I’m going to kind of tell my age with this post.. I’m a child of the 80s. There, my secret is out. I remember all too well the punk movement– the mixing of Victorian-inspired lace with torn fishnets and combat boots. The latest work of Los Angeles artist Susan Carter Hall reminds me of those bad-a$$ chicks this good girl could never be, like totally.
Circus, oil on canvas, 32×36
Her soft palette and supple forms are punctuated with areas of darkness, lending a little hard-edge to what otherwise might feel overtly feminine.
Earth No. 1, oil on canvas, 24×24Bridge, oil on gessoed paper, 25×40
Those punches of black and the slash-dash expression of color make Hall’s work bodaciously rad. Ok, enough of the bad 80s lingo. Her work just rocks. Period.
Earth No. 2, oil on canvas
To see more of Susan Carter Hall’s work, please check out her website and to keep up with her latest work & shows, be sure to like her Facebook page.
Lush color and luminosity? What could be better! Head over to Escape Into Life to check out this week’s Artist Watch on New York artist Kristine Moran.
Slow Wave 2 by Kristine Moran, oil on canvas, 54×60
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager long, you’ve seen me gush about the work of this month’s Facebook Featured Artist, Christina Foard. Christina is an artist whose work is as much about her mental and spiritual journey of creating as it is about the physical result of paint on canvas.
Urban Falling, oil on board, 36×34
Each canvas is a labor of intense devotion, worked and reworked until the artist is satisfied with her destination.
Lovers Behind the Wall, oil on canvas, 24×24Grey Land, oil on canvas, 24×24
As she works the canvas, adding layer upon layer or excavating what lies beneath, the resulting textures become a large part of the story, until the composition she is longing for emerges.
Pink Wall Two, oil on canvas, 40×30
To see more of Christina Foard’s work, please visit her website and be sure to check out her album on the Artsy Forager Facebook page! If you’re near the Jacksonville, FL area, you can still catch Christina’s show with July Featured Artist Thomas Hager at the Jacksonville International Airport, but only until the end of September. She’s currently working on a special long-term collaborative project I hope to share with you once she’s ready. Stay tuned.
Our first full day in Glacier, while Mr. Forager & I were on our big camping trip this summer, we did a 15 mile hike. The longest I’d ever hiked before was around 7.5 miles. And I need new hiking boots. This combo equalled some pretty painful, ugly blisters on both my little pinkie toes. I love hiking, but I’m not a huge fan of anything that causes me physical pain. Mr. Forager was appropriately contrite and to make it up to me, a few days later let me drown my pain in pizza, huckleberry ice cream and a little artsiness in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was there that I discovered some of the most striking work I’ve seen in a while– the work of mixed media artist Monica Petty Aiello. [ Warning: Online images do not do this work justice! The richness of the colors and texture can really only be appreciated in person! 😉 ]
TheTwins at Babbar’s Edge, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 72×48
Upon first view, I was drawn to Aiello’s work for the way it reminded me of the beauty of the geological wonders we’d just begin to explore in Yellowstone. These were familiar, yet most excitingly foreign.
Many Faces of Prometheus 3, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 32×32Many Faces of Prometheus 2, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 32×32
The pieces are “actually topographical landscapes of the planets and moons within our solar system”. Not what you were expecting? Me either! Once I heard that, I could see it, but I also see other possible inspirations– such as fossils, lichen, microbiological imagery, geodes, underwater life.. the list goes on. It’s the ambiguity of these that is much of their appeal. We’re looking at a glimpse into another world, but which one?
Many Faces of Pele, acrylic, ink and fiber on panel, 28×28
To see more of Monica Petty Aiello’s work, please visit her website and the website of Diehl Gallery. What do you see in these?
When I took figure drawing in college, I recall my professor telling us that once we mastered drawing the figure realistically, that’s when the real fun begins. For once you understand the hollows and bumps of the human figure, you can then abstract your representation to your heart’s content. Savannah artist Betsy Cain’s work energetically fuses the figure with the abstract in gorgeous layers of color.
Red Yellow Love Melt, oil on canvas, 60×80
Like the work of other abstract expressionists, Cain’s work appears to be purely non-representational, but often you can detect a figure coming through the energetic fever of the canvas.
Neural Nude, oil on canvas, 54×72Nature of Not Knowing, oil on canvas, 60×60
Each work consists of layer upon layer of colorful, expressive strokes which may end in a purely abstract composition yet each gives us a glimpse into the artist’s connection between her mind, the paint and the canvas.
Nerve Flower, oil on canvas, 60×60
To see more of Betsy Cain’s work, please visit her website. If you happen to be reading from North Florida, you can check out Betsy Cain’s solo exhibition, Selections at Florida Mining in Jacksonville, opening this Friday, September 7th!
Artsiness isn’t just about the art we create or appreciate. It is the way we live, the way we treat others, how we carry ourselves. Over the course of the last year, I’ve read so much regarding how the way we chose to clothe ourselves says so much about who we are or who we are trying to be. I’m a firm believer in artsy self-expression in any form! In this new feature, Wear the Artsy, we’ll pair a piece of artwork with a piece of clothing or accessory that captures the spirit of the art.
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a weakness for saturated color mixed with bold graphics. I don’t know what it is about this combo, but I am completely unable to resist. The colorful abstract collages of Charleston, SC artist Sarah Boyts Yoder had me at hot pink.
Magenta Bun, collage on paper, 14×18
I am completely enchanged with those heavy black lines reminiscent of a child’s coloring book.. Often the lines are left partially “colored-in”, a playful nod to their childlike quality.
Bun With Yellow, collage on paper, 17×18Ear Collage 1, collage on paper, 13×16
And I love the way Boyts Yoder seems to take two disparate compositions and layers one over the other, creating a game of visual “peek-a-boo”. I want to peel back each layer to see what’s hiding underneath!
Striped Listen, collage on paper, 13×17
To see more of Sarah Boyts Yoder’s work, please visit her website. Her work can be seen in Charleston at the Michael Mitchell Gallery.
I love the way some artists are visual archaeologists. California based artist Amadea Bailey takes a journey of exploration and excavation each time she works a canvas.
In the Pink, mixed media on canvas, 53×89Out of the box, mixed media on canvas, 60×80
Like other “excavation” artists whose work I love, such as M.A. Tateishi and Christina Foard, Bailey builds her work, layer upon layer, eventually unearthing treasures as they resurface.
La Dolce Vita, oil on canvas, 38×54
Her large canvases are worlds unto themselves, images appearing out of the chaos, like mirages in the desert.
Free Fall, mixed media on canvas, 54×62The Little Prince, acrylic and oil on canvas, 62×78
To see more of Amadea Bailey’s work, please visit her website.
Spending more than a week immersed in natural beauty, away for the most part, from the pull of technology, makes for a difficult re-entry into the realm of satellites and social media. We tend to forget, while living in either world that the other exists. The abstract work of Nick Lamia reminds us that though we often think of them separately, society must coexist with the natural world in order for either to thrive.
Untitled, oil on panel, 45×48
Lamia’s juxtaposition of street map-like grids over landscape-ish scenes give us glimpses into how we integrate ourselves into nature and vice versa.
Untitled, oil on panel, 30×32Untitled, oil on canvas, 66×72
As societies, we are responsible for the care of the natural world around us. In return, that world repays us providing food, resources, enjoyment and inspiration.
Untitled, oil on canvas, 36×42
To see more of Nick Lamia’s work, please visit his website.
We’re coming upon mid-August, some kids are already heading back to school, soon it will be Labor Day and autumn will be upon us. The abstract paintings of Sofia Lacin have such an indian summer feel to them, don’t they?
Hunched Over Shoulder, oil on canvas, 36×36
Bright colors peep out among warm hues, reminding us that summer is slowly fading into Fall.
Two Moments, oil on canvas, 36×48Smile, oil on canvas, 36×48
Lacin’s expressive lines and brushstrokes remind us that the slower pace of the warmer months will soon give way to the busyness of the school season and holidays.
Through the Surface, oil and chalk on canvas, 60×60
Please visit Sofia Lacin’s website for even abstracted gorgeousness!
