Sometimes the art world, including myself and this blog, can take themselves just a wee bit too seriously. We agonize over what we want to SAY with our work, it just has to mean something deep and intellectual and philosophical, doesn’t it? Or does it?? What’s that you say? Some artists create just because its fun? You’re telling me this is supposed to be fun? All kidding aside, I do love it when I discover an artist who is creating just for the sheer joy and experimentation of it. In her own words, Portland artist Mana Morimoto states “I simply love making thread beams come out of people’s eyes!“
As it does for so many of us, the act of creating began as therapy for Morimoto, and the joy she found in what she discovered to be a talent is evident in the humor seen in each piece. I wrote a bit last week about art as catharsis and I do believe for myself and so many others, it does provide a non-verbal way of working out what’s going on inside our heads. Or sometimes, it simply provides our minds, hands, and spirits with enough of an enjoyable distraction to put things into perspective.
I don’t wear much pink, I’ve never decorated with it much, but it seems to have some strange kind of power over me ( see blog logo & graphics! ). I find the shade completely irresistible in artwork, and in, well, pretty much everything, about this time every year. I’m going to blame it on succumbing to mass advertising! Ha. You must admit, it is a lovely shade, this shade of love. The color of lips and roses and sunsets, it isn’t any wonder we find it so gosh darn romantic.
image by artsy forager
Here’s a little round up of a few rose-colored favorites from around my Pinterest boards lately..
For some artists, the end product is the goal, but for others, the process of creating, pushing the limits of medium and where that journey takes them is more the target. In his work, Portland artist Justyn Hegreberg explores the reaction of paint against glitter, plastic against canvas.
Given their diminutive size, most being around 5×7 inches, there is a playfulness about these pieces that make them seem like small and lively test samples for a larger project. Which is a huge part of their charm. If they were to be enlarged, these pieces would lose some of their frivolity, gaining in return something labored. It’s that experimental aspect of each piece that is so pleasing– you can almost see him working out the juxtapositions.. so what if I extend the raw canvas here, how about some yellow there?
How about you, Artsies? Are you a final result type of artist or is the process where your joy is found? If you’d like to see more of Justyn Hegreberg‘s work, please check out his website.
Do you truly remember what it was like to be a completely innocent child? Free from guile and not yet succumbed to the pressures of the adult world? For so many, that innocence is taken away at a younger and younger age. This series of photographs by French artist Isabelle Chapuis illustrates the striking juxtaposition between the push and pull of childhood innocence and the lurking aggression of adulthood beneath the surface.
When left to their own devices and free from outside pressure, kids will be kids. All they want to do is play games, eat candy, enjoy and revel in a world without responsibility. But in so many cultures, including our own, children are being raised with the expectation of becoming tiny versions of the adults by whom they are surrounded. The overachieving mom expects her daughter to excel in every way, the young boy growing up around gang culture finds it hard to buck against those influences.
There is a sadness about these photographs, even when the boy is taking a more “aggressive” stance, it seems to be a putting on of an act– there is a true feeling of reluctance and hesitation in each photo. He seems to be a boy who is being coerced into a world in which he doesn’t belong, a child who only wants to enjoy the sweetness of life while it is still possible to do so. Adulthood comes calling soon enough, unfortunately sooner for some than others.
Occasionally, Mr. F will wake up and unknowingly be mad at me for something I did in one of his dreams. It’s only after being awake for a bit that he realizes that what he is remembering never actually took place. Just last night, I had a similar dream about him and had to stop myself from carrying those feeling on into our day. Funny how much what happens while we’re sleeping can affect us, isn’t it? These paintings by Kristen Schiele remind me of what my subconscious must be like– not orderly and sensible, but filled with hints and tokens of seemingly unrelated moments.
These pieces are dream-like in their mash-up of elements, jumping from here to there just as our subconscious does in slumber. I often awake wondering– where did that come from?? Sometimes it seems like we’re trying to work out our waking life in our dreams, or perhaps the past comes back more vividly when we aren’t consciously trying to resurrect it.
To see more of Kristen Schiele‘s work, please visit her website. Have a fabulous weekend, Artsies! I’m looking forward to lots of dream-time!
A while back I wrote about the work of Wendy McWilliams and how to me, much of her work illustrates the glimpses of light and color that give us hope in the dark. We are now well into winter and if you happen to be living in the Northeast, you may be wondering if you will ever see blue skies, flowers and unfrozen ground. February has always seemed to be winter’s last cold blow, preparing us for March and the beginning of our transition into spring. But maybe you can’t wait for March and need to put a little spring into your dark winter days! This painting by McWilliams reminded me that even in the midst of the coldest, darkest winter, we can still embrace the spring in our souls.
I love how the Tapestry Necklace brings together the dark and light of McWilliams’ painting, the colors echoing the painting and the inspiration, as well as mimicking the beautiful messiness of the brushstrokes. Perfect for a shot of color and would keep your neck warm while it’s still freezing outside!
To see more of Wendy McWilliams’ work, please visit her website and to see more fiber art necklaces like these ( I want one! So many gorgeous choices! ) check out the You Made That shop on Etsy.
OK, I admit it. I like fashion and all its trappings as much as the next girl. But there is something that doing this traveling thing is teaching me– how to not just live with less, but to desire less. I found these collages by Jonni Cheatwood, acrylic and mixed media applied to the pages of a Neiman Marcus catalog to call attention to our need to chase the latest trend.
As a single girl, I was definitely a bit of a fashionista. Always a bargain shopper, I didn’t spend massive amounts of money, but being single, I had a lot of time to spend hunting down just the right pair of boots or the latest jacket cut. But when we prepared to embark across the country and begin traveling, I had to pare down like crazy and then before we left Seattle, I had to purge even more ( everything we live with right now fits in the back of our car ) and it was painful. Clothes had been such a crutch for me– you see, when I was young, I knew what it felt like to be the girl in class in the hand-me-down clothes, the girl who only got one new outfit for the first day of school, not an entirely new, on-trend wardrobe. So when I was an adult and earning my own way, fashion wasn’t just an indulgence for me, it was a way to get past the feeling of being the girl with the holes in her shoes.
We still find we need to pare down just a touch more, so more purging is occurring. What I’m learning through this process is that there are certain items of clothing I own that I love, not because they are in keeping with the latest trends, but because I love the way they fit, the way the clothes look on me and, most importantly, how I feel in them. Paring down to just what I love is a perfect way to ensure that every piece of clothing is worn and that I feel beautiful and special in everything in my closet. Shopping is hard to resist still, but when I do indulge, it is for something that I know I’ll love and feel good in for years to come. And with the paring down, it has to replace at least one ( preferably two! ) things already in my closet. Not as much thought goes into choosing an outfit for the day, freeing my mind to concentrate on other things and cultivate new, more important ideas. When you chase trends, fashion changes so much, you’re constantly feeding the need for the latest thing. I’d rather fill my life with things that aren’t so easily replaceable.
How about you, Artsies? Are any of you recovering fashion-addicts? How did you overcome?
Once upon a time, wood paneling was the epitome of dated and dreary. Think back to that 70s basement.. yikes! But wooden wall treatments are seeing a resurgence lately and they are coming back stronger and more artful than ever! You may love the look of these modern paneling interpretations, but not sure how to incorporate art on wood walls? There are as many ways to style a wood paneled room as their are trees in the forest. Since painting over wood gives you basically the same canvas as a painted wall and I like a challenge, we’re going to focus on art on wood walls with a more natural finish/stain.
Here are just a few ways you can go–
1 | beachy keen, jelly bean. Lightly stained or pickled wood lends the perfect bleached out style to a coastal setting. If your taste in art tends toward a pastel palette, keep the softness and natural calm going. Pieces like these by Leora Armstrong with a strong horizontal vibe recall that perfect spot where the sky meets the sea.
2 | mid-century glam it up. Love Mad Men? Live for Saturday afternoons spent combing vintage shops and thrift stores for Mid-Century treasures? Secretly want to wear a pencil skirt and heels while serving cocktails? Large cut wood panels in a uniform stain are the ideal backdrop for some MCM goodness. Abstract artwork in earthy tones complete a room Don Draper would be proud of.
3 | cozy up to modern warmth. Sometimes the elements we love about modern spaces, like concrete floors and soaring ceilings, can lead to a less than inviting atmosphere. But juxtapose warmly stained wood walls against those details and it’s like cozying up to a warm fire. Artwork with lots of texture as well as pops of color and pattern add to the warming effect.
4 | elevate to rustic elegance. Pickled wood walls can be taken in so many directions. Their greyed-out tone makes them ultra versatile. In Jackie Aster’s NYC apartment, as featured in Elle Decor, the wood walls add just a hint of neutral texture and ground the formal finishes with just the right amount of rusticity. A Damien Hirst etching adds a bit of playfulness turning what could have been an uptight room into space filled with snuggly joie de vivre.
Do you live with art on wood walls? How is it working for you? Or maybe this inspired you to embrace that wood paneling you used to hate! Work with the grain, not against it. 😉
All images are linked above. Want to see more in the Artsy Dwelling series? Check out the archives here.
Not that long ago, women were valued for not just their beauty, but their “accomplishments”. That term didn’t refer to earning a promotion or college degree at the time, but showing a capacity for a certain “womanly” skill set– things such as singing, playing music, dancing and embroidery– all thought to be the types of talents needed to be a successful hostess and therefore, appropriate for marriage. In her Samplers series, New York artist Clare Grill deconstructs these antiquated notions by reinterpreting and deconstructing embroidery samplers in paint.
Painting would have also been listed under the merits of “accomplishment”, a coincidence not lost on me or I’m sure on the artist. Samplers were originally just that– quick samples of stitches a needlewoman saw and admired. Then, as time went on, they became examples of proficiency and skill at needlework, a talent valued across the classes, though certainly more necessary for the lower.
Grill’s paintings retain some of the original sampler designs– the decorative borders, the notation of name, date and age. Yet I find it interesting in the way that these painted samplers are done in a much more abstract and naive style. Perhaps a nod to the exclusion of these girls and women from achieving more meaningful and intellectual pursuits.
Mr. F & I have recently established a democratic movie-night selection system. It goes something like this, His, Hers, Ours. We love a well done documentary and after the last two disturbing political picks by Mr. F ( Dirty Wars & The Act of Killing ), it was time for a joint movie night selection. Documentary for Mr. F + art-related story for me, we settled on Cutie and the Boxer. Win win. The Sundance Film Festival winner follows the story of the 40 year marriage between famed “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara and his artist wife Noriko.
Ushio Shinohara came to notoriety as an artist in Tokyo in the 60s, eventually leaving Japan for New York, where he was a relatively unknown working artist and met Noriko, then an art student around twenty years his junior. Not long after meeting and falling in love, Noriko became pregnant with their son, Alex. She would spend the next forty years raising Alex and taking care of Ushio, a temperamental alcoholic ( who is now sober ).
There are obvious parallels between the relationship of Ushio & Noriko and that of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner— the boisterous, alcoholic artist husband overshadowing his artist wife and caretaker. But in Ushio & Noriko’s story, the long-suffering wife regains her artistic identity not with the death of her husband, but by taking it back for herself.
I do wonder if, had Pollock lived and gotten the treatment he needed, whether that couple’s story would have had a similar ending– the tortured artist finding health and peace while his wife finally comes out from behind her husband’s shadow to find her own voice. Krasner, of course, would eventually gain her own well deserved notoriety but only many years following Pollock’s death.
We love documentaries for all the questions they bring forth, leading to great conversations between Mr. F & I, usually over coffee the next morning. Cutie and The Boxer led to questions like Is there truth to the stereotype of the tortured artist?Why do so many female artists end up putting their own work on hold while caring for husband and family? Was that a generational thing or is it still happening today? Is all art cathartic for the artist in some way? What say you, Artsies? Would love to hear your thoughts on these questions and the film, if you’ve seen it!
