Happy 2013, Artsies! I’m excited for a new year and even more than that, I’m thrilled to spend this first month of a new year featuring the work of Tennessee artist, Christina Baker! Look for lots more loveliness coming your way from this talented painter all throughout the month of January. Stay tuned to the blog, Facebook, and Twitter feeds ( click the buttons to the right to follow! ) all month long!
Not too long ago, Mr. Forager and I had yet another conversation about what makes one piece of artwork successful over another.. Another piece of the puzzle leading to an extraordinary composition, he has concluded, is depth. Whether real or perceived, depth just makes work more interesting, giving our eyes places to go and hollows to explore. Albany artist Deborah Zlotsky’s work involves shapes moving in and out and around each other, giving our eyes plenty of places to get lost.
The artist paints intuitively, shifting shapes and depth with each tweak, a change in color here causing one form to fall back while another comes forward.
With her highly planar compositions, it is almost as if Zlotsky is moulding sculpture in two dimensions. You can almost see her brush as a sculptor’s hand, carving out shapes and forms, delineating her own hollows and bumps.
To see more of Deborah Zlotsky’s work, please visit her website.
All images are via the artist’s website.
If an artist were to translate your life into paint, what would it look like? Would the palette be bright and cheery or grey and solemn? Montreal artist Claire Desjardins’ work has the feeling of a warm and colorful life.
Many of Desjardins’ pieces are abstract impressions of moments or memories, the colors, forms, and textures telling us their visual stories, yet leaving us to form our own conclusions.
In the layers of paint, can feel the scene– the sights, the sounds, the scents. Paintings filled with the fleeting moods of everyday life, when taken altogether, create an extraordinary existence indeed.
To see more of Claire Desjardins’ work, please visit her website and Facebook page.
All images are via the artist’s Facebook page, linked above.
Do you ever wonder what it might be like to be the subject of a painting? Would you be content to let the artist interpret you as you are or would you try to clothe yourself in your own chosen persona? The subjects in the paintings of UK artist Mary Jane Ansell seem to be playing dress-up, yet we are left to wonder, is this who they are or who they wish to be?
In these quiet paintings, we are offered a glimpse into a moment, a fleeting feeling, a pause in the life of the subject, the life of the artist and one of our own.
They are quiet, contemplative portrayals, yet within each is a sense of anticipation. The stillness and peace that comes just before we discover something amazing. Perhaps it might be within ourselves that we find the revelation.
To see more of Mary Jane Ansell’s work, please visit her website.
All images are via the artist’s representing gallery, Fairfax Contemporary.
You know how sometimes you aren’t immediately blown away by an artist’s work, but then you sit and look at it for a while and realize it’s freakin’ amazing? Yeah, that’s what happened to me with the artist I’m featuring in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today, Amanda Stone Talley. Consider my mind completely blown away. See more of Amanda’s work here and decide for yourself!
Mr. Forager has just completed a course on Women’s Studies, in preparation to pursue a Master’s Degree, so we’ve had some interesting discussions around the dinner table of late. There’s been talk of women’s rights, gender equality, etc. It seems as women, we still struggle against the fairy tales we grow up with versus the reality of living as a contemporary female. In her New Realm series, Louisiana artist Amy Guidry weaves a new kind of story, as surreal as any myth yet grounded in modern strength.
The heroine of Guidry’s tale embraces her situation. Instead of being helpless and afraid, she is empowered to embrace the opportunity for transformation. Knit throughout the series are symbols of growth and change, such as the butterfly and snail, as well as signs of freedom such as a bird in flight.
This heroine is not wallowing in her plight or withering away in a cage. She is in control of her own story, her own destiny.
To see more of Amy Guidry’s work, please visit her website. Be sure to check out the video for the New Realm series here!
All images are via the artist’s website.
So much of our communication these days is in a non-face-to-face fashion. We text, email, Facebook, and Twitter each other, but the subtleties of expression and eye contact is lost, making these a poor substitute for a live chat over coffee. Perhaps too, that may be why we find ourselves drawn to work like that of Polish artist Anna Bocek. We long to see another face gazing back at us.
Bocek chooses to isolate her subjects against a usually colorful, vibrant background, yet it is the person we focus on. She captures each figure in the midst of movement, their motions as fluid as a dancer’s.
The flesh of her figures is painted with a vibrancy and warmth, making them come alive as if the canvas was taking in breath.
If you enjoyed Anna Bocek’s work, be sure to visit her website to see more!
All images are via the artist’s website.
I am completely in love with the graphic illustrative quality of Seonna Hong’s work. Which is why she’s being featured in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today! Check it out here!
Seonna Hong on Escape Into Life
Artist found via The Art Cake.
To me, the best stories are those that are carefully layered and woven together with a touch of mystery. Artist Sarah Awad’s work intertwines seemingly disparate elements to create wonderfully complex and cryptic visual narratives.
In some of Awad’s work, we seem to be looking into a classical museum, filled with artifacts and precious antiquities. These pieces have a eerieness to them that give us a sense of happening upon an unfolding story.
In each piece, we wonder what just happened here or what is about to happen? There is an anticipatory feeling and a slight unease to each work.
To see more of Sarah Awad’s work, please visit her website. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, you can see Sarah’s work in person at James Harris Gallery.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting at my brother’s home in Florida, rooming with an extremely energetic seven year old, my niece Kendall. My dad gave Kendall the nickname of Firecracker— a nod not only to her fiery red hair but also to the tiny bundle of explosive energy that she is. The frenetic energy in the work of Australian artist Todd Hunter is definitely Firecracker level.
Hunter’s work is filled with the types of gestural strokes, saturated color, and wild movement that makes my heart skip a beat.
This is work that grabs you, draws you in, and leaves you breathless. While the visual intensity of each work may be what captures our gaze initially, the moments of quiet within the composition end up being what keeps us coming back for more.
To see more of Todd Hunter’s work, please visit his website. Which types of work are you most drawn to? Peaceful and quiet or full of crazy good energy?
All images are via the artist’s website.