Abstract Art Daily Artsy Figurative Mixed Media Paintings

Patterns At Play: Kirra Jamison

I’ve always been interested in the interplay between color and pattern, how each effects the other and the visual impact both can have, even in small doses.  Australian artist Kirra Jamison’s works are a beautiful, modern mastery of both.

Love Me Two Times IV, gouache, ink, pen and vinyl on paper 76x56 cm

Her warm and pure palette allow her compositions to pop against neutral backgrounds.  Saturated, cut-out like shapes call to mind the collages of Henri Matisse, though Jamison’s compositions tend to be a bit more complex and detailed.  But anyone whose work reminds me of Matisse is an automatic fave!

Willow Weep, gouache and vinyl on paper, 160x114 cm

Some of her pieces, such as Willow Weep ( above ) are a delightfully dizzying kaleidoscope of color and detail.  I am drawn in by the playful patterns of color, then enchanted by the surprises that await.

Belong to me (after Deluany,) acrylic, gouache, pen on canvas 220x183 cm

Patterned backgrounds in works like Belong To Me ( above ) appear, upon first glance to be a symmetrical repeat,  but each element is revealed to be unique.  It is amazing how our eyes fool us into thinking that all are the same.. there is something poetic in that, isn’t there?

Love Me Two Times V, gouache, ink, pen and vinyl on paper 76x56 cm

Cherry Blossom, acrylic, gouache, pen and vinyl on canvas 152.5x132 cm

To see more of Kirra Jamison’s work, please visit her website.  Thank you to Tamara Lynn Photography for introducing Artsy Forager to this artist!

Featured image is Cut Out V, vinyl on paper, 57×38 cm.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Design Foraging Figurative Masterworks

Friday Faves: Masters Remade

If you’ve ever taken an art class, I’m sure you’ve copied the work of a “master”.  Redrawing and painting great works of art is one of the tried and true methods used to teach basic skills.  I love the way some artists are taking masterworks and recreating them in fun and interesting ways.  Check ’em out!

Out of the Square by Cesar Santos ( via artrenewal.org )

Frida Dog by Clair Hartmann

Man Ray by Jocelyn Grivaud

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Sarah Ashley Longshore ( via Gallery Orange )

Have a fantastic weekend, Artsies!  Any plans for museum visits this weekend?

Cesar Santos ( His official website seems to be down. You can see some examples of his work at Art Renewal Center. )

Clair Hartmann 

Jocelyn Grivaud 

Sarah Ashley Longshore 

Featured image is Picnic in Central Park by Cesar Santos ( via Art Renewal Center ).  All images are via the artist’s websites, unless otherwise stated.

Daily Artsy Sculpture

Requiem for Modern Relics: Michael Todd Harrison

I grew up in a household where old things were relished and appreciated.  My dad and brother refurbished antique cars.  My mom had a knack for painting and reusing old furniture.  Family vacations were taken to historic sites instead of Disney World.  So it isn’t any wonder that I have a fondness for the sculptural work of Seattle artist Michael Todd Harrison.

13, assemblage

Architectural fragments and wood are stacked together as building blocks of these humble monuments to the past.  Some of Harrison’s pieces, like the one above have a charming, vintagey-homey feel, as if they were plucked directly from the wreckage of a derelict Queen Anne home.  Others, such as Burst, are more abstract in feel and organic in shape, carefully hap-hazard.  In the artist’s hands, what could have simply been a pile of scrap wood becomes an explosion of line and shape.

Burst

Spiral

Harrison’s latest series, Skyscrapers, takes inspiration from walks through the city, with it’s tall monuments built long ago by men who have since been all but forgotten.  There is a poetic loveliness in these folksy, wooden sculptures paying homage to albatrosses of glass and steel.  A reminder, perhaps of architecture’s humble beginnings, as well as our own.

Skyscrapers

Small Church

To see more of Michael Todd Harrison’s work, please visit his website.  He is currently the Artist-In-Residence for the James W. Washington Foundation in Seattle during the month of February.  You can keep up with his residency work here!

Featured image is Horizon by Michael Todd Harrison.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Essences of Space: Peri Schwartz

Life just gets so complicated, doesn’t it?  We are constantly bombarded with imagery and information, it’s a wonder our brains can keep up!  What I love most about the work of New York artist, Peri Schwartz is her way of seeming to keep things simple in such a complicated world.

Studio XXVIII, 2010, 38x52

Using simple swathes of bold color, she distills objects and spaces into their purest planes and forms.  We are no longer caught up in minute, mind-numbing detail, but instead, can enjoy her worlds for the lively, colorful spaces they are.

Studio XXXI, 2011, 38x50

She uses perspective to great advantage, as it is directs us and gives our too often over-saturated brains a bit of a rest.. sort of just gently pulling us along so that we know just what we are seeing before we even realize we are seeing it. 😉

Bottles and Jars XVI, 2011, 36x22

The peek-a-boo quality of the lines and grids give a hint that there is much more going on beneath the surface than our eyes may notice upon first glance.

Studio XXIX, 2010, 38x52

Doesn’t that always seem to be the case, though?  We make simplistic conclusions about complicated processes.  Each of these works are a complex juxtaposition of color, light and space, fooling our eye into seeing form and shape in a primitively intricate way.

Studio XXXII, 2011, 40x44

To see more of Peri Schwartz’s work, please visit her website.

Artist found via Davis & Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR.  Check them out if you’re ever in Ashland– fabulous gallery!

Featured image is Bottles and Jars XII, 2011, 30×20.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Artsy on Escape Into Life Mixed Media

Artsy on Escape Into Life: M.A. Tateishi

There are certain artists whose work resonates with me, to whom I return again and again for inspiration.  Vancouver, BC artist M.A. Tateishi is definitely an artist whose work fits into that category!  I’m so happy to feature her over at Escape Into Life today.  Please click on over and take a look at this extraordinary artist’s work!

Bridesmaids, mixed media with resin, 36x48

M.A. Tateishi on Escape Into Life

Design

Artsy Design Finds: You Bowl Me Over

Happy Valentine’s Day, Artsies!  I hope you have plenty of love being lavished on you today and lots of folks in your life to love on.  Here’s something I love:  serving pieces that are a perfect balance of function, beauty and artistry.  Here are a few beauties I found, pretty enough to serve the ones you love!

Ceramic Bowl by OneClayBead

source

Ceramic Bowls by Aida Dirse

source 

Pottery by Yassi Mazandi

source 

Medium Bowl by Kurt Anderson

source 

Frilly White Collection by Liz Kinder

source

Blue Carnival IV Elm Bowls by Natural Selection Studio

source 

Hope you enjoy a wonderful V-day, hope it includes a meal with your favorite person ( or people ! ) and if served from a beautiful, handmade bowl, even better!

Featured image is the Dots Collection by Liz Kinder, available here.  

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Domestic Relations: Leslie Graff

I guess by technical definition, I’m a housewife.  Besides writing and curating this blog ( which is completely a labor of love at this point ), I don’t work outside the home.  Housewife would be a lot easier to explain than “art blogger” when people ask what I do.  For the first time in my life, I’m taking care of a household consisting of more than just myself.  In her Domestic Series, Massachusetts artist Leslie Graff explores perceptions about domestic life and relationships in our post-modern world.

Picking Up, acrylic on canvas, 30x40

Her cropped compositions and classic environmental and clothing choices create a universality to the imagery.  These could be snapshots of life from virtually any decade in the last six decades.

Stirring Things Up, acrylic on canvas, 30x40

As much as our roles seem to have evolved over the years, have things really changed that much?  My own husband definitely never pushes for our home to be immaculate or for dinner to be delicious and perfect every night, but as a woman, I find myself striving for that perfection and disappointed when I don’t deliver.  Why is that?

6:12pm, acrylic on canvas, 30x40

Why, even when our husbands are happy to help with cooking, cleaning and kid care, do we still expect ourselves to be able to “do it all”?  Is it Martha Stewart syndrome?  Are we comparing ourselves to standards impossible to keep?

I'll Wash, You Dry, acrylic on canvas, 30x40

It's Homemade, acrylic on canvas, 30x40

How about those among us who are artists as well as spouses, parents and perhaps have another day job, as well?  How do you do it?! 🙂

Featured image is So Satisfying, acrylic on canvas, 30×40.  All images are via the artist’s website.

This artist found via Pinterest.

Art Glass Design Foraging Mixed Media Paintings Sculpture

Friday Faves: Hearts A’Flutter

I used to hate Valentine’s Day.  Back when I was single, my friends and I often enjoyed Anti-Valentine celebrations.  But now that I’m an old married lady ( it’s been an entire year of marital bliss! ), I revel in it.  So today in honor of the upcoming V-Day, dear Artsies, I’m sharing my obnoxious lovey-doveyness with you!  Here are some of my mushy-love-stuff faves..

Cleaning Is Addictive by Kelly Reemtsen

Sweetheart by Robert Townsend

Ventricle by Eva Milinkovic, Tsunami Glassworks

Ventricle by Eva Milinkovic, Tsunami Glassworks

Love by Jill Joy

Love by Jill Joy

May your weekend be filled with love!  If you’re not on the receiving end, try giving some away!

Kelly Reemtsen

Robert Townsend

Tsunami Glassworks

Jill Joy

Featured image is by Sarah Ashley Longshore.  All images are via the artist’s websites.

Art News

Welcome to Artsy Forager!

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the new Artsies who have joined in the fun!  I’m so glad you’ve discovered Artsy Forager thanks to our feature on WordPress.com’s Freshly Pressed.  I hope you’ll find as much stimulation, inspiration and just pure enjoyment in the artwork as I do!  Feel free to roam around the site, there are lots of wonderful artists waiting to be discovered!

If you’re the social type, please come on over to Facebook & Twitter and connect with Artsy Forager there, too!  Lots of goodies, fun and interesting tidbits are being shared there.  And of course, feel free to share Artsy Forager with your friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lesley AKA Artsy Forager