artsy forager

Author: Lesley

  • Environmental Ephemera: Tim Pugh

    Environmental Ephemera: Tim Pugh

    Nature has a way of littering her surfaces with remnants of her past lives.  Whether sea shells scattered on a beach or leaves dispersed across the forest floor, she leaves us with reminders of what was.  UK installation artist Tim Pugh arranges nature’s discarded offerings like precious memories in a shadowbox.

    Woodland Floor Rearrangement, leaves, sticks, woodland debris, Biltberry Woods, Flintshire, UK

    Using what is found the enviroment around him, Pugh draws inspiration from natural patterns and textures as well as archaeology and geography.

    Winter Clusters, Hawarden Woods Deeside, Flintshire, UK
    Snowball Composition, snow, Hawarden Woods, Flintshire, UK
    Beech Burst, beech nuts and snow, Hawarden Woods, Flintshire, UK

    His installations blend so seemlessly into their environment that it would seem as if they were arranged by mother nature’s own hand.

    Beech Weave, beech leaves, Bilberry Woods, Flintshire, UK

    To see more of Tim Pugh’s work, please visit his website.  Have you ever happened upon an artistic installation in the woods?

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Social Media: Laura Hudson

    Because of the transitory nature of my life currently, many times Mr. Forager and I will purposely seek out coffee shops, art openings, and pubs merely for the opportunity to interact face to face with other people.  Baltimore based artist Laura Hudson takes such opportunities a few steps further, cultivating events in order to draw people together, observe their scenes of interaction, then distilling selected scenes as life-scale paintings.

    Laura Hudson

    Laura Hudson

     In her series “Art Opening“, the artist took images from other events which were put into life-size paintings that would serve as a framework for new interactions with viewers who then become a part of the composition simply by observing.

    Laura Hudson

    Laura Hudson

    To see more of Laura Hudson’s work, please visit her website.  She is an artist in residence at Gallery Four in Baltimore.

     Artist found via New American Paintings.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Friday Design Finds: Felt Up

    Friday Design Finds: Felt Up

    Something about this time of year makes long for warm & cozy things.  Felt played a big role in the holiday decor I grew up with, so I love seeing so many modern spins on this classic material.  Here are a few of my recent felt art finds!

    Sculptures by Andrea Graham

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    Felt Pebbles

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    Friend Felt Box with Bamboo Lid

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    You Make Me Feel Like Dancing textile art

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    Happy Friday!

  • A Day Filled with Thankfulness

    Wishing a very happy Thanksgiving to all the US Artsies and a day of blessing to everyone!  I am thankful for the inspiration found in the work of so many talented artists, the encouragement of all my artsy readers, and the opportunity to bring these two blessings together each day.

    Hope you are all enjoying an abundance of love today!

    Lullaby by Susan Melrath

    Image by November Featured Artist, Susan Melrath.  See her work on the Artsy Forager Facebook page & her website.

  • Pretending Portals: Noemie Goudal

    Pretending Portals: Noemie Goudal

    Growing up in the 70’s in a working class family, much of the time we used what we had and lots of imagination in our daily play.  My brother & I would regularly create “cars” out of cardboard boxes and I distinctly remember creating an entire make-believe floor plan out of fallen leaves.  The work of London based photographer Noemie Goudal reminds me of how easily our imaginations are transported as children.

    Passage, color photograph, 111×140 cm

    Goudal’s work recalls the magic of blanket forts and tin can telephones.  Taking us back to a time when just a shape or a line sparks our senses to conduct us into a new fantasy world filled with possibility.

    Les Amants ( Cascade ), color photograph, 168×208 cm
    Les Amants ( Jetee ), color photograph, 168×190 cm

    The artist uses simple props and imagery to create imaginative installations that seem to capture portals into a completely different world, a world that seems to leak out, blending the imagined with reality in the same magical way we did as children.

    Flood, color photograph, 111×140 cm

    To see more of Noemie Goudal’s work, please visit her website.  How did your imagination shape your own childhood play?

  • November Art Association Winner: Kaitlyn Patience!

    November Art Association Winner: Kaitlyn Patience!

    This month’s lucky Art Association winner is Kaitlyn Patience!  Erin & I loved the Kaitlyn’s associated imagery, from architectural drawings to dripping paint and sunsets.

    November Art Association Winning Board

    Kaitlyn wins a $25 print from artmuse.com!  Be sure and drop by Kaitlyn’s own fabulous art blog, isavirtue!  Stay tuned in December for a new Art Association!

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Kirsten Stolle

    Artsy on Escape Into Life: Kirsten Stolle

    Completely in awe of these quiet, seemingly simple drawings by Asheville artist Kirsten Stolle.  These unassuming little works deal in abstract ways with big issues such as climate change and genetic modification.  I’m featuring Kirsten’s work in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today– see it here!

    BAF 18, gouache, ink, graphite and collage on paper, 10×13

    Kirsten Stolle on Escape Into Life

  • The Simple Joy of Color and Light: Judy Ledgerwood

    It’s no secret that colors can have an effect on our mood.  There are certain shades that just make me happy and artwork that concentrates on the interaction of colors and their properties make my heart sing.  Chicago artist Judy Ledgerwood’s work explores the ways in which the placement of color creates graphic interplay and the illusion of light.

    Is This an Audience or..?, acrylic gouache & oil on canvas, 60×54

    Ledgerwood’s large scale works are drenched in saturated color, focusing on simple shapes and patterns.  The eye isn’t distracted by detail but can concentrate on the sheer beauty of color and shape.

    Floridita, oil on canvas, 38.1×38.1
    Tangerine Sun and Summer Sea, oil on canvas, 15×15
    Tequila Sunrise, oil on canvas, 80×96

    She uses the placement of color to play with pattern and light.  Shadows and movement emerge through the simple interaction of color.

    Garden Gate, oil on canvas, 50×60

    To see more of Judy Ledgerwood’s work, please visit her page on ArtSlant.

    Artist found via The Art Cake.  All images via ArtSlant.

  • Transforming Myths: Hung Liu

    Transforming Myths: Hung Liu

    I’ve always had a fascination with Asian cultures, especially Chinese folklore and familial traditions.  Chinese American artist Hung Liu’s work evolves from her background in socialist realism  taking traditional “mythic poses” of Chinese propoganda photography and reshaping them into visual stories of feminine strength.

    Calendar Girl, mixed media, 41×60

    The women in Liu’s paintings are not victims.  They are towers of strength, their fortitude existing not in brute force but in quiet dignity.

    Green Mountains, mixed media on panel, 41×41
    Soul Mates VII, mixed media, 13.5xx13.5

     

    Series V, mixed media, 13.5×13.5

    To see more of Hung Liu’s work, please visit her website, as well as the website of her representing gallery, Diehl Gallery, where I first discovered her work.

    All images are via the artist’s representing Jackson Hole, WY gallery, Diehl Gallery.

  • Friday Design Finds: Palette + Plate

    Friday Design Finds: Palette + Plate

    I’m a firm believer that the beauty of objects we use every day enhances our simple daily rituals.  That doesn’t mean every meal should be eaten off Royal Dalton china with fine silver, but we do eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, so why not help even the most ordinary of meals a lovely experience?  Here are some “painted” plates that would make any meal feel a bit more artsy!

    Splash Dinner Plate by Liberty London

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    Mixed Tableware by Laurens Van Wieringen

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    Andrew Ludick

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    Dipped set by Sydney Studios

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    Hmm.. wonder if we could get any of these in time for Thanksgiving next Thursday? 🙂  Happy weekend, Artsies!

    All image sources are linked under each image.