There is work that enchants us for a moment, we think, “oh, that’s very nice!” but then move on, maybe occasionally coming back to it. But then there is work that is completely mesmerizing from the moment we see it, drawing us in and nearly drowning us in its magic. These watercolors by Seattle artist Jeffrey Simmons have me utterly hypnotized with their radiating forms and precisely blurred lines.
These pulsating forms have an incredibly cosmic quality, like stars shining brightly in the blackest night. The shifts in color are so incredibly subtle, that I find my eyes moving almost imperceptibly between forms, diving down into the depths and then emerging to the feathery banks. This is watercolor taken to another universe, devoid of tradition and full of possibility.
To see more of Jeffrey Simmons‘ work, please visit his website. You can see his work in person at Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle, one of my favorite spots in my favorite city.
There comes a time in this life when we come to the realization that we are, indeed, not going to be here forever. For some, this revelation takes longer than for others, but its definitely taken its hold on me recently. This series, Impermanence, by artist Seung Hwan Oh emphasizes the balance between creation, life, and destruction in these ephemeral photographs.
From the artist’s site– “The process involves the cultivation of emulsion consuming microbes on a visual environment created through portraits and a physical environment composed of developed film immersed in water. As the microbes consume light-sensitive chemical over the course of months or years, the silver halides destabilize, obfuscating the legibility of foreground, background, and scale. This creates an aesthetic of entangled creation and destruction that inevitably is ephemeral, and results in complete disintegration of the film so that it can only be delicately digitized before it is consumed.”
My mom’s illness has definitely caused Mr. F and I to think more closely about our own physical, emotional and spiritual health and what that means for our future. There are no guarantees, of course, but we’re trying very hard to move through each day with a focus on not only on cultivating our all too quickly approaching future, but more importantly, to be fully present in the now.
When we’re out hiking, I always notice something that seems so contradictory. One would assume that most people who hike are doing so for the enjoyment of the outdoor world. So why in the world would they think it is OK to leave their trash all over the trail? Man in general seems to have this sort of dysfunctional relationship with nature and in this series of photos by artist Jessica Tremp, I see the drama being played out.
Nature, in its ineffable beauty calls out to our spirits and our souls. We long to not just see it, but experience it, for it to become a part of us. But inevitably, our selfishness gains the upper hand and we do the very thing we hate– we become part of the problem. We drive our car too much, we let the water run while we brush our teeth, we throw away what we no longer want and so that our garbage fills what was once pristine. And then we cry over what we have done, cursing ourselves, only to continue the cycle day after day.
On the way back to the Coast from Yosemite, Mr. F and I decided to spend the day in Napa Valley to do a little wine tasting. Serendipitously, we happened to pass through St. Helena where there were a few galleries I couldn’t wait to peruse. As we walked into Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Mr. F and I were both immediately drawn to the enigmatic work of Cole Morgan.
One of the best things about gallery hopping with Mr. F is when we’re both intrigued by the work of the same artist and share what we love about it. Morgan’s use of circles and shadows, along with carefully crafted yet spontaneously appearing layers give his work an interesting crypticness. Spheres seem to float yet are grounded with shadow, so which is their reality?
I am always amazed at the way an artist’s mind will interpret a given subject. I believe artists “see” in certain palettes, even when looking at a thing that is obviously one color, the artist feels it as another. Such seems to be the way of Australian abstract painter Jo Davenport, whose expressionistic interpretations of landscape, instead of being literal regurgitations of a scene, are spontaneous bursts of color and mark.
As we transition from summer into autumn, these paintings remind me of how utterly changeable and temporal our landscape is. As branches, grow, then break, soil erodes, flowers seed, and light changes, a given scene will never be exactly the same as it is in one exact moment.
As we get back into the swing of normal life following our week in the wild, I’ve been struck by the obvious artificiality that surrounds so much of our landscape. Plastic flowers where real should be, fountains instead of waterfalls. In their In Pieces series, photographer Dean West and Nathan Sawaya present highly stylized, manipulated representations of modern life.
Upon first glance, these may appear as simple photographs, just as that strip mall facade from a distance might appear to be a row of historic buildings. But on closer inspection, we see that these are carefully crafted tableaus combining West’s photography with Sawaya’s LEGO sculptures to create an unreal reality. ( click on each image to enlarge the photo and see the LEGO elements better ).
To see more from the In Pieces series, please visit the collection website. You can check out more work from Dean West here and Nathan Sawaya here.
While Mr. F and I are camping in Yosemite, I’m resharing some posts you might have missed the first go ’round! Enjoy!
If there is one thing we learned during our time in the desert, it is that Mr. Forager & I are water people. We need to see it, smell it, hear it. Whatever form it make take, whether the ocean, the Puget Sound, a lake, or river, something about it is essential to us. In her work, Rhode Island artist Jessica Pisano invites us into the sense of stillness and timelessness the water gives us.
Watermark, oil and silver leaf on panel, 60×48
In water, there is such a delicate balance. It’s presence, when contained, calms us, but when loosed, it can be an incredibly destructive force. It is essential for growth and life, yet slowly erodes what is in its path.
Fog Ascending, mixed media on panel, 36×36Fog on the Horizon No. 6, oil and silver leaf on panel, 40×30Sea Legs, oil and silver leaf on panel, 36×36
Pisano works her water series in translucent layers, creating a depth that reminds us of how the waters overflow and overtake.
Still Waters, oil and silver leaf on panel, 40×40
If you’d like to see more of Jessica Pisano’s work, please visit her website. You can see her work in person at a number of galleries in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as Stellers Gallery in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
While Mr. F and I are camping in Yosemite, I’m resharing some posts you might have missed the first go ’round! Enjoy!
Although I love the cold winter months, for many, January is a tough month to swallow. All the gaiety of the holidays now in the past, it seems such a long time before the warmth of spring and the ease of summer. So on what may be for many of you a cold, dreary Monday, I thought a little sunshine and warmth from German artist Nina Nolte may put a little spring back in your socked & booted step!
Forgotten Dreams, acrylic on canvas, 100x16x4 cm
Nolte’s depictions of stylish ladies lounging by the pool recalls, to me, a modern-day version of traditional European works depicting the wealthy socializing and at play, such as Fragonard or Boucher. The richness of the color ( that yellow! )and details in the folds of fabric bring to mind the sumptuousness of the textiles of Vermeer.
The Days of Wine and Roses, acrylic on canvas, 100x200x4 cm
The works do hearken back in some ways to European traditions, but it is done in such an enchantingly modern, yet elegantly timeless way.
Some of Those Days, acrylic on canvas, 100x160x4 cm
The viewer is given the position of voyeur, thanks especially to the bird’s eye view angle of many of the pieces. It feels a bit like we’re eavesdropping on some really juicy society gossip!
You Must Believe in Spring, acrylic on canvas, 65x65x4As Time Goes By, acrylic on canvas, 100x160x4 cm
To bask in more of Nolte’s bathing beauties, please visit her website. Think of these while you’re sloshing through freezing rain and snow!
Featured image is How Deep is the Ocean?, acrylic on canvas, 1oox200x4 cm. All images are via the artist’s website.
While Mr. F and I are camping in Yosemite, I’m resharing some posts you might have missed the first go ’round! Enjoy!
Our memories of places and experiences are not simply visual recollections of what we saw, but a culmination of all that our senses absorbed at the time. The sounds, the smells, our impressions of and reactions to our surroundings. It is in this intuitive way that Portland artist Karen Silve translates her own memorable moments into abstractions of rich layers, swirls and drips of paint.
Market VI, acrylic on canvas, 50×60
Open air markets are cacophonies of stimulation– full of mounds of colorful produce, people talking, laughing, fragrances of coffee, freshly baked pastries and other yummies– all swirl around us. ( Can’t wait for the market here to open for Spring! ) Silve captures the friendly frenzy in her Market Series. ( above & below )
Market IX, acrylic on canvas, 42×46
For her Sacred Places series, she explores the impact of a different kind of stimulation, those stolen moments found when we are surrounded by the quiet of nature. Being in Portland, Silve has access to some of the most spectacular natural spaces in the world ( can you tell I love Oregon?! ). A favorite of hers, and mine, is the Columbia River Gorge, whose lush and quiet beauty she captures in paint.
Sacred Veil II, acrylic on canvas, 58×68
Through our travels, many times I find myself feeling like I’m a bit more attuned to my location and experiences. Perhaps because we are experiencing new places so often, that each one seems enchanting and special in its own way. But there are also times when we fall into the repetition and monotony of every day life and forget that each place and day is unique. Karen Silve’s intuitive expressions of her experiences are reminding me to be fully in each moment, immersing myself into making of a memory.
Market VII, acrylic on canvas, 50×60Morning Glow, acrylic on canvas, 48×48
To see more of Karen Silve’s work, please visit her website. In Portland, her work can be seen at Portland Fine Art, but check out her website for representing galleries in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, California and the UK. Featured image is Yellow Rapture, acrylic on canvas, 96×48. All images are via the artist’s website.
While Mr. F and I are camping in Yosemite, I’m resharing some posts you might have missed the first go ’round! Enjoy!
Just the other day, I was saying to Mr. Forager, “Can you believe it’s been almost two years since..” We seem to say that to each other a lot these days. Time just moves really quickly, especially when you’re looking back. In her work, Toronto artist Monica Tap investigates the line between movement and perception, resulting in dazzling abstracted landscapes.
Six Ways from Sunday: Tuesday, oil on canvas, 100×60
Tap bases her work on Quicktime videos of the streaming landscape as seen from the windows of cars, buses, and trains. Reproducing that magical effect of obscured color and light we so enjoyed as kids.. staring out the window as the world passed us by.
Six Ways from Sunday, oil on canvas, 100×60Six Ways from Sunday: Thursday, oil on canvas, 100×60
During those long car or train rides, we couldn’t wait to get where we were going, so often we enjoyed just letting the blur go by. But as adults, I wish I could just stop the blur sometimes and enjoy it for the wonderful time it is.
Six Ways from Sunday: Friday, oil on canvas, 100×60
Is life moving too fast for you these days? Or maybe, like me, you’re impatiently waiting for a change and things don’t seem to be moving fast enough?! Want to see more of Monica Tap’s intriguing landscapes? Visit her website here.
