Okistugu Kado, a sushi bar owner from Osaka, Japan, creates detailed vegetable sculptures, inspired by movies like Star Wars.

Okitsugu, Oki to his friends, decided to combine his passion for cooking with a talent for carving and the result is nothing less than impressive. The talented chef spends countless hours carving all kinds of fruits and vegetables and putting them together with bamboo skewers and toothpicks to create popular Star-Wars characters. Why Star Wars? Well, he admits he’s always been a big fan of the franchise and he’s even part of a Japanese group that calls itself the Jedi Order.

39-year-old Oki has been carving vegetables for the last 15 years, and he has a background in ice-sculpting, as well. So far he’s created dozens of vegetable sculptures, and even though some take him over 10 hours to complete, he claims that doesn’t bother him because when he’s carving he forgets about time. Darth Vader, Yoda, R2D2 are just some of the famous Star Wars heroes he’s carved and served to his guests, over the years. If you fancy a taste of Star Wars veggies, head over to Okitsugu Kado’s Minayoshy restaurant, in Osaka. In the meantime check out more of his work here.

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A 21-year-old Finish modder, who goes by the name Metalfusion, has developed an ingenious method of creating CNC routed halftone images on pieces of plywood.

Similar to printing newspaper images using dots of ink, the process thought up by Metalfusion consists of using a v-bit router bit to drill different size holes by plunging it at different depths. He has also created a special software that allows him to convert normal images into files that are ready to be cut on a CNC machine. Although the end result id definitely impressive, the drilling process takes over an hour, since each image requires thousands of individual dots.

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Paris-based artist Jonathan Brechignac has created an awe-inspiring Muslim prayer carpet made of paper and drawn only with black Bic pens.

”I never really knew what I wanted from the beginning. Finding inspiration and learning through trials was key to the project,” Jonathan says about his amazing project. Made to fit the size of an actual Muslim prayer carpet, his intricate masterpiece draws inspiration from different types of art, including French roman, traditional Japanese, native American and Mexican, as well as camouflage elements and animal patterns. It’s a truly wonderful artistic achievement, but creator Jonathan Brechignac describes is as a fight with himself, inch by inch. Before even starting on it he spent long periods of time thinking and planning, followed by trials to find the perfect patterns.

Work on this detailed paper rug was done only in Jonathan’s spare time and took a total of 15 months, which really isn’t very much, considering the Muslim carpet masters of old spent a decade, even a lifetime working on a single piece. What is most remarkable about Brechignac’s carpet is the fact that all the intricate details have been done only with black Bic pencils. Looking at the patterns you probably think he went through dozens of pencils, but so far he really only needed two of them.

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Miami-based artist Agustina Woodgate has used clumps of human hair to create 3,000 bricks, which were then used to build two fantasy castles for her I Want to Be a Princess series.

Human hair seems to be a very popular art medium these days, considering a number of artists are using it to make all kinds of things, from hair necklaces, to high-heel shoes and even hair dresses. The last artist to use human air in her art is Agustina Woodgate, who recently used it to built two castles. The first one, called Tower, stands around four feet tall and is made from small tightly-bound hair bricks. Blonde hair was used for the castle’s window frame, and she made use of white hair from senior citizens, for the narrow ledge above the window. Most of the castle bricks were created using a mix of different-color hair that actually looks like clay. Her second hair structure, called Sandcastle, actually looks like it’s been molded from sand, using a children’s bucket.

Agustina Woodgate is known for her choice of unusual materials, like discarded materials and stuffed animals.

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This piece of quilled eye candy was created by Susan Myers, of Suzy’s Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom, and it’s not only one of the coolest reproductions of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, but one of the most awesome artworks I have ever seen.

I wrote a post about the art of quilling some time ago, and it became one of the most popular posts on Oddity Central, so I expect many of you are going to find this particular artwork fascinating. Quilling basically means cutting colorful strips of paper and rolling them with a special tool, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds. Creating advanced shapes out of paper strips and placing them in the right position requires genuine skill.

Susan Myers is an artist with a mission – to complete one of her UFOs (Unfinished Objects) every month. In the month of June she worked on a quilled replica of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night, one of the most famous paintings in the world, and finally managed to finish it in late July. But noticing the attention to detail in her work it’s easy to understand why it took her a little longer than planned. She started her masterpiece by drawing the basic outline with a white-color pencil on a large sheet of thick blue cardstock. Then she grabbed her quilling tool, a paper cutter and colored cardstock and the rest is history.

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Melbourne-based artist Thomas Pavitt has set an unofficial record for the world’s most complex dot-to-dot drawing, after completing a 6,239 dots replica of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

One of the most popular themes in Thomas Pavitt’s art is the use of basic techniques to create very complex masterpieces. And since connect-the-dots is one of the most basic artistic techniques, requiring only the ability to count and draw lines, he decided to give it a shot. After searching the web for the standing record for the most complex dot-to-dot drawing without finding anything, the Australian artist and designer decided to set one himself.

Pavitt used 6,239 different-color dots to recreate the famous Mona Lisa, and spent over nine hours connecting them. After each 400 dots he changed the color to keep track of what number he was looking for next, and even used dots for his signature. The artwork took 9 hours and 15 minutes to complete, and while it doesn’t come close to the years it took Da Vinci to paint the original, it’s still an impressive achievement.

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Designer Miya Ando chose to celebrate her Japanese origins by creating a long-sleeve kimono entirely from stainless steel plates and sterling silver rings.

While it hasn’t been tested yet, considering the materials used to create it, Miya Ando’s furisode style kimono might just be the world’s first bulletproof kimono. Well known for her mastery of steel, the young half-Japanese artist has hand-soldered 4,000 sterling silver rings and stainless steel plates, and used them to create this unusual version of the traditional Japanese garment.

While it could prove a valuable piece of armor, I doubt Miya’s steel furisode kimono is as comfortable as the real thing. Women probably couldn’t even move in that thing, let alone wield a samurai sword, as well. Luckily, it’s just for the sake of art.

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Leicester-born Karen Caldicott is currently living in the New York area, where she stays busy creating plasticine portraits of celebrities.

Well-versed in a multitude of styles, Karen has found  a niche rendering various celebrities in plasticine, and her skill and dedication landed her collaborations with established publications such as the New York Post or Fortune Magazine. She bases her three-dimensional  seven-inch plasticine busts on photographs of the celebrities taken from different angles, and then shapes and carves away the clay until it looks like she intended.

So far, Karen Caldicott has created plasticine illustrations of all sorts of celebrities, from President Barrack Obama, to rock legend Mick Jagger and even Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. But she also does commissions, so if you fancy a clay bust of yourself, contact her via her official blog.

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Using hundreds of small images of classic masterpieces, Russian collagist, portrait painter and historiographer, Maxim Ksuta, has created a series of unique portraits, called Art in Art.

According to English Russia, Maxim Ksuta believes some art forms have ceased to exist in the modern world, which is now getting ready to embrace something new. So he decided to give them new meaning and find a place for them by using tiny images of known artworks (paintings, sculptures, architectural motifs) dating from the antiquity and up to modern times, to create unique collage portraits of his friends.

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Maurice Bennet, also known as “The Toastman“, has created a large scale portrait of Marilyn Monroe using thousands of colorful pieces of toast.

Known for his original toast art, the New Zealand-based artist was commissioned by a Shanghai shopping mall to create one of his signature works. With the help of young local artists, The Toastman created a colorful portrait of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, out of 6,000 pieces of toast. The original piece has already been completed and will be placed on display at the Xintiandi Mall, in Shanghai, on Monday, July 25.

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They might look like sloppy prints or stenciled graffiti, but in fact you’re looking at unique works of art made with thousands of poppy seeds. Unbelievable, I know.

These incredible illustrations are the work of British artist Rebecca Foster, renowned for her talent of turning food and spices into regular art mediums. She is regularly commissioned by famous brands in the food industry to create works of art using their products. Apart from this mind-blowing series of poppy seed illustrations, she has used other unusual ingredients, like steak and ketchup, or foods from a traditional Sunday dinner, to make her original works. You can check them out on Rebecca’s official site.

The poppy seed artworks below were created back in 2009 for a Hovis advertising campaign, and each illustration took around five hours to complete.

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You’ll probably never look at maps the same way again, after seeing the works of Ingrid Dabringer. She uses maps as canvases for amazing painted figure drawings.

Ingrid spins old maps searching for figures formed by interdependent lines, and after she spots them she cleverly uses the roads, colors and geography of the map to define her drawings. She basically transforms common maps into drawings of human figures and whimsical creatures, using acrylic paint to reveal their hidden shape. “I like to elevate the mundane. The Mundane is so saturated with meaning if we just take an extra second to dwell on it. The Mundane is saturated with symbolism,” Dabringer says about her art.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen maps recycled into works of art, but Ingrid Dabringer’s works are indeed some of the most creative and inspiring I’ve ever seen. If you like her map-art, you can check out more of it on her Etsy shop and her blog. Now if you’ll excuse I have an old World Atlas I’d like to explore.

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Indonesian artist Eddi Prabandono has created a giant clay sculpture modeled after the head of his 5-year-old daughter, Luz.

Tourists walking through Taman Budaya Yogyakarta, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, will be surprised to see a 4 meter by 4 meter child’s head made of clay, in a 2,5 meters-deep hole in the ground. It’s not exactly the kind of sight you normally see in Indonesia, but it’s definitely breathtaking to look at. Part of the “Luz Series” envisioned by Indonesian artist Eddi Prabandono, the giant head in question is actually modeled after the head of his daughter, Luz.

Although he had the help of 15 workers, Eddi also needed to rent an excavator to make the hole for his giant clay sculpture, but the 47-year-old artist is just happy he received the support of local authorities who allowed him to dig a hole right in Taman Budaya Yogyakarta. Luz’s giant head is made of 25 tons of special clay and was created for the 2011 edition of Jog Art, and artistic exhibition featuring 241 artworks by over 150 artists.

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Rob Surette wanted to create something unlike any artist’s tribute to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, so he turned to one of his favorite childhood toys, Lite-Brite pegs, and managed to create the world’s largest Lite-Brite image.

Known for his quick brush strokes, the self described “fastest portrait artist in the world” once painted a portrait of Albert Einstein in just 60 seconds, but while his lighting speed hasn’t won him a place in the record books, his latest artwork, made from hundreds of thousands of Lite-Brite pegs, surely will. “It wasn’t like I wanted to beat that world record, I wanted to create something to add to the healing of Sept. 11,” Surette says about his 10 feet by 20 feet Lite-Brite creation entitled World Peace. Made from 504,000 pegs, and weighing around 1,750 pounds, it depicts 100 faces of different races, cultures and religions and is meant to promote world peace.

“I felt that with my inspiration, to have it be a world record will help catch more people’s attention and help it travel and be seen around the world,” Surette said about his work. He first got the idea of creating the largest Lite-Brite image after seeing a picture of the current record holder on an art blog. It was the Lite-Brite recreation of a training sneaker made by Lori Kanary, with 374,004 pegs. As a matter of fact Kanary actually shared some trade secrets with Rob Surette after hearing the motivation behind his work of art, and he apologized for breaking her world record.

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The Museum on Non-Visible Art, or MONA, houses a variety of non-visible works of art that can only be admired by reading the artist’s description. Sounds weird, but believe it or not, someone actually paid $10,000 for one of these ‘masterpieces’.

I have to admit I’ve always wondered why some people spend thousands, sometimes millions of dollars on abstract art pieces that look like the work of someone who has nothing in common with art. But then again, I’m not very art-inclined. Anyway that doesn’t seem so strange to me anymore, not since I read this article about a woman who paid $10,000 for an artwork she can’t even see. “Fresh Air” was just one of the works exhibited at the Museum of Non-Visible Art, a strange project supported by actor James Franco that tries to take conceptual art to a whole new level. There is an official website and even an explanatory video, but basically this museum hosts works of art that don’t exit in the physical world, instead they are imagined by the artist.

So when someone buys one of these unusual creations all they get is a card with a description of the artwork made by the author and a letter of authenticity. You can place the card on a blank wall in your house or an art gallery and describe it to visitors, so they may enjoy it as well. Here’s the description for Fresh Air, the recently sold artwork:

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