It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of artwork filled with thick, saturated color. But there are times when I happen upon an artist whose work feels like a breath of fresh air. When I saw Mexican born Maria Olivares Alfaro’s work, it felt refreshingly light and simple.
Velos
I hate to use the word simple to describe her work, because I feel like it has such a negative connotation. But they seem like beautiful little doodles.
CuadernoVon Dibujo
Alfaro’s work has a young, naive quality but they are too elegant to feel immature. There is a thoughtfulness and sense of restraint behind each composition.
Cuaderno
To see more of Maria Olivares Alfaro’s beautiful work, please visit her website.
These last four months of living on a lake in Northern Idaho has had its advantages, wildlife spotting being chief among them. A favorite post-dinner activity of Mr. Forager & I is to take a long walk in the hopes of spotting a few deer, osprey, rabbits and lately, turkeys(!). While Mr. F loves to fantasize about how awesome it would be to be a bird of prey, I tend to humanize the animals we see. I like to think they are more like us than we realize. Today, I’m featuring a few artists who seem to also love blending the line between humanity and the animal.
To Fall for Flattery by Nate FrizellBeyond the Menagerie by Kareena ZerefosRenard by Charlotte CaronSabrina Hornung
I would love to commission Charlotte Caron to create a portrait of Mr. Forager as a grizzly bear– it would be his ultimate dream come true! What animal do you see yourself as?
Charlotte Caron found via The Jealous Curator, Sabrina Hornung found via Lost at E Minor. All images are from the artist’s websites, linked above.
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?
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.
As much travelling as Mr. Forager and I do, we have yet to venture outside the US. But we have big plans to do so and I can. not. wait.!! Recently Artsy Forager fave artist, M.A. Tateishi, journeyed to a dream destination of mine, Turkey ( read all about it on her blog here ). While she was there, M.A. experienced the most amazing looking installation, Revolution Revelation, created by artists Arkin (Mercan Dede) and Carlito Dalceggio. I was especially struck by the style of Dalceggio– so modern Byzantine meets urban graffiti! So I’m featuring his work on my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. His works feel like an escape into the intricacies of Moorish architecture in a delightfully twisted way. Nothing but love from this Artsy.
Portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat ( RWD ) by Carlito Dalceggio
I’ve been having some pretty weird and vivid dreams lately. One night’s sleep involved a marriage proposal from The Office’sMichael Scott ( admittedly, I do have a bit of a Steve Carell crush ) AND an actual wedding to George Michael circa his Wham! days ( and yes, 80s girl that I am, I had a huge crush on GM back in the day ). So it isn’t any surprise that as soon as Welsh artist Laura Redburn emailed her work to me, I was instantly drawn to it.
Gannex, mixed mediaThe Truest Thing We’d Ever Known, mixed media
Her mixed media work, constructions of things and images that inspire her, reminded me of my own dreams. The scenes are familiar and usually friendly, yet slightly so ever askew.
In the Warm July Sun, mixed mediaMessenger in Disguise, mixed media
Redburn’s collages unearth old memories, finding them perhaps not quite as we remembered them. Which is sometimes a bit unsettling, but there is a bit of freedom in the renewal of memories in an unfamiliar fashion.
Keen, mixed media
To see more of Laura Redburn’s work, please visit her website. You can buy her prints of her work ( and other cool goodies, too! ) at Society6.
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.
I always loved listening to my nieces when they were playing alone in their rooms. Their imaginations, so fertile and free, creating worlds all their own. So many of us, as we grow older, lose our childlike imaginations. But artist Alexandra Eldridge obviously still has hers firmly intact, as she crafts imagery full of whimsy and dream-like charm.
The Garden House, venetian plaster, mixed media, collage on panel, 18×24Elephant, mixed media
Eldridge’s mixed media work combines seemingly disparaged elements in such a enchanting way, they have the feeling of our childhood day dreams. Reminders of the days when life was filled with possibilities and wonder.
Miracle by Miracle, mixed media, 24×24This is Where I Live, mixed media, 24×24
To see more of Alexandra Eldridge’s work, please visit her website. I discovered her work at Diehl Gallery in Jackson Hole, WY ( more artists to come from Diehl! ). You can see her work in person there and at other galleries around the country. Check out her website for details!
I am officially back among the technologically connected! While we were camping in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone, we made the decision to be completely unplugged– not much cell service or wifi to be had in most spots anyway. But it was a bit disheartening to see families and couples who, while surrounded by what is arguably some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, tapped away on their iPhones and Droids. The illustration and collage work of artist Natalie Nicklin confronts us with the imaginary worlds taken over by technology imagined in our past. Sometimes it feels like they actually came to be, doesn’t it?
Left Behind
The artist calls these worlds “technopias” and perhaps they consist of the flying cars, etc., that were being imagined during the birth of the technological age. People in the 1950s and 60s imagined that we would be living like George Jetson by now. But are we really that far off?
Waiting For
Nicklin uses geometrics to illustrate a hard-edged technology driven society yet juxtaposes them against a flesh-colored palette.
Aether
Found vintage imagery reminds us of how far we’ve come and the inclusion of figures, usually female, seem act as a hint that no matter how much we advance in technology, the human element will always be the most important and intriguing.
Pioneers- Delia Derbyshire
To see more of Natalie Nicklin’s work, please visit her page at Cargo Collective.
Artist found via isavirtue. All images are via the artist’s website.
The minute Lisa Harris Gallery in Seattle posted images of Sherry Karver’s work, I knew I wanted to learn more about it. I hope you’ll be as intrigued as I was ( am! ). I’m featuring Karver’s work in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. You can also see her work in Lisa Harris Gallery’s group show, Photographic Wanderings, August 2nd- September 2nd.
