I recently ran into these gorgeous, small handblown-glass orb planters and had to treat myself to one. I haven’t seen anything like these before and I love all nature-inspired art.
The artist who makes them is Britton Neubacher. She brings her love for nature from her native Hawaii and combines it with a fascination for miniature dollhouses and Japanese design.
Britton considers herself part of a growing artist community in San Diego and is being compared to the local food movement. A friend introduced her to the glass pieces and she instantly felt a mini-landscape belonged inside of them. Her idea led to the Eco Orb, working in partnership with two local glass artists, Buzz Blodgett and Lea de Witt.
Each Eco Orb integrates permaculture design principles, creating a habitat with native Socal plants like succulents, cacti, and air plants that are low maintenance and hardly need water.
The pieces add life to boring corners inside any space. When hanging mine from a corner in my living room, I intuitively went by a Feng Shui principle that’s explained well here:
“Corners are an often overlooked place in the home where Chi is incorrectly channeled or missing all together. With Feng Shui design though, you can prevent Chi from missing corners. A suitable object placed in the corner can attract beneficial energy–a plant perhaps. Lamps, either a standing tabletop, are also excellent for this purpose. Using different Feng Shui design ideas one can transform a dark, dreary corner to a well-lit corner that is full of life and vitality.”
You can get yourself an Eco Orb at Grounded in Encinitas or Kate Ross Shoes in North Park. I think West Elm and more stores should carry them! They make great gifts and can be customized, but shipping seems like a really bad idea! Pieces range from $45 up to over $200. Britton also makes pretty porcelain pieces as well as designs interiors using “permaculture art.”
Learn more at Tendliving.
January 31, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Visit seedtostem.org – They have some fabulous terrariums!