artsy forager

Category: Paintings

  • Going Along Swimmingly: Samantha French

    Going Along Swimmingly: Samantha French

    Please enjoy this oldie but goodie while I spend the next two weeks camping, packing, visiting with the mom-in-law and moving from WA to OR. See you in September!

    Swimmingly [ swim-ing-lee ]
    –adverb-  Definition:  without difficulty; with great success; effortlessly.
    ‘Tis the season for swimming.  If you’re in Florida at least, maybe if you’re elsewhere ’tis the season to dream of swimming.  I recently came across the paintings of New York ( by way of Minnesota ) artist, Samantha French, bathed in sunlight and clear blue water.
    Reminiscent of summers spent on Minnesota lakes, French’s work seeks to recapture those fleeting, carefree days of summer.  Days spent in the water, underwater, by the water.. nothing compares to the lovely worn-out feeling of a day spent swimming and relaxing in the sun.
    The swimmers and sunbathers in French’s work are reminiscent of days gone by.. of colorful convertibles, hotdog picnics, the days of Hepburn and Tracy.

    French has a show titled “Open Swim” opening at the Left Bank Gallery in Essex, CT this Thursday.  To learn more about the artist, visit her website and be sure to fan Samantha French Art on Facebook!  Prints of her work can be purchased through her Etsy store.

    Perfect for summer, yes?

  • Different.. In a Really, Really Good Way: Deborah Scott

    Different.. In a Really, Really Good Way: Deborah Scott

    Please enjoy this oldie by goodie while I spend the next two weeks camping, packing, visiting with the mom-in-law and moving from WA to OR. See you in September!

    I never fail to be blown away by the humility I find in amazingly talented artists.  When Deborah Scott contacted me after I posted in the Seattle Artists group on LinkedIn, I had no idea what I would find when I clicked on her website.  It thrills me beyond belief when an artist contacts me to be featured on Artsy Forager and I go to their website and find artwork that is fresh, unique and unlike anything I’ve seen before.  Goosebumps, ya’ll!!

    This Seattle area born & bred artist began her professional life in a marketing career working for big brands like Betty Crocker and Amazon.com.  She would eventually leave the marketing world behind, pursuing art full force, immersing herself in arts education and copying the work of old masters.

    Balance, oil and mixed media on canvas, 36×69

    Her familiarity with image recognition and brand iconography comes through in her narrative figural work, where she employs classical compositions and perspectives juxtaposed against modern branding instantly recognizable to our 21st century eyes.

    Lucky Charms, oil and mixed media on canvas, 36×60
    Consumption of Innocence, oil and mixed media on canvas, 36×60
    Stalemate, oil and mixed media on canvas, 36×60

    Like the classical masters she studied, Deborah’s work has layers of meaning, symbols abound– some obvious, others more subversive.  But the result causes us to pause and consider, truly gaze at each work, wondering what the artist is getting at.. Is she poking fun?  Is she making a serious commentary on a topical issue?  A little bit of both?

    The meaning isn’t obvious.  Though realistic in style, Deborah’s work seems abstract in meaning.  A blending of the best of both worlds, if you ask me.

    Check out more of Deborah Scott’s work on her website, here.  Her work is currently on display at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA and The Hive Gallery in Los Angeles.  She hits the East Coast next year, showing at Susan Eley Fine Art in NYC.

  • Friday Faves: Wax On, Wax Off

    Friday Faves: Wax On, Wax Off

    Encaustic painting is a favorite medium of mine.  Their waxy, frosting-like texture sends me over the moon.  Every time I’m in a gallery, I will be drawn to the encaustics, guaranteed.  So for this Friday round-up, I’m sharing with you some of my favorite waxy painters.

    Why Stream Upstream by Mary Farmer, encaustic on canvas, 40×40
    Whirl #1 by Wendy Franklund Miller, encaustic on wood, 12×12

    Interplay by Nancy Natale, encaustic with fiber, oilstick and oil paint on birch, 24×24

    Do you have any favorite encaustic artists I should know about?  Do tell!  To see more work from these fabulous encaustic artists, please visit their websites.

    1.  Mary Farmer

    2.  Wendy Franklund Miller

    3.  Paula Blackwell

    4.  Nancy Natale 

    Featured image is Crossroads by Nancy Natale.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s websites.

    PS– As the hubby and I prepare to move from Aberdeen to his new assignment in Grants Pass, OR AND enjoy some camping and a visit from my mom-in-law, Artsy Forager will be rerunning some older posts over the next two weeks.  Hopefully, this will give new readers a chance to see some artists that were featured back when the only people reading were my family and friends. 🙂

  • The Pen is Mightier: Joan Salo

    The Pen is Mightier: Joan Salo

    So many times when we think of paintings, it brings to mind mostly oils and acrylics.  But there are a few artists out there who are creating artwork on canvas utilizing a medium usually reserved for more prosaic pursuits– like making out grocery lists.  Artists like Joan Salo are creating large scale artwork using pens.

    These aren’t your traditional pen and ink drawings.  These are pen-drawn abstract paintings on canvas, as rich and vibrant as any oil painting.  These are like the spirographs we did as kids, taken to a whole new, grown-up level.  Vibrant colors, rendered in an organic, yet orderly composition.  These paintings have such a sense of movement, they almost seem alive.

    Untitled by Joan Salo
    Untitled, pen on canvas

    Some patterns are creations of color and shape woven together like textiles, creating a plaid-like composition.

    Untitled by Joan Salo
    Untitled, pen on canvas

    While others seem more like representations of wavelengths..

    Untitled by Joan Salo
    Untitled, pen on canvas

    … or call to mind a colorful cave filled with stalactites.

    Untitled by Joan Salo
    Untitled, pen on canvas

    Whatever it is that we see in Salo’s abstract works, she is reminding us that artists have long taken every day tools and used them to create the extraordinary.

    To see more of Barcelona artist Joan Salo’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Cure For The Mean Reds: Sarah Ashley Longshore

    Cure For The Mean Reds: Sarah Ashley Longshore

    Today, I have a case of the mean reds.  If you know what that means, you’re awesome.  If you don’t know what that means, you need to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s asap.  Holly Golightly’s cure for the mean reds is to get in a cab and go to Tiffany’s.  Well, there is nothing even closely resembling a Tiffany’s here in Aberdeen.  It wouldn’t be my happy place anyway.  Anthropologie would be more like it, but there’s nothing like one of those here either.  So today, I’m trying to cure the mean reds by enjoying some artwork featuring Miss Golightly herself, the fabulous Audrey Hepburn.  Yes, I know I’ve already done a feature on Sarah Ashley Longshore’s Audreys. But she’s been busy painting some new ones, so I think they deserve a second look.  And a third and fourth look.  Really, as long as she’s painting them, they’ll be showing up here.

    Now that is all the chatting I feel up to today.  Enjoy Sarah’s Hepburns.  Don’t be surprised if you’re suddenly seized by the urge to put on a little black dress and pearls.

    Mariposa, acrylic on canvas with high-gloss resin, 60×72
    Audrey With Peacock, acrylic on canvas with high-gloss resin, 48×72
    Audrey Underwater With Goldfish, acrylic on canvas with high-gloss resin, 24×24
    Audrey Rojo, acrylic on canvas with high-gloss resin, 24×24

    You can see more of Sarah Ashley Longshore’s work on her website or by visiting the Gallery Orange website, her representation in New Orleans.

  • Imaginings Of Memory: Shannon Richardson

    Imaginings Of Memory: Shannon Richardson

    I am a lover of stories.  Ever since I was a little girl, cuddled in my grandmother’s arms, listening to her read me story after story, I adore being drawn into another world, wondering what will happen next.  Whether in novels, the spoken word, song or artwork, I adore anything ( and anyone!  My hubby George is a wonderful storyteller ) with a tale to tell.

    So when I came across the work of painter Shannon Richardson at the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, OR, I was drawn in by their narrative quality.  Each painting feels like the viewer is walking into the midst of a story.

    Traveling Companions by Shannon Richardson
    Traveling Companions, oil on canvas, 24×24

    These are illustrations of stories, but not completely fictional ones.  What Richardson paints, is memories of illusions of her own memories.  Not always as they actually occurred, but how they live in her mind, heart and dreams.

    Wedding Belles by Shannon Richardson
    Wedding Belles, oil on canvas, 24×18

    In these visual narratives, Richardson creates a fantastical world that is at once familiar and foreign.  Dream-like visages filled with other worldly characters and landscapes, but the feelings surrounding the imagery are universal– hopefulness and helplessness, elation and despair.

    The Casual Departure by Shannon Richardson
    The Casual Departure, oil on canvas, 18×24

    Each image is a fable to which we can relate, not because of our experience of the fantastical creatures or dreamlike quality, but because we have all been in situations of betrayal, soaring happiness, quiet contentment and such.  We all have our memories of the heart in common.

    Time for Togetherness by Shannon Richardson
    Time for Togetherness, oil on canvas, 36×48

    To see more of Shannon Richardson’s work, please visit her website.  In addition to RiverSea Gallery, you can also see her work in person at The Churchill Gallery in Newburyport, MA and The Joanne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA.

    The featured image is The Companionship of Memories.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Friday Faves: The Aerialists

    Friday Faves: The Aerialists

    The world as seen from high above is such a simple, orderly place.  I still remember the first time I looked out an airplane window and saw the neatly composed patterns of farmland down below.  And the rows of surburban homes lined up like so many monopoly houses on cul-de-sacs.  The snaking lines of rivers and mountain ranges.

    This Friday’s round-up is full of images from artists who also find inspiration in the what can be seen from the sky.  Hope you enjoy the view!

    The Cummer Museum by Christina Foard
    Farmland Aerial by Wm. Coleman Mills
    Farmland Aerial by Wm. Coleman Mills
    Aerial View by Sally King Benedict
    Portage Bay by Suzanne DeCuir

    1.  Christina Foard ( featured image is CSX Storage by Christina Foard )

    2.  Wm. Coleman Mills

    3.  Sally King Benedict

    4.  Suzanne DeCuir

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s websites.

  • The Neo-Luminist’s Vision: Steven DaLuz

    The Neo-Luminist’s Vision: Steven DaLuz

    The mixed media work of artist Steven DaLuz glows with an ethereal luminosity.  His atmospheric work explores the use of light to create ambience, whether it is a hazy and serene or deeply dramatic.

    Threshold, mixed media on panel, 48×60

    The self-described “Neo-Luminst” is creating work that is “concerned with the glowing effects of light”.  Instead of creating work with an inherent message or narrative, DaLuz instead prefers to let the emotionality of the light and color in his work allow the viewer to draw on their own perception and experience to invoke meaning.  Or to simply allow the imagery to speak for itself.

    Opus 110, oil on metal leaf on birch, 48×48

    For me, these seem to be rare glimpses into another world.  These are transcendent, the light, texture and composition all joining together to transport the viewer into a world that may or may not exist within our realm of experience.

    Ovum 2, oil and mixed media on panel, 36×36 

    What one viewer may see as delicate and heavenly, another may view as foreboding and alien.  Or, like me, you may be drawn to the richness of color and elegance of the composition, which is enough to spark my own imagination.

    Portal, oil and mixed media on panel, 36×48

    To see more of this artist’s work, please visit his website or stop by his Facebook page.

    Featured image is Cloud Bank by Steven DaLuz.  All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Resplendent Enigmas: Brad Kunkle

    Resplendent Enigmas: Brad Kunkle

    A man gives many question marks, however, a woman is a whole mystery.  ~Diana Stürm

    Artist Brad Kunkle is a creator of feminine mysteries.  Haunting, glistening visual fairy tales which are at once throwbacks to the past and yet thoroughly modern.

    Candela, oil and silver leaf on wood, 33×32

    His work takes inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite era, as evidenced by the medieval-feel of the compositions, near photographic precision and intricate surface detail.

    The Quickening, oil and gold and silver on linen, 44×22

    But don’t be mistaken, Kunkle’s figures and compositions are not antiquated, but rather fresh and current.  The paintings are like pages of out a Vogue magazine fairy tale– and I mean that in the best possible way.  These aren’t helpless ingenues, but contemporary women caught up in circumstance.

    Afela’s Nature by Brad Kunkle, oil and gold and silver on linen, 16×14
    The Arrangement, oil and silver leaf on linen, 34×18

    These are the modern daughters of Eve, tempted and tempting, the subject of desire and blame.  Filled with sensual strength tinged with sadness.  Kunkle tells the story of their past by placing them in classical compositions and poses, but the elegant background treatments and inherent edginess keep them firmly on current ground.

    The Source, oil and gold and silver on linen, 26×18

    To see more of Brad Kunkle’s work, please visit his website.  If you’re in the New York area, his work is represented by Arcadia Gallery, where he will exhibit a solo show in Spring 2012.

    Featured image is “Girl With Serpent and Pearls”, oil and gold and silver on linen, 25×30.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Soulful Accoutrements: Gabriel Fernandez

    Soulful Accoutrements: Gabriel Fernandez

    I’m a sucker for furniture.  I love the mixture of function and design.  And paintings of furniture?  Well, those hold a special place for me as I went through my own “chair” phase while I was studying painting in college.  So when I spotted the work of Gabriel Fernandez at Guardino Gallery in Portland this weekend, he had me at hello.

    Eichler Book on Table, oil on canvas, 24×36

    Fernandez creates scenes using furniture as another artist might use human models.  He sets the stage to tell a story, of a moment that just happened or is about to occur.  His compositions focus on the beauty of the objects themselves, the lives that they have led.. maybe an interesting life in a public place or a spiritless existence in a warehouse.

    Orange Chair In Front of Radiator, oil on canvas, 25×21

    The artist seems to be exploring the relationship of the objects to their environment, as an important player in a larger scene.  His use of light and shadow create a sense of emotion and mood, keeping the images from becoming mere still lifes, but instead imbuing them with a sense of story.

    Coos Bay Laundromat, oil on wood, 14×19.25Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22 Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22

    These are objects with soul, with personality, experience.  A past, a present and a future.

    Green Chair With Three Suitcases, oil on canvas, 20×22

    To see more of Gabriel Fernandez’s work, visit his website.  Or, if you’re lucky enough to be in or near Portland, OR, drop by the Guardino Gallery in the Alberta Arts District.

    All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.