Artist nails the perfect portrait - using tens of thousands of SCREWS

This artist could be accused of having a screw loose after spending the last two years drilling screws in attempt to nail the perfect portrait.

DIY Da Vinci Andrew Myers creates unique portraits of his friends and family by drilling everyday screws into planks of wood.

The 31-year-old artist spends over six months and uses up to ten thousand screws to create just one of his three-dimensional portraits.

Andrew Myers creates his unique portraits by drilling everyday screws into planks of wood

The Californian said he first came up with the idea while he was working at a church two years ago.

'I was doing bronze reliefs depicting the life of Saint Catherine and thought how cool would it be to create something entirely out of screws.

'I'd always wanted to work with screws, I got the idea and that was it, six months later I had completed my first piece.

To create the unique portraits, some of which are four foot tall, Andrew firstly spends weeks drilling holes into a piece of wood.

Each work of art requires between 8,000 and 10,000 screws and can take up to six months to complete

He then carefully drills in the screws, making sure each one is positioned correctly before painstakingly painting each screw head by hand.

'I do it from a photograph, but I also have to have to meet the subject in person first to make sure I get their facial features are just right.

'I can use between 8,000 and 10,000 screws per portrait and each one takes months to complete.

'I have created eight portraits in total, three large ones which measure 4Ft by 4Ft and five smaller ones that measure 2ft by 2ft.'

He has sold all five of the smaller portraits for $9,000 each and the larger pieces are set to fetch up to $35,000 each.

But despite the hefty price tag, Matthew said the portraits were not a big earner.

'Household screws are cheap if you need to hang a few pictures, but when you need to buy tens of thousands of them, the price soon adds up.

'This kind of art is unique enough that I have to keep going with it, but it's costs so much to create each piece, it's not as financially rewarding as you may think.

'They are more a labour of love.'

Andrews copies photographs in his work but insists on meeting his subjects to ensure he gets their facial features 'just right'

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Wally Hermès floating island luxury yacht

WHY Wally-Hermès Yachts

all images courtesy Hermès

WHY Wally-Hermès Yachts is the new company created by french luxury brand

Hermès and monaco based yacht maker Wally, dedicated to a new lifestyle of living on the sea. designing a boat with a new concept is not an utopia. at every turn the yacht offers maximum space, durability and cutting-edge technologies. the exchange with Wally and Hermès was rooted deeply in terms of know how and sharing the same philosophy of this new concept. Hermès was involved in every step of the process from concept to realization, considering both the outside and inside were just one of the many things. as always just like with all their designs they paid special attention to detail, developing the overall architecture of the vessel evaluating issues of speed and spaciousness.

WHY Wally-Hermès Yachts

WHY- photovolatic panels which cover the roof surface

the boat is contained in a triangular hull measuring 58m x 38m. there is no superstructure. the initial idea of this hull was confirmed by the ramform hull which they discovered, redesigned and adapted to fit the concept of the wheel house that emerges from the silhouette of the ship. the interior of the yacht is fitted out with water resistant buffalo leather using the calpinage technique. the yacht which took years in the making has been tested in gotebourg, sweden, in a specialised tank testing facility, to see how it would perform in big seas. the outcome is that, in full swell, the bow moves a tiny bit and the stern stays completely still. anchored, the boat creates a totally flat surface behind it, like an olympic-size pool where you can swim in total peace. on the bow, there’s a seawater pool 25 metres long that follows the curve of the bow. the environmental and ecological advantages are a strong point of the boat WHY.different sources of energy are managed by a central computer. the yacht is powered using a diesel electric engine. a surface of the photovolatic panels which measure approximately 900 square meters provide the solar electricity generated which covers part of what is needed to subsist the boat.

an encounter, ...

the concept was developed by president and CEO of Wally luca bassani antivari, artistic director of Hermès, pierre-alexis dumas and design director of Hermès gabriele pezzini.

a special WHY team has been built to reply to any needs.

http://www.why-yachts.com

WHY - when sunlight is let in

'everybody’s dream is to live on an island, in complete freedom, without constraint, with the independence that only self-sufficiency can provide. a piece of land with a beautiful villa partly fulfils this aspiration because it is static. a yacht offers the freedom to move, but does not have the space of a property. WHY has it all: space, stability, movement, independence, peace. WHY goes even further. this revolutionary concept of the moving island

is developed with the latest and most advanced sustainable technologies, recycling thermal energy, as well as any organic and inorganic waste. the architecture of the whole project fits perfectly in the environment – there are no excesses, nothing is superfluous, the impact on the sea is minimum. a new and unique way to live on the sea while caring about it, protecting it, and loving it. all this has always been my dream too, and when I met pierre-alexis dumas I realised that this dream could come true thanks to the common values

and ethical principles we share.' luca bassani antivari, president and CEO of Wally' from the invention of the compass to block capitals, from the rudder to the first steps on the moon, man discovers and pursues his dreams. with its feet on the ground and its head in the stars, Hermès, since its creation in 1837, has grown, generation after generation, through innovative projects, executed with high standards and an artisan spirit.I have always thrived on the dreams of great visionaries like magellan, jules verne, saint-exupéry and paul klee. like theirs, the path of Hermès is to pursue its dreams… excelling itself, learning, pushing ever further the quest for excellence and the celebration of beauty in the world. a world we must protect. today, Hermès steps into the marine world with Wally. we quickly recognised our common values, the values of well-made, singular, functional, refined and elegant objects. this encounter was just what we needed to inspire us to brave the open seas. together, with luca bassani antivari, we hope to open a new path, to offera new lifestyle that is different, serene, contemplative and respectful of the environment, moving slowly on the water, combining the pleasure of sailing and absolute comfort. Wally Hermès Yachts – WHY – is the union of our dreams, the green path that carries us away in its wake…'

pierre-alexis dumas, artistic director of Hermès

WHY Wally-Hermès Yachts

WHY - deck

'over the course of your discussions coasting against the current,

how did you come up with the idea of a triangular hull?'

pierre-alexis dumas: my inspiration is still the greek caïque, roomy, generous and slow. this eulogy to slowness is demonstrated in such a magnificent way. a pared-down craft with nothing superfluous about it. we needed a stable hull in orderto hold the sea comfortably. the idea of a triangular hull, which doesn’t exist in the worldof leisure boating, came from the utilitarian merchant marine. luca bassani antivari: I came across a picture of a supertanker while reading a professional magazine. a cable-handling vessel, used in the geo-mining and seismological industry in the north sea, invented by a norwegian naval engineer, roar ramde, and fully patented. there was nothing new about this ship. it had been in use for twenty-five years. as soon as I saw it, I picked up the phone and called my consultant naval architect, mauro sculli. he looked in the RINA, the italian naval classification registry: never seen or heard of before in the world of yachting! it was perfect. we had our hull. we bought exclusive rights to the concept, patented strictly for yachting.

WHY - deck

'did this new territory require you to come up with a new way to design a boat?'pierre-alexis dumas: WHY addresses the very real problem of consumption, which is today exacerbated by the global context. we provide an answer in a field where clients are responsible for setting an example, embracing a new ethic. what this market needs is a boat designed with the environment in mind. this new way of moving on water must give way to a new way of managing energy, its sources and uses, how to recycle it, etc. the same goes for the choice of materials; we have to limit the effect on the environment. gabriele pezzini: we didn’t design a boat, we gave shape to an idea. the sea is one of the last spaces where people can indulge in absolute freedom. deciding to live on the sea means rethinking everything that’s been done before. you need to start from scratch! for example, we provide a real jogging track inspired by coastal paths running around the ship. above all, we had to transpose and translate functions into forms, and vice versa, by merging

the viewpoints of Hermès and Wally.

'what are the environmental and ecological advantages of WHY ?'

pierre-alexis dumas: ours requires less power at cruising speed than a boat of equal size. its diesel-electric motorisation is the most efficient motorisation out there today, and the surface of the photovoltaic panels, almost 900 square metres, covers part of what’s needed to subsist on the boat! we’re also looking into a telescopic wind-turbine system and a retractable mast with a computer-operated sail measuring over 200 square meters that will produce at least 30% of the energy used to propel the boat.

full size scale model rear

full size scale model front

Blueprint of WHY

pierre-alexis dumas, artistic director of Hermès

design director of Hermès gabriele pezzini

CEO of Wally luca bassani antivari

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10 Most Expensive Gifts

I originally intended to submit this as a Christmas list, but I got sidetracked and forgot about it. So I bring it to your attention now with a few amendments from my original list. Hope you enjoy the items I’ve selected, please feel free to add your own in the comments section. What would you buy if money was no object? Maybe a diamond ring a supercar or even a new house? The choice is yours. Below is a list of ten gifts that you may consider purchasing for yourself or loved ones. Prices are given in U.K pounds and U.S dollars and are approximate.

1.Bra£6.66 million/$10 million

Inspired by the Angels Collection from Victoria’s Secret, this fantasy bra is truly sent from heaven. The Fantasy Bra is the embodiment of the Victoria’s Secret Angels – with a design as dazzling and ethereal as Angel’s wings. The creation features 2,900 pavé-set white diamonds in 18k white gold weighing a total of 112 carats. The centerpiece of this once-in-a-lifetime piece is a stunning 70-carat, pear-shaped flawless diamond.

2.Computer Mouse£12,400/$24,180

Most consumers just use the mouse that comes with their desktop and only purchase a mouse when they spill the inevitable hot cup of coffee and ruin the wheel action on their mouse. Others must think of their mouse as a fashion accessory though, because why else would Swiss manufacturer Pat Says Now produce the world’s most expensive computer mouse. The costly peripheral is cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds. The mouse utilizes a modern 3-button wheel optical mouse design, options for USB or PS/2 connections for PC or Mac, an 800 dpi Resolution, and a 3 year warranty. The expensive mouse comes in two designs, “Diamond Flower” and the “Scattered Diamond” layout. You can bling out and personalize the most expensive computer mouse by adding your initials in diamonds, and can choose from yellow, red or white gold with white or black trim.

3.Teddy Bear£43,000/$71,500

The £43,000 bear has fur made of real gold, and eyes made with sapphires and diamonds. Steiff, which claims to have made the world’s first ever teddy bear, made the golden bear to celebrate its 125th anniversary. The new bear has a mouth made of solid gold, fur made from gold thread and eyes with pupils of sapphire and irises made from 20 tiny diamonds. Only 125 editions of the collectable Jubilee Bear have been produced.

4.Perfume£129,000/$215,000

Stuck for a valentines gift, present for Mummy, or a stocking filling for aunt Jessie? If money is no object to you, £129,000 a bottle of British designer Clive Christian’s “Imperial Majesty” has recently been voted in the Guinness book of records the most expensive perfume in the world. You do of course get your moneys worth. Not only 16.9 ounces of the juice poured into a fit for the queen bottle, but also stuck into the 18-carat gold collar is a five-carat diamond. With only five bottles made, you would be unique, different… and broke. However, you get your beautiful niche perfume, and you won’t smell like anybody else. Also the price includes delivery in a Bentley… Run to Harrods now! [JFrater: I have smelled this perfume and it is not all that appealing. If you want a good perfume that is not too pricey but beyond the reach of the average buyer, get the unisex Amouage Tribute Attar - it smells amazing and is $650 US for 30ml.]

5.Wine£165,000/$275,000

Shipwrecked 1907 Heidsieck. These hundred year old bottles of Champagne from the Heidsieck vineyard in Champagne took over eighty years to reach their destination. Shipped to the Russian Imperial family in 1916. A shipwreck off the coast of Finland caused this champagne to be lost at sea until divers discovered over 200 bottles in 1997. Now they’re finally being sold to wealthy guests at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow. The wine’s extraordinary tale and incredible age are what makes it the world’s most expensive wine.

6.House£1.33 billion/$2 billion

Antilla is the new house of Mukesh Ambani. This house breaks the record for most expensive house in the world. It is the first home in the world that exceeds $1 billion. The house is 570 feet high and is built in the middle of downtown Mumbai, India around an area that’s full of poverty. Each of Ambani’s family will have their own personal health club; there is also a six level garage for 168 cars. Most of the tower is built from glass. The ultra modern house also features a panic room and cinema and each level also has a lush garden. The family employs around 600 servants and staff.

7.Car£750.000/$1.25 million

If your passion for performance and luxury cars cannot be stopped, and your McLaren F1 is becoming a bore with the rest of your exotic cars, it might be time to check out theVeyron from Bugatti. At around £750,000, it is the most expensive production car ever made. So what do you get for all that money? How about a W-16 (essentially two narrow-angle V-8s sharing a crankshaft) with four turbochargers generating 1001 hp, throw in all-wheel drive and you’ve got a seriously fast car. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 hits 60 mph in 2.5 secs., does the quarter-mile in 10.5 secs. and reaches its top speed of 252 mph in just 55 secs. After a long absence from the market Bugatti has reclaimed its title as the ultimate performance car and reigns supreme as the world’s most expensive car in production.

8.Mobile Phone£1.44 million/$2.4 million

Where would we be without our mobile/cell phone? The Austrian jeweler Peter Aloisson still develops a unique and innovative iPhone 3G Kings Button as the world’s most expensive mobile phone. The iPhone 3G Kings Button is dressed with high quality diamond and gold that make it special, unique and luxurious. Its home button has been integrated with high quality 6.6 carat diamonds and every corner of the phone has a white gold line which contain approximately 138 finely shaped diamonds on it. The lavish jewelry designer of the iPhone 3G Kings Button has created a record for himself by creating the most expensive iPhone 3G in the world.

9.Diamond Ring£9.78 million/$16.26 million

Another piece by Chopard is the Blue Diamond Ring, it is the ring that makes any other diamond ring look bad. Set with an enormous, oval-shaped blue diamond, the ring also has diamond shoulders and an 18k white gold band paved with diamonds. Blue diamond is among the most expensive diamonds in the world. It is found among boron deposits, from whence it derives its shade. This particular gem weighs in at nine carats. The world’s most expensive ring is valued at £9.78 million, enough to put a dent in the wallets of even the wealthiest individuals.

10.Wristwatch£15 million/$25 million

Yes, you read that right: £15 million. This is a timepiece by Chopard it is adorned with three heart-shaped diamonds, a 15-carat pink diamond, a 12-carat blue diamond and an 11-carat white diamond. Just for good measure, they threw in 163 carats of white and yellow diamonds to bring the total to 201 carats of diamonds. It’s £15 million price tag will guarantees its place as the world’s most expensive watch for years to come.

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Top 15 High Tech Dresses Drape Extreme Geeks

The technology that has invaded every part of our lives has made its way into high-end fashion too. So we went ahead and compiled a list of 15 other-worldly, geeky pieces of high end couture that will not fail to get excited yelps, or for that matter jeering boos, even from the most hardcore geeks.

CO2 Dress

We commence with the CO2 Dress, which deceptively sounds like a dress made of carbon dioxide. Rather than that, the CO2 Dress will earn you some greenie points, since this dress uses built-in soft circuits to monitor CO2 pollution in the air. The carbon dioxide levels will lead the lights on the dress to flicker with the entire dress lighting up if the level of CO2 is too high. If that ever happens, you can rest assured that we won’t be around to see the CO2 dress lighting up. To create this unusual piece of couture, four organizations, namely diffus.dk, Alexandra Institute, The Danish Design School and embroidery company Forster Rohner have gotten together. Though a tad spooky, the CO2 Dress is a great way to tell the world of the increasing CO2 levels.

Enlighted Wedding Dress

Every woman loves to look her best and glitter the brightest on her wedding day. Taking the glitter a tad too seriously, a company called Enlighted has started to manufacture wedding gowns that predictably, glitter with a zillion little lights. While we feel that all those remote controlled, battery powered lights are a bit of an overkill, plenty of brides across the world may feel otherwise. So, they could go ahead and order one of these here.

GlowFur Coats

Wearing anything associated with fur can get PETA up in arms, but they wouldn’t bother to give you more than a passing glance if you happen to pass them with the GlowFur Coat on. The GlowFur Coat is made of faux fur and comes in an array of colors from a sober brown to an outlandish florescent. Like its name suggests, this coat is impregnated with a lighting system in its innards, which will glow in the dark and scream look-at-me. You could get yourself one of these faux fur creations for $975.

Galaxy LED Gown

A smorgasbord of dazzling LEDs and crystals. Yes, that’s how we’d describe the LED Galaxy Dress that CuteCircuit’s designers have put together. The Galaxy Dress has, hold your breath, 24,000 LEDs that light up and will most probably light up everything within three feet of you. The Galaxy Dress is made of silk and manages to house all those flat LEDs and ultra thin circuits. Even with all these circuits, the dress manages to surprisingly remain as flexible as any other large gown. Here’s what Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz, the designers of the dress have to say

The circuits are extra-thin, flexible and hand embroidered on a layer of silk in a way that gives it stretch so the LED fabric can move like normal fabric with lightness and fluidity

The Intimacy Project

How about a dress that becomes transparent when you bring an illuminated globe close to it? While such a concept would be every man’s fantasy, one man has gone ahead to make the fantasy a reality. Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde has created the Intimacy Project, which features clothing made of a foil-like material that changes its transparency when stimulated by an external radio device. The designer hopes to achieve a sense of intimate sensuality through this extreme piece of clothing. Well, we shudder to even imagine what the women’s rights activists will have to say about this.

Light Up Dress

Bluetooth technology meets clothing, and this time it isn’t to beam wireless music like we would have preferred. The Bluetooth technology on the Light Up dress will light up a series of little lights that run down one side of the dress from the shoulder to the hip. This will happen every time your phone rings. Phew, how annoying can it really get? What piques us is that the very hot tennis star Maria Sharapova is seen posing in one of these like she doesn’t get enough attention already. Thankfully, this is a one-off dress designed by Georgie Davies, a student at London College of Fashion as a part of a school project exploring the fusion of technology and fashion. Now, it sits inside the display window of London’s upscale department store Liberty and no, it isn’t for sale.

OLED Dress

Little girls would love to play fairy and don fairy costumes. Designer Gareth Pugh seems to think that big girls too would love to play fairy and has created this OLED Dress. The dress is created from a special fabric which is coated with a thin, flexible layer of OLED displays. These displays change color when triggered by an electronic signal that is controlled by a micro-controller sewn into the fabric. The bulky OLED Dress, we feel would be out of place everywhere except maybe costume theme parties.

Zegna Solar Ski Jacket

The Zegna Solar Ski Jacket is a good looking yet functional piece of clothing that gets our thumbs-up. Apart from keeping you nice and warm, the Zegna Solar Ski Jacket has solar cells in its jacket to charge your mobile devices. This Microtene jacket is water resistant and is an collaborative effort of Italian clothing manufacturer Ermenegildo Zegna and Interactive Wear, a firm that specializes in smart textile technology. The best part of the Zegna Jacket is that the solar cells can be detached and can be used to produce electricity separately when you aren’t using the jacket. Though the Zegna Ski Jacket sells for a pricey $1,350, it is well worth a buy if you want a make a green statement that proves useful as well.

Day-for-Night Modular Solar Dress

While the Day-for-Night modular solar dress doesn’t look as outlandish as some of the other couture we’ve featured here, it surely looks as well as works great. The length of the Day-for-Night Solar Dress can be altered by varying the number of 448 white circuit boards. Each tile encloses a solar cell, a RGB LED, or a photocell and jumper connectors. A control board and a USB controller in the dress provides power, and links to a computer via RF. All these panels will absorb solar power during the day and then you can use all that solar power to charge your gadgets at night. So, that is the Day-for-Night Modular Solar Dress for you, a terrific mix of looks meet utility.

Solar Bikini

This is one piece, or two pieces of clothing that that would get full marks as ogle material as well as planet saving kit. The Solar Bikini has 1″ x 4″ photovoltaic film strips sewn together with conductive thread. These solar panels will provide power for the wearer of the bikini to charge an iPod. This makes the already hot piece of beachwear a smoldering piece of clothing. Full marks!

Park Avenue iPod Blazer

Park Avenue makes sharp suits for men and now it has outfitted one of suits with iPod control. Fitted under the lapel, the iPod controls mimic the controls found on your iPod and will thus enable you to control your iPod without actually having to pull your iPod out every time. Now, that is a sharp looking piece of power clothing, isn’t it? The cost of all this gadgetry, is a relatively reasonable $300.

Triumph Solar Swimsuit

Here is proof of the big lingerie manufacturers embracing green technology. The Triumph Solar Swimsuit is a collaborative effort between lingerie manufacturer Triumph and photovoltaic cell manufacturer Conergy. The swimsuit has solar panels impregnated on its front side. These panels understandably will absorb solar energy and connect it into stored electrical energy. This stored electricity can later be used to charge small gadgets. So, your swimsuit now has another purpose apart from attracting envious eyeballs.

GPS Lingerie

Feminist groups are already crying hoarse over the GPS Lingerie and understandably so. The GPS Lingerie has a little GPS unit that will monitor its wearer’s movements and transmit signals to a base GPS receiver situated in a remote location. While Lucia Lorio of Brazil, the lingerie’s designer has designed this piece of beachwear to protect women from getting lost or abducted, the feminist groups feel that this piece of kit is a chastity tool that could be used by men to spy on a woman’s movements. This has given the GPS Lingerie more than it’s share of publicity, both good and bad. Meanwhile, you take a look and decide for yourself.

Hussein Chalayan’s Animatronic Clothing

We have absolutely no clue as to why Hussein Chalayan has gone on to create these animatronic pieces of clothing. Before you start wondering what animatronic is, it is a type of clothing that responds to stimuli, in this case sound to change it’s shape. To be more precise, the animatronic clothing that Hussein Chalayan has designed assumes different forms in response to sound. And the responses are weird to say the least. One garment transforms itself to a hat from a dress leaving the model nude. While we’d like a wool blazer transform to an evening jacket, it appears that we have to wait for quite some time before that materializes.

Power Dress

Power Dressing gets an all new meaning with designer Amanda Parkes creating a dress that will generate power. No, this time around the sun won’t be used to generate the electricity. The human body fabric of Amanda Parkes’ dress is made of a piezoelectric material that will generate power by using the natural gestures of the human body. This electricity will be stored in a centralized battery for use at a later time. This garment could very well be the future of fabrics that we all could be wearing. So take a nice hard look.

6:41 PM | 0 comments | Read More

5 Most Expensive Jewelry in the World

Here’s the most expensive jewelry in the world. As We all know, jewelry is a women thing. By wearing any jewelry beautiful women looks more beautiful. But wearing these jewelry is different case. These jewelry is a symbol of wealthy and success. Let’s take a look at these most expensive jewelry in the world

5. Flawless Blue Diamond, Sold in Sotheby’s : $ 7.98 Millions

This Sotheby’s blue diamond has 6.04 carats and it is mounted in a superb rings that was sold in a Hong Kong exhibition at the amazing price of $7.98 million.

4.Diamond Drop Earrings by House Of Harry Winston: $8.5 millions

These Diamond drop earrings are the creation of Harry Winston. The 60 carat diamonds are mounted in platinum. The drop shaped earrings are suitable for any outfit.

(Link)

3. Heart-shaped Burma Ruby Necklace: $14 millions

The romantic shaped ruby necklace that has as a centerpiece a 40.63 carat Burma ruby belongs to an English jeweler. It is mounted also with 155 carat worth of diamonds.

2. White Diamond by Sotheby’s: $23 millions

The white diamond belonged to the Sotheby’s auction house and had 100.1 carat. It was initially sold for $16 million but the current value reaches $23million.(Link)

1. Diamond Bikini by Susan Rosen And Steinmetz: $30 million

The diamond bikini is created by Susan Rosen with Steinmetz Diamonds and has more then 150 carats of D Flawless diamonds. The item is at the same time the most expensive diamond jewelry and the most expensive bathing suit.

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