artsy forager

Author: Lesley

  • Conscious Collective: Casey McGlynn

    Conscious Collective: Casey McGlynn

    Things we experience in childhood have such a powerful impact on the people we become.  They are the memories, good and bad, which come back to us again and again.  Ontario artist Casey McGlynn’s work recalls recurring symbols from his childhood and life, symbols that many of our own lives share.

    How 2 Do Snake Graffiti on Water Tower, mixed media on canvas, 36×36 ( via Foster/White Gallery )

    I first saw Casey’s work at Foster/ White in Seattle, where he was exhibiting alongside Rachel Denny.  His work is striking from afar, but the elements in each work are what really drew me in and caused me to closely examine each one.

    We Thought We Were Going to Space, mixed media on canvas, 42×48 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver )

    His canvases are filled with symbols of formative memories and experiences throughout his life.  You’ll see repeating pictographs recalling influences and events– like the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion and blues musician Robert Johnson, along with even more personal memories like the artist’s pregnant wife.

    20 Lucky Horses, mixed media on canvas, 60×48 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery )

    The work is autobiographical, but remains accessible and universally appealing.  I found myself pouring over the canvases and thinking– “Yes!  I remember where I was when the shuttle went down.. yes! I know what it’s like to gather coins for the laundromat.

    Bird Found, mixed media on canvas, 48×48 ( via Foster/White Gallery )
    Coin Laundry, mixed media on canvas, 48×40 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery )

    His primitive drawing style adds to the power of these visual memories, works created by the child within the man acknowledging where he’s been and how he arrived at where he is.  To see more of Casey McGlynn’s work, please visit his Facebook page and his representing galleries, Foster/ White in Seattle, Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, BC and Artistic Spirit Gallery in Charleston, SC.

    Featured image is Coin Laundry, mixed media on canvas, 48×40.  All images are via the artist’s representing galleries, linked above.

  • Friday Faves: Water, Water Everywhere

    Friday Faves: Water, Water Everywhere

    .. and not a drop to swim in.  Well, without a wetsuit, at least here in Northern Idaho.  What is it about the water that calls to us, calms our senses, rejeuvenates?  These photographers might have a clue, as they’ve answered water’s siren song..

    Philippe Cheng
    Mertxe Alarcon
    Tulum by Neil Krug
    Wave Study I by Thomas Hager

    Philippe Cheng | Mertxe Alarcon | Neil Krug | Thomas Hager 

    To see more work from these artists, please visit their websites linked above.  Happy weekend, Artsies!

    All images are via the artists websites.

  • Translucent Revelations: Christina Bothwell

    Translucent Revelations: Christina Bothwell

    With the increasing sophistication of technology, we have become more and more aware of the realities of what was once mysterious.  We know what the inside of our bodies look like, it’s even possible to see an unborn baby in 3-dimensional form.  We can know what our children will look like before they ever take their first breath.  Yet, what remains to be revealed is their personality.  How they will evolve spiritually and emotionally remains a mystery.  Sculptor Christina Bothwell‘s figures illustrate for us the metamorphosis of our beings, our deliverance into who we are become.

    Deer Girl, cast glass, raku, clay, antlers, and oil paints, 28x27x11

    In her cast glass sculptures, Bothwell incorporates figures within figures.  We see smaller figures nestled into the glass, most often in the shape of a newborn.

    Octopus, cast glass, raku clay and oil paint, 48x23x23

    From the artist: “I think of these pieces as souls, each being pregnant with their own potential, giving birth to new, improved versions of themselves.”

    Hair, cast glass, raku clay and oil paints, 10x31x8

    As long as we are breathing, we are constantly evolving, hopefully into a better version of ourselves.  Wouldn’t it be fantastic to know that at the end of your life, you had become your most strong, your most loving, your most compassionate, the very best version of you?

    Centaur, cast glass, raku clay, oil and found objects, 21x21x11
    Phoenix, cast glass, raku fired clay, oil paints and wood, 33x60x21

    Bothwell’s work shows us, not the end result, but the transformation.  We see the adaptation and evolution of the spirit as translated into the material.  To see more of Christina Bothwell’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Dawn, cast glass, ceramic, wood and oil paint, 38x10x7.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Art to Inspiration: Jo Howe

    Art to Inspiration: Jo Howe

    Wow.  Has another month really gone by already?  It’s Art to Inspiration time again!  This month’s inspiration, Echoes of Fragrant Voices by Jo Howe inspires me on so many levels.  Her sculptures, created from book pages ( love level one- check! ) are full of beautiful shapes ( two- check! ), soft color ( three- check! ), rhythm ( four- check! ) and gorgeous texture ( that makes five- check! ).  Just as with Pakayla Biehn’s work last month, Jo’s work inspired me to create a gallery of varied complementary works, each of which shares characteristics reminiscent of Jo’s work.

    The inspiration:

    Echoes of Fragrant Voices by Jo Howe

    The gallery:

    Pendant by Erik Gonzales, mixed media on panel, 60×60
    Half Hickory by Virginia Petty
    Core III by Joe Segal, wood and paint, 54×9
    Trophy by Brenda Mallory, cloth, wax, welded steel, 20x20x13
    Mercury by Karen Margolis, watercolor, gouache, graphie, thread on Abaca paper, 11×14
    Expansion by Haley Farthing, pastel on wood, 48×24
    Relic by Jay Heryet, box elder, 200mm diameter

    Jo Howe

    Erik Gonzales | Virginia Petty | Joe Segal | Brenda Mallory | Karen Margolis | Haley Farthing | Jay Heryet 

    Visit the artists’ websites, linked above, for more inspiration!

    You can find more information on Art to Inspiration here and if you would like to participate in the next Art to Inspiration, just fill out this form! Follow me and all the other Art to Inspiration bloggers on Twitter by subscribing here.  Let the inspiring begin! 
    All images are via the artists’ websites unless otherwise noted.
  • Primal Expression: Brenda Hope Zappitell

    Primal Expression: Brenda Hope Zappitell

    Anyone who knows me knows that I’m far from a wild child.  I tend to be calm, controlled, even-tempered.  Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to abstract expressionist work like a moth to a flame.  And the work of Delray Beach artist Brenda Hope Zappitell is a fire this little moth can’t resist!

    In Search of Sunrise II, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 42×42

    In her work, Zappitell “surrenders control to the paint, the brush and a visceral process of creative discovery” [sic].  She works spontaneously and rapidly, following the paint as it dances across the canvas.

    In Search of Sunrise I, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 42×42

    Taking her inspiration from the energy of nature, her palette builds from light, delicate tints to saturated rapid-fire strokes of bold color.

    A Matter of Perception, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 48×48

    Squiggles and strokes that could almost be graffiti-like still retain their softness, like a flourishing garden in the middle of an urban metropolis.

    Embracing Uncertainty II, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 30×36
    Reverie I, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 48×48

    To see more of Brenda Hope Zappitell’s work, please visit her website.  You can see her work in person at several galleries across the US– be sure to check her website to see if there is one near you!

    Featured image is Translation, acrylic with cold wax on panel, 60×30.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Dwayne Butcher

    Sometimes the simplest work can be the most powerful.  I’m really drawn to these graphic, color-blocked paintings by Dwayne Butcher that I’ve posted over on Escape Into Life today.  Go check ’em out!

    I Got No Use for Trouble, acrylic on canvas, 18×16

    Dwayne Butcher on Escape Into Life

  • Precious Specimens: Carly Waito

    Precious Specimens: Carly Waito

    So often, when we see gems & minerals, it is rarely in their natural state.  After they’ve been cut and polished and set, they seem to lose some of their inherent beauty and mystery.  Toronto artist Carly Waito pays homage to these multi-faceted marvels in her small, exquisitely detailed paintings.

    Dioptase, oil on masonite, 10×9

    Waito uses macrophotography to record the color and intricacies of each cluster, which she then translates into oil.

    Flourite 2, oil on masonite, 10×12

    Through a process of layering, she captures in paint the amazing depth and prismatic qualities that give gems their luster and appeal.  By isolating the minerals in their natural state, Waito celebrates their innate beauty.

    Amethyst 6, oil on masonite, 8×9

    The visual textures in these small works are simply stunning.  And by keeping the works small, Waito invites us in to look closer and really examine the tiny details that make each gem so precious.

    Pyrite 2, oil on panel, 10×10
    Smoky Quartz 5, oil on masonite, 12×11

    To see more of Carly Waito’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via The Art Stormer.

    Featured image is Flourite 2, oil on masonite, 10×12.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • May’s Facebook Featured Artist Is..

    .. head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to find out!

  • Flourishing Decay: Vincent Bakkum

    Flourishing Decay: Vincent Bakkum

    As soon as we are born, we begin to die.  That may be a gloomy thought, but we begin the circle of life at birth and it seems, now more than ever, we fight as hard as we can against the inevitability of age and the ravages of time.  Helskinki artist Vincent Bakkuum’s paintings confront us with the transitory nature of our very being.

    Teen Joy

    Using images of vintage-y shoes, skulls and dead birds juxtaposed with beautifully blooming flowers, Bakkum reminds us that what once was young and vibrant eventually will be no more.

    Black Shoes and Pink Flowers

    Just as the bird that falls from the sky, so will we also cease to fly.  Our vanity compels us to continue to adorn what is already beautiful, our very bodies that give us life.

    Dead Parakeets

    Bakkum’s work reminds us of the inherent beauty to be found in flora and fruit, their beauty and bounty inspires and nourishes us.  They are created as we are created and will return to the dust just as we will.

    Sheep Skull
    Pink Shoes

    To see more of Vincent Bakkum’s work, please visit his website.

    Featured image is Biological Cream by Vincent Bakkum.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Steve Williams in Sustainotopia

    Steve Williams in Sustainotopia

    I hope you guys have wandered over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to check out this month’s Featured Artist, Steve Williams!  It’s been so much fun sharing Steve’s work with you over the month of April.  With the Month of Steve is coming to a close, I wanted to share with you a few new pieces from the irrepressible Mr. Williams.

    Cap Tossing Over the Wall of Space

    These latest works were created for the Sustainotopia conference, which happened in Miami this week.  Sustainotopia is “an impact conference that encourages people to really consider how social relationships between investing, finances, and environmental sustainability can become more collaborative, creating a global community that benefits economically from doing what is, essentially, the right thing.”

    A Slender Acquaintance With the World
    National Soil Destruction Leading to Self Implosion

    You can read more about Sustainotopia on their website ( and make plans to attend next year! ) and read about Steve’s thoughts on living an impactful life on his blog, Making Cheddar.  And if you’re new here or haven’t already done it, be sure to check out Steve’s website!