Mad Quickies: Peeling Back the Layers of a Painting With Science, Paint-Oozing Sculptures, The Dark Side of Lego and way, WAY more!

Oh, hi there. I just want you to know that I’ve put off doing the dishes (and laundry) to bring you today’s Quickies. Guess what? Worth it.

This is so beyond cool and fascinating – New technology can reveal the layers of a painting as if peeling an onion. Example: Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady With an Ermine. Da Vinci apparently changed his mind over and over and now we can see his process!

I had no idea there were so many types of weirdo mushrooms, but this astoundingly gorgeous photographic tribute to these fungi has taught me a thing or two. There’s a ton more images here. You can even submit your own.

Sure, you can use Lego to make houses and cars and castles. But you know what else you can make? How about bugs, evil aliens or Satan? Enter Beautiful Lego 2: Dark, a new book about the dark side of Lego by Mike Doyle.

I couldn’t figure out how Australian artist Meredith Woolnough made these wonderful, delicate embroideries that are inspired by nature. Then I read about it and was wowed. From Laughing Squid: “Woolnough’s embroideries are suspended in space without a fabric backing. She achieves the effect by embroidering the designs on a water soluble fabric that she dissolves upon completion.”

I LOVE old-school, stop motion animation. So when I found this behind-the-scenes look at the new movie Boxtrolls, I knew I had to share it with you. The amount of work that goes into something like this. Oof!

Here’s something to get you thinking – Strange Weather, is an exhibition at the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin. It’s an exploration of weather through the lenses of 21 artists. There are some really thoughtful, whimsical and weird takes on the subject.

Bonus video! I’ve seen this one making the rounds and I have to share. Artists Syver Lauritzsen and Eirik Haugen Murvold have created an interactive sculpture that oozes different color paint when people who are nearby tweet an emotion. You have to see it in action. Lovely idea and execution.

Featured Image: Lady With an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci. Versions found by Pascal Cotte, co-founder of Lumiere Technology