Have you ever had a moment so special, so perfect that you want to freeze yourself there, so that you can go back and revisit it again and again? London based artist Dan McDermott‘s paintings ( yes, paintings! ) freeze in time moments from our collective past, preserving not just the actuality of that occasion but the feeling of being in that moment.
Beauty Queens, oil on canvas, 130×100 cmGood Times I, oil on canvas, 80×60 cm
Working from an extensive archive of vintage imagery, McDermott captures what seems like frozen film frames in paint. It’s like watching those old home movies on projector ( showing my age! ). Everything is a bit distorted, but we recognize the familiar.
Yellow Dress II, oil on canvas, 80×50 cmRoller Skates, oil on canvas, 80×50 cm
The corralling of these “frozen” moments doesn’t just happen in the frenetic, blurry application of paint. It is found in the palettes, as well, we can sense the warmth of the sun, along with the faded cloth of memory.
Cocktail, oil on linen, 127×67 cm
What moment would you like to freeze in time? I can think of several! Want to see more of Dan McDermott’s work? Please visit his website.
Our minds are funny things. Especially when we are young and the world is filled with magic and everything seems so much bigger, both physically and metaphorically. We see things in ways as children that we gradually lose as we grow into adulthood. UK photographer Lottie Davies artistically arranges photographic scenes that mimic the strangeness of being a child in a grown-up world.
Most of our childhoods weren’t always idyllic and the eerie atmosphere of Davies’ work reflects that. There seems to be a lurking sinisterness in each scene, as if there is something more going on than meets the eye.
How many times have we thought back to a childhood memory, only to realize we’d been recalling it through rosé colored glasses? Or maybe we sugar coated our world as children, only to realize as adults what life was really like when we were kids.
What do you think of Lottie Davies’ work? I love that we seem to find ourselves in the midst of a story with each one. Want to see more from this artist? Please visit her Lottie Davies.
You’ve more than likely seen this artist’s work. His painted church in DC was all over the interwebs last year. But artist Alex Brewer aka Hense, does more than just create amazing ecclesiastical transformations. Brewer takes elements of the style he honed as a graffiti artist and applies it to canvas and paper, resulting in abstractions that are sophisticated with a bit of swag.
Mural, acrylic, ink, aerosol, graphite and oil bar on canvas, 58×58
Brewer takes those quick gestures and gritty scribbles from his street art background and translates them into layered, slightly rowdy compositions. Full of riotous color and the spontaneity of street painting, these pieces seem like screen captures of fleeting moments in paint.
Day Two, acrylic, house paint, ink and spray paint on wood, 42×48Rearrange, acrylic, aerosol and latex house paint on wood, 72×72Red Painting, acrylic, spray paint, ink and house paint on wood, 42×48
The layers of paint interlace with each other, so that we aren’t sure where one layer begins and the next one ends, like one artist’s graffiti slightly covered by the next to come along.
Untitled Blue
Want to see more work by Alex Brewer? Check out his website.
I find myself continually fascinated by the work of artists who very literally paint outside the lines. Artists like Margie Livingston and Laura Moriarty use paint as a medium for sculpture, who see beyond paint applied to canvas to what else these aqueous pigments can be. German artist Katharina Grosse paints across spatial planes, creating psychedelic landscapes which push and ignore our perceptions of boundaries.
Untitled ( 2013 ) by Katharina Grosse, Nasher Sculpture CenterPigmentos Para Plantos y Globos, acrylic on balloons, soil, wall, floor
Our realities are really all about perceptions– each person’s reality is different depending on their perceptions. When we were in Friday Harbor last weekend, we received wildly different answers to the question “What is it like to live on the island?” Because of their own unique experiences, each person we asked had a completely different answer. Their perceptions had shaped their reality.
Untitled, 2008, New Orleans, acrylic on wall and floor
Grosse’s work takes the process of “painting” off the canvas and onto any surface, often ignoring spatial boundaries. Her installations cause us to change how we perceive reality through her eyes and perhaps changes our perceptions permanently.
One Floor Up More Highly, 2010, styrofoam, acrylic on wall, floor, soil and reinforced plasticPicture Park, 2007, acrylic on wall, ceiling, soil, latex balloons and canvases
If you’d like to see more of Katharina Grosse’s work, please visit her website. Have you seen any interesting installations lately? Perhaps ones that pushed boundaries?
Sometimes I have a love /hate relationship with certain blogs. While I love the pretty pictures and aspirational lifestyle, I hate how unrealistic it can seem. None of our lives are perfect and I don’t think that anyone is trying to say they are, but who wants to show the boring stuff? The embarrassing stuff? Admit your vices? These hyperrealistic, somewhat goofy paintings by Korean artist Kang Kang Hoon reinforce that when we are in our truth, not denying how silly or mundane we really are, there is magic to be found.
So in that spirit, I’ll let you in on a few of my own little secrets I might prefer to keep under that rug over there..
I bastardize my coffee. I embarrass Mr. Forager every time I order coffee at any Seattle coffeehouse and ask for “lots of room for cream”. He’s just lucky I don’t order what I really want, a Salted Caramel Mocha Frappacino.
I always wear at least a little makeup when we’re hiking. I know, totally against the outdoorsy girl code. But I look half dead without at least a little flavored Chapstick ( Cherry ) and a bit of mascara. A girl needs to look her best, even in the woods!
I frequently fall asleep during movies. These days, when we snuggle in to watch a movie, it has to be either really good and interesting or I guarantee I will doze off about mid-way. If there are a lot of dark scenes and mumbled dialogue, I don’t stand a chance.
I don’t paint much, but not for the reasons you might think. It’s not because I’m too busy ( see reality tv addiction above ), don’t have the time, space or resources. It’s that I get terrified of disappointing myself. Since no one else really sees what I work on, I’m the only one judging and I am my own harshest critic. It’s something I need to work on. After I finish this season of MasterChef.
I’ve told you my secrets. Now you tell me yours! Let’s really revel in our collective goofiness. Want to see more of these fabulous paintings by Kang Kang Hoon? Check out his website.
After yesterday’s afternoon post, it seems my obsession with blues continues, but this time, I’m gushing over the blue skies of photographer Vittorio Ciccarelli’sInvisible series.
We’ve had no shortage of cloudless, blue sky days lately and I’m always struck, as it seems Ciccarelli is, by the juxtaposition of architecture against an azure expanse. The skies in Ciccarelli’s work almost seem unreal, unbelievably translucent.
The bright aqua skies leave our eyes to feast upon the simply beauty in the ordinary urban sights we take for granted. Suddenly, we notice the gentle curve of the street lamp, never realizing before its beauty.
If you’d like to see more of Vittorio Ciccarelli’s work, please visit his Behance page.
Maybe it’s finally living in a place surrounded by water after living in the desert last year, but I have been finding such inspiration in the various hues of blue to be found in the waters around Seattle! So many gorgeous shades from the deepest, darkest blue to green aquas, I just want to plunge right in and see what mysteries await!
It’s only natural that this blue obsession is trickling over into the artwork I’m foraging on my Pinterest boards.. here’s a little deep blue sea inspiration to get your own seas churning!
Sometimes we get so tied to a certain idea, person, or place, that we hold onto it so very tightly. That thing we’ve longed for finally comes to us, but it isn’t what we expected. And although things begin unravelling, we are still holding tight, even as the threads become ever more loose. These incredible ink drawings by San Francisco artist Steven Vasquez Lopez got me thinking about how we allow ideas to weave themselves into our psyche.
Patches 004, ink on paper, 9.5×13.25Patches 005, ink on paper, 9.5×13.25
We tend to think of ourselves in a certain light, I this way or that, I could live here but never there. But then a funny thing can happen. We grow, we evolve, we experience life in different ways and we end up surprising ourselves. The weavings unravel and we realize that idea we were so in love with was just that– an idea, not a reality. Those strings aren’t so tightly woven after all.
Patches 013, ink on paper, 9.5×13.25Patches 008, ink on paper, 9.5×13.25
Or maybe they were there to connect us in a different way altogether. Want to see more of Steven Vasquez Lopez’s work? Please visit his website.
When you think of a breeding ground for creativity, Tulsa, OK is probably not the first place that comes to mind.. but let me tell you there are some artsy folks in OK! Mr. F lived in Tulsa for a few years, so we definitely know some cool and creative folks there ( and a few that have moved Northwesterly! ). Tulsa is home to an awesome contemporary gallery, Exhibit by Aberson, which is showing an impressive round up of young Oklahoman artists, including Tulsa painter ( and musician, Tulsa is a hotbed for the musically inclined ), Jason Lockhart.
Bita-PitaAlite
I fell instantly in love with this Lockhart’s work as soon as I saw it in Exhibit’s newsletter. The architectural elements juxtaposed with typography and painterly abstractions, then add in that color palette and BAM! This is an artist to watch, folks.
E4ET
It’s not just the elements being used, but the way in which he is fitting them together. That slightly hidden “A” in Bita-Pita, the suggestive aviation shapes in E4.. It all just works. Sometimes I get tongue tied, ok, keyboard tied when I try to describe why I love an artist’s work. It’s just good. Trust me.
Ding-On
Want to see more of Jason Lockhart’s work? If you’re anywhere near Tulsa, don’t miss the show at Exhibit by Aberson, opening Thursday, July 18th. You can also check out Lockhart’s blog.
It’s so difficult to capture the feeling of a place, a moment, a mood. Sometimes I get so caught up in the beauty of moment that I forget to snap a photo or more often, I don’t want to take myself out of the moment to grab the camera. New York photographer Mimi Ko creates an ambience of feeling in each captured click of her camera.
Though her subjects are occasionally dressed in period garb, there is a timelessness to the spells she is weaving. The shadows and soft light create a quiet moodiness and feeling of anticipation.
With each image, she is letting us into a small part of the story. The possible narrative is only one element in the composition, the scenes she is setting are more about what isn’t being said rather than what is.
Want to see more of Mimi Ko’s work? Please visit the artist’s website.
