Cork as Art Medium

Most all cork on the market is the renewable outer bark tissue peeled off the Cork Oak tree (Quercus suber) which is native to SW Europe and NW Africa. Once the trees are about 25 years old, the cork tissue is debarked every nine years, the process does not injure the tree. Cork Oaks live for about 200 years. A tree in its prime, at roughly 80 years old, might yield 440 pounds of cork. Currently and for many years prior, the Montado district of Portugal has produced more than half the world’s cork. As cork is harvested sustainably, the cork forest remains fairly undisturbed and has become a safe haven for many an endangered species. Cork is also easily recyclable. Cork is impermeable, buoyant, elastic, durable, rot-resistant and fire resistant.




A pair of hand-carved cork figures secured atop rubber plinths.
By Tommy Mama, www.etsy.com




Carved Cork Sculpture by Betsy Odom.
www.betsyodom.com




The Cork Colosseum has taken retired postal worker, Ciro Califano more than two years and 10,000 wine corks. To date, Ciro has completed about a dozen buildings. He slices the wine corks (from his son's restaurant) into small, workable pieces.




Used wine corks become the Coliseum. All you need: wine corks, a ruler, a level, sharp knives, glue and tons of patience. By Ciro Califano, a former postal worker. www.ansa.it




Cork carving of the Temple of Poseidon at Paestum, Italy.
By Ciro Califano, retired postal worker.
www.liveauctioneers.com





Cork Cow with Button Hooves on wheels
at the Charles Creek Tasting Room, Sonoma, California.
wineharlots.com




Close- up of below cork portrait by Saimir Strati.
For a 3-D effect corks are stacked one on top of another.




Cork Art: The Guitarist - mosaic using 300,000 corks in a 96 square meter banner. Largest cork portrait of all time. By Albanian artist Saimir Strati, en.wikipedia.org




Cork figure by Conrad Englehardt,
Conrad stains the ends of some of the wine corks.
corkbycork.com




Cork figure by Conrad Englehardt,
corkbycork.com




Cork portrait by
Scott Gunderson, scottgundersen
Great slow mo how to videos: facebook.com/scottgundersen.art




Cork portrait in process by
Scott Gunderson, scottgundersen.com

Cork Painting, 36" x 48"
By Allison Baer.
How to: allisonbaerart.com

Wine cork logo for Callaway Vineyard
via: simplysuzannes.blogspot.com

Wine cork arrangements by Beki Morris
of Austin, Texas. wine-cork-designs.com

 




Chinese Cork Carving (also known as Cork Sculpture) is a traditional Chinese artwork typically depicting intricate landscapes. Hand carved, glued together, lacquer painted. shoutique.wordpress.com




shoutique.wordpress.com




Chinese Cork Sculpture
Photo copyright © 2010, Jason Idzerda.

Wine cork Eifel Tower
by Steven Leslie?, www.oneofacork.com




Cork Giraffe.
How to: lilblueboo.com




Cork Vases by Steven Leslie
This one: Approx. 670 corks, Size: 37" tall.
Steven also employs cork-skin veneer using the outer decorative layer of thinly razor shaved corks. Then each one is wet, un-curled and then firmly pressed flat, cobbled into a tight pattern like brickwork and glued in place. He creates Lazy-Susan’s, serving platters, coaster sets, chess boards, etc with this method. www.oneofacork.com




Kohler Jones custom furniture and design,
San Francisco, California, www.kohlerjones.com




Cork Walls.
Cork Bark - www.leecork.com
Also: corkstore.com




Cork Furniture - Cork Forest Mosaic Sideboard.
Iannone Design of Philadelphia, www.2modern.com




Stencilled Cork Floor.
Cork can be waxed, shellacked, stained or painted.
designamour.com




Embroidered cork fabric.




Cork Fabric Handbag.
Cork fabric is sturdy enough to be used as upholstory, wallets, belts, etc... Cork Fabrics: www.leecork.com, Cork Handbags: www.corx.com




Cork Bath Mat
How to: craftynest.com




Cork Birdhouse.
Lots more: etsy.com/shop/CarefullyCorked




Wine Cork Bulletin Board.
Lots of designs to choose from.
www.bigday-bigmoment.com




Cork Letters.
Or cut out a plywood letter and nail the corks in straight-on.
storenvy.com




Cork Sculptures by Francesco Ferrario
www.foodwoolf.com



See Also: Cork Chairs:  inspirationgreen.com/cork-chairs

Ideas:
Stamps, place card holders, trivets, mats, bulletin boards, back splash, Christmas ornaments, bowls, tableware. Cork can be crumbled and then adhesive is used to bind pieces together into a formed mass.

Cork Blocks for Carving:
www.corkstore.com

Flooring:
Is made from the left over scraps from wine cork production.
Ecohaus
Jelinek Cork Group

Fabric:
www.corkstore.com
www.leecork.com

Wallpaper:
corkstore.com

Various:
Portugal - corkway.com
Cork Handbags: www.corx.com
Bowls: www.branchhome.com




One mature cork tree might give enough bark every 9 years for 25,000 wine corks.

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pneumatic products
Posts: 2

Amazing Artwork
Reply #2 on : Wed February 06, 2013, 15:32:22

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Wow, I can't believe this! Amazing artwork. I really don't think of using a cork just to create a great art like this! Thanks for sharing. Love it!

Anonymous
Posts: 2

Re: Cork Art
Reply #1 on : Sun January 13, 2013, 00:40:14

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I am inthroughled with this website...sooooo interesting....I find it interesting how hard people work to provide us with natural products.....then the inhuman ways they are disrespected .....just the idea of saying a kind word of THANK YOU.

Although retired now, I still think of all the "perks" we employees would receive during the holidays besides so many other times. We had one company who would bring us donuts EVERY morning...we just got tired of it! Do those workers have a surprise taken to them ...

I hope to learn more about the workers/families...