Surf - Design Planet

While my brain is gathering blurp thoughts ...I'll share the weather!

"Sunrise, February 8, 2008"

Well, like most of Canada and the US, we got a lot of snow during January and February here in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Ski operations like White Mountain loved it. There is actually much more snow here in the mountains, than what Europe has been getting on the slopes apparently. Luckily we are getting 10 degree plus weather with lots of sunshine for March in the valley and most of the snow has melted. Those early season flies are out already, and a butterfly landed on me today while I was cleaning up my yard. The province of Ontario and Eastern Canada is still being hit with severe snow storms one after the other. Many flights are canceled or delayed, making it very hard on travelers trying to get away for the March School Break.
visit: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/wea_winter_storm

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While surfing the web, I often find other interesting art forms:

Something old, something new, something similar:
We've probably all seen pictures of Julian Beever's sidewalk art which creates an amazing realistic feeling of depth (above images). In Germany they have created the same three dimensional illusion in product advertising images on the sides and back of transport trucks. (images below)

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Most fine art requires lots of time and patience:

I remember making a house and playing with a small kite made of popsicle sticks, when I was young. Later in art college, I saw a three foot high rooster, very realistically done, by an artist who used popsicle sticks. I was not aware of the craft below "Matchitecture". (match stick architecture)

About Matchitecture:
My name is Roland Quinton. I am the (innovator) creator of Matchitecture. Contrary to what many think, I am not an architect, but I am a pharmacist practising in Quebec (Canada). I began constructing with wooden matches and corks approximately 50 years ago. I was then 8 years old. We cooked using a gas stove and with the half burnt matches and corks I built little wooden figurines. I never lacked anything as, at that time, my father had a toy store.

Later, at about 15 years of age, I started to build a tower with very poor glue and absolutely no technique. I almost set fire to the house trying to remove the sulphur from the matches.

It was only at the age of 30 that I had tools made and created the construction technique now used for Matchitecture. The matches then became Microbeams.

In the early 90's, I realised that I had the beginnings of a construction game and I thought of naming it Matchitecture.

I worked very hard with different teams to finally develop with BO-JEUX the fourth generation of Matchitecture and we are continuously improving it.

I created Matchitecture because, for me, building with microbeams is very exciting. I wanted to share this passion with others.