In love, as in life, things aren’t always neat and orderly. Emotions go awry, we find ourselves sliding down the rabbit hole of sensitivity, going from sadness to anger to regret to tenderness and back again. These large scale floral paintings by Florida artist Carmelo Blandino capture that undeniable exquisite mess that comes with loving another person.
Paint is applied thick and frenzy-like, just like the whirlwind of those first moments of falling in love, every touch, every minute together is dripping with excitement and overwhelming beauty. Then, as time goes on, we settle into a different kind of messy loveliness, the kind that knows what you look like first thing in the morning, but can’t wait to kiss you anyway. The kind that loves you through your moodiness and emotional outbursts. The kind that fights honestly and fairly and then loves you even more when it is over.
On this Valentine’s Day, I wish you the messiest sort of love, dear Artsies! If you’d like to see more gorgeous flowers by Carmelo Blandino, please visit his website.
If you’re following along on Instagram, you might have noticed a little sneak peek into something I’ve been working on lately. Since starting my #colorforaging2014 project at the beginning of the year, I’ve had more creative energy than ever. And I’ve begun taking full advantage of it. I’ve always worked in a series format ( thanks, Prof. Ladnier for creating that habit! ) and have already completed 5(!) paintings in one series while my mind is pondering, researching, contemplating the beginnings of seven more different series of work.
Early on, my above mentioned college painting prof labeled me a colorist. It’s true, I’ve always been drawn to color and color theory. I’m sure one of my first experiences with color was in admiring the fashion in my favorite curl-up-on-a-Sunday classic films. As a little girl, I imagined myself in those beautiful clothes, becoming those charismatic leading ladies. Then as a grown woman, I’ve found myself analyzing the use of color in the establishment of character– the reasoning why the film’s costume director chose that particular gown in that particular shade for that particular scene. There was a method to all that beautiful madness.
Each series of paintings I have in mind will deal with the psychology and effect of color in some way. For this first series, which I’ve tentatively titled Feminine Wiles, I’m focusing on the fashion of iconic female film characters, especially those used in scenes in which the character is capitalizing on her feminity in some way.
Each piece is a small abstract portrait of that character at the moment and how the character is defined by that particular costume choice. All that intellectual stuff plus I just love pretty dresses and pretty paint..
The first painting in the series is a study of Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. While the character’s series of elegant little black dresses is synonymous with the character, I’ve always been drawn to the pink Givenchy cocktail dress. The character wears this confection while in the midst of wooing her Brazilian millionaire would-be fiancé. She is no longer fashioned as cool and elegant, her style for Jose is warm and feminine and festive. It is such an interesting contrast to the devastation that happens later in the scene.
Through a sequence of layers in shades of grey, red, purple, pink and white in acrylic on a 6×6 inch canvas panel, I finally came to a point where I felt like I had a representation of my own interpretation of the character in that dress, in that scene.
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, The Pink Dress by Lesley Frenz
acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6
I’ve always worked on larger canvases in the past but our current vagabond lifestyle doesn’t include much room for storage of bulky canvases. I would love to translate these BIG, but for now, these little studies are proving satisfying. I can’t wait to share more of the Feminine Wiles series with you! Do you have any iconic female film characters to suggest? I have a list of possibilities, but am completely open to suggestion. I’ve been focusing on classic films, but may eventually move into contemporary characters, too. Can you tell I’m having a ball and completely obsessed with this? I hope so, because I totally am!
Art and logo by Lesley Frenz/Artsy Forager, other image sources linked above.
It seems such a shame that we hardly write letters anymore. Especially love letters. There was once a time when a couple’s main source of communication before marriage was the exchange of letters. Putting thoughts and feelings into words, on paper, give them an importance and a permanence– and something to pour over when our love is far away. But then there is something even sweeter about expressing your feelings in a non-verbal way. Brooklyn photographer Graeme Mitchell created a beautiful book of drawings and photographs for his wife-to-be, Molly, presented to her on their wedding day.
The juxtaposition of those little abstract drawings ( perhaps they are a secret short-hand? ) and tender scenes from their life together speak so much love. It’s true that it is in those small moments that our hearts swell most, the every day glimpses of a life built together with the person you love most in the world that fortify us when things get tough.
I imagine that when Mitchell’s wife Molly looks back at this collection of images, she doesn’t think of the spectacle of a wedding day, but of the constant, every moment of every day love her husband expressed without saying a word. Perhaps his gift might inspire you to find ways to express the tenderness you feel to your own loved ones.
Sometimes the art world, including myself and this blog, can take themselves just a wee bit too seriously. We agonize over what we want to SAY with our work, it just has to mean something deep and intellectual and philosophical, doesn’t it? Or does it?? What’s that you say? Some artists create just because its fun? You’re telling me this is supposed to be fun? All kidding aside, I do love it when I discover an artist who is creating just for the sheer joy and experimentation of it. In her own words, Portland artist Mana Morimoto states “I simply love making thread beams come out of people’s eyes!“
As it does for so many of us, the act of creating began as therapy for Morimoto, and the joy she found in what she discovered to be a talent is evident in the humor seen in each piece. I wrote a bit last week about art as catharsis and I do believe for myself and so many others, it does provide a non-verbal way of working out what’s going on inside our heads. Or sometimes, it simply provides our minds, hands, and spirits with enough of an enjoyable distraction to put things into perspective.
For some artists, the end product is the goal, but for others, the process of creating, pushing the limits of medium and where that journey takes them is more the target. In his work, Portland artist Justyn Hegreberg explores the reaction of paint against glitter, plastic against canvas.
Given their diminutive size, most being around 5×7 inches, there is a playfulness about these pieces that make them seem like small and lively test samples for a larger project. Which is a huge part of their charm. If they were to be enlarged, these pieces would lose some of their frivolity, gaining in return something labored. It’s that experimental aspect of each piece that is so pleasing– you can almost see him working out the juxtapositions.. so what if I extend the raw canvas here, how about some yellow there?
How about you, Artsies? Are you a final result type of artist or is the process where your joy is found? If you’d like to see more of Justyn Hegreberg‘s work, please check out his website.
Do you truly remember what it was like to be a completely innocent child? Free from guile and not yet succumbed to the pressures of the adult world? For so many, that innocence is taken away at a younger and younger age. This series of photographs by French artist Isabelle Chapuis illustrates the striking juxtaposition between the push and pull of childhood innocence and the lurking aggression of adulthood beneath the surface.
When left to their own devices and free from outside pressure, kids will be kids. All they want to do is play games, eat candy, enjoy and revel in a world without responsibility. But in so many cultures, including our own, children are being raised with the expectation of becoming tiny versions of the adults by whom they are surrounded. The overachieving mom expects her daughter to excel in every way, the young boy growing up around gang culture finds it hard to buck against those influences.
There is a sadness about these photographs, even when the boy is taking a more “aggressive” stance, it seems to be a putting on of an act– there is a true feeling of reluctance and hesitation in each photo. He seems to be a boy who is being coerced into a world in which he doesn’t belong, a child who only wants to enjoy the sweetness of life while it is still possible to do so. Adulthood comes calling soon enough, unfortunately sooner for some than others.
Occasionally, Mr. F will wake up and unknowingly be mad at me for something I did in one of his dreams. It’s only after being awake for a bit that he realizes that what he is remembering never actually took place. Just last night, I had a similar dream about him and had to stop myself from carrying those feeling on into our day. Funny how much what happens while we’re sleeping can affect us, isn’t it? These paintings by Kristen Schiele remind me of what my subconscious must be like– not orderly and sensible, but filled with hints and tokens of seemingly unrelated moments.
These pieces are dream-like in their mash-up of elements, jumping from here to there just as our subconscious does in slumber. I often awake wondering– where did that come from?? Sometimes it seems like we’re trying to work out our waking life in our dreams, or perhaps the past comes back more vividly when we aren’t consciously trying to resurrect it.
To see more of Kristen Schiele‘s work, please visit her website. Have a fabulous weekend, Artsies! I’m looking forward to lots of dream-time!
A while back I wrote about the work of Wendy McWilliams and how to me, much of her work illustrates the glimpses of light and color that give us hope in the dark. We are now well into winter and if you happen to be living in the Northeast, you may be wondering if you will ever see blue skies, flowers and unfrozen ground. February has always seemed to be winter’s last cold blow, preparing us for March and the beginning of our transition into spring. But maybe you can’t wait for March and need to put a little spring into your dark winter days! This painting by McWilliams reminded me that even in the midst of the coldest, darkest winter, we can still embrace the spring in our souls.
I love how the Tapestry Necklace brings together the dark and light of McWilliams’ painting, the colors echoing the painting and the inspiration, as well as mimicking the beautiful messiness of the brushstrokes. Perfect for a shot of color and would keep your neck warm while it’s still freezing outside!
To see more of Wendy McWilliams’ work, please visit her website and to see more fiber art necklaces like these ( I want one! So many gorgeous choices! ) check out the You Made That shop on Etsy.
OK, I admit it. I like fashion and all its trappings as much as the next girl. But there is something that doing this traveling thing is teaching me– how to not just live with less, but to desire less. I found these collages by Jonni Cheatwood, acrylic and mixed media applied to the pages of a Neiman Marcus catalog to call attention to our need to chase the latest trend.
As a single girl, I was definitely a bit of a fashionista. Always a bargain shopper, I didn’t spend massive amounts of money, but being single, I had a lot of time to spend hunting down just the right pair of boots or the latest jacket cut. But when we prepared to embark across the country and begin traveling, I had to pare down like crazy and then before we left Seattle, I had to purge even more ( everything we live with right now fits in the back of our car ) and it was painful. Clothes had been such a crutch for me– you see, when I was young, I knew what it felt like to be the girl in class in the hand-me-down clothes, the girl who only got one new outfit for the first day of school, not an entirely new, on-trend wardrobe. So when I was an adult and earning my own way, fashion wasn’t just an indulgence for me, it was a way to get past the feeling of being the girl with the holes in her shoes.
We still find we need to pare down just a touch more, so more purging is occurring. What I’m learning through this process is that there are certain items of clothing I own that I love, not because they are in keeping with the latest trends, but because I love the way they fit, the way the clothes look on me and, most importantly, how I feel in them. Paring down to just what I love is a perfect way to ensure that every piece of clothing is worn and that I feel beautiful and special in everything in my closet. Shopping is hard to resist still, but when I do indulge, it is for something that I know I’ll love and feel good in for years to come. And with the paring down, it has to replace at least one ( preferably two! ) things already in my closet. Not as much thought goes into choosing an outfit for the day, freeing my mind to concentrate on other things and cultivate new, more important ideas. When you chase trends, fashion changes so much, you’re constantly feeding the need for the latest thing. I’d rather fill my life with things that aren’t so easily replaceable.
How about you, Artsies? Are any of you recovering fashion-addicts? How did you overcome?
Not that long ago, women were valued for not just their beauty, but their “accomplishments”. That term didn’t refer to earning a promotion or college degree at the time, but showing a capacity for a certain “womanly” skill set– things such as singing, playing music, dancing and embroidery– all thought to be the types of talents needed to be a successful hostess and therefore, appropriate for marriage. In her Samplers series, New York artist Clare Grill deconstructs these antiquated notions by reinterpreting and deconstructing embroidery samplers in paint.
Painting would have also been listed under the merits of “accomplishment”, a coincidence not lost on me or I’m sure on the artist. Samplers were originally just that– quick samples of stitches a needlewoman saw and admired. Then, as time went on, they became examples of proficiency and skill at needlework, a talent valued across the classes, though certainly more necessary for the lower.
Grill’s paintings retain some of the original sampler designs– the decorative borders, the notation of name, date and age. Yet I find it interesting in the way that these painted samplers are done in a much more abstract and naive style. Perhaps a nod to the exclusion of these girls and women from achieving more meaningful and intellectual pursuits.
