Frédérique Morrel Gives New Life To Old Tapestries And Needlepoint In Her Sculptures.

Vintage tapestries become 'skin' for people, animals, trophy heads and even homewares in the laboriously beautiful work of Frédérique Morrel. A self-proclaimed latex, leather and fur lover, she has given old tapestries new life as integral parts of her sculptures.

Tapestries of all styles; erotic, kitschy and traditional, blend harmoniously and conceptually to add texture and narrative to the artist's free standing and wall mounted sculptures of deer, horses, unicorns, foxes, rabbits, dogs and the human figure.



above: Rembrandt, Bambi and Ma Biche from her Visitors and Passe-Murailles series.

She has three series of these sculptures. The Visitors consist of life sized animals covered in vintage tapestry and needlpoint and accented with real antlers, horns and hooves. Her Passe-Murailles are wall mounted trophy heads and G.Host are life sized human figures.

She starts with fiberglass molds injected with expanding foam, reinforces them with steel rods and hand applies the vintage "found" tapestries to the forms. The results are unusual and compelling pieces of art.

G.Host series

Eva, profile:

Eva, front:

Tony (front and back) and Eva:

Tony:

Tony, detail:


Three views of Diana:


Diana, detail:

Diana, back detail:

Legs:


All the pieces are made by hand in France by Frédérique, whose husband Aaron serves as the brand's artistic director.


above: artist Frederique Morrel and Damien

Frederique, husband Aaron Levin and their three boys:

Their adorable Jack Rusells, Maggie and Godard:

All photos by Philippe Cluzeau

Be sure to see Frederique Morrel's Visitors and Passe-Murailles series here.

Aminals - Organic Toys Made From Children's Drawings

One of my favorite sites, Inhabitots, introduced me to these fabulous, organic toys made from the actual drawings of little kids, called Aminals in their weekly newsletter.



Each Aminals organic doll is inspired by the brilliant, unfettered imagination that only comes through in children's drawings.

These organic kids toys embody the exaggerated proportions, squiggly lines, and bright colors that come with creative expression at its most honest and fun. From these children's drawings, the designers at Dreaming Lion LLC have created a series of huggable-soft characters, each of whom has its own special story and is ready for new adventures with your children.

Aminals' motto is "from their world, for their world," meaning that the toys have been created from kids' creative lives for the future world that they will inherit.

dady and momey:

sistur and brothr:

duggy and eflant:

ceeta and dinasor:

smal bayr, wayul and liun:



Aminals are made with materials from organic farms, making Aminals safer for your children. Certified organic ingredients, like organic cotton and the low impact and natural vegetable dyes that must be used with it, are free of synthetic poisons that are absorbed into the bloodstream through skin contact, meaning your kid can hug his or her Aminal all he or she wants.

all images and information courtesy of Dreaming Lion LLC and Aminals.

Buy them here.

Aminals is certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) an internationally recognized body that certifies that all fibers and processes involved in the manufacture of Aminals meet strict standards for organic, sustainable and humane textile production. Every processing step that brings Aminals to you, from farming through spinning, weaving, washing and dyeing meet or exceed these criteria.