MINI BONZAI MODELS - TREE-MENDOUS
These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.
Other great stories
ARTIST TURNS DAUGHTER'S DOODLES INTO WORKS OF ART
THIS UNUSUAL collaboration between a mother and her two-year-old daughter makes for some stunning works of art .
HUNGRY TURTLE ATTRACTS AN AUDIENCE
SURROUNDED by divers, a hungry green sea turtle enjoys being the centre of attention .
HYENA HAS THE LAST LAUGH
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
SURPRISE BABY: WOMAN REVEALS SHE DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT UNTIL SHE SAW HER BABY’S HEAD CROWNING
A woman has revealed how she didn’t know she was pregnant until she saw her baby’s head crowning .
WOMAN TOLD BY EMIRATES STAFF SHE’D BE ‘BANGED UP ABROAD’ OVER DIAZEPAM
A woman with a fear of flying claims she was humiliated after an Emirates airline staff member told her she could ‘go to prison for four years’ for possessing diazepam medication .
HEROIC BURNS SURVIVOR BECOMES FIREFIGHTER
An American man who suffered horrific third-degree burns to 70 percent of his body in a childhood accident has faced his fears by becoming a firefighter .
RIVET-ING ALL WOOD TOWER
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
MAN AND NATURE
LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .
'DYING’ SCARE SAVES 3ST ANOREXIC
AN anorexic woman whose heart stopped after she starved herself to 3st has revealed that ‘dying’ for a minute helped shock her into recovery .
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
Armed with a snorkel, flippers and her skimpy bikini, an intrepid female free diver swims alongside an array of reef sharks .
RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
ASTOUNDING VIEWS FROM THE TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD
WITH the mystical clouds forming a thick blanket and the electrifying lights below, these stunning pictures provide a unique view of the cityscape of Dubai taken from the tallest building in the world .