artsy forager

Category: Abstract Art

  • Twisted & Tangled: Deborah Dancy

    Twisted & Tangled: Deborah Dancy

    Sometimes, as I’m looking through my artists queue and planning which artists to feature, I have to go back and search the Artsy archives because I come across an artist whose work is so fantastic, so just up my alley, that I’m shocked I let this artist’s work sit in queue for so long.  I can’t believe I waited so long to share these gorgeous abstract paintings by artist Deborah Dancy.

    As the World Turns by Deborah Dancy
    As the World Turns, oil on canvas, 60×48
    Dancing in the Dark by Deborah Dancy
    Dancing in the Dark, oil on canvas, 60×60

    Dancy spins a web of layered painterly texture, light, shadow and intricately concocted yet wonderfully spontaneous cages of line.  My eye gets caught up in each tangled maze of paint, getting utterly lost and never wanting to come back.

    The Object of My Affection by Deborah Dancy
    The Object of My Affection, oil on canvas, 46×46
    Stormy Weather by Deborah Dancy
    Stormy Weather, oil on canvas, 30×30

    And have I mentioned the palette?  Warm rusty desert tones contrast with pale cotton candy pastels, keeping things fresh and light.

    Gates of Paradise by Deborah Dancy
    Gates of Paradise, oil on canvas, 60×48

    Want to see more of Deborah Dancy’s work?  Of course you do.  Check out her website.

    All images via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Sears Peyton Gallery.

     

  • Sophisticated Swag: Alex Brewer

    Sophisticated Swag: Alex Brewer

    You’ve more than likely seen this artist’s work.  His painted church in DC was all over the interwebs last year.  But artist Alex Brewer aka Hense, does more than just create amazing ecclesiastical transformations.  Brewer takes elements of the style he honed as a graffiti artist and applies it to canvas and paper, resulting in abstractions that are sophisticated with a bit of swag.

    Mural by Alex Brewer
    Mural, acrylic, ink, aerosol, graphite and oil bar on canvas, 58×58

    Brewer takes those quick gestures and gritty scribbles from his street art background and translates them into layered, slightly rowdy compositions.  Full of riotous color and the spontaneity of street painting, these pieces seem like screen captures of fleeting moments in paint.

    Day Two by Alex Brewer
    Day Two, acrylic, house paint, ink and spray paint on wood, 42×48
    Rearrange by Alex Brewer
    Rearrange, acrylic, aerosol and latex house paint on wood, 72×72
    Red Painting by Alex Brewer
    Red Painting, acrylic, spray paint, ink and house paint on wood, 42×48

    The layers of paint interlace with each other, so that we aren’t sure where one layer begins and the next one ends, like one artist’s graffiti slightly covered by the next to come along.

    Untitled Blue by Alex Brewer
    Untitled Blue

    Want to see more work by Alex Brewer?  Check out his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

     

  • Color Harvest: The Deep Blue Sea

    Color Harvest: The Deep Blue Sea

    Maybe it’s finally living in a place surrounded by water after living in the desert last year, but I have been finding such inspiration in the various hues of blue to be found in the waters around Seattle!  So many gorgeous shades from the deepest, darkest blue to green aquas, I just want to plunge right in and see what mysteries await!

    IMG_1114It’s only natural that this blue obsession is trickling over into the artwork I’m foraging on my Pinterest boards.. here’s a little deep blue sea inspiration to get your own seas churning!

    Color Harvest_Deep Blue Sea

     

    [ clockwise, from top left: Elena Kalis |  John Armleder | Miranda Lake | Emily Ferretti studio | Michal Fargo | Jennifer JL Jones

    What colors are inspiring you this summer?

    All image credits linked above.

     

     

  • Paper Cuts: Atelier Bingo

    Paper Cuts: Atelier Bingo

    I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with collage.  My first college art professor loved collage and it figured heavily in her basic drawing classes.  At the time, I found the cutting, arranging, and pasting pretty tedious.  I was more of a thrown some paint around a canvas kind of art student.. but I did love how flexible a collage composition could be.  In their work, French artistic duo Max and Adele of Atelier Bingo utilize collage, gouache, ink, screen print AND digital media to create abstract compositions as expressive as any painting.

    Atelier Bingo

    ..

    Atelier Bingo
    The flattened panes of bright color immediately reminded me of the famed collages of Henri Matisse— his Blue Nude remains one of my all time favorite pieces of art, ever.  The layering of such simplistic shapes assists our eyes in completing the composition.  No details are needed– we are allowed to fill in the blanks– but only by choice.

    Atelier Bingo

    Atelier Bingo
    The flat planes of color are mixed playfully with pattern, keeping our eyes moving across the plane and helping us to add to the story our eyes are concocting along the way.

    Atelier Bingo

    Want to see more work from Atelier Bingo?  Of course you do!  Check out their website, Tumblr and Facebook page.

    All images via the artists’ website.  Artist found via It’s Nice That.

  • Sophisticated Sketching: Paz Lopez

    Sophisticated Sketching: Paz Lopez

    While I appreciate masterfully drafted, detailed drawing as much as the next artsy, what really gets my heart pumpin’ is a looser, more child-like style.  So the work of Spanish artist Paz Lopez immediately caught my eye when I spotted it on the Anthology Magazine blog!

    Venir 2 by Paz Lopez
    Venir 2, mixed media on paper, 40×40 cm

    These quick, sketchy mixed media pieces have the feeling of those frenetic, emotion filled pieces of artwork we created as we tore through a stack of drawing paper as children. ( Tell me I wasn’t the only child who did that! )

    Ladra by Paz Lopez
    Ladra, mixed media on paper, 40×40 cm
    Carta by Paz Lopez
    Carta, mixed media on paper, 40×40 cm

    Yet compositionally, these are so much more than child-like sketches.  Lopez’s use of color and texture perfectly balance the lines and text, the elements fitting onto the page just so.

    Untitled by Paz Lopez
    Untitled, mixed media on paper

    To see more of Paz Lopez’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

  • Sweet Geometry: Esther Stewart

    Sweet Geometry: Esther Stewart

    You guys know I love crazy, messy, expressionist paintings.  I mean who doesn’t respond piles of texture and frenetic brushstrokes?  But then sometimes I surprise myself and fall head over heels for work that is full of clean,simple, straight-lined shapes.  Australian artist Esther Stewart masterfully intersects simple forms, a warm palette, and interesting compositions to create softly beautiful geometric paintings.

    Backwards Barbie by Esther Stewart
    Backwards Barbie, 60×90 cm

    Stewart’s use of intersecting lines lend a landscape-ish air to her compositions, while the palette keeps the overall feel of each work dreamy and supple.  It’s almost as if we are gazing at vistas made of ice cream..

    Made of Stone by Esther Stewart
    Made of Stone, 60×90 cm
    Just the Way I Am by Esther Stewart
    Just the Way I Am, 60×90 cm

    The way Stewart seems to break down her compositions into such elemental shapes inspires me to see the world in a much more simple manner.  Every space is made up of the same repeating shapes, we just have to figure out how those forms fit together.  There’s a bit of a life lesson in there, to be sure.  All of our lives are made up of essentially the same components– it’s how we fit those pieces together that make our existence our own.

    Nickels and Dimes by Esther Stewart
    Nickels and Dimes, 60×90 cm

    Esther Stewart has more amazing work on her website, be sure to check it out.  Thank you to The Design Files for the introduction to this artist– so many talented Aussies!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

     

  • June Featured Artist: Deann Hebert

    June Featured Artist: Deann Hebert

    Holy cow, where did May go?!  I know we still have several hours before June begins, but we’ll be out hiking tomorrow, so thought I’d give you a little artsy Saturday treat.  For Mr. Forager & I, May was a whirlwind of traveling to Seattle, frantically searching for an apartment, moving in, buying furniture, job searching for moi and just generally getting settled into our new life here.  What’s been keeping me sane this past month?  Spying new work from artists I love around the interwebs.  This month’s Featured Artist Deann Hebert has been on a roll lately, spicing things up with bolder color and looser compositions.  And I’m lovin’ it all!

    Hebert_Get Your color On I_mixed media on canvas_36x36
    Get Your Color On I, mixed media on canvas, 36×36

    You might remember Deann’s work from the City Mouse | Country Mouse show in the found gallery recently.. D was the Country Mouse.  Being a country gal, Deann paints the rusticity and warmth she is surrounded by each day.  Yet these aren’t your grandma’s chicken paintings.  This artist is giving country the modern treatment.  She’s totally Faith Hill-ing it.

    Seagrove, mixed media on canvas, 30x30
    Seagrove, mixed media on canvas, 30×30
    Hebert_Rustic Restored_mixed media on canvas_36x48
    Rustic Restored, mixed media on canvas, 36×48

    The latest work coming out of Deann’s studio is just a bit bolder, a bit more free.  She’s getting comfortable and coming into her own as an artist and it is truly a joy to watch!

    Get Your Color On 2, mixed media on canvas, 36x36
    Get Your Color On 2, mixed media on canvas, 36×36

    Want to see more of Deann Hebert’s work?  Check out her website and Facebook page!  And don’t forget to stop by the Artsy Forager page while you’re on Facebook to see some of my personal faves from Ms D.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

  • Karina Noel Hean

    Karina Noel Hean

    The other day, Mr. F & I were listening to Rick Steves on NPR as he interviewed a woman who, when she entered places in Scotland where her ancestors had dwelt, she felt like she knew the buildings intimately– even going so far as to identify rooms that were not open to the public.  Have you ever experienced that degree of deja vu?  I can’t say that I have, but I can certainly relate to arriving in a place and feeling as if you’ve known it all your life.  In her Field Notes series, Santa Fe artist Karina Noel Hean draws in collage what that experience might be like.

    Noel Hean_Field Notes XXI
    Field Notes XXI, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11

    In these abstracted, dream-like landscapes, what we see are glimpses of places, fragments of details that our minds may be remembering.  Whether it be from this lifetime or somewhere buried in our ancestry ( or past lifetime, if you believe in that sort of thing ), the artist is conjuring up a visual representation of what those perceived memories may be like.

    Noel Hean_Field Notes XV_mixed media on vellum_11x17
    Field Notes XV, mixed media on vellum, 17×11
    Noel Hean_Field Notes XVI_mixed media on vellum_11x17
    Field Notes XVI, mixed media on vellum, 17×11

    Shapes collide, morph, twist and turn around and upon each other.  They feel like landscapes from another world and in a sense, they are.

    Noel Hean_Field Notes XX
    Field Notes XX, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11

    To see more of Karina Noel Hean’s work, please check out her website here.  How about you?  Where have you been that felt like you’d been there before?

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • The Lovely Randoms: Landon Metz

    The Lovely Randoms: Landon Metz

    I love the surprise of a random find.  Whether it’s wonderfully creative and delicious food out of a tiny, tucked away dive or as simple as a pink flower growing amongst the rocks.  New York artist Landon Metz creates work that is simple and arbitrarily lovely.

    Metz_Varying Degrees of Absurdity (V)_dye and canvas_50x62.5
    Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( V ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5
    Metz_Varying Degrees of Absurdity (II)_dye and canvas_50x62.5
    Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( II ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

    The artist composes loose, casual compositions, in a subtle mostly pastel palette, punctuated by forms in dark hues of midnight blue and mossy greens.  The shapes recall pieces of torn and scattered paper, their edges appearing to be weathered and worn.

    Metz_Varying Degrees of Absurdity (III)_dye and canvas_50x62.5
    Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( III ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5
    Metz_Varying Degrees of Absurdity (I)_dye and canvas_50x62.5
    Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( I ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

    While our eye might at first perceive the compositions as accidental, we soon grow to see that each shape has been carefully and thoughtfully placed.  The result is work that gives the viewer a feeling of both freedom and balance.

    Metz_Varying Degrees of Absurdity (IV)_dye and canvas_50x62.5
    Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( IV ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5

    Want to see more lovely randoms from Landon Metz?  Please visit the artist’s website here.

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • The Pleasure of the Journey: Charlotte Foust

    The Pleasure of the Journey: Charlotte Foust

    Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”  Do you think the same is true of a piece of artwork?  We place so much value in the end result, the “finished” painting, sculpture, or photograph, that sometimes we spend little time thinking about the pilgrimage the artist undertakes to get there.  Abstract painter Charlotte Foust finds delight in each mark making expedition upon which she embarks, each painting becoming a travel journal of her creative adventure.

    Untitled
    Untitled
    Summer's Day
    Summer’s Day

    Our vagabondish life has afforded us some pretty incredible adventures.  We’ve lived in the mountains, the desert, and in the city.  Every voyage to the next destination has brought us new discoveries and places to remember.  Foust uses the strokes she makes with paint, graphite and collage to mark a part of the journey of her creative process.  In finding her way through the work, she is discovering the painting that longs to be found.

    Foust_Untitled2
    Untitled
    Untitled
    Untitled

    As she explores, she invites us along for the ride.  We can the breadcrumbs of her expedition in each brushstroke and are happily taken to our final destination.

    To see more of Charlotte Foust’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.