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Category: Paintings

Beauty Felt: Jessica Zoob

I’m a touchy feely person. As in I love running my hands over interesting textures. I’m that shopper who touches everything, I run my hands over tree bark and moss when we’re hiking and I have to force myself to refrain from touching artwork anytime I’m in a gallery or museum. So it kind of goes without saying that I love paintings with lots of yummy texture. The work of British artist Jessica Zoob is fairly oozing with lovely scrapes and swishes and piles of paint, celebrating the abstract beauty found all around.

From her vibrant palette to the multitude of visual and physical textures in each piece, Zoob creates incredible abstract impressionistic compositions that transport us to dreamy places. It’s easy to imagine yourself looking up through the clouds into a blinding and beautiful sun or looking down on sandy beaches and coral reefs. But these aren’t merely abstracted scenes, they carry within them their own story, their own idea of beauty, their own path of feeling.

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

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 11, 2014
In the Books: Jordan Buschur

As Mr. F and I travel, we find ourselves not only in a different town but a different home every few months. Some rentals are more furnished than others but we love the ones that have a small library of books. You can tell so much about a person from the books they read! In this series of acrylic paintings, artist Jordan Buschur uses collections of books to give the viewer clues into the stories behind them.

Some titles call out to us, some are left intentionally blank. If you’re a reader like me, you can recount certain eras of your life by the books you were reading– I went through a heavy Jane Austen phase in my single days and now find myself more often devouring artist biographies. Stacks of books can become stacks of time and moments, reminding us of the person we were then, who we were striving to be, perhaps who we were able to overcome.

To see more of Jordan Buschur‘s work please visit her website. She has six pieces, including a few of the above, for sale in her show on Buy Some Damn Art.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 10, 2014
Mood Swings: Lou Ros

Mr. F and I are generally cheerful, non-moody people, but we each have what we call our “blah” days. You know the ones, the days when you just aren’t feeling quite yourself, the days when all you want to do is curl up in bed, speak to no one and watch trash tv all day. These paintings by French artist Lou Ros struck me in their contemplation and moodiness, beautifully painted representations of melancholy.

From the use of a primarily grey and neutral palette with punctuations of pink and other vibrant colors, we’re reminded that although the grey sets in temporarily, it is by no means permanent. I love the artist’s use of frenetic brushwork and drips, the slightly “unfinished” quality to each piece accentuating the fleeting nature of mood.

To see more work by Lou Ros, please visit the artist’s website.

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

March 6, 2014
Nature, Uncontrolled: Jeremy Miranda

The sea or the snow? The sea or the snow. Mr. F and I go back and forth on this question frequently. While spending the winter in Idaho, we decided on snow. But now that we are on the Northern California coast, I wonder, will the tides turn back toward the sea? There is something wild and mysterious about the ocean, and Massachusetts artist Jeremy Miranda captures the struggle by man to understand and control the uncontrollable character of nature.

We move in to the wild places, we build our houses and cultivate lawns and gardens, we want to be surrounded by nature’s beauty yet when the elements go about their way with no regard for us, we resent it. We try to control it. To bend and shift nature’s way to meet our own needs instead of leaving it to its own perfectly evolved devices. Miranda’s work captures that intrusion of man on wild, not only the destruction and encapsulation that ensues, but the way that nature reclaims what is hers when man moves on.

To see more of Jeremy Miranda‘s work, please visit his website.

All images via the artist’s website.

March 4, 2014
March Featured Artist: Erin McIntosh

Well, Artsies, Mr. F & I have said goodbye to Idaho and hello to California! And we all wished a fond farewell to February and wish a bright and cheery welcome to March and this month’s new Featured Artist, Erin McIntosh!

I first posted about Erin’s work almost exactly two years ago and have been closely following her artistic journey. Her works on paper continue to retain the floaty, gossamer quality that first drew me to them. But her work has evolved in the most lovely way into these newest pieces, with their organic patterns and forms leading us to dream of the prettiest science class illustrations ever. There is a bit more structure to these pieces, but the artist’s hand keeps them feeling fresh and spirited.

You’ll see more of Erin McIntosh‘s work on the blog this month, but if you can’t wait a second longer to explore ( and who can blame you?! ), head over to her website and have a good long look around. Plus, have a peak at the Artsy Forager Facebook page, where Erin’s work is gracing our cover and I’ve created an album of just a few of my McIntosh faves! If you happen to be in the great state of Georgia, Erin’s work will be hanging at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Macon as part of the Emerging Artists show through June!

All images via the artist.

March 3, 2014
Finding My Own Artsy: Two Paintings for Two Girls

In between working on my Feminine Wiles series, I found some time to create a couple of paintings for two girls. One for a girl anyone has yet to meet and the other for a girl I know and love so well. She is full of sunshine and fire and sass.

My niece Samantha is on the brink of leaving childhood behind and beginning her journey as a young woman. For her 13th birthday, I decided to create a painting for her that felt like that journey. The little painting I created was my contribution to Project #2 for the We Are the Contributors project, whose theme was beginnings. Read more about my thoughts on the piece here.

samantha | beginnings

The Beginnings piece was the first thing I’d painted in nearly nine months. After getting into my Feminine Wiles series, that style of painting feels much more natural for me, so when I look back on this one, it’s not my most recent favorite. But it was a first effort and a step in the right direction, which I hope is what Samantha will always remember about any beginning– it’s scary and strange, but you don’t know what will happen until you try.

idaho sunrise | palette

The second piece I completed recently was a little artsy gift for a few of our Idaho friends expecting their first baby soon. We could have bought something off the registry, but with our limited travel space, I’m embracing any excuse to paint on a larger canvas and then give it away! Our friends are outdoorsy like us, but not super modern, so I didn’t want to go too crazy-abstract for their soon to be daughter. The image on the right is from the bedding they selected for the baby’s room, so I wanted to create something that would compliment the color scheme without trying to recreate that motif.

The finished painting is 12×24 and I think it will add a nice pop of color to her room and something peaceful for mommy & pop to gaze at during late night feedings. Thanks for taking this little artsy detour with me! Will have a new Feminine Wiles painting to share soon!

Bedding found here.

February 27, 2014
Jenny Nelson

As artists and as people, we are so influenced by our surroundings. Northwest friends will tell you that SAD is real and can hit hard during a Northwest winter! As Mr. Forager & I travel, we find it so interesting the way each different place effects us. In her work, Woodstock artist Jenny Nelson expresses her own reaction to her surroundings.

Instead of abstractions where the landscape might still be detected, Nelson’s paintings feel more like a reaction to the energy and activity in a certain place, at a certain moment. Each one is filled with layer upon layer of paint and brushstroke, as if the push to record the scene came at the artist fast and furious. I do wonder, if we were to try to record the “feel” of each situation in which we find ourselves, rather than the actuality of the moment, how different might our memories be?

To see more of the work of Jenny Nelson, please visit her website.

Artist found via Hidell Brooks Gallery. All images are via the artist’s website.

February 25, 2014
Sun Drenched Days: JD Olerud

Oh the sun drenched days of summer! It’s February and while I love winter and don’t mind the misty rain and clouds of the Northwest, I do love those lazy summer days. These watercolors by Oakland artist JD Olerud, transport me back to those days when the sun wasn’t such a stranger.

There is something about watercolor as a medium that captures the magic of dappled sunlight so perfectly. Olerud using his white spaces to create that wonderful sense of the warmth and light of a summer day. I almost feel like squinting or wearing sunglasses when looking at these! Oh to lie down in the grass and feel the radiant light once more! Of course, Mr. F and I will be spending the next three months on the soggy Northern California coast, so I expect it will be some time unit l get to experience that bliss. 😉

To see more of JD Olerud‘s work, please visit his website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Little Paper Planes.

February 24, 2014
Finding My Own Artsy: Feminine Wiles, Painting Two

Here goes, ya’ll, I’m ready to share the second painting in my new series, Feminine Wiles ( see the first one here ). This new series of paintings are abstract color studies based on the fashion of iconic female film roles. While Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker in Bonnie & Clyde may not have been the most glamorous of wardrobes, it definitely conveys a sense of the time and of the character.

found here

Dunaway’s earthy neutral wardrobe palette fit well with her role as a woman taking on a life usually the domain of men. Yet Bonnie’s fashions still maintain a sense of femininity and aren’t entirely cold– a bit of warmth showing through the callous exterior.

Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, acrylic on panel, 6×6

What do you think, Artsies? This series is making me so uber aware of the way color is used in film wardrobe design. And it is an excellent excuse to stream some classic films!

Source for Dunaway image linked above. Artwork by Lesley Frenz.

February 20, 2014
What You See: Anne Sherwood Pundyk

One of the things I love best about abstract painting is its ambiguity. Without the direction of an artist statement of some sort, the viewer can have no idea the artist’s source of catalyst, inspiration or proclamation. These paintings by artist Anne Sherwood Pundyk originate from a string of images and moments in the artist’s mind.

There is an incredible amount of depth and energy to each piece, almost as if the artist can’t get that string of images out of her mind and onto the canvas fast enough. But then each has a moment of rest, like a still frame shot of the motion picture moving from mind to canvas. While each piece stems from specific imagery in the artist’s imagination, the ambiguity of the abstraction means its interpretation is left entirely to the viewer. What you see is what you see.

To see more of Anne Sherwood Pundyk‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

February 20, 2014

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artistic pathfinding by lesley frenz

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