One of the things I love best about abstract painting is its ambiguity. Without the direction of an artist statement of some sort, the viewer can have no idea the artist’s source of catalyst, inspiration or proclamation. These paintings by artist Anne Sherwood Pundyk originate from a string of images and moments in the artist’s mind.
There is an incredible amount of depth and energy to each piece, almost as if the artist can’t get that string of images out of her mind and onto the canvas fast enough. But then each has a moment of rest, like a still frame shot of the motion picture moving from mind to canvas. While each piece stems from specific imagery in the artist’s imagination, the ambiguity of the abstraction means its interpretation is left entirely to the viewer. What you see is what you see.
Being out here in the Northwest versus growing up in Florida, I’ve gotten more of a sense of what it would have been like to see this wild and glorious country for the first time. It is difficult in this day to comprehend the hardship and sluggishness of that world. How it could take weeks, even months to convey the simplest of communications. In his latest series of paintings, American _Tier, Denver artist Shawn Huckins explores the juxtaposition of the artwork of the 19th century in America versus our 21st century technology-driven vocabulary.
Judging from the names they gave some of the places out here, such as Cape Disappointment and Dismal Nitch, I can imagine Lewis & Clark would have been texting WTF all over the place during their expedition. Huckins’ series surely brings to mind the evolution of language between then and now, especially in our written communications. I find it interesting to think about how people are the same as they were then, in their feelings and emotions, what has changed is in mode and frequency in which those emotions are expressed.
Every place has its own personality, just like any person. Some places are a bit dark and brooding, while others are so sunny and bright they are almost annoying.. Victoria artist Stacey Rees captures the sensual and spiritual atmosphere of her surroundings in her paintings and illustrations.
I always find it interesting to compare the feel and palette of the different places we visit. Between some, there are only minor differences, but in other spots, it feels like being in an entirely different world. And in those places, often times our personalities may absorb some of that difference, too. As in Rees’ work, in which there is a wonderful sense of not just earthly but spiritual atmosphere, we can take on not just the physicality of a place but some places get into our souls– for better or worse.
Mr. Forager & I have visited a few soul-filling places. Do you have any place you’ve visited that had a profound effect on you?
I’m a big fan of modern quilts. I love that artists and artisans are continuing a longstanding tradition yet giving it a modern spin. The ladies of Hopewell Workshop, Eliza Kenan and Claire Oswalt came together to continue the tradition of their respective families of creating artisan wares such as these quilts with a modish edge.
Just as our ancestors created quilts based on their traditions and folklore, so are the Hopewell makers creating new traditions on a contemporary foundation. Each piece a work of art. I would love to curl up under one of these or just hang it on my wall and gaze at it!
Collage as a medium has had such a resurgence in recent years, but it’s a tough undertaking to get right and create something unique and lovely. In this series of collages on book pages, Brooklyn artist Claire Oswalt creates beautiful little compositions, proving the old cliche, less is truly more.
Using watercolor sketches on torn paper, Oswalt crafts these minimalist collages using careful restraint, the result being thoughtful arrangements of shape and color. In collage, as in most everything, it is so easy to go overboard, to over think and over create. It takes an artistic confidence and discipline to be able to say so much with so little.
Things are just things, it’s true. Life is about our relationships and what we say and do, yet the objects that we live with become a part of who we are. Artist Kour Pour methodically recreates intricately patterned carpets similar to the ones he grew up with in his father’s England rug shop.
We may not take much notice of those objects that surround us each day, but they become a part of our associations and our memories. It’s why after the death of a loved one it’s so hard to go through their things, to touch those pieces of life that beloved fingers held each day, but will no more. Those objects become a part of our history, as carpets did for Pour, and when we least expect it, those associations may help bring about healing.
In love, as in life, things aren’t always neat and orderly. Emotions go awry, we find ourselves sliding down the rabbit hole of sensitivity, going from sadness to anger to regret to tenderness and back again. These large scale floral paintings by Florida artist Carmelo Blandino capture that undeniable exquisite mess that comes with loving another person.
Paint is applied thick and frenzy-like, just like the whirlwind of those first moments of falling in love, every touch, every minute together is dripping with excitement and overwhelming beauty. Then, as time goes on, we settle into a different kind of messy loveliness, the kind that knows what you look like first thing in the morning, but can’t wait to kiss you anyway. The kind that loves you through your moodiness and emotional outbursts. The kind that fights honestly and fairly and then loves you even more when it is over.
On this Valentine’s Day, I wish you the messiest sort of love, dear Artsies! If you’d like to see more gorgeous flowers by Carmelo Blandino, please visit his website.
If you’re following along on Instagram, you might have noticed a little sneak peek into something I’ve been working on lately. Since starting my #colorforaging2014 project at the beginning of the year, I’ve had more creative energy than ever. And I’ve begun taking full advantage of it. I’ve always worked in a series format ( thanks, Prof. Ladnier for creating that habit! ) and have already completed 5(!) paintings in one series while my mind is pondering, researching, contemplating the beginnings of seven more different series of work.
Early on, my above mentioned college painting prof labeled me a colorist. It’s true, I’ve always been drawn to color and color theory. I’m sure one of my first experiences with color was in admiring the fashion in my favorite curl-up-on-a-Sunday classic films. As a little girl, I imagined myself in those beautiful clothes, becoming those charismatic leading ladies. Then as a grown woman, I’ve found myself analyzing the use of color in the establishment of character– the reasoning why the film’s costume director chose that particular gown in that particular shade for that particular scene. There was a method to all that beautiful madness.
Each series of paintings I have in mind will deal with the psychology and effect of color in some way. For this first series, which I’ve tentatively titled Feminine Wiles, I’m focusing on the fashion of iconic female film characters, especially those used in scenes in which the character is capitalizing on her feminity in some way.
Each piece is a small abstract portrait of that character at the moment and how the character is defined by that particular costume choice. All that intellectual stuff plus I just love pretty dresses and pretty paint..
The first painting in the series is a study of Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. While the character’s series of elegant little black dresses is synonymous with the character, I’ve always been drawn to the pink Givenchy cocktail dress. The character wears this confection while in the midst of wooing her Brazilian millionaire would-be fiancé. She is no longer fashioned as cool and elegant, her style for Jose is warm and feminine and festive. It is such an interesting contrast to the devastation that happens later in the scene.
Through a sequence of layers in shades of grey, red, purple, pink and white in acrylic on a 6×6 inch canvas panel, I finally came to a point where I felt like I had a representation of my own interpretation of the character in that dress, in that scene.
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, The Pink Dress by Lesley Frenz
acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6
I’ve always worked on larger canvases in the past but our current vagabond lifestyle doesn’t include much room for storage of bulky canvases. I would love to translate these BIG, but for now, these little studies are proving satisfying. I can’t wait to share more of the Feminine Wiles series with you! Do you have any iconic female film characters to suggest? I have a list of possibilities, but am completely open to suggestion. I’ve been focusing on classic films, but may eventually move into contemporary characters, too. Can you tell I’m having a ball and completely obsessed with this? I hope so, because I totally am!
Art and logo by Lesley Frenz/Artsy Forager, other image sources linked above.
It seems such a shame that we hardly write letters anymore. Especially love letters. There was once a time when a couple’s main source of communication before marriage was the exchange of letters. Putting thoughts and feelings into words, on paper, give them an importance and a permanence– and something to pour over when our love is far away. But then there is something even sweeter about expressing your feelings in a non-verbal way. Brooklyn photographer Graeme Mitchell created a beautiful book of drawings and photographs for his wife-to-be, Molly, presented to her on their wedding day.
The juxtaposition of those little abstract drawings ( perhaps they are a secret short-hand? ) and tender scenes from their life together speak so much love. It’s true that it is in those small moments that our hearts swell most, the every day glimpses of a life built together with the person you love most in the world that fortify us when things get tough.
I imagine that when Mitchell’s wife Molly looks back at this collection of images, she doesn’t think of the spectacle of a wedding day, but of the constant, every moment of every day love her husband expressed without saying a word. Perhaps his gift might inspire you to find ways to express the tenderness you feel to your own loved ones.
I hope you guys are as into the lovey-doveyness as I am.. if not, maybe this will help get you into the mood come Friday! The work of this month’s featured artist, Jenny Brown, has always reminded me of old-fashioned Victorian valentines. Mr. Forager and I aren’t ones for spending lots of money on Valentine’s Day, we prefer to just take a little extra time and attention with each other. What could be more romantic than simply spending an evening absorbed in all things sensual and gooey-eye inducing?
Here are a few ideas inspired by Jenny’s artwork if you’re having a case of romance block–
listen | edith piaf. The French singer will lull you into the most deliciously romantic mood. It is impossible to not get a little weak in the knees when she sings La Vie En Rose. If you use Pandora, just create an Edith Piaf station and you’ll have mood-setting music all evening long.
read |love poems by pablo neruda. Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda’s writings are filled with intensity and longing. A little dark, maybe, but passion is rarely all goodness and light.
dine | red wine pasta. Everything is better with a little wine.. or a lot of wine! Red wine pasta is made by cooking your choice of noodle in an entire bottle of wine instead of water. The result is a surprisingly light, richly colored dish as pleasing to the eyes as it is to the tastebuds. And of course, you can always re-enact this scene.
drink | chocolate box dark chocolate shiraz Why should the noodles have all the fun? Mr. F and I found this shiraz consistently smooth and rich and velvety and yummy. We bought it all the time when we were in Florida. We’ve yet to find it in the Northwest and believe me, I’ve looked. If we do come across it, you can bet I’ll snatch up a bottle. Or ten. And the best part? Totally affordable. Come to mama.
savor |rose petal dark chocolate Roses are a lovely momento, but sinful and seductive dark chocolate covered in tea roses? Even better.
watch | persuasion There is no shortage of romantic films to put you in a lovey mood. But the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion remains one of my personal favorites. A tale of a love denied and rekindled, its many sea and sailing references are the perfect complement to Jenny Brown’s romantic sea creatures. And who could resist a love letter that includes the phrase.. “you pierce my soul”. Ah, the fire of suppressed longing in Regency-era England!
Diamonds and over-priced meals out are nothing compared to a little old-fashioned artsy inspired thoughtfulness and meaningful romance on the big V day. How are you planning to keep the home fires burning on Friday? 😉
