artsy forager

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

The Closing Time lyrics kept running through my head last night, ya’ll. Today is a bittersweet milestone for me. You see, Thursday evening, I accepted a full time position and started my new job today! Our dream of living in Seattle permanently is actually happening! I’ll be taking a professional step in this new direction I’ve been pursuing these last two years. I have a chance to gain invaluable experience, add to my skills and make a difference in this company’s future.

But with all this joy and excitement, comes some sadness. The new gig is a great opportunity but will require very long hours. As in 10 hour days plus a hour and a half spent commuting by bus each day ( yikes! ). Which will leave me precious little free time. And that will be spent on Mr. Forager! I adore you all, but our little family of two is my highest priority, forever and always.

What does that mean for the future of Artsy Forager? In the long term, I’m not quite sure. In the short term, I’ll be taking a hiatus from Artsy blogging. Artsy Forager will be put on hold for a while. How long? I have no idea. I just know that in order to do my best at my new role and my best at being a wife and partner to Mr. F, I will need to step back. So after today, things will be quiet around these parts.

The website will remain up, as the hosting is paid up through April 2014 and the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram feeds will all stay put for now. But you won’t see much activity from me there. Well, maybe Pinterest.. because I’m addicted and can’t live without it!

The time I’ve spent doing Artsy Forager has meant so much to me on a personal level. I’ve “met” so many spectacularly talented artists, passionate art lovers and just plain nice folks! I’m so incredibly grateful to have had this time to create this little Artsy world. I will truly miss it and all of you. But I strongly believe our lives flow in seasons and I’m so excited to move into a new Spring! If I find that I have more free time than I thought I might, you might see me around here again. Until then, Mr. F & I thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for the past two years.

Peace, love & artsiness,

Lesley

Holy cow, where did May go?!  I know we still have several hours before June begins, but we’ll be out hiking tomorrow, so thought I’d give you a little artsy Saturday treat.  For Mr. Forager & I, May was a whirlwind of traveling to Seattle, frantically searching for an apartment, moving in, buying furniture, job searching for moi and just generally getting settled into our new life here.  What’s been keeping me sane this past month?  Spying new work from artists I love around the interwebs.  This month’s Featured Artist Deann Hebert has been on a roll lately, spicing things up with bolder color and looser compositions.  And I’m lovin’ it all!

Get Your Color On I, mixed media on canvas, 36×36

You might remember Deann’s work from the City Mouse | Country Mouse show in the found gallery recently.. D was the Country Mouse.  Being a country gal, Deann paints the rusticity and warmth she is surrounded by each day.  Yet these aren’t your grandma’s chicken paintings.  This artist is giving country the modern treatment.  She’s totally Faith Hill-ing it.

Seagrove, mixed media on canvas, 30×30

Rustic Restored, mixed media on canvas, 36×48

The latest work coming out of Deann’s studio is just a bit bolder, a bit more free.  She’s getting comfortable and coming into her own as an artist and it is truly a joy to watch!

Get Your Color On 2, mixed media on canvas, 36×36

Want to see more of Deann Hebert’s work?  Check out her website and Facebook page!  And don’t forget to stop by the Artsy Forager page while you’re on Facebook to see some of my personal faves from Ms D.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Confession time:  I’m one of those people who sweat it just a teensy bit ( ok maybe a lot on a really hot day ) when a glass full of cold liquid is resting on a wood or glass surface.  Oh the rings!  My little OCD heart is pounding just thinking about it!  The cure for such an ailment?  Super artsy coasters, of course!  Here are a few of my faves..

Painted Reclaimed Wood Coasters

find them here

Lacework Coasters

find them here

Constellations Coasters

find them here

Symbology Coasters

find them here

Felt Coasters

find them here

Any of these are bound to be more pleasing to the eye than condensation rings, eh?  Happy weekend, Artsies!

All images are linked above.

After spending the past two years going from small town to small town, I’m still kind of in awe of Seattle buildings.  From what I happen to think is one of the prettiest skylines in the country ( if not THE prettiest! ) to the fantastic examples of  modern architecture and traditional storefronts.  The paintings of Massachusetts artist Hannah Richman  explores the facade of the urban landscape, man’s touch upon the terra.

Fulkserson Street II, oil on canvas, 30×24

Especially here in this city surrounded by such amazing natural beauty ( Hello, Cascade Mountains!  Hello, Olympic Mountains!  Holy cow, you are huge, Mt. Rainier! ), it’s interesting to note how some buildings seem to perfectly fit into the landscape.  For instance, as I type this, I’m looking out the window at a Mid-Century apartment building that perfectly hugs and nestles into the landscape, it’s lines mimicking the hills beyond.

Untitled, oil on canvas

Felton Street VI, oil on canvas, 55.5×42.75

Fulkerson Street I, oil on canvas, 18×14

Then there are other examples, where we see the hand of man has rushed in and decimated everything in its path for the sake of commerce.  Wonderful old neighborhood storefronts are abandoned for the lure of the shiny new strip mall.  It happens in most cities in all states and more and more, many countries.

Earle Street, oil on canvas, 36×24

Richman’s work illuminates these man made structures as she catches them in mother nature’s light.  And for a moment, they seem to have been there always.

To see more of Hannah Richman’s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

The other day, Mr. F & I were listening to Rick Steves on NPR as he interviewed a woman who, when she entered places in Scotland where her ancestors had dwelt, she felt like she knew the buildings intimately– even going so far as to identify rooms that were not open to the public.  Have you ever experienced that degree of deja vu?  I can’t say that I have, but I can certainly relate to arriving in a place and feeling as if you’ve known it all your life.  In her Field Notes series, Santa Fe artist Karina Noel Hean draws in collage what that experience might be like.

Field Notes XXI, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11

In these abstracted, dream-like landscapes, what we see are glimpses of places, fragments of details that our minds may be remembering.  Whether it be from this lifetime or somewhere buried in our ancestry ( or past lifetime, if you believe in that sort of thing ), the artist is conjuring up a visual representation of what those perceived memories may be like.

Field Notes XV, mixed media on vellum, 17×11

Field Notes XVI, mixed media on vellum, 17×11

Shapes collide, morph, twist and turn around and upon each other.  They feel like landscapes from another world and in a sense, they are.

Field Notes XX, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11

To see more of Karina Noel Hean’s work, please check out her website here.  How about you?  Where have you been that felt like you’d been there before?

All images are via the artist’s website.

As we thought it would, the rainy days came back full force here in Seattle, just in time for the long holiday weekend! That didn’t stop Mr. Forager & I from getting out and exploring some new ‘hoods. We checked out up & coming neighborhood Columbia City ( rumored to be the most diverse neighborhood in the US! ), discovered lots of Asian goodies & yummies at Uwajimaya Market in the International District, roamed around the uber trendy and totally fun nightlife on Capitol Hill and picnicked in the rain at Chateau Ste. Michelle, along with thousands of other Seattleites. One of my favorite things about Seattle? No one lets a few raindrops spoil their fun. Gotta love the determination!

[ columbia city ]

[ those streaks are rain drops.. ]

[ periodicals at uwajimaya ]

[ i promise, mr. f, i was trying to get a pic of the wine bottle in hand ]

[ international district ]

Hope you enjoyed lots of fun in the sun in your neck of the woods!  See more from This Artsy Life on Instagram here.

All images by Artsy Forager.

When I first saw the collage work of  Max Warsh on Pattern Pulp, I totally fell for it– hook, line & sinker.  The combinations of visual textures in such limited palettes is just stunning!  See more from him in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today here !

Untitled by Max Warsh

Max Warsh on Escape Into Life

I love the surprise of a random find.  Whether it’s wonderfully creative and delicious food out of a tiny, tucked away dive or as simple as a pink flower growing amongst the rocks.  New York artist Landon Metz creates work that is simple and arbitrarily lovely.

Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( V ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( II ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

The artist composes loose, casual compositions, in a subtle mostly pastel palette, punctuated by forms in dark hues of midnight blue and mossy greens.  The shapes recall pieces of torn and scattered paper, their edges appearing to be weathered and worn.

Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( III ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( I ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

While our eye might at first perceive the compositions as accidental, we soon grow to see that each shape has been carefully and thoughtfully placed.  The result is work that gives the viewer a feeling of both freedom and balance.

Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( IV ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

Want to see more lovely randoms from Landon Metz?  Please visit the artist’s website here.

All images via the artist’s website.

When we were in San Francisco, the famous San Fran fog had taken the day off in exchange for record setting heat.  But that didn’t stop us from experiencing it thanks to artist Fujiko Nakaya’s Fog Bridge.  There was something mysterious and magical about walking through the fog, then emerging into the bright sunlight.  In his work, self-taught artist Spencer Herr embraces the power of the emerging figure.

Roman Trip

Herr’s figures, starkly enshrouded within their backgrounds seem to be just breaking through the surface.  Or perhaps the opposite is happening.  Are they being enveloped by their surroundings?

Tally Mark, acrylic on birch panel, 48×36

Slow Draw, acrylic on birch panel, 36×48

Beloved, acrylic on birch panel, 48×36

Keeping the compositions simple allows the viewer to compose his own story.  Like stills from a movie whose story we do not know, we are left to ponder who these figures might be and from what place they are emerging.

Trip, acrylic on birch panel

To see more of Spencer Herr’s work, please visit his website.

All images via the artist’s website.

When we arrived in Seattle and pretty much for the last few weeks, the weather has been glorious.  As in uncharacteristic bright skies and unseasonable warmth.  At first we thought it some kind of cosmic joke– we’d left Florida, then most recently the California desert, to escape the heat, thinking we’d be safe from it in Seattle..  But we found that we didn’t flee in vain.  The grey skies, soft drizzle and cool temperatures returned this week, leaving me ready for a quiet day spent doing rainy day fun.  Here are a few artsy essentials I found to aid in the soggy fun!

Delicious: The Life and Art of Wayne Thiebaud

find it here

Print Burst Umbrella

find it here

Emobossed Dots Mug

find it here

Cavez Rain Boot

find it here

Mosaic Dots Tote

find it here

On damp days, we love to sit for hours in a coffee shop, chatting and reading.  Mr. F likes to tour breweries ( that’s on sunny days, too ) and I love to spend rainy afternoons wandering around a favorite art museum.  What are some of your favorite activities for the days of grey?

All images linked above.