Category: Figurative

  • Messy Humanities: Alex Kanevsky

    Messy Humanities: Alex Kanevsky

    There are artists whose work inspires one of two reactions in me– either I want to strive to be even a fraction as good as they are or I want to throw my brushes down and never pick them up again.  Russian-born Philadelphia based artist Alex Kanevsky, with his painterly style and beautiful light is just such an artist.

    Alex Kanevsky | artsy forager #art #artists #painting Alex Kanevsky | artsy forager #art #artists #painting Alex Kanevsky | artsy forager #art #artists #painting

    Alex Kanevsky | artsy forager #art #artists #painting

    Alex Kanevsky | artsy forager #art #artists #painting

    Kanevsky’s work has this amazing sense of chaos and freedom, as if these were dashed off quickly as the artist moved on to the next canvas.  Yet each piece is a carefully composed, heavily layered composition, his process often taking weeks or even months of immersion into and retreating from each painting.  Are there stories being told?  Perhaps.  But more than  mere narrative speculation is the feeling each piece projects– sadness, desolation, satisfaction.

    If you’d like to see more of Alex Kanevsky‘s incredible work, please visit his website.  Be sure to check out his fascinating Progress page in which he shares sequences of paintings in various stages of progress!

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • Modern Camp: Eugenia Loli

    Modern Camp: Eugenia Loli

    I’m kind of a bit bi-polar sometimes when it comes to artwork.. I either fall for work that is super textured, busy, crazy with color and line and visuals, or I do a complete 180 and find myself falling in love with simple compositions and clean lines.  Lucky for me, collage artist Eugenia Loli does both incredibly well.  But today, my simplistic side is taking over!

    Eugenia Loli | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Eugenia Loli | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Eugenia Loli | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Eugenia Loli | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Eugenia Loli | artsy forager #art #artists #collage

    You may recognized Eugenia’s work from an Escape Into Life feature I did on her a while back.  Her latest work has been showing up in the Artsy Forager Facebook feed and I have been consistently blown away, so thought it was high time she got a real feature!

    In her digital collages, Loli uses vintage and modern imagery to create fanciful, surreal scenes that give the viewer just a glimpse at what the underlying narrative might be.  Like still shots from a B-movie, there is a delicious campiness to them, made even more striking by her use of bold, vintage-y color.

    To see more of Eugenia Loli‘s work, head over to her Tumblr.  She has a number of products available in her Society6 shop, including striking and super affordable prints.  I’m personally coveting a tote bag, although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to decide which image I like best.

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • Overtaken: Jess Riva Cooper

    Overtaken: Jess Riva Cooper

    While we were hiking last weekend, Mr. F & I spotted something we’d never quite seen before.  We’re familiar with nurse logs, but noticed several trees whose roots had grown over and around a fallen redwood.  In her Viral Series, Toronto artist Jess Riva Cooper explores ideas of environmental impact and change as flora overtakes the human face.

    Jess Riva Cooper | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Jess Riva Cooper | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Jess Riva Cooper | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Jess Riva Cooper | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Jess Riva Cooper | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture

    It has always amazed and intrigued me the way we build things up, yet nature always finds a way to inhabit and continue on its own journey.  From the spider taking up residence in the smallest corner of the bathroom, to abandoned buildings through which vines and trees have grown, try as we might to prevent it, nature takes what is needed.  How much more would we live in harmony if we simply left things alone or provided nature a place to thrive among us?  Something to ponder over your weekend, dear Artsies.

    If you’d like to see more work by Jess Riva Cooper, be sure to check out her website.

    All images via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Colossal.

  • The Glamorous Life: Michael Carson

    The Glamorous Life: Michael Carson

    As I sit working in my t-shirt and jeans, munching my lunch of popcorn and staring at these paintings by Minneapolis artist Michael Carson, I’m reminded of how very unglamorous life seems sometimes.  The most dressed up I get these days is wearing a skirt with my flip-flops or adding a fancy scarf to my every day uniform.

    Michael Carson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Michael Carson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Michael Carson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Michael Carson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Michael Carson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings

    Ocassionally I miss cocktail dresses and high heels and I’ll pick up Vogue or Vanity Fair to get a little glamour fix.  And then I see things on the news like the suicide of model turned fashion designer L’Wren Scott and remember that the rich and glamorous life isn’t always what we think it is.  In Carson’s paintings, I get a keen sense of melancholia and boredom on the faces of his figures.  Beautiful and fashionable, but sad.  Painting his figures into mainly neutral, unrecognizable spaces make them relatable in a way they may not have been had we seen them a lush setting.

    No matter our physical or financial circumstances, we’re always responsible for our own happiness and welfare.  For some it is found on the runway, for others behind an easel or on a hiking trail.  But choosing to live your life as if it is the only one you will get ( because it is! ), no matter how, is the ultimate in luxurious living.

    To see more of Michael Carson’s work, please visit his representing gallery, Bonner David Gallery.  If you happen to be in Scotsdale, AZ, you can see his work in person there.

    All images via the Bonner David website.

  • Domestic Invasions: Carmel Seymour

    Domestic Invasions: Carmel Seymour

    It’s so easy to get caught up in our world of 21st century technology, especially when working from home.  How slippery a slope it can be to go days on end without stepping outside!  I often spend hours and hours a day in front of a screen ( or several! ), so our Saturdays spent hiking are utter bliss for my soul.  Last weekend, Mr. F and I took a coastal hike where we marveled at the power and grace of the waves and the variety of stones washed upon the shore.  In her work, Australian artist Carmel Seymour explores our relationship to the magic of nature, as we search for connections in our increasingly unnatural existences.

    Carmel Seymour | artsy forager #art #artists #painting #watercolor Carmel Seymour | artsy forager #art #artists #painting #watercolor Carmel Seymour | artsy forager #art #artists #painting #watercolor Carmel Seymour | artsy forager #art #artists #painting #watercolor Carmel Seymour | artsy forager #art #artists #painting #watercolor

    The artist states, “Natural objects linger in the home like a ghostly presence, an echo of pre-civilized humanity, an aesthetically pleasing reminder of our mastery and our diminutiveness.. Our attempts to bring nature into these constructed places can be seen as shrine to a deity more permanent than ourselves.”

    Seymour’s work mirrors this thought of domestic tameness versus wildness in the way she juxtaposes carefully wrought figures and objects against puddles of loose watercolor.  For all our “advancement” and self imprisonment, we are each one a wild creature born from a wild earth.

    To see more of the work of Carmel Seymour, please visit her website and the website of her representing gallery, Helen Gory, where you can see her work in person if you find yourself Down Under.

    Artist found via the Helen Gory Gallery.  All images via the gallery’s website.

  • Wear the Artsy: Alexandra Bellissimo

    Wear the Artsy: Alexandra Bellissimo

    We are a few weeks into Spring here in Northern California and this weekend, something wonderful happened.. we seemed to have finally turned a corner into deep spring.  That time of year when the air is warm and soft and everywhere you turn something extraordinary is blooming.  All I want to do is turn my face to the sun, lie in the grass and soak it all in.  This piece by April Featured Artist Alexandra Bellissimo perfectly captures these deep days of spring, the longing to be one with the blossoming world.  And this Scenery at Sunset Dress by Modcloth is just the perfect translation of that light and airy feeling that the first warm days of spring delivers.

    WTA_Bellissimo collage

     art | find it here

    inspiration | find it here

    dress | find it here

    Today I’m even wearing my own version Surface, this work by Alexandra Bellissimo, a new scarf I’ve been eyeing that feels like spring.  Winter, I love you, but I think I’ll always have a bit of a crush on Spring.

    Keep watching the blog & social media for more from Alexandra Bellissimo all throughout April, including an exciting announcement coming soon!  *Hint: it starts with a P and ends with “rints”. 😉  And of course, you can always peruse Alexandra’s website for more of her stunning work.

    Want to see more of the Wear the Artsy series?  Check out the archives here!

    Image sources linked above.

  • Wild Things: Katerina Plotnikova

    Wild Things: Katerina Plotnikova

    I rarely feel more at peace or more excited than when Mr. Forager & I are hiking in the woods.  To be among the wildness, where plants and animals live and roam freely is completely exhilarating and intoxicating.  The forests are full of magic and wonder, it isn’t surprising that so many fairy tales get their start in such a place.  Moscow-based photographer Katerina Plotnikova takes her lens to wild places, creating stunning photographs telling fantastical tales.

    Katerina Plotnikova | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Katerina Plotnikova | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Katerina Plotnikova | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Katerina Plotnikova | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Katerina Plotnikova | artsy forager #art #artists #photography

    She weaves her models into their surroundings, often posing them intimately with real wild animals, producing that beautiful, slightly horrific feeling the best fairy tales provide.  When we are out hiking, I am always blown away by nature’s beauty and bounty, yet continually cautious and on alert, knowing that we are trespassing into the home of wildness.

    To see more of Katerina Plotnikova‘s work, please visit her 500px page and follow her work via her Facebook page.

    All images via the artist’s 500px page.  Artist found via I Need a Guide.

  • April Featured Artist: Alexandra Bellissimo

    April Featured Artist: Alexandra Bellissimo

    April showers bring.. a new Featured Artist!  Yay!  I’ve been having a serious photography moment lately so I’m excited to feature one of my favorite photographic finds of the last year, LA artist Alexandra Bellissimo all throughout the month of April.

    Alexandra Bellissimo | artsy forager #art #artists #collage #photography Alexandra Bellissimo | artsy forager #art #artists #collage #photography Alexandra Bellissimo | artsy forager #art #artists #collage #photography Alexandra Bellissimo | artsy forager #art #artists #collage #photography Alexandra Bellissimo | artsy forager #art #artists #collage #photography

    Alexandra’s work has an incredibly elegant, graphic simplicity.  Nude figures photographed, just a touch of digital manipulation, then natural elements are collaged into the composition by hand.  Human, animal and flora meet, becoming one to create a new, fantastical reality.  The more I look at her work, the more I fall in love with it.  A story is told with minimal language, and I long to hear more.

    Alexandra Bellissimo‘s work will be featured on Artsy Forager all throughout the month of April, but if you can’t wait to see more, head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see her cover photo, as well as an album of my favorite Bellissimo finds.  Be sure to visit the artist’s website, too!

    PS– A new project collaboration will launch soon featuring work by Alexandra Bellissimo’s work along with three other fabulous artists!  Stay tuned for more details!

    All images via the artist’s website.

  • Cleansing Streams: Linnea Strid

    Cleansing Streams: Linnea Strid

    There is such power in water, to calm, to cleanse, to inspire.  At the end of a stressful day, a long soak in a warm bubble bath can make me a new person.  These amazing oil paintings by Swedish artist Linnea Strid capture those ordinary moments in which water meets body and unleashes its blessing.

    Linnea Strid | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #realism Linnea Strid | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #realism Linnea Strid | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #realism Linnea Strid | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #realism Linnea Strid | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #realism

    We plunge ourselves into its cool depths to escape the oppressive heat of summer, we gently pour its warmth over newborn skin.  We sit and stare into its glassy surface or watch waves lap at our feet and our spirits become refreshed and renewed.  It within our bodies, keeping us nourished and well.

    To see more work of Linnea Strid’s incredible oil paintings, check out her website and Flickr feed.

    All images via the artist’s Flickr.  Artist found via The Artful Desperado.

  • Oppressive Abundance: Danielle Mourning

    Oppressive Abundance: Danielle Mourning

    As first world citizens, we are so beyond lucky.  We throw away more food than the majority of the world’s population ever sees.  And yet we still continually fuel our desire for more and more.  The work of photographer Danielle Mourning struck me in its quiet melancholy and its lavishness of pattern and lifestyle.

    Danielle Mourning | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Danielle Mourning | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Danielle Mourning | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Danielle Mourning | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Danielle Mourning | artsy forager #art #artists #photography

    In her photographs, we usually find women surrounded by life or luxury, but often looking out, perhaps longing for freedom from the trappings of an abundant life.  Since Mr. Forager and I have been traveling, it has definitely been a slow letting go of material things.  We can only travel with so much, even less now that we’re fitting everything into the back of our car, leaving little room for impulsive hoarding.  This life forces us to seriously evaluate every purchase and for me, anything new has to either replace an existing item or be super-functional or too beautiful to live without.  But I’ve also learned that less can be more.  There is a freedom to be found in a minimal life.  And we are still blessed beyond measure.

    If you’d like to see more work by Danielle Mourning, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.