The Art of Chocolate. Oops, Reverse That.

above: chococlate sculpture by Paul Wayne Gregory

Not many things are more appealing to me than art or chocolate. So, the combination of the two is something I was destined to blog about. Whether it's replications of historical sculpture, of everyday objects or modern abstract creations crafted with actual, edible chocolate, here are some you can admire, some you can order and all you can eat.

Custom Chocolate Sculptures by Paul Wayne Gregory:


Inquire about them here. (special thanks to Betsy Wills for this one)

Chocolate sculptures by frenchman Patrick Roger.
Below the chocolatier with "Harold":

and his chocolate penguins:


Chocolate City:

created by Naoko Tone and Atsuyoshi Iijima from the Chocolate exhibition at the 21_21 Design Sight space in Tokyo.

Canadian-born Cosimo Cavallaro created this controversial life sized chocolate Jesus in 2005:



And followed it up with more Chocolate Saints in 2007:



And here's artist George Heslop with his life-sized chocolate Jesus on the Cross (this one's not edible, folks):


Beautiful Valentine's sculptures in chocolate by Joseph Schmidt:




the above sculptures are not for sale

Artist and award winning Pastry Chef Gerhard Petzl's chocolate sculptures:






Here's the Gerhard with his World's Largest Chocolate Santa made just last December:


Not going to travel the world to attend Chocolate fairs, museums and exhibits, but still want a sweet piece of art? Perhaps not as artfully crafted, but certainly as delicious tasting, consider these other fun chocolate items:

Chocolate Gifts You Can Buy Now.

Endangered Species Chocolate Wall Trophies:


available from the W Hotel Store or Walteria Living


The Chocolate Pie Chart:


From Matt and Mary. Buy it here.



Painter Girl's Animal Print Bars, Chocolate Frida Tribute Bar and caramel filled chocolate paint tubes are made to order. Get them here.

Jessica Walters' handmade chocolate shoes.
Available as one large shoe:

a pair of medium sized chocolate shoes:

or a small chocolate pair in a box:

buy them here.

And of course, the fab white or milk chocolate Nike's by Blondel Chocolates in conjunction with +41:


buy them here.

And fnally, Vosges Flaming Heart Chocolates, available in 3 different flavors:



buy them here.

Yes, I know there are a many pieces of sculpted chocolates in the shapes of things like cell phones, 3D roses, gold bars, et cetera, but I'm focusing on hand made pieces that embody the craft of an artist which is why I did not include them in this post. Bon Appetit!

Chocolate Links:
Chocolate Show
Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate
Chocolate Museum of Belgium
Chocolate Museum
Extreme Chocolate
chocosphere
chocolate maniacs
fine dark chocolate
logochoco (custom chocolates including your product made out of chocolate)

Some chocolate producers:
Best Belgian Chocolate Of The World Online Store
biagio fine chocolate
Cadbury
Chocolate art (UK)
DC Duby
Ghirardelli
Godiva
Guittard
Hersheys
joseph schmidt master chocolatier
Lake Champlain Chocolates
Lindt
marie-belle
Nestle
Neuhaus
Norman Love
Patrick Roger
Scharffen Berger
teuscher
Valrhona
Vosges
zChocolates

All things chocolate-related on Amazon

Don't Play With Your Food - Play With The Table! Marbelous by Ontwerp

The talented duo of Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders - both who graduated cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2008, are the designers behind Ontwerpduo, a design studio in the Netherlands.

One of their wonderfully whimsical pieces of work is Marbelous. A maple wood table whose surface and legs are routed to hold steel marbles, turning the piece of furniture into an interactive game.







There's even a built-in place for the marbles and caddy to sit:



Material: Maple
Dimensions: 200cm x 90 cm x 76cm
Design: Tineke Beunders



Points of sale in The Netherlands
Krabbedans, Eindhoven (www.krabbedans.nl),
Bijzondermooi, Eindhoven (www.bijzondermooi.nl),
Trendies Chic, Den Bosch (www.trendieschic.nl),
Brennels, Arnhem (www.brennels.nl),
Le Souk, Den Haag (www.soukshop.com),
Gallery PunT, Leiden
Huisraad, Amsterdam
Gallery Editions, Maastricht

Points of sale outside The Netherlands
Tante Jojo, Leuven, Belgium
Fleur-de-Leuce, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Manos, Solna, Sweden (www.manos.se),



above: Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders

Ontwerpduo

Mail address:
P.O. Box 2332
5600 CH Eindhoven
The Netherlands

Visiting address:
Philomenastraat 11
5622 CG Eindhoven

Phone:
+31(0)6-14716309
+31(0)6-14306524

Email: info@ontwerpduo.nl

Like fun interactive furniture? Then you should check out Didi Dunphy's Modern Convenience furnishings here.

Took Long Enough! A High Tech Lite Brite From Bandai: Luminodot

The japanese company Bandai has come out with a high tech HD led version of Hasbro's Lite Brite. The toy that lets you add clear colored pegs to a light box backing to create glowing pictures.


above: the original Lite Brite toy

Lite brite was one of my favorite toys as a kid and believe it or not, I still have my original. However, this new one by Bandai, the Luminodot, is sorely tempting me to purchase it. With 1600 colored pegs and a sleek screen, it retails for $179.00 USD.

Like the original, you can use templates to place on the light box under the perforated screen to follow as a guide or randomly create your own designs.






They have Disney licensed templates too:



a few examples of some of their downloadable templates.


They have several templates to choose from. see their downloadable templates here.

Features (as described by audio cubes):
Bandai's Luminodot is the Lite-Brite we always knew we wanted. This 70 by 50 pixelated board is supported by a bright LED backlight. With 1600 bulbs in 12 different colors, each dot is important to finish the master piece. Any type of images can be projected onto the Luminodot, from a simple 2D picture to perspective art works. Featuring a private software that helps the user to create and preview the image. Luminodot is designed with a removable front panel, which allows the user to place the printed image underneath. A one-of-a-kind interior decoration. Available only from Japan.

Specs:
Power: AC adapter
Accessories
1600 color bulbs

In Japan, buy it here.

In the US, buy it here.