artsy forager

Category: Daily Artsy

Artists featured in a solo spot on Artsy Forager

  • Pop Goes the Art: Sarah Boyts Yoder

    Pop Goes the Art: Sarah Boyts Yoder

    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, 17×18
    Ear 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.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Bubbaliciously Artsy Installation

    Bubbaliciously Artsy Installation

    Today seems to be the day for posting childhood memory-inspired works of art!  I am a firm believer in public art that serves to delight and inspire any viewer.  Public art should appeal to the public, you shouldn’t need to be versed in art history or elements of design to appreciate and admire it.  The Bubblegum installation of artists Merijn Hos and Renée Reijnders perfectly demonstrates the ability of public art to enchant and amuse.

    Bubblegum, day
    Bubblegum, night
    Bubblegum, night with people enjoying the scene

    The installation could be seen floating above Weerwater Lake in the Netherlands in 2010.  Check out the websites of Merijn Hos and Renee Reijnders to see more images and what they’ve been up to lately.

    All images are via Renee Reijnders’ website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Carlito Dalceggio

    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

    Carlito Dalceggio on Escape Into Life

  • Saturated Skies: Eric Cahan

    Saturated Skies: Eric Cahan

    While living on a lake in Northern Idaho this summer, I swear I have never seen skies soooo blue.  Every day around lunch time, I take a break from blogging work and walk outside to text my hubby ( danger of living in the boonies, spotty cell reception ) and almost every day as I look up above the canopy of trees and into the sky, it is the most impossible shade of blue.  A blue so deep and saturated and perfect that it would be impossible to capture, at least for this amateur photographer.  New York artist Eric Cahan seems to have a similar obsession with sky, but where my own limitations keep my from even trying, his skill and talent beautifully capture the simple magnificence of the expanse above us.

    Bridgehampton, NY Sunset 7:48pm

    His work focuses on the pure joy of color that the sky and landscape affords, breaking the vast space and complexity of the natural world into simple gradients of color.

    Tri-Color Diptych Gradient Window Wedge, cast polyester resin, 30x8x4
    Pink Gradient A-Frame, cast polyester resin, 20x80x20

    In his sculptures and photographs alike, we are left to revel in the pure liquidity of color and environs.  We forget the chaos on the earth below and are transported to the space above.

    Gardiners Bay NY Sunrise 6:28am

    To see more of Eric Cahan’s work, please visit his website.  Eric represents just one of the many talented artists and photographers I’ve found via Pinterest.  It’s not just shoes and recipes!  Check out the Artsy Forager Pinterest board, Artsy in Living Color, for more found photographic talent.

  • Constructed Dreams: Laura Redburn

    Constructed Dreams: Laura Redburn

    I’ve been having some pretty weird and vivid dreams lately.  One night’s sleep involved a marriage proposal from The Office’s Michael 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 media
    The 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 media
    Messenger 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.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Exploratory Expressions: Amadea Bailey

    Exploratory Expressions: Amadea Bailey

    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, 53×89
    Out 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, 54×62
    The Little Prince, acrylic and oil on canvas, 62×78

    To see more of Amadea Bailey’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • No Ordinary Imaginary Magic: Alexandra Eldridge

    No Ordinary Imaginary Magic: Alexandra Eldridge

    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, 18×24
    Elephant, 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, 24×24
    This 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!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Linus Lohoff

    I have a feeling there is a contingency out there who think Pinterest is filled with nothing but images of shoes, decadent cuisine, house porn and Ryan Gosling memes.  OK, perhaps they have a point.  But when you follow smart, intelligent, artsy folks like I do, Pinterest can be a treasure trove of artistic goodies, like the work of German photographer Linus Lohoff, whose work I’m featuring in my Artist Watch over on Escape Info Life today.  Hope you’ll head over to EIL to check it out and while you’re at it, take a peek at the Artsy Forager boards on Pinterest!

    Linus Lohoff on Escape Into Life

  • Flights of Fancy: Diana Beltran Herrera

    Flights of Fancy: Diana Beltran Herrera

    I’ve told you before about my visions of becoming a crazy bird watcher.  While Mr. Forager loves to lookout for ospreys, hawks and other large birds of prey, my own preference is for birds of smaller varieties.  Spotting a hummingbird is especially thrilling!  Their diminutive size and speed make their sudden appearance fascinating.  Colombian artist Diana Beltran Herrera recreates their flights of fancy in her paper sculptures.

    While we were recently camping in Glacier National Park, we awoke one morning to what sounded like tiny jets buzzing above the roof of our tent.  The hummingbirds were enjoying a frolic among the lupine surrounding our campsite.

    Herrera’s birds seem to come alive as they search for nectar among paper sculpted flowers.  You can practically hear the buzz of their wings as they keep themselves suspended mid-air.

    So what do you think?  Has my slight ornithological obsession completely taken hold?  I think the only cure is to just seek out more fowl, both of the living and artistic variety. 😉 To see more of Diana Beltran Herrera’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via My Modern Metropolis.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Contemporary Muses: Hope Gangloff

    There are certain times, especially when he lays on the floor for a power nap, that I long to break out my charcoal and sketch my husband.  I’m moved to capture the beauty of his face and his peaceful position.  As I’ve mentioned, figure drawing took me a while to master but once I did I truly began to see the magic in the body of each person.  Our expressions, our posture, our countenance is all unique to who we are.  The paintings of Hope Gangloff capture every day moments of ordinary people, rendering them in an extraordinarily beautiful way.

    Her figures in repose, bear stylistic resemblance to masters such as Schiele, Matisse, Cassatt and Toulouse-Lautrec.

    Queen Jane Approximately, acrylic on canvas, 108.5×67.5

    But these are contemporary muses, this is the way we live now.  Friends come over and take their shoes off and relax with us, the parlor has been replaced by the kitchen and the patio.  Conversations remain unchanged– we talk politics, relationships, art and music.

    Catherine Despont, acrylic on canvas, 48×72
    Upstate Neighbor ( Gavin Anderson ), acrylic on canvas, 84×56

    Gangloff’s figures are familiar.  They are our friends, our neighbors, our world.  To see more of Hope Gangloff’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via Booooooom.  All images are via the artist’s website.