There definitely isn’t much from our time in the desert we’ve missed. But the desert skies truly are incredible. In our six months in Joshua Tree, we were treated to some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets we’ve ever seen and the most glorious blanket of stars each night. While not ultimately for us, we can easily admit the desert can be a magical place. Los Angeles photographer Jordan Sullivan turned his lens to another California Desert, Death Valley, and the results are breathtaking.
In these large scale ( 24×36 & 40×60 ), small edition c-prints, Sullivan captures the delicate shifts in the desert’s cycle. Colors melt and merge into one another like watercolors. These are from the Water & Light sub series, yet easily be desert skies. That’s one of the most incredible things about the desert– there are few fences, few boundaries, everything drifts one into another, so that all the parts become the whole.
If there was ever a series of photographs I could relate to, Cable Management is it. In this series, Albuquerque artist Andy Mattern documents “the process of reconstructing domestic space”, specifically the often frustrating task of figuring out which cable goes where.
As Mr. F and I move so frequently and live in furnished rentals when we do, we’re often faced with the challenge of learning a whole new layout ( which often involves crashing into walls in the middle of the night for the first week or so ), as well as new appliances and remotes. For the artist, the process of relocating and managing the electronic connections and accoutrements has become a sort of “Zen activity”. For this series, instead of documenting the actual living spaces, the artist composed mock walls and arrangements. The outlets and cables snake up and along the walls, almost taking on an anamorphic quality, the power of connection coursing through their wires.
There are so many things I’d never experienced before living on the West Coast. In Florida, I don’t think I ever experienced “marine layer“, these air masses create the most beautiful foggy formations above the coastal waters. Of course, everyone loves bright, clear skies, but there is a mysterious beauty to life seen through a fogged lens. In his Steam Portraits series, photographer David Ryle creates these sensitive captures of portraits seen through or looking through a curtain of steam.
We all have our days when it feels like we’re moving through the fog. Bogged down, without a clear vision of the road ahead. What’s so lovely about these portraits is that although the subjects are seen gazing through the vapor, in most cases much of the haze is already depleted. There is something incredibly hopeful in that– to know that although we may be temporarily socked in, slowly, surely, the fog will lift and all will be revealed.
One of my favorite things about babies and children of family and friends is looking at them and seeing how their parents come through. Whether in their physical attributes or personalities, it always amazes me to see glimpses of parents or grandparents in a new unique little personality. In her Heritage series, French artist Marie Hudelot explores the cultural heritage between an East and West family legacy, specifically France and Algeria.
Just as we are each conglomerations of generations of hereditary history, in Hudelot’s conceptual portraits we see symbolic aggregations to create emblematic figures. Faces covered, the figures could be anonymous representations of previous generations. How much of who we become is influenced by those who came before? Whether genetic or cultural, we are all in some way the product of past generations.
Choosing artwork for your home can be an intimidating process. Sometimes we fall in love with a piece of work but wonder how in the world we would ever incorporate it with our current style?! You know that old adage, buy what you love and somehow it will work? I’m here to prove it’s true. Let’s say you fall for this bold black and white art pair by this month’s Featured Artist, Alexandra Bellissimo.
They’re strong. They’re daring. They’re a little weird but totally fabulous. Now where can you put them? The best thing about graphic black and white art like these is that they can add a sense of the unexpected to anywhere they hang.
1 | fierce romance This fantastical pair are like creatures from a dark fairy tale. Hung off to the side above the antique sofa in a romantic bohemian living room, The Antagonist and The Guardian would add just the right amount of sass to counteract the sweet.
2 | sleek soak In the bath is often the very last place we consider for artwork, but these guys are just screaming to add a little of the unexpected to your personal spa. They’re graphic so maybe placement in a contemporary bath seems like a no-brainer, but their organic sci-fi feel compliments the space in a fresh way.
art by alexandra bellissimo | interior image found here
3 | rustic edge Maybe you love rustic decor but don’t want to completely live the cowboy life? The his and her pairing is perfect for a bedroom and this black and white art would provide a fantastic juxtaposition against a wood feature wall. Want to edge it up even more? Add an extra wide white mat and simple contemporary frames in a bold color like yellow or bright green. Boom. You’ve turned up the sophistication to 11.
Have a room you need some artsy help with? Or art you love but not sure how to style in your room? I can help with that! Check out my Forager Services page for details. Love this pair by Alexandra Bellissimo? Check out her site AND stay tuned for some news here and on the Mantle Art site for affordable, limited editions prints coming soon!
In these days of drive-thru’s and fast everything, there exists a ready convenience to life that is intoxicating. Most would say we don’t miss the days of corsets and class rule ( though there’s definitely an argument that both still exist, just in different forms ). But for all the rigidity and rules, there was perhaps a meticulousness to life then that we’ve lost touch with. Toronto artist Anna Church in her carefully assembled creations honors these symbols of our past.
Church comes flea markets and other sources to find just the right pieces to craft her symbolic assemblages. Whether her Insignia or At Your Service series, arrangements of objects and ephemera are pieced together with exacting precision and aesthetic romanticism. The resulting imagery, available as limited edition prints, are at once recognizable and enigmatic. For all of these objects were once treasures of other people, a part of the history of many, emblematic of one.
To see more of Anna Church‘s work, please visit her website and be sure to follow her on all the usual social media suspects! To catch a glimpse into her process, enjoy the video below, shot by videographer Vuk Dragojevic.
We are a few weeks into Spring here in Northern California and this weekend, something wonderful happened.. we seemed to have finally turned a corner into deep spring. That time of year when the air is warm and soft and everywhere you turn something extraordinary is blooming. All I want to do is turn my face to the sun, lie in the grass and soak it all in. This piece by April Featured ArtistAlexandra Bellissimo perfectly captures these deep days of spring, the longing to be one with the blossoming world. And this Scenery at Sunset Dress by Modcloth is just the perfect translation of that light and airy feeling that the first warm days of spring delivers.
Today I’m even wearing my own version Surface, this work by Alexandra Bellissimo, a new scarf I’ve been eyeing that feels like spring. Winter, I love you, but I think I’ll always have a bit of a crush on Spring.
Keep watching the blog & social media for more from Alexandra Bellissimo all throughout April, including an exciting announcement coming soon! *Hint: it starts with a P and ends with “rints”. 😉 And of course, you can always peruse Alexandra’s website for more of her stunning work.
Want to see more of the Wear the Artsy series? Check out the archives here!
I rarely feel more at peace or more excited than when Mr. Forager & I are hiking in the woods. To be among the wildness, where plants and animals live and roam freely is completely exhilarating and intoxicating. The forests are full of magic and wonder, it isn’t surprising that so many fairy tales get their start in such a place. Moscow-based photographer Katerina Plotnikova takes her lens to wild places, creating stunning photographs telling fantastical tales.
She weaves her models into their surroundings, often posing them intimately with real wild animals, producing that beautiful, slightly horrific feeling the best fairy tales provide. When we are out hiking, I am always blown away by nature’s beauty and bounty, yet continually cautious and on alert, knowing that we are trespassing into the home of wildness.
April showers bring.. a new Featured Artist! Yay! I’ve been having a serious photography moment lately so I’m excited to feature one of my favorite photographic finds of the last year, LA artist Alexandra Bellissimo all throughout the month of April.
Alexandra’s work has an incredibly elegant, graphic simplicity. Nude figures photographed, just a touch of digital manipulation, then natural elements are collaged into the composition by hand. Human, animal and flora meet, becoming one to create a new, fantastical reality. The more I look at her work, the more I fall in love with it. A story is told with minimal language, and I long to hear more.
Alexandra Bellissimo‘s work will be featured on Artsy Forager all throughout the month of April, but if you can’t wait to see more, head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see her cover photo, as well as an album of my favorite Bellissimo finds. Be sure to visit the artist’s website, too!
PS– A new project collaboration will launch soon featuring work by Alexandra Bellissimo’s work along with three other fabulous artists! Stay tuned for more details!
As first world citizens, we are so beyond lucky. We throw away more food than the majority of the world’s population ever sees. And yet we still continually fuel our desire for more and more. The work of photographer Danielle Mourning struck me in its quiet melancholy and its lavishness of pattern and lifestyle.
In her photographs, we usually find women surrounded by life or luxury, but often looking out, perhaps longing for freedom from the trappings of an abundant life. Since Mr. Forager and I have been traveling, it has definitely been a slow letting go of material things. We can only travel with so much, even less now that we’re fitting everything into the back of our car, leaving little room for impulsive hoarding. This life forces us to seriously evaluate every purchase and for me, anything new has to either replace an existing item or be super-functional or too beautiful to live without. But I’ve also learned that less can be more. There is a freedom to be found in a minimal life. And we are still blessed beyond measure.
