You guys know I love crazy, messy, expressionist paintings. I mean who doesn’t respond piles of texture and frenetic brushstrokes? But then sometimes I surprise myself and fall head over heels for work that is full of clean,simple, straight-lined shapes. Australian artist Esther Stewart masterfully intersects simple forms, a warm palette, and interesting compositions to create softly beautiful geometric paintings.
Backwards Barbie, 60×90 cm
Stewart’s use of intersecting lines lend a landscape-ish air to her compositions, while the palette keeps the overall feel of each work dreamy and supple. It’s almost as if we are gazing at vistas made of ice cream..
Made of Stone, 60×90 cmJust the Way I Am, 60×90 cm
The way Stewart seems to break down her compositions into such elemental shapes inspires me to see the world in a much more simple manner. Every space is made up of the same repeating shapes, we just have to figure out how those forms fit together. There’s a bit of a life lesson in there, to be sure. All of our lives are made up of essentially the same components– it’s how we fit those pieces together that make our existence our own.
Nickels and Dimes, 60×90 cm
Esther Stewart has more amazing work on her website, be sure to check it out. Thank you to The Design Files for the introduction to this artist– so many talented Aussies!
First off, thank you so much for all of your words of encouragement on my “comeback” post yesterday! I don’t know what the future will bring, but I truly appreciate the kind and encouraging words from each of you. You guys are the wind beneath my wings.. sorry, cheesy Bette Middler moment.. we now continue with our regularly scheduled artsiness!
Our faces have forty-three muscles, making it possible for our faces to express an amazing wide range of emotion. Sometimes, we know another person so well that we can tell what they’re thinking just be the expression of their countenance. Capturing such emotion as expressed in human faces is one of the strong suits of the work of Dutch artist Patricia Derks.
Diver, oil, 100×100 cm
Derks does extensive research before each painting, yet her work has an amazingly fresh and unstudied air about it. But what amazes me most is the way in which we get such a clear sense of emotion and attitude from each face in such deft and limited strokes.
Summer Girl, oil, 120×120 cmYellow Cap Girl, oil, 100×100 cm
In the set of the jaw, the cut of the eyes, we are given a glimpse into the figure’s personality. We all like to think we can hide our emotions, but it only takes careful observance to read each expression.
Blue Lips, oil, 120×120 cm
Want to see more of Patricia Derks’ work? Check out her website.
Hello again, my friends! If you noticed an increased Artsy presence on social media last week, you may have guessed what I’m about to tell you– the whole job thing didn’t work out as I’d hoped it would. I wish I could say I was surprised, but.. no. Have you ever been in a situation where, you know in your gut that something isn’t quite the right fit for you, despite how good it looks on paper? But then you ignore your gut and forge ahead anyway only to be sucker punched every day for not listening to that quietly persistent inner voice?
I was finding myself quite miserable, not just because of the extremely long hours and bus commute ( there were afternoons when I was on the bus well over an hour trying to get home following a ten hour day ), but because my personality just didn’t gel with where I was. I don’t want to get into details.. maybe one day over a few glasses of wine. 😉 Since leaving, I’ve been in a bit of a fog. It’s been like I’ve lost the confidence to trust myself and my decisions. Mr. F has been loving me through it, but I’ve hardly been much fun these days. So today is the day I WAKE UP! Get back to the business of being Artsy! As I’m going through this mental and emotional awakening, I thought these beautiful pillow paintings of UK artist Alex Hanna were perfectly apropos.
Sweet Dreams, oil on canvas, 75×60 cmSweet Dreams 4, oil on canvas, 30×40 cm
One thing that has been contributing to my fog has been the loss of my sense of purpose. For over two years, in addition to be Mrs. Forager and keeping our vagabond household together and all that means, writing this blog has been my purpose. It has been my baby and putting it on hold messed with my psyche so much more than I ever thought possible. It isn’t just a place where I share amazing artwork, it’s where I work things out through my experience of the work I share. For me, that’s a huge part of living an artsy life– using whatever creative outlet we have to better our lives and the world at large.
Pink Pillow 1, oil on canvas, 15.7×17.7Sweet Dreams 4, oil on canvas, 30×40 cm
I’m not sure what the future holds for this Artsy.. perhaps a full time job I adore working for someone else, or perhaps it’s time to parlay the past two years and all my other experience into creating my own dream job, or maybe a combination of both. Who knows.. but I’m up, I’ve come out of my slumber and am ready to take on whatever the future has to offer. Bring it!
Sweet Dreams 9, oil on canvas, 29.5×23.6
To see more of the work of Alex Hanna, please visit his website. You can also find his work, including originals and prints, for sale at Saatchi Online.
Holy cow, where did May go?! I know we still have several hours before June begins, but we’ll be out hiking tomorrow, so thought I’d give you a little artsy Saturday treat. For Mr. Forager & I, May was a whirlwind of traveling to Seattle, frantically searching for an apartment, moving in, buying furniture, job searching for moi and just generally getting settled into our new life here. What’s been keeping me sane this past month? Spying new work from artists I love around the interwebs. This month’s Featured ArtistDeann Hebert has been on a roll lately, spicing things up with bolder color and looser compositions. And I’m lovin’ it all!
Get Your Color On I, mixed media on canvas, 36×36
You might remember Deann’s work from the City Mouse | Country Mouse show in the found gallery recently.. D was the Country Mouse. Being a country gal, Deann paints the rusticity and warmth she is surrounded by each day. Yet these aren’t your grandma’s chicken paintings. This artist is giving country the modern treatment. She’s totally Faith Hill-ing it.
Seagrove, mixed media on canvas, 30×30Rustic Restored, mixed media on canvas, 36×48
The latest work coming out of Deann’s studio is just a bit bolder, a bit more free. She’s getting comfortable and coming into her own as an artist and it is truly a joy to watch!
Get Your Color On 2, mixed media on canvas, 36×36
Want to see more of Deann Hebert’s work? Check out her website and Facebook page! And don’t forget to stop by the Artsy Forager page while you’re on Facebook to see some of my personal faves from Ms D.
After spending the past two years going from small town to small town, I’m still kind of in awe of Seattle buildings. From what I happen to think is one of the prettiest skylines in the country ( if not THE prettiest! ) to the fantastic examples of modern architecture and traditional storefronts. The paintings of Massachusetts artist Hannah Richman explores the facade of the urban landscape, man’s touch upon the terra.
Fulkserson Street II, oil on canvas, 30×24
Especially here in this city surrounded by such amazing natural beauty ( Hello, Cascade Mountains! Hello, Olympic Mountains! Holy cow, you are huge, Mt. Rainier! ), it’s interesting to note how some buildings seem to perfectly fit into the landscape. For instance, as I type this, I’m looking out the window at a Mid-Century apartment building that perfectly hugs and nestles into the landscape, it’s lines mimicking the hills beyond.
Untitled, oil on canvasFelton Street VI, oil on canvas, 55.5×42.75Fulkerson Street I, oil on canvas, 18×14
Then there are other examples, where we see the hand of man has rushed in and decimated everything in its path for the sake of commerce. Wonderful old neighborhood storefronts are abandoned for the lure of the shiny new strip mall. It happens in most cities in all states and more and more, many countries.
Earle Street, oil on canvas, 36×24
Richman’s work illuminates these man made structures as she catches them in mother nature’s light. And for a moment, they seem to have been there always.
To see more of Hannah Richman’s work, please visit her website.
The other day, Mr. F & I were listening to Rick Steves on NPR as he interviewed a woman who, when she entered places in Scotland where her ancestors had dwelt, she felt like she knew the buildings intimately– even going so far as to identify rooms that were not open to the public. Have you ever experienced that degree of deja vu? I can’t say that I have, but I can certainly relate to arriving in a place and feeling as if you’ve known it all your life. In her Field Notes series, Santa Fe artist Karina Noel Hean draws in collage what that experience might be like.
Field Notes XXI, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11
In these abstracted, dream-like landscapes, what we see are glimpses of places, fragments of details that our minds may be remembering. Whether it be from this lifetime or somewhere buried in our ancestry ( or past lifetime, if you believe in that sort of thing ), the artist is conjuring up a visual representation of what those perceived memories may be like.
Field Notes XV, mixed media on vellum, 17×11Field Notes XVI, mixed media on vellum, 17×11
Shapes collide, morph, twist and turn around and upon each other. They feel like landscapes from another world and in a sense, they are.
Field Notes XX, collage, acrylic, graphite, etching and ink on vellum, 17×11
To see more of Karina Noel Hean’s work, please check out her website here. How about you? Where have you been that felt like you’d been there before?
When I first saw the collage work of Max Warsh on Pattern Pulp, I totally fell for it– hook, line & sinker. The combinations of visual textures in such limited palettes is just stunning! See more from him in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today here !
I love the surprise of a random find. Whether it’s wonderfully creative and delicious food out of a tiny, tucked away dive or as simple as a pink flower growing amongst the rocks. New York artist Landon Metz creates work that is simple and arbitrarily lovely.
Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( V ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( II ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5
The artist composes loose, casual compositions, in a subtle mostly pastel palette, punctuated by forms in dark hues of midnight blue and mossy greens. The shapes recall pieces of torn and scattered paper, their edges appearing to be weathered and worn.
Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( III ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( I ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5
While our eye might at first perceive the compositions as accidental, we soon grow to see that each shape has been carefully and thoughtfully placed. The result is work that gives the viewer a feeling of both freedom and balance.
Varying Degrees of Absurdity ( IV ), dye and canvas, 50×62.5
Want to see more lovely randoms from Landon Metz? Please visit the artist’s website here.
When we were in San Francisco, the famous San Fran fog had taken the day off in exchange for record setting heat. But that didn’t stop us from experiencing it thanks to artist Fujiko Nakaya’s Fog Bridge. There was something mysterious and magical about walking through the fog, then emerging into the bright sunlight. In his work, self-taught artist Spencer Herr embraces the power of the emerging figure.
Roman Trip
Herr’s figures, starkly enshrouded within their backgrounds seem to be just breaking through the surface. Or perhaps the opposite is happening. Are they being enveloped by their surroundings?
Tally Mark, acrylic on birch panel, 48×36Slow Draw, acrylic on birch panel, 36×48Beloved, acrylic on birch panel, 48×36
Keeping the compositions simple allows the viewer to compose his own story. Like stills from a movie whose story we do not know, we are left to ponder who these figures might be and from what place they are emerging.
Trip, acrylic on birch panel
To see more of Spencer Herr’s work, please visit his website.
There are artists who take a subject which might, in other hands, be cloying and saccharine, and create imagery that is interesting, intriguing and ok, perhaps a teeny bit creepy. It is in that contradiction that photographer Loretta Lux has found her own sweet spot.
Hopper
I first discovered Lux’s work through The Jealous Curator site, where blogger Danielle Krysa compared Lux’s figures to characters from of Wes Anderson film. I totally see it.
MarianneBoy in Yellow Pullover
Thanks to her pale, subtle palette, absence of detail and painterly use of light and composition, Lux has created portraits that are eccentric and just so slightly off in a wonderfully delightful way.
The Waiting Girl
To see more of Loretta Lux’s work, please visit her website.
