artsy forager

Category: Abstract Art

  • Spontaneity of Expression: Elizabeth Schuppe

    Spontaneity of Expression: Elizabeth Schuppe

    Sometimes, there is just nothing I love better than staring at a painting thick with color, line and texture.  The work of Brooklyn artist Elizabeth Schuppe‘s abstract work practically sings with spontaneous marks, expressive color and light.

    Take Three, acrylic on canvas, 70×65

    True to the Abstract Expressionist style, Schuppe works intuitively, without a forethought plan, allowing the placement of color and line to speak to her, directing the brush in her hand.

    Hard Hearted II, acrylic on canvas, 44x 46
    Hard Hearted IV, acrylic on canvas, 44×46

    Each painting tells a story created from the artist’s emotional expression, yet in their abstract nature, we are still able to interpret their story in our own fashion.

    Pearls on Five, acrylic on canvas, 70×65

    To see more of Elizabeth Schuppe’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Candied Graffiti: Line Juhl Hansen

    Candied Graffiti: Line Juhl Hansen

    I have a weakness for the pairing of feminine and masculine elements.  Like pairing a flimsy, flowing sundress with a motorcycle jacket.  The mixed media work of Line Juhl Hansen shows off characteristically male and feminine abstract elements in a way that results in work that marries the graphic and expressive beautifully.

    Graphic typography, scribbles and liberal touches of black temper the happy, candy colored swaths of painterly texture.  These evocative details lend weight and gravity to each canvas, inviting us in for a closer look.

    Like the strength of a woman, these touches are lingering just below the surface, peeking in and out.  We catch a glimpse of the resilience behind the sweetness and beauty.

    To see more of Line Juhl Hansen’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Diana Delgado

    Bright vibrant color? Check.  Painterly drips and texture? Check.  Expressionistic composition?  Check.  The work of Diana Delgado encompasses all my favorite abstract art elements.  Check out my Artist Watch feature on her work over on Escape Into Life today!

    She Could Drape it in Color, oil, enamel, tape and acrylic on canvas, 72×48

    Diana Delgado on Escape Into Life

  • Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    One of the benefits of our rural home for the summer is the large garden our landlords maintain on the property.  For the first time in my life, freshly picked vegetables and berries are mere steps from my door.  Pulling up fresh spinach for our salads a few nights ago got me thinking about roots.  And so does the artwork of Providence, RI artist Jenny Brown.

    Untitled Yellow, ink & found collage on paper, 8.5×11

    As people, we, in the same way as plants, are growing our roots and reaching for the sky at the same time.  The roots provide nourishment and hold us steady, while our very nature and soul fights against their pull as we stretch toward who we are meant to be.

    Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11
    Flowering Crab, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    Some people, like smaller plants, don’t grow far vertically, keeping very close to their roots.  But others, like giant redwoods, soar to unimaginable heights far above their rooted beginnings.  Yet, it takes incredibly strong roots to steady one whose reach is so high.

    Untitled #3, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    To see more of Jenny Brown’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Rocks are hard.  Anyone whose ever stepped on one knows this.  But I can remember a dream I once had as a little girl sleeping with a rock as my pillow.  Seattle artist Emily Gherard’s paintings provide us with a different way of seeing these often immovable objects.

    Untitled, oil on canvas
    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    Gherard presents us with rocks, mountains and cliff faces that though they are rigid to the touch, these stones are vulnerable.  The smallest crack can create a weak point, endangering the stability of the structure.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    We thinks of rocks as unyielding and impenetrable, yet they are shaped over time by the elements.  It may take eons to see the change but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32
    Untitled, oil on canvas on panel, 9×12

    To see more of Emily Gherad’s work, please visit her website.  If you’re in the Seattle area, you can see her work in person at the Francine Seders Gallery.

  • Sensual Flora: Megan Cosby

    Sensual Flora: Megan Cosby

    There are some artists whose careers I’ve had my eye on for quite some time.  Florida artist Megan Cosby definitely falls into that category.  I’ve always loved her figurative work, but when I saw her beginning to move in a more abstract direction, I knew she was really getting into a beautiful groove.

    Bouquet Toss, mixed media, 40×30

    This new series of abstracts, inspired by flowers, is soft, sophisticated and sensual.  In these mixed media paintings, I see abstract representations of the emotion of flowers.  The happiness they bring, their lingering scent and fleeting beauty.

    Gardenia Perfume, mixed media on canvas 40×40

    Flowers, with their delicately temporal nature, are associated with both life and death.  An early sign of spring’s renewal, as well as a token of abashed apology.

    Bouquet Confetti One, mixed media on canvas, 18×14
    Bouquet Confetti Two, mixed media on canvas, 18×14

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

  • Organic Conversations: Meredith Pardue

    Organic Conversations: Meredith Pardue

    I have an inherent weakness for artwork that combines nature inspired imagery in a completely abstracted way.  ( See the work of Susan Morosky, Deb Haugen, Brenda Hope Zappitell and countless others! )  The work of Austin artist Meredith Pardue captured me with saturated color and expressive yet achingly familiar shapes.

    Bloom, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 48×48

    In the same way that nature lovers commune with the outdoors, Pardue converses with her canvases.  Her paintings are intuitively expressive, filled with bright color dotting expanses of negative space not unlike the way rocks are scattered in lakes and rivers.

    Bloom X, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72
    Bloom XI, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72

    Her Bloom series reminds me so much of the peppering of wildflowers all over the mountainsides during our Northwest summers.

    Bloom II, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 50×60

    To see more of Meredith Pardue’s work, please visit her website.  Be sure to check out some of her other series of work– amazing stuff!

    Featured image is Bloom XXV, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 88×60.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Friday Finds: Inspired Geometrics

    Friday Finds: Inspired Geometrics

    As with many right-brained folks, math is not my strong suit.  But one thing I loved about taking geometry was the analysis of shape and how each is formed using different angles.  It seems that many creatives are finding geometrics inspiring these days.  Check out my artsy geometric finds for this week!

    Filzfelt Stools via Apartment Therapy
    Hare by Marco Cibola
    Brooch by No Milk Today
    Welsummer Oblong Cushion by Lindsey Lang
    Quilt by Lisa Call

    Filzfelt via Apartment Therapy | Marco Cibola | No Milk Today | Lindsey Lang | Lisa Call 

    Happy weekend, Artsies!  Will you be doing some artsy geometric foraging of your own this weekend? 😉

    PS– You may have noticed that I’ve switched up the Friday’s title from Friday Faves to Friday Finds.  I’ll be using the Friday round-up to not only explore what’s trending in the art world, but to also share my inspiring finds throughout the world of design!

    Featured image is Hare by Marco Cibola ( detail ).  All images are via the artists’/designers’ websites, linked above.

  • Expressive Conversations: Galen Cheney

    Expressive Conversations: Galen Cheney

    It’s no secret that street art has exploded in popularity recently, gaining momentum and long deserved recognition.  We’re living in a world in which people are constantly looking for sources of inspiration and stimulation, which street art often provides in the most surprising places.  Vermont artist Galen Cheney’s work melds together the painterliness of Abstract Expressionism with elements of street tags to create work that invites us into a conversation about how strivers and outsiders express their creative voice.

    Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50
    Illuminated Earth #2, oil and acrylic on paper, 22×30

    Just as the AE’s are often remembered for their intensity and rebelliousness ( think of AE poster boy Jackson Pollock ), so are street artists of yesterday and today.  Though street art is being increasingly recognized and accepted, it’s beginnings as graffiti were often considered ugly vandalism, more likely to be white-washed or painted over rather than celebrated.

    Morning Table, oil on canvas, 24×24
    Through Deepest Dark, oil on canvas, 42×43

    Cheney’s inclusion of graffiti-like elements against an expressionist background speaks to the evolution of both movements.  Just as Abstract Expressionism was a polarizing movement ( and still is, to a degree ), so is contemporary street art.  And just as AE artists gained more and more notoriety, so too, are street artists.  What once was seen as rebellious and highly individualistic eventually became lauded as a major movement and an important part of the art historical canon.

    Evocateur, acrylic, oil and enamel on canvas, 40×36

    Is this where “street art” is headed?  What will be the new means of outsider expression?

    To see more of Galen Cheney’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Yellena James

    There are certain artists’ work that I am just dying to see in person.. Yellena James’ work is definitely near the top of that list!  But since I’m far away from anywhere she’s currently exhibiting, today I’m settling for featuring her over on Escape Into Life.  Head on over and check out her amazingly beautiful drawings!

    Arrival, pen, ink and gouache on paper, 13×17

    Yellena James on Escape Into Life