied drawing a different thing on his face, every day, for an entire year.

His “self-portraits” include different animals, foods, cartoon characters and pretty much anything you can think of. Kuhn himself admits he is addicted to face painting, always thinking about what his next design will be.

Because he found the first 365 project fun James Kuh decided to go through it one more time. You can track his progress and check out the rest of his rich face-painting portfolio on his Flickr stream.

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Ms Liu, a 90-years-old woman from China is the current record holder for the smallest feet in the world.

Foot binding was an important tradition in China until the early 20th century. There are several theories regarding how a gruesome custom like foot binding became so popular, but regardless of which one is true, the outcome is still the same: women suffer excruciating pain, infections and disabilities.

Basically, young girls’ toes and foot arches were brutally broken, without any pain relief, and then bound in tiny shoes that prevented the feet from growing normally. Women with bound feet were actually considered “intensely erotic”. One of these women was Ms. Liu, a 90-year old woman, from Yunnan province, China. Her feet were bound when she was just 5 years old, and she has been living like this for the past 85 years.

Although foot binding was banned in China, and she doesn’t need to wear her tiny shoes anymore, Ms. Liu finds it makes her feet aesthetically pleasing. She may be 90-years-old, but her feet are the size of a 10-year-old girl.

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Glenda Ewart, a very talented artist, from Castlerock, Ireland, creates hyper-realistic dolls of newborn babies.

A former chef, Glenda Ewart discovered her talent as her doll-sculpting artist while she was pregnant with her first child. Now she creates realistic baby dolls, using multiple coats of paint, to recreate a newborn’s soft skin. After the skin is cured in the oven, the most strenuous part begins: implanting over 20,000 fine strands of mohair into the doll’s scalp. While others might find this process difficult, to say the least, Glenda Ewart says she loves every moment of it.

You know how most parents say babies grow up too fast,and they wish they could somehow keep them young and adorable forever? Glenda Ewart’s reborn babies are the closest thing to fulfilling this dream, and she sells her creations to parents all around the world. She spends a long time working on each and every one of them, specifically because she tries to make all of them unique.

Panting the dolls, implanting the hair and scenting them to smell just like newborn can take several weeks for just one baby, but Glenda Ewart enjoys making every one unique. You can witness her incredible talent, in the photos below, but make sure you check out her official site, for more information and details. Also check her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Photos are copyright of GLENDA EWART and YELLOW COTTAGE NURSERY

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John Lamouranne, also known as The Egg Man, has been creating celebrity egg sculptures, for over 30 years.

His career as The Egg Man begain 1978, when, during an Easter vacation to Disney World, John Lamouranne was inspired to paint a Disney character, on an egg, for his daughter. At first, he painted one egg sculptures, but after a dream, in which he himself was a tiny egg man, he began using more than one egg for his artworks.

The 63-year-old artist, from New Orleans, uses wooden or ceramic eggs for the bodies of his celebrity sculptures, and hollowed goose eggs for their heads. When needed, he builds entire sets for his creations. John Lamouranne charges between $37 and $300, and can be bought through the artist’s website, or on sites like eBay.

Photos by JEFF MOORE PHOTO via Telegraph.co.uk

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46-year old Vipula Athukorale spends tens of hours creating some of the most intricate food-art masterpieces in the world.

Mr. Athukorale has worked, as a chef, in high ranking restaurants in Grece, Cyprus, Bahrain, Iraq and England, creating amazing works of edible art, out of butter. Actually, he uses pastry margarine, but “margarine sculptures” doesn’t roll as smoothly off the tongue. This fancy chef won two gold medals and a silver one, at the international Salon Culinaire Awards, in London, last week , for his detailed Rolls Royce, and scenes from Pinocchio and Pied Piper stories.

According to the artist, the Rolls Royce took around 90 hours to complete, and features detailed interior and underside. In order to get everything right, Vipula Athukorale doesn’t even breathe, when sculpting margarine. To keep his hands from shaking, he leans in toward the artwork, takes a deep breath, does some sculpting, then leans back and breathes out. He also washes his hands in ice-cold water, to prevent his hot fingers from damaging the artwork.

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One of the most offbeat attractions in the United States, the Seattle Gum Wall is also one of the most germ infected tourist spot in the world.

Located in Post Alley, under Park Place Market, the Gum Wall has its beginning in the early 1990s, when people, irritated that they had to wait in line to get tickets to the theater, stuck chewing gum on the wall. At first, they would use the gum to stick small coins to the wall, but in time, the tradition of the coins disappeared, and the gum remained.

Theater attendants scraped the Gum Wall twice, but gave up in 1999, when it became a certified tourist attraction of Seattle. Now it is filled with thousands of pieces of chewing gum, of any color imaginable. And, as the wall grows, the chewing gum art becomes more sophisticated. You’ll find names written with pieces of gum, and symbols like hearts or the peace sign.

But, the Seattle Gum Wall is also one of the germiest tourist destinations on Earth. In a ranking made by Trip Advisor, it came in second place, after Ireland’s Blarney Stone.

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They’re probably going to end up in someone’s burger, but at least these guys can say they’ve lived a happy life.

A Russian farmer learned that happy cows are more productive, so he decided to buy some state of the art LED TVs (not sure if they’re HD) so the cows can have something to watch. The TV’s play an endless loop of images taken in the Swiss Alps, showing green pastures, lakes and trees, stretching as far as the eye can see.

The reaction of the cows wasn’t as spectacular as you might expect. These are high quality displays, a human would have probably jumped for joy, but the cows simply ignored their expensive gifts. Now the farmer is measuring the results of his investment, by comparing the productivity of these television-watching cows, to a group deprived of television.

I tell you, these cows better step up their game, or they might end up with a hole in their stomachs. And that’s no joke.

via EnglishRussia

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Calm down Apple fanboys, I’m not calling your venerable hero cheesy. It’s just that what else are you going to call the head of Steve Jobs, made of Mozzarella cheese?

An able cook, who also happens to be an avid Apple fanboy, decided to show his appreciation for the “greatest consumer electronics company of all times”, by making the head of its leader, Steve Jobs, out of Mozzarella.

I have to say the cook made great use of only cheese and pepper, to create a very detailed image of Steve Jobs. He’s going to serve Steve Jobs’ Mozzarella head at an iPad Launch Party. If you want to do the same, head over to The Cook’s Den, for detailed instructions on how to make your own.

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Danish artist Nina Maria Kleivan replaced her new-born daughter’s baby clothes with uniforms of known dictators .

No, Ms. Kleivan is not a fan of dictatorship, she just used this opportunity to show that evil is present in all of us, no matter how innocent we may look. The idea for this unusual art project came to Nina after she suffered some complications from her pregnancy,and was forced to spend some time at home.

Away from her art studio, the artist chose her young daughter, Faustina, as a canvas. Looking at her, Nina started contemplating on the idea that each human being starts with a clean slate and has the opportunity to do good or bad, in life. “Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist. The possibility is still there,” she says.

Like the Childzilla series, Potency may be comical, but it’s meant to have people ponder on where evil comes from. Read More »

The world’s first underwater restaurant and bar, the Red Sea Star Restaurant is still one of the most amazing places on Earth.

Located in Eliat, Israel’s southernmost city, the Red Sea Star was built in 1998, in an area that had become very dirty and polluted, due to illegal human activities. Designing and planning the underwater structure lasted 4 years, during which time, a coral nursery was created, to revive the beautiful underwater life that was once present in the area. The actual building lasted another 4 years.

Submerged six meters under the Red Sea, this underwater restaurant, bar and observatory features a marine-themed interior design and a large number of windows that allow visitors to check out the underwater paradise that surrounds them. The Red Sea Star is the world’s only night-time underwater observatory, using a soft light (specific colors and wave lengths) to reveal the natural habitat, without disturbing it.

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They say you shouldn’t play with your food, but when something as awesome as the Death Star is involved, rules don’t really apply. And plus, it’s food art!

The Death Star cantaloupe isn’t very new, It was showcased for the first time in 2008, on the Evil Scientist blog, together with hints on how to make your own. Apparently, all you need is the cantaloupe, a pen knife and five minutes. Placed against the right background, the Death Star cantaloupe looks just as deadly as the real thing, but it’s much tastier.

The Death Star watermelon needs a bit more carving, because it doesn’t have the texture advantages of the cantaloupe, but the end result is even more impressive, and just as tasty. Unfortunately, both organic Death Stars are very vulnerable, even without that damned exhaust port.

via Kuriositas

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Modern pole-dancing may be attractive to look-at, but in terms of difficulty, it’s nothing to the old Indian sport of Mallakhamb.

Mallakhamb originated in Maharastra, India, during the 12th century, as a form of training for wrestlers. The word “Malla” means wrestler, while “khamb” translates as pole. This old art had almost been lost throughout the centuries, but it’s become increasingly popular, in recent years, mainly due to the efforts of coaches like Uday Deshpande.

The sport of Mallkhamb has athletes climb up a wooden pole, 55 cm in diameter,at the base, and 35, at the top, and perform various poses and feats. The pole is most often made of teak, because of its sturdiness, and before exercises begin, it’s rubbed with castor oil, to prevent friction.

Even though Mallakhamb is yet to be recognized as an official sport, in India, it has been embraced by visually-impaired boys. This art is about feeling and understanding the strength and balance of one’s body, and that’s why blind Mallakhamb athletes are just as good as those with perfect eyesight.

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Bhai Sarwan Singh, the head priest of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh temple, was already acknowledged as the man with the world’s longest beard, but now, his facial hair is even longer.

The Sikh priest was recently invited to take part in a television show, in Rome Italy, where he had his beard measured. After carefully measuring his beard, from the tip of his chin, to the end of his beard, judges decided Bhai Sarwan Singh has beaten his previous record, set in 2008, by two inches. It is now 1.895 m long.

Singh, who has never shaved his facial hair, had never actually known how long his beard really was, until 2008. He has always seen it as a gift from God, and he only agreed to appear on television, to promote the Sikh religion. He has done nothing special to help his beard grow, and calls it his “favorite body part.”

To prevent it from actually touching the floor, Bhai Sarwan Singh wears his long beard rolled up or over his shoulder.

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