I've been working on a sort of quite possibly completely imaginary cryptozoological menagerie, which began sometime after
the elusive cactibou a prickly desert cat-cactus hybrid complete with caribou/saguaro antlers improbably appeared fully formed in my mind. (Part of the delight of this project for me is to write the pseudoscientific description of each of my beasties. You can find the cactibou's description, from zoology to ethnobotany
here.)
People sometimes ask me where I get my ideas. It's not an obvious question to answer well ("from my head?"), but I do know that cats are indeed prickly, mine seems to store water and disdain drinking, and that cacti seem to be more an more apparent in art I see. I thought today I would share some of the cacti art I've been admiring.
Their unusual though organic forms are appealing, but I love the whimsical improbability of cactus as home decor, as the prickly plants do not suggest comfort. Mexican born London-based designer Valentina Glez Wohlers' heritage shines in her delightfully whimsical Prickly Pair Chairs, which merge Mexican cactus shapes and colours and patterns with traditional European chair designs.
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More straitghtforward perhaps would be a simple cactus shaped pillow. Here's a cute one complete with DIY from everything emilty.
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It's easy to find cacti in all sorts of different forms and media. Check out ceramicist
Lina Cofán’s
amazing wunderkammer of cacti and other plants.
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Lina Cofán
There are even functional ceramic cacti, like this beauty of a teapot:
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I love also the cacti in perhaps even less expected media.
Czech artist
Veronika Richterová's magical sculptures from recycled PET bottles include some truly magical cacti (and jellyfish, amongst other things, via
thisiscolossal).
There are also some beautiful illustrations in more traditional media.
