Andrea Bricco gives the expression playing with food on your dinner plate a whole new meaning. Her new series looks far better than my childhood attempts at making masterpieces out of mash potato and other vibrant vegies.

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It’s no secret that we at The Urban Grocer have a soft spot for any marriage of food and art. And so upon learning about UK-based graphic designer and painter Joël Penkman, it was love at first site. Penkman’s delightful paintings take as their subject everything from an open can of Spam, to Stilton on a digestive, to black forest cake.

His charming British Food series consists of nine small paintings that sweetly illustrate some of England’s iconic eats like marmalade, tea, and pork pie. Between the soft colors and nostalgic subjects, Penkman’s work is sure to make any food-painting addict hungry for more.

Sung Yeonju graduated from the Hong Ik University in 2010. This work is from the series, Wearable Foods, in which she makes garments out of food and photographs them. The garment above was made from bubble gum, the photos below are outfits made from winter mushroom and tomato.

Adam Niklewicz’s conceptual sculptures toy with expectations of form as it relates to function, space, and physics. I particularly love his food-related pieces.

Some people create crazy oppulent landscapes with food. Romanian-based designer Ștefan Lucuț likes it more simple. He takes a couple of noodles and creates minimalist art with it.

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When you hear the phrase ‘looks good enough to eat’, you might stop to look if it’s in reference to the new work by Chinese artist Yu Duoki (Ju Duoqi). These semi-beautiful cabbage women will make eating your veggies seem somewhat cannibalistic.

Did you ever wonder what goes on inside a banana before you eat it? This photo illustrates the horrors these little yellow mates go through. We’re now seriously concerned for the emotional balance of the apples, melons and cabbages Dimitri Tsykalov tortured for his art.

Dimitri Tsykalov probably asked himself this very question when turning an apple, a melon and a cabbage into a skull. A true modern day Hamlet, it seems!

Are you a sucker for a hearty Sunday morning brunch, but can’t stand the calories it packs in? Deliciously fluffy waffles, smothered in butter and sugary syrup and topped with the freshest berries the season has to offer are an all-day favorite. Now you can have your, errrr, waffle and eat it too. Sort of. This adorably yummy waffle ring from Hipster Chic comes with all the fixin’s on a silver plate ring.

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OC Weekly just posted a dozen photos of food tattoos. I’ve seen some of them before, like the breakfast plate on the guy’s head. The best food tattoo I’ve ever seen though was on my old roommate — he had two eggplants spooning each other. They weren’t even anthropomorphized, they were just straight up eggplants positioned next to each other to make them look like they were in love.

Most people crochet hats, gloves, and scarves. Clare Crespo, however, knits oysters on the half shell, hamburgers, sushi, and smoked salmon. Yup, it’s yarn intended to make your mouth water. In her latest collection, Crespo’s creative talent is focused on Mardi Gras, that infamous New Orleans carnival celebrated in her native Louisiana. Traditional, hyper-local eats, like seafood gumbo, beignets, catfish poboys, and soft shell crabs, have made their way into her inventive crocheted ode to the city.

While perusing Kinokuniya Bookstore on my lunch break, I came across the book, Face Food by Christopher D Salyers. Face Food documents very elaborate Bento boxes called Charaben in which food is made to look like anime characters, animals, plants and flowers. Everyone from Piglet to Pikachu is portrayed, with foods such as broccoli, ham, carrot, cheese, egg, imitation crab meat, and more. I’m blown away by the creativity and time (anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours) that mothers — and father, sometimes — dedicate to making these works of art for their children to take to school.

Some of the benefits of making charaben for children include a way to relieve daily stresses, a way to simply please the kids or a way to make children eat more. But Akinoichigo, one of the leading Charaben artists in Japan, sums it up best when she says: ‘It has a magic power to eliminate all of a child’s dislikes’. Face Food is published by Mark Batty Publisher and you can read more about Charaben on the blog. Also check out the follow-up book, Face Food Recipes.

If you’ve ever known the mouth-watering appeal of well photographed food, then the Eat the Art exhibition now on in Boston may be the place for you. This lip-smacking exhibit brings together a smorgasbord of food as art themed pieces from more than forty-two artists. Using various media, artists showcase everything from a miniature cocktail dress made out of the skins of clementines to flowers made of jelly beans. One of the highlights includes several of Andy Warhol’s iconic food-themed pieces. Eat the Art is on now until the month’s end.

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The figurative food art movement comes from sculptors and catering companies. But there is no doubt that this trade becomes professional when the artists start to use laser beams in order to modify the food. On this occasion, watermelons, onto which different figures such as tango dancers, the portrait of Van Gogh, a Chinese Turtle, or a bouquet of roses, can be superimposed.

What to say about a portrait of Elvis on velvet made only with neon orange cheese puff crumbs and residue? This video from Eclectic Asylum is as intriguing as it is borderline revolting, though admittedly the end product is impressive. If that’s not enough, Eclectic Asylum has put out other videos where food is used to create odd portraits and paintings. Check out the Redneck Art made with barbecue ribs, or the vegemite on toast portrait. Despite the instinct to look away, it’s all very addictive.

Brooklyn-based artist Jeph Gurecka uses food and organic matter in fascinating ways to make his conceptual pieces, taxidermying chicken parts and arranging them into a muscular, human torsoe, or making a huge pile of skulls made out of bread, or reproducing photos using salt, soil, and ash.