Skip to content

About
- Find the Forager
My Work
Contact

Category: Paintings

Branching. Ember Fairbairn.

A tree isn’t just its trunk. To thrive, a tree needs healthy branches. It needs to be reaching for light, nourished to its tips from within. Those branches become the homes of birds and squirrels, providing subtle, swishing music on breezy days and shelter from rainstorms.

In our current home in Marin County, our apartment in the hillside is nestled in the treetops. We see the world through a filter of blowing branches. Ember Fairbairn‘s paintings remind me not just of our view, but of the way we need to branch out in order to bloom.

Just as a tree can’t survive without its branches, so too do we need to continually reach out for new experiences in order to learn and grow. If we don’t we may become stagnated and overtaken by stronger, greedier vines.

To see more of Ember Fairbairn‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

July 23, 2015
Submerged. Wendi Turchan.

Having spent the last two summers on the Northern California coast, where the water doesn’t warm up too much between winter and summer, it’s been a while since I took a swim. When I was young, spending summers at camp and at my aunt & uncle’s lake house, I loved the water. One of my favorite things was to hold my breath and sink to the bottom. Time slowed down, the world became distant and muted. It felt like an immersion into summer.

These paintings by Wendi Turchan seem to illustrate that feeling of submersion. Fluid background colors seem to melt into each other, while bright geometric shapes float and sway. It feels like diving to the bottom of the pool for a sunken treasure.

To see more of Wendi Turchan‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

July 21, 2015
Chicness. Ryan Jones.

Once upon a time, I was one of those girls. Saturdays were for shopping. Fashion magazines were poured over. Hours were spent pursuing just the right pair of shoes. Rinse and repeat. For years. Now don’t get me wrong, I still love a little shopping spree here and there. But I don’t obsess over the things I have or what I wear. It doesn’t define me.

In his large scale oil paintings, Bay Area artist Ryan Jones immerses his viewer in the world of luxurious living, where skin is perfectly toned and tanned, life is perfectly chic.

Some folks seem to have been born with the chic-gene. Even if they aren’t a part of the Beverly Hills elite, they still seem to carry themselves with that certain something. I’d like to think that I fit that description, but I’m doubtful. More than likely, my shoes are worn from travel, my hair is windblown and unkempt, my clothes probably stained with paint.

In exchange for the pursuit of chic, the quest for the latest fashion, I am reaching for the next moment of inspiration, the next place to explore, the next adventure.

To see more of Ryan Jones‘ work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

July 20, 2015
Superfluity. Amanda Krantz.

If I could think of any one way to honor my mom’s memory in my life going forward– it could be summed up in one word. MORE.

These paintings by Melbourne artist Amanda Krantz teem with color, movement, and life, seeming ready to burst from their canvases. They embody what I would like my own life to be.

In the last year of Mom’s life, there was less of the good, less of what she loved and enjoyed. That was perhaps one of the toughest challenges we, as those who loved her, faced. Watching that light fade as she couldn’t eat what she wanted, couldn’t go and do as she had always done, her life seemed merely a struggle for survival.

For her, and for myself, I want what is left of my own existence to be abundantly more. More colorful, more adventurous, more days spent doing what I love rather than merely surviving.

To see more of Amanda Krantz‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

July 16, 2015
Temporaries. Ann Chamberlin.

We are all in some ways living transitory lives. None of us are here forever, though some, like Mr. F and I, find ourselves moving from place to place quite often. Sometimes we stay in one spot long enough that we begin to be recognized at the local coffee shop, but about the time that begins to happen, we move on to the next locale.

Vaiven, New Paintings from Mexico, a new series of paintings by artist Ann Chamberlin now showing at Lora Schlesinger Gallery take their inspiration by the transitory places we find ourselves in– hotels, airports, campgrounds– and the lives and tales unfolding as people drift in and out.

Chamberlin’s paintings, seen from a not-quite-bird’s-eye view, show a quick glimpse into a moment in these places. The unremarkable moments are seen, the instances that don’t necessarily burn into our memory, yet are essential to the way these places of transitions feel and function. For a time we are part of a collective when we find ourselves in these spots. There’s a kind of kindredship and bonding that happens when we meet others moving through the same space, coming and going to and from so many varied experiences.

To see more of Ann Chamberlin‘s work, please visit her website. Vaiven, New Paintings from Mexico will be showing at Lora Schlesinger Gallery in LA through July 11, 2015. If you’re in SoCal, go see it!

All images are via Lora Schlesinger Gallery.

June 12, 2015
Swirls. Rosalind Breen.

A dear friend told me a few years ago that I seemed swirly happy. It was less than a year after Mr. F and I had married and started traveling. My world had completely changed and though I was still getting used to the changes, my giddiness at my new life must have been pretty obvious.

Mr. F still makes me swirly, as does our crazy adventure filled life. But over the last few years , we’ve encountered a few storms that have left us whirling instead of swirling.

Back in those early days, we were working to pay off debt, but otherwise pretty carefree and swirly. Then Mr. F thought he might go back to school– whirl. We thought staying in Seattle would be for us, but it turned out it wasn’t– whirl. I started picking up freelance work– whirl ( and swirl, but somedays more whirl than swirl 😉 ). We began seriously saving for a home– whirl. The Mr.’s stepmom got sick, our best friends’ sister/sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and their son diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy, my mom began her own fight with cancer and is losing– whirl whirl whirl whirl.

These days it often seems the whirls outnumber the swirls. It’s easy to get swept up in the tornado of stress and worry that plagues each day. But then we go for a walk under a gentle breeze and a bright blue sky and the swirls return.

The paintings featured above are by Providence artist Rosalind Breen. To see more of her work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

June 11, 2015
Colors. James Rieck.

Beauty is often found in its purest form– a hidden waterfall, the smiling face of a child, the soft wrinkles of a grandmother’s hand. But other times, perfection is manufactured and beauty hides a darker truth. In his ColorSafe series, Los Angeles artist James Rieck spins the glossy glamour of 1960s and 70s catalogue models into a look at social contradictions happening then and now still.

Rieck takes the ubiquitous catalogue model poses and reinterprets them– painting them in such a hyperrealistic way that they take on a now too-glossy, unreal quality. In pairs, one light skinned model, one dark, the figures wear the same brightly colored and patterned fashions of the day, similar smiles on their cropped faces. The playing field seems oddly leveled– equality, acceptance and coexistence seemingly achieved. But there’s an underlying tension. The dark skinned figure usually slightly behind the lighter or somehow leaning in to her counterpart. Subtle, but there. Equality in idea, but not in reality.

To see more of James Rieck’s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via It’s Nice That.

June 8, 2015
Wrinkles. Elizabeth Chapin.

Aging is not for the faint of heart. Now that I’m truly and well into my, ahem, forties(!!), I know this to be true. Metabolism is no longer my friend and each day seems to bring a new grey hair spotted, an ache in a previously undiscovered muscle. Our culture celebrates, even idolizes youth. Instead of seeing the elderly among us as founts of knowledge, wisdom, and experience, we cast them aside. We search instead for the latest in what is fashionable among the young.

These paintings by Austin artist Elizabeth Chapin seem to celebrate the dignity and beauty that comes only with age. I’m not immune to longing for more youthful days– especially when I was a smaller by a few dress sizes. But I recently listened to an interview with actress Frances McDormand on aging and something she said really struck me– those lines on your face are a map of your life. Every wrinkle was earned in some way, whether through hard work or a life filled with laughter. What we lose in smooth skin and toned muscles we gain experience no fountain of youth can replace.

To see more of Elizabeth Chapin‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via Wally Workman Gallery.

June 5, 2015
Depths. Vicky Barranguet.

We find ourselves in a superficial world. Most days, the bulk of our interactions may be on the “like/dislike” spectrum. We send quick quips on social media to people we barely know or haven’t actually spoken to in years. Because we seem to know so much about the surface lives of the people in our networks, it can be challenging to go deeper.

These paintings by New York artist Vicky Barranguet reminded me of the beautiful messiness that can come when moving beyond the surface. We might be initially drawn to someone through shared interest or similar personalities but when we are brave enough to pass through the layers, the more common ground we find. Things may get a bit messy as we reveal ourselves and others do the same but there is great beauty to be found in the deeper chaos.

To see more of Vicky Barranguet‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via Saatchi Art.

June 4, 2015
Obstacles. Page Jones Davis.

It’s easy to get thrown off balance when life plunges an obstacle into our path. We feel like we’re moving along, making progress and then BAM! Roadblock. These paintings by Spartanburg artist Page Jones Davis, with their layers and visual depth, reminded me that although we’ll be met with obstacles, the road ahead remains the same.

Maybe we need to circumvent to get around what’s blocking us. Or perhaps the obstacle isn’t as insurmountable as it might seem– given enough determination we can just plow right through! It can be so easy to just give up, though, can’t it? It’s too hard, there’s too much in the way. But there is always a pay off once we get to the other side, even if it is just in knowing we could do it.

To see more of Page Jones Davis‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

June 3, 2015

←Previous Page

1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 63

artsy forager

artistic pathfinding by lesley frenz

Blog
About
FAQs
Authors

Events
Shop
Patterns
Themes

Twenty Twenty-Five

Designed with WordPress

Loading Comments...

Write a Comment...

Email (Required)

Name (Required)

Website