Rocks are hard. Anyone whose ever stepped on one knows this. But I can remember a dream I once had as a little girl sleeping with a rock as my pillow. Seattle artist Emily Gherard’s paintings provide us with a different way of seeing these often immovable objects.
Untitled, oil on canvasUntitled, oil on canvas, 30×32
Gherard presents us with rocks, mountains and cliff faces that though they are rigid to the touch, these stones are vulnerable. The smallest crack can create a weak point, endangering the stability of the structure.
Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32
We thinks of rocks as unyielding and impenetrable, yet they are shaped over time by the elements. It may take eons to see the change but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place.
Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32Untitled, oil on canvas on panel, 9×12
To see more of Emily Gherad’s work, please visit her website. If you’re in the Seattle area, you can see her work in person at the Francine Seders Gallery.
The work of multi-talented artist, art-director, illustrator, etc. etc., Wayne White spoke directly to my cheeky-art-lovin’ little heart when I first saw it on The Jealous Curator. Witty, thought-provoking messages painted over vintage reproductions? Brilliant. See some of my faves over on Escape Into Life today!
John Donne wrote “No man is an island“. And of course, no woman is either. We come into the world needing other human beings to survive and very often, we go out the same way. All throughout our lives, we are seeking, finding, nurturing relationships. Madison, WI artist Amanda Blake’s work explores these connections, both the ones we choose and the ones into which we are born.
When we are very young, our parents and siblings supply most of our relational needs, along with the ocassional imaginary friend. As we mature, we begin to seek more and more outside our tiny familial sphere to find friendship among others, some very much like us, others very different. Eventually, most of us begin looking about for a partner, someone to share our lives with.
For some like me, this journey takes longer than we anticipate. But it is during this time that all of those other relationships are nurtured the most. We spend our time bonding with friends over adventures and over shared memories with siblings.
Eventually, we may perhaps find the other half of our pair. Once we do, we’ll take everything that we learned while cultivating those other relationships to care for this one. And the cycle begins again.
To see more of Amanda Blake’s work, please visit her website.
I used to deliberately fight against liking the work of Frida Kahlo. You see, in my college painting studio there was an older Bolivian woman who was auditing the course and she LOVED Kahlo and seemed to fancy herself as the next Frida. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal except that she was mega annoying about it. She bugged the bejeezus out of everyone in the studio. So she tainted Frida for me. It wasn’t until years later that I rediscovered her work and came to develop my own artist crush on Frida. Today would have been her 105th birthday. So in honor of Frida Kahlo de Rivera, here are a few artists who also found her inspirational!
Viva La Vida by Emma GaleFrida Kahlo by Judy KaufmannFrida by Tara JacobyDaft Punk Frida by Fabian CiraoloFrida Dog by Clair Hartmann
Tracy Geilbert at Gallery Orange in New Orleans has a fantastic eye for art. It isn’t any wonder that many of my faves have come from her gallery or made their way into it! Today on Escape Into Life, I’m featuring an incredible young figurative artist, Aaron Reichert, whose work can be seen in person at Gallery Orange. I think you’ll love his graphic portraits!
Wasted and Wounded, Portrait of Tom Waits, acrylic on canvas, 60×48
I have an inherent weakness for artwork that combines nature inspired imagery in a completely abstracted way. ( See the work of Susan Morosky, Deb Haugen, Brenda Hope Zappitell and countless others! ) The work of Austin artist Meredith Pardue captured me with saturated color and expressive yet achingly familiar shapes.
Bloom, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 48×48
In the same way that nature lovers commune with the outdoors, Pardue converses with her canvases. Her paintings are intuitively expressive, filled with bright color dotting expanses of negative space not unlike the way rocks are scattered in lakes and rivers.
Bloom X, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72Bloom XI, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72
Her Bloom series reminds me so much of the peppering of wildflowers all over the mountainsides during our Northwest summers.
Bloom II, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 50×60
To see more of Meredith Pardue’s work, please visit her website. Be sure to check out some of her other series of work– amazing stuff!
Featured image is Bloom XXV, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 88×60. All images are via the artist’s website.
I am a firm believer is finding the beauty in life’s simple pleasures. And don’t you find life more inspiring when you are able to delight in the things around you? I love the way Boston artist Marian Dioguardi‘s paintings celebrate ordinary treasures.
Sitting Pretty in Turquoise, oil on cradled panel, 36×24
I am a nester. I like to be surrounded by lovely things, things that carry meaning for me, objects that are not only functional but inspire me– whether through their color, design or the memories they hold. Our current lifestyle means that we travel relatively light. Most of my favorite things are in storage in Florida. But there are pieces we travel with that make each place feel like home– my turquoise tea kettle, used every day to boil water for coffee, a framed photo from our wedding day, a small painting I did for George of Mt. Rainier.
My Little Cupcake, oil on cradled panel, 24×36
Whenever we reach a new place, it begins to feel like home once I hang the pictures, place the tea kettle on the stove. Their presence is comforting, reassuring.. they are constants in a life that is ever changing.
Inner Glow- Citrine, oil on cradled panel, 30×30
One day, we’ll dig our feet in and put down roots. And all my every day treasures will come home with me, filling a new home with the love and beauty and memories they carry. There will also be new treasures, ones that George & I will find together through our travels and one day, they’ll remind us of what an amazing life it has been.
Simplicity Itself, oil on cradled panel, 4 panels at 5×5 each
To see more of Marian Dioguardi’s work, please visit her website. What about you? Do you have any cherished every day treasures?
Featured image is Sitting Pretty in Turquoise, oil on cradled panel, 36×24. All images are via the artist’s website.
There have been many times in the past year in which my hubby and I have had to pinch ourselves at the wonder of the moments we’ve experienced. Living a life of travel has its downsides but we recognize how incredibly fortunate we are. Each memory is one we may not have otherwise enjoyed had we chosen to stay put. In her series Technicolor Summer, Los Angeles artist Kimberly Brooks captures such quiet moments in which life and all that surrounds us is being soaked up to the fullest.
Technicolor Summer, oil on linen, 36×44Canon Drive, oil on linen
Her paintings are tinged with a hint of melancholy, as the scenes follow her family through summer vacations all the while bracing for the death of the artist’s father. We too, find ourselves in the midst of amazing beauty, yet still wishing for something more.. thinking about how much a close friend or family member would enjoy the moment, how much we wish they were there with us.
Mulholland Drive, oil on linen
So we take lots of photographs to share, hoping that our loved ones can live these moments with us across the miles. But we often wonder, if given the chance, would they have made the same choice? We’ve met people who live within a few hours drive of incredible places yet they have never ventured out to experience them.
Yosemite River, oil on linen, 30×30
Are you living life to the fullest? What moments are you truly enjoying and experiencing these days? It’s so easy to get stuck in the drudgery of our day to day. Get out and live in full color, enjoy every minute as if it were your last.
It’s no secret that street art has exploded in popularity recently, gaining momentum and long deserved recognition. We’re living in a world in which people are constantly looking for sources of inspiration and stimulation, which street art often provides in the most surprising places. Vermont artist Galen Cheney’s work melds together the painterliness of Abstract Expressionism with elements of street tags to create work that invites us into a conversation about how strivers and outsiders express their creative voice.
Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50Illuminated Earth #2, oil and acrylic on paper, 22×30
Just as the AE’s are often remembered for their intensity and rebelliousness ( think of AE poster boy Jackson Pollock ), so are street artists of yesterday and today. Though street art is being increasingly recognized and accepted, it’s beginnings as graffiti were often considered ugly vandalism, more likely to be white-washed or painted over rather than celebrated.
Morning Table, oil on canvas, 24×24Through Deepest Dark, oil on canvas, 42×43
Cheney’s inclusion of graffiti-like elements against an expressionist background speaks to the evolution of both movements. Just as Abstract Expressionism was a polarizing movement ( and still is, to a degree ), so is contemporary street art. And just as AE artists gained more and more notoriety, so too, are street artists. What once was seen as rebellious and highly individualistic eventually became lauded as a major movement and an important part of the art historical canon.
Evocateur, acrylic, oil and enamel on canvas, 40×36
Is this where “street art” is headed? What will be the new means of outsider expression?
To see more of Galen Cheney’s work, please visit her website.
Featured image is Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50. All images are via the artist’s website.
I don’t always read Artist Statements but sometimes one just describes the artist’s work and vision so perfectly that I don’t feel like there is any way my words can improve upon it. Such is the case of New York artist Stanford Kay. His artist statement was so completely lovely, I’d like to let him speak for his own work.
What I Know About Her, acrylic on canvas, 50×60
“At first, there is paint and desire. Paint is applied, removed, and applied again. It makes suggestions. It is edited without mercy. The image and the need to signify arrive later. Books as images within these paintings offer formal modernist possibilities while also serving as an embodiment of content.”
Bacillus, acrylic on canvas, 36×40Secret Passage, acrylic on canvas, 36×40
“Both paintings and books are vessels for ideas, experience and memory. The books we read and the paintings we love and choose to live with,
define us. A book requires the reader to assemble images and ideas out of its signs and symbols. Likewise, a painting asks that you translate its strokes and drips into reason and emotion.” — Stanford Kay
Legends of the West, acrylic on canvas, 36×48
To see more of Stanford Kay’s work, please visit his website. Doesn’t his work make you want to cozy up in a library and read all day?
Featured image is What I Know About Her ( detail ). All images are via the artist’s website.
