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Category: Paintings

Finding My Own Artsy: Feminine Wiles, Painting Seven

Or maybe it would have been more appropriate for this to be Painting 8. This seventh painting in my series of small color studies, Feminine Wiles, is based on Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8. Elizabeth Taylor plays Gloria Wandrous, a promiscuous party-girl model with a propensity for attracting wealthy suitors.

found here

Although Taylor has been said to have disliked the film, her performance garnered the actress her first Oscar. Gloria is a character filled with passion and sexuality, but flawed in her own humanity. I thought it was so fitting that the palette of the film should be so full of fleshy pinks and peaches.

Elizabeth Taylor as Gloria Wandrous in Butterfield 8, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

To see more of my Feminine Wiles series, check out the archives here. Oh and Feminine Wiles has received its first bit of press! The Woven Tale Press included a spread on FW in their latest issue! So exciting!

Butterfield 8 image source linked above, art by Lesley Frenz aka Artsy Forager.

April 17, 2014
States of Being: Allison Miller

As human types, we are in a constant state of flux. Even when we think we aren’t moving, we are constantly evolving in this direction or that. In these paintings by Los Angeles artist Allison Miller, we see the evolution of her process, the results leaving me feeling slightly off kilter in the best possible way.

In order to gain a fresh perspective on their work, many artists will turn their canvases on their sides or upside down. But they don’t always leave them that way to continue painting. Miller allows those twists and turns to be evident in the final painting– leaving us with paint that defies gravity by dripping up and compositions that delight no matter which way the canvas is turned.

As people, we too are molded and shaped as our circumstances twist and turn, allowing us to be carved into our most recent incarnation. But soon, our human canvas will rotate once again and we’ll add yet another layer to our composition.

To see more of Allison Miller’s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

April 17, 2014
Visual Pathways: Jessica Bell

It’s often a challenge to put a finger on just what it is about an artist’s work that draws me in. But in the case of the work of Jessica Bell, I’m pretty sure I can pin it down. There is something in her visual language that I’m connecting to, something in the way she is communicating leading me down visual pathways into her process.

Maybe it’s the way she plays with color, planes and simple shapes to evoke a certain place or point in time. Or perhaps it is her use of visual and physical texture in subtle and spare ways. Or the process of layering only to conceal or reveal as needed. Whatever it is, there is a richness and complexity to her work that indicates an artist physically working through each composition on canvas. An organic, evolutionary process that I find so intriguing! Each piece seems a capturing not just of a work of art but a record of art making.

To see more of Jessica Bell‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

April 15, 2014
The Glamorous Life: Michael Carson

As I sit working in my t-shirt and jeans, munching my lunch of popcorn and staring at these paintings by Minneapolis artist Michael Carson, I’m reminded of how very unglamorous life seems sometimes. The most dressed up I get these days is wearing a skirt with my flip-flops or adding a fancy scarf to my every day uniform.

Ocassionally I miss cocktail dresses and high heels and I’ll pick up Vogue or Vanity Fair to get a little glamour fix. And then I see things on the news like the suicide of model turned fashion designer L’Wren Scott and remember that the rich and glamorous life isn’t always what we think it is. In Carson’s paintings, I get a keen sense of melancholia and boredom on the faces of his figures. Beautiful and fashionable, but sad. Painting his figures into mainly neutral, unrecognizable spaces make them relatable in a way they may not have been had we seen them a lush setting.

No matter our physical or financial circumstances, we’re always responsible for our own happiness and welfare. For some it is found on the runway, for others behind an easel or on a hiking trail. But choosing to live your life as if it is the only one you will get ( because it is! ), no matter how, is the ultimate in luxurious living.

To see more of Michael Carson’s work, please visit his representing gallery, Bonner David Gallery. If you happen to be in Scotsdale, AZ, you can see his work in person there.

All images via the Bonner David website.

April 14, 2014
Charm School: Charlotte Hardy

One of the things that has utterly enchanted me about Eureka has been its Victorian history and architecture. Everywhere you turn is another beautiful old building showing off its corbels, cornices, and lintels. I am charmed by it all, always wanting to go downtown where Mr. F & I can sit in a brick-walled cafe, under high ceilings, sunlight flooding in through the transom windows. The work of UK artist Charlotte Hardy hearkens back to the charm, warmth and attention to detail that makes these old places so irresistible.

Floors are creaky, walls a bit askew, but the charms of these places always enthrall me. It is all perfect in its imperfections. Hardy’s work has an illustrative quality to it that work so well in conveying the sweet delight of these kinds of places. Her textural surfaces recall the years of life to be found beneath the surface.

More of Charlotte Hardy‘s work can be seen on her website. I do believe Mr. F and I may do a little cafe visiting this weekend. Hope you have a wonderfully artsy weekend!

All images via the artist’s website.

April 11, 2014
Planes and Patterns at Play: Gianna Commito

Let’s switch gears a bit, shall we? Looking back over this week’s posts so far, I’ve been in a bit of a nature-obsessed-state, so how about we throw in something different? I spotted the the work of this artist last week on the Little Paper Planes blog and knew I wanted to feature her work pronto! In these mixed media pieces, Gianna Commito is creating a playground of planes and patterns.

Just a simple shift in line creates a skewed perspective that leads us down the path to another inverted plane and then to another and another. It’s like a geometric rabbit hole that I am happy to get lost in! There’s a natural correlation to cityscapes and architecture, but I see parallels to the natural world as well ( there I go again! ). Towering cliffs and slot canyons, redwood burls and nurse logs. We are all just planes resting on top of more planes.

To see more of Gianna Commito‘s work, please visit her website. Her work can be seen in person at Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York.

All images via the Rachel Uffner Gallery site.

April 10, 2014
Emodied Memory: Pepa Prieto

I am daily amazed by the talent I find in my foraging each day. But occasionally, I see one painting by an artist, think “oh that’s nice!”, then go to their website to be completely blown away. The work of Spanish-born New York based artist Pepa Prieto astounded me with her visual movement, texture and lively sense of composition. I can’t get enough!

There is so much going on, so many corners and nooks to explore in each piece, each one is like a virtual fun house and I want to get lost in them all! The artist paints these pieces intuitively, evoking a particular memory or moment in time, “a detailed snapshot of my inner dialogue”. What a beautiful conversation she is having.

To see more of Pepa Prieto‘s work, and you know you want to, please visit her website. Happy weekend, Artsies! What are you up to? We’ll be checking out Eureka’s local ArtWalk on Saturday, excited to share my finds with you next week!

All images via the artist’s website.

April 4, 2014
Finding My Own Artsy: Feminine Wiles, Painting Six

Like many women of my generation, I somehow missed An Affair to Remember until Meg Ryan brought it to my attention. It was beautiful, witty, romantic and sappy, just like a great chick flick is supposed to be. And Deborah Kerr’s Terry McKay was completely captivating and one of the first iconic female characters I thought of when beginning the Feminine Wiles series.

found here

With her warm auburn locks and creamy complexion, the film’s wardrobe designer Charles Le Maire wisely capitalized on her natural palette by using autumnal peaches and oranges in her costumes peppered throughout the movie.

Deborah Kerr as Terry McKay in An Affair to Remember, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

The character is smart and sassy, beautiful but down to earth and practical. Characteristics perfectly portrayed with a warm, simmering palette.

I have no idea how many of these I’ll do, but am thinking of broadening soon into more contemporary film characters– maybe even by decade? Um, hello, Molly Ringwald anyone? To see more paintings in the Feminine Wiles series, check the archives here.

Film image linked above, art by Lesley Frenz aka Artsy Forager.

April 3, 2014
Acts of Colorism: Edgar Sanchez Cumbas

We are more than the color of our skin. Who we are inside and what we do are so much more, yet we’re often instantly judged on this one small detail. In his current series, Puerto Rican born artist Edgar Sanchez Cumbas explores in paint and mixed media the idea of discrimination based on skin color.

We often begin our lives being teased for what makes us different– maybe our skin is pale thanks to a Celtic heritage or perhaps we’re on the other end of the flesh color spectrum and feel excluded due to a complexion much darker than our contemporaries. Instead of embracing the beauty in our diversity, in our longing to belong we ostracize. We lose the ability to see not just see beyond color but to see all color as equal and equally beautiful.

Sanchez Cumbas explores these ideas through his sculptural paintings, the artist builds up thick layers of color and texture, which are then obscured by a large swath of color. Only small hints at the layers beneath remain visible.

To see more of Edgar Sanchez Cumbas’ work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

April 2, 2014
Cleansing Streams: Linnea Strid

There is such power in water, to calm, to cleanse, to inspire. At the end of a stressful day, a long soak in a warm bubble bath can make me a new person. These amazing oil paintings by Swedish artist Linnea Strid capture those ordinary moments in which water meets body and unleashes its blessing.

We plunge ourselves into its cool depths to escape the oppressive heat of summer, we gently pour its warmth over newborn skin. We sit and stare into its glassy surface or watch waves lap at our feet and our spirits become refreshed and renewed. It within our bodies, keeping us nourished and well.

To see more work of Linnea Strid’s incredible oil paintings, check out her website and Flickr feed.

All images via the artist’s Flickr. Artist found via The Artful Desperado.

March 31, 2014

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artistic pathfinding by lesley frenz

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