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February 3, 2010

Going for the gold!! But silver or bronze will do too :-)

logo The 2010 Winter Olympics are nine days away. The Olympics are always exciting, but there’s something extra-special about having them in your own country. And there’s something extra-extra-special about the Winter Olympics — Canada rocks at winter sports!! Yeah!!! :-) Well, what do you expect from a country where it’s winter for half the year?? We get really good at doing things in the snow ;-) And really, that’s what the Olympics are all about —  WINNING!!!

OK, really the most important thing is taking part. But winning an Olympic medal is pretty cool. And For the 2010 Olympics and Paralymics, two Canadian designers were given the task of designing the gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Corrine Hunt is a designer/artist and a member of the Raven Gwa’wina clan in BC. Omer Arbel is a Vancouver-based designer and owner of Bocci. Together, they designed these absolutely stunning Olympic medals:

medal frontmedal back

I love the rounded square shape of the Paralympic medals:

para medals

These medals aren’t flat—they’re curvy and undulating and sexy!!

medal closeup sqaure closeup

Aren’t they beautiful?? Too bad you have to train for years and years and years to win one!! ;-) And it took almost as long to create the medals!! It took two years to make them. Each medal is one-of-a-kind and is made by cropping into details from two of Corrine’s pieces of art. Each crop is different, which is what makes each medal unique.

The motif on the Olympic medals is an orca. Corrine selected the orca because a whale’s pod demonstrates teamwork.

orcapod travel aol ca

Corrine selected the raven motif for the Paralympic medals because it represents rising above physical challenges.

raven alaska shee fishing

When they’re not creating medals, Corrine and Omer are busy making beautiful art, jewelry, furniture, and lighting. Here’s is some of Corrine’s work…

wolf Wolf

salmon swimming coffee table Salmon Swimming coffee table

lovebirdsLovebirds

hilton lobby whistler Hilton lobby, Whistler, BC

Omer names his pieces the same way Hugh Laurie names his underlings on House ;-)

Here’s 14…

14a 14b

And 17…

17

And 25…

25a

In the Olympic spirit of winning — I mean, friendly competition and sportsmanship — we have not one, not two, but THREE giveaways coming up!! The prizes are quite awesome if I do say so myself, so be sure to check in later this week when we’ll be announcing the first giveaway. Trust me, it’s awesome!! Really!! Even better than a gold medal!!

We may be a polite bunch, but every now and then we have to let loose…

CanadaKicksAss

GO CANADA!!

sig new 

Medal images from corrinehunt.ca and calgarysun.com

Images of Corrine Hunt’s work from corrinehunt.ca

Images of Omer Arbel’s work from bocci.com

9 comments:

Brillante Interiors said...

Omer Arbel is a great talent. Cultural Olympiad will be (it is already) quite interesting too. Let's hope there will be enough snow. Exciting time!

CarolAnne - camdesign said...

Thank you for your comment, I must admit that I do not go back often to see the afters...just to busy, but this one I think I just might. They are a older couple and so sweet to work with.

Michelle said...

I think they are the most beautiful metals yet...each one being unique in the way they are cropped and moulded. Omer Arbel is amazing and getting quite a name for himself in Vancouver. I keep wishing for more snow...what the heck...I'm not driving during the games anyway.

Great post!
Best,
Michelle

Sharon said...

Woaa, you do extremely well put together posts!
Thank you for sharing. oh, and 14? *swooning*

Janis@White Alder[Home] said...

What a fantastic post, thanks so much for introducing us to the super talented Omer Arbel.

I agree Canada totally "kicks Ass"...so excited to watch the games!!!!!

PS: Victoria LOVED your comment on my Dwell post, had me in stitches!!!

Unknown said...

you know, i don't think i've ever seen an Olympic medal in detail before- i didn't even realize they changed designs every year. fascinating to see the background story for the design inspiration. just lovely

Maria Killam said...

Thanks for the lesson on the olympic medals! Very cool I did not know that! I'll be stuck on the mountain I live on come next weekend!

Anonymous said...

I love those medals - and thank indeed for the explanation! I also really love #14 and #17. Very talented designers indeed.

Sorry, but I have to root for the US, though, even though you guys have home ice advantage, so to speak ;->

Delchick42 said...

All I can say is WOW!!!! Gorgeous:)

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