artsy forager

The end of our time in the desert is quickly coming to a close ( we’re now at less than three weeks to go! ).  The desert is a place of strong lines.  Folks either love it or hate it.  Jagged mountains cut across clear blue skies.  Tropical oasis spring up amid the arid sand.  Last year, photographer Daniel Kulka spent an artist residency in Joshua Tree National Park studying the juxtapositions of desert elements, The Edge Effects.

By positioning a glass mirror on an easel among the desert terrain, Kukla captures the harsh beauty of Joshua Tree.  What is seen may be the stark contrast of a cobalt sky amid the beige or the glass may seem to disappear as it captures what can be a confusing landscape.

The imagery of the single easel, alone in the desert recalls the abandonment seen everywhere in this place.  Empty homesteads left to ruin, leftover junk discarded among the cholla and joshuas.  In the openness of this place, what is cast away is not hidden, it is stranded for all to see.

To see more of Daniel Kukla’s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

No, not like that. We had one of those crazy running-around-trying-to-get-things-done-before-we-move kind of weekends. Mr. F & I love to hike and I am long overdue a new pair of hiking boots. Which isn’t as easy a purchase as you might think!  Good boots don’t come cheap and the last thing you want on mile eight of a fifteen mile hike is to start getting blisters, believe me. So we drove all the way to Rancho Cucamonga to the nearest REI. Like Cinderella, I tried on a bunch of glass slippers boots but alas, no magic. Stopped in at a few art supply stores while there as I had it in my head to finish a large painting before we leave Joshua Tree. In less than three weeks. And next weekend we’ll be in San Diego. Mr. F delicately suggested I might be biting off more than I can chew.. he was right and besides they didn’t have the size I wanted on sale. So I decided to back burner it for a while.

We shopped for toddler birthday gifts and fun stuff like dental floss and toilet paper and took a break for a wine tasting ( thanks over-indulger for spilling red wine all over me! ) and a little sushi, which I’ve been dying for lately. Sunday was spent with me doing a little research for this little blog ( look for another redesign soon! ) and Mr. F bottling his latest batch o’ beer. Oh and we started packing for our move! We have no idea where we are going yet, but we’ve begun preparing for the journey. I think there’s something poetic and utterly hopeful about that. I didn’t take the time to snap many pics this weekend, but we spied some lovely spring desert blooms on our Sunday evening walk. Hope you enjoy!

[ cholla ]

[ prairie sunflowers, maybe? ]

[ no idea what either of these are, but they sure are pretty! ]

[ prickly pear ]

Anyone else in the midst of a move?  Hoping to begin planning one?  Any desert plant enthusiasts out there know what my unidentified blooms are?  What spring flowers are you spotting these days?

When you travel as much as Mr. Forager and I do, there is always a danger of confusing memories of where we’ve been and when!  One of our favorite post-dinner-over-a-glass-of-wine past times is watching the screensaver slideshow of all our adventures.  The Global Cities series of paintings by Toronto artist Catherine Beaudette seem to be an artful conglomeration of urban wanderings.

Funnel, oil, 36×27

In Beaudette’s paintings, buildings, interiors, and vistas overlap one another, so that we’re never quite sure exactly where we are.  Its as if the artist is painting the most special memories of each place.. the way the light and shadows feel through a window, beautiful lines of architecture, the warmth of a spring day.

Strada, oil, 36×27

Corridor, oil, 36×27

The farther we travel from some places, the more fuzzy our memories become.  Like Beaudette’s work, we may remember the most beautiful parts of each place, taking with us only the good and happily leaving behind any darkness.

Balustrade, oil, 36×27

To see more of Catherine Beaudette’s work, please visit her website.  Mr. F & I definitely have a few places we’ve been that we’ve grown fonder of over time, thanks to good memories overshadowing the bad.  How do you keep track of your travels?  Old fashioned photo albums, post card collections?

Artist found via Sopa Fine Arts.

Ok, so I’m not really using 3D in quite the right context in that there title.  But doesn’t the whole 3D thing still seem terribly futuristic, even though every other movie these days is being made that way?  I admit, I tend to avoid 3D movies if I can.  I think it goes back to a harrowing 3D movie snake experience at Marineland as a youngin’.  Thus solidifying my dislike of snakes and my skepticism about 3D films.  But 3D printed jewelry?!  That’s a snake of a different color.  The idea that you can design an object on a computer and then print it, not on flat paper but in real, three dimensional proportions and in mediums other than paper was mind blowing! I’m just beginning to explore this world, but check out some of my favorite finds so far!

Radial Necklace I by Nervous System

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Matryoshka Earrngs by Michiel Cornelissen

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Rabbit Bracelet by Ineke Otte

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Round Stone Dangle Earrings in Multi by Half Craft Studio

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Hexagon Rays Necklace by Alissia Melka-Teichroew

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I’m kind of dying to see some 3D jewelry up close & personal now.  How about you?  Have you seen any 3D jewelry?  Do you own any?  An inquiring Artsy wants to know.  Have a fantastic weekend, Artsies!

All image sources linked above.

Having lived the first ahem, three decades, of my life in the South, I completely understand why people are drawn to it.  There is a co-mingling of worlds in the South, some owing to its sordid history, others a product of the atmosphere and the people who find themselves there.  New Mexico artist Gigi Mills, having grown up with her family in the circus on the West Coast of Florida, far from the “traditional South”, finds herself repeatedly drawn to its charms.  In her latest series, The Deep South and Other Stories, which debuted at Gallery Orange in New Orleans two weeks ago, the artist explores her attachment to a life that could have been hers.

Some Days, oil on panel, 20×16

A childhood in the circus, while filled with color, charm and adventure, doesn’t offer much in the way of stability.  For Gigi, it is that sense of permanence of place, of generations of history that leads her again and again to southern places.

Somewhere on Esplanade Interior, oil on paper, 21×24

Laundry in a Dark Landscape, oil on panel, 24×20

Interior with Baker and Cake, oil on paper, 22×25

In her work, as in many areas of the South itself, there is an enchanting sense of elegance and charisma that completely bewitches us.  But it is the complexities of this world that we find most intriguing– the secrets kept, the stories told and untold.

Lagniappe of Pearls, Conversation with Carlos, oil, 12×16

If you’d like to see more from the Deep South and Other Stories series, please visit the Gallery Orange website.  Gallery Orange also has beautiful Gigi Mills books available for purchase through their website– a lovely way to learn more about the artist and enjoy her work, even if a painting is out of reach.

All images via Gallery Orange.

As I mentioned on Monday, I am battling a doozy of a cold.  I’m on my third day of confinement and first day of being out of bed before 10am ( although I’m writing this at 10:37am and I’m ready to crawl back in ).  I’ve been consoling myself with Pinterest and guilty pleasure tv marathons on Hulu.  But the bright colors and quirky compositions of the work of San Francisco photographer Kelly Nicolaisen remind me that there is fun and life to be had on the other side of this temporary yuckiness.

Nicolaisen is an art photographer with an incredible eye for color and composition.  Each image is carefully balanced yet they still feel like the capturing of a fleeting, ordinary moment.

Just in case we’d forgotten, Nicolaisen’s imagery reminds us of the color, joy and humor to be found in this life.  We aren’t meant to live in worlds of taupes and greys.  We need and crave the bright spots.  Living in the desert has taught me that.  For it is in those moments that we remember there is still delight to be found.

To see more of Kelly Nicolaisen’s work, please visit her website.

All images via Saatchi Online.

These abstracts by Canadian artist Karen Darling are so full of contradiction– love the contrasting dark black surfaces mixed with translucent brights!  I’m featuring Karen’s work in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today, so head on over and check it out here!

Karen Darling on Escape Into Life

Image via artist’s website. 

I always remember my first visit to Seattle in the springtime.  The cherry trees were blooming in the neighborhood where Mr. Forager was living ( this was before I became Mrs. F ) and then it rained, as it is always wont to do in Seattle.  After the rain, the blossoms weren’t quite as fluffy and perfect as they’d been, but we were left with a magical blanket of pink petals dotting the sidewalks.  The wind would eventually sweep each petal into its breeze and carry it away to some unknown place.  As I look at the floral encaustics of Seattle artist Alicia Tormey, I’m reminded of the delicate strength it takes to withstand the storms.

Floral Study IV, encaustic with mixed media, 10×10

Tormey’s flowers have a wonderful, swirly diaphanous quality as translucent strands float from and around them.  In some, we see look to be veins coming through, as if these are the angels of flowers loved and pressed between book pages as a remembrance.

Fly Away, encaustic, shellac and ink on panel, 36×36

Floral Form V, encaustic, shellac and ink on panel, 24×24

Each flower almost takes on the personality of a dancer’s movements.. wild yet graceful.. controlled chaos, passionate yet maintaining an elegant line, always.

Floral Study III, encaustic with mixed media, 10×10

To see more of Alicia Tormey’s work, please visit her website.

Images via Gilman Contemporary and Chase Young Gallery.

It seems like every time we go to visit our friends in San Diego, one of us inevitably catches whatever those three cute little germ monsters AKA The James Boys are harboring.  After our return, Mr. F kept complaining of not feeling so hot and I was feeling great.. until last Thursday.  Apparently, it was my turn at the virus wheel.  We’d already planned a day of wine tasting with friends we met on our first travel assignment in the Northwest, so I popped a few Dayquil and soldiered on.  There was wine to be drunk and friends to catch up with!  But then Sunday came.

[ rare Artsy photo ]

[ southern cali is in full bloom! ]

[ made a sweet lil goat friend ]

[ sharing of stories over vino ]

[ how I spent most of Sunday ]

I felt great for most of the day on Saturday, until about ten minutes before we left the last winery.  Then I found myself barely awake for the ride home, most of the day Sunday and a good part of the morning today.  Being sick is no fun!! *cough*  Going to make myself some soup and head back to bed.  Thank God for Hulu.  Take care, Artsies!  I’ll see you on the other side of this cold.

Happy April, Artsies!  I’m excited to welcome in the month of April for many reasons, A | we finally leave the desert this month!, B | I get to celebrate one of my favorite days of the year, the day Mr. Forager was born ( never mind that my own b-day is in there, too, ugh ) and C | the celebration of a fabulous new Featured Artist!  You may remember New York artist Hooper Turner from my post featuring work from his Catalog and Fashion series n which he meticulously depicts the imagery found in luxury catalogs and fashion magazines.

#129, oil on catalog page, 12 3/4×9 7/8

#85, oil on catalog page, 10 5/8×14 3/4

In his latest body of work, Typeforms, Turner continues his fascination with fashion and found imagery, this time extending his reach into the commodified art world.  In choosing to paint letters and numbers directly onto found art auction catalog pages, the artist is perhaps speaking to the struggle of contemporary artists to find their own voice in among the masses.

#130, oil on catalog page, 12×19 1/4

#166, oil on catalog page, 10 5/8×8 1/4

Although I’ve chosen to focus on his auction catalog pages, Turner also gives found imagery of celebrities and models the same treatment.  Perhaps in doing so, he is reflecting upon the artist as celebrity and what that elevated status means for the art marketplace.

#99, oil on catalog page, 11 3/4×8 3/8

Bold and striking, whatever their message, these pieces are saying it loudly and proudly.  To see more of Hooper Turner’s work, please visit his website and be sure to stop by the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see his cover image and an album of a few of my favorite Turner pieces ( in addition to these, of course! ).