Buddha and Krishna in a Hallway

This is an image I saved a long time ago. A wonderful spacy hallway of a huge villa or even hotel somewhere in Asia. During my travels I have seen the most beautiful and spaciest lobbies in Southeast Asia where they seem to have plenty of place although this is paradoxical in overcrowed cities such as Hongkong or other Asian metropoles. But somehow there is always money somewhere which can buy these places with spaces that cover a whole village...

There is a beautiful Buddha statue in the background and I thought I have created another beautiful sculpture that could serve as a wonderful room devider: a triptych of "Krishna and Radha" without obscuring the view towards the Buddha but what an impact this could make:

This paravent has been entirely handcarved from pinewood and then painted with a varnish that looks like old ivory. It took me 9 months to finish this work from drawing to polishing and quite some blood as a sacrifice. The chisels are very sharp! It was inspired by Indian stone sculptures and wood carving but the design is truly original.
I have added a few detail photos for you so that you can see how filigree the carving is.

"Krishna and Radha"
Indian style triptych, hand carved, massive wood, 

85" x 93" x 7", 65 kg
©Petra Voegtle

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FINDS: Exotic Gourd Lamps by Calabarte

I think it is time to show you another of my FINDS on the internet. You may have seen this already but I am sure you will be enchanted and seduced by these the same way as I was when I saw these images for the first time.

I was immediately struck by the magic of the shadow patterns these lamps create on a wall as I am also a big fan of all Moroccan handcrafts, especially the ancient brass lamps which also live through the pattern they create on ceilings, walls and floors.

"Artist Przemek Krawczynski from Poland can turn an ordinary gourd into a wonderful, stunningly beautiful table or wall lamp. There aren’t any analogues and never will, because all this is manual and very tedious work. Przemek dries gourds and then lignified gourds decorates with various ornaments. Przhemek’s works are known under the brand Calabarte. Carved patterns, ornaments, holes and figured the track, colored rhinestones add to pumpkin-chandelier an elegant and exotic look. Light from such exotic lamps will surely give any room an extra special atmosphere." (read more...)

But the gourd lamps of the artist do not only live through the light and shadows they are also very fine pieces of art, intricately carved from Senegalese gourds.

In his own words Przemek says: "The pattern of the lamp is structure of symetric, crossing branching as from the perforated layer through three basic outer forms to the deeper light carvings.
White surfaces are deeper layer of wood which allow some light to pass through it. Although the thickness of gourd mostly don’t exceed 4mm (more is on the top and bottom) the carved patterns in that places create structure of three different depth. Each one shines with different intensity. That carvings were definitely the most demanding part of work. The supporting stem is finished with brown jeweller waxed cording.
Also the part of the cord between base and switcher is weaved by thin cording in the same type.
The base is carved in wood and finished with natural italian oil."

Enough said - here are some images which show wonderfully how the lamps look like in natural daylight and how they magically transform everything that's hit by the lightbeams in the dark:

(all images with courtsey of the artist)

If you are eager to see even more of these beautiful images please check Przemek's Facebook page.

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Chests are not only practical...

Chests have something practical - they can be a very useful furniture to store something and be very decorative, if not an eyecatcher at the same time.
This gilded piece here has been inspired by the amazing wood carvings in Indonesia but is nonetheless an original. It has been hand carved from renewable massive pine wood and not been carved from illegally cut tropic woods - in contrast to many imported pieces from Asia.

Javanese Chest

33" x 17" x 20", handcarved, pine, gold leaf

©Petra Voegtle

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If you would like to read more about the "making of" please see here

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A Zen-like Atmosphere

Lovely view from a dining room - isn't it? So calm and serene, the right environment to enjoy a meal that has been prepared with much love.

If this room were in my house I would have added this Japanese style paravent as an art object that enhances the feeling of this room. This paravent is very special to me because of its very delicate hand carving. The sculptured Buddha statue in the middle panel adds to the serenity and peace of this room, giving it a nearly Zen like atmosphere.

I have added a few detail pictures of this paravent Buddha Amida but if you would like to see more please check this link. There you will also find a detailed description how this paravent has been created and what it's all about.

original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

This is the handcarved paravent or Spanish Wall, a polyptych that can be taken apart completely (unlike normals paravents or screens). The 3 middle panels could even stand on their own because of the feet - so there is plenty of possibilities to use this for decoration. The wood is solid pine wood - i.e. from renewable resources. It is extremely important for me to use renewable sources instead of tropical woods which might be illegally harvested. The special working process on the wood carving and especially the production of the original planks which are glued in blocks also prevents not only deforming but later splitting due to changes in humidity and temperature which often occurs with cheap imports.

This wood carving has been stained and polished with beeswax which adds not only protection but also a velvety shimmer to the wood and the surface becomes super smooth.

"Buddha Amida"
Japanese Polyptych, hand carved, 79" x 69" x 9"
©Petra Voegtle
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before the staining

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A Bedroom to love...

This is one of the sweetest bedrooms I have ever seen and I wished it were mine!
The colours, the light, the lovely stencil painting on the wall, the bed itself - I personally don't like the pillows though with these ribbons - that's just a tiny bit too much - everthing is so romantic and inviting to spend a good time in this room:

original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

And if this room were mine I just would have added my dearest sculpture Putri Dedes, the model for the goddess of Transcendental Wisdom, Prajnaparamita.
The original statue, by which this sculpture has been inspired, probably is the most beautiful and exquisite Ancient Indonesian statue, to be found in the National Museum at Jakarta.

The Javanese called this statue Princess Putri Dedes. She was the first queen of Singasari, from whom all kings of Singasari and Majapahit descended. One of the ruined temples in the south of Candi Singasari was called the Temple of the Princess, and it is thought that this statue may once have been enshrined there. Putri Dedes was the daughter of a Buddhist priest and an identification with the goddess Prajnaparamita would be highly appropriate. But there is no proof for this. Nevertheless - for me she is the goddess.

So in my fantasy I added a little cast iron table with a glass plate on which the goddess rests. This would make the room for me complete - just as below:



This sculpture literally carries my heart blood because carving this piece was quite an endeavour and took about 6 months - it was a full time job. Carving chisels need to be extremely sharp and more than once a little blood drippd from my fingers into this wood. Also the figure is terribly heavy - it's massive wood.

To give you an impression about the details of this figure I have added a few photos. I especially love her face for its expression of total harmony and peace. The voluptuous form of this sculpture is a tribute to Indian temple ornamentations and figurines.

"Putri Dedes"
Goddess of Transcendental Wisdom
(from the Asian Wood Carving Series)
43" x 28" x 19" - hand carved

©Petra Voegtle

You can see here that the figure's back has been fully sculptured as well by showing her full hairdress as well as her jewellery and dress.


Her throne has been carved separately. This way the whole weight was devided up and it was easier to carve the intricate pattern. The basis of this throne are stylized lotus petals.

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