artsy forager

Category: Paintings

  • Pink Powerhouse: Lily Stockman

    Pink Powerhouse: Lily Stockman

    As a color, pink has often been looked down on as “too girly”.  Tomboys scoff at wearing anything close to that shade.  “Serious” businesswomen wear suits of black, navy or grey, not pink.  Real men don’t wear pink.  As a painter, Lily Stockman embraces the power of pink.  Pink is the color symbolizing the fight against breast cancer.  Pink is power, baby.

    Pink Mughal

    Pink also figures prominently in Jaipur aka The Pink City ( the capital of Rajasthan, India ), where Stockman found herself living and painting for the past year.  Rather than painting iconic Indian architecture, she instead focused her brush on industrial and agricultural structures such as silos and grain elevators.

    Bubble Steel

    Stockman grew up on her family’s farm in rural New Jersey, so perhaps it is no surprise that she chose to focus on the agriculture of India.  But the subject matter isn’t the only thing that makes these paintings so interesting.  The simplification of the forms, coupled with the unexpected use of such a happy color work in contradiction to our notions of what modern India is like– busy, bustling, dirty, impoverished.

    Full Humidity

    Inspired by the bougainvillea blooming all over Rajahastan, vibrant pinks and fuschias of saris and turbans and the walls of The Pink City itself, Stockman takes these mundane, ordinary structures and empowers them with blasts of color.

    Punjabi Remix

    Her bubble-like lines, swirly forms and fresh, unaffected forms remind me of the early work of Georgia O’Keeffe, another artist who tapped into the power of pink and made it her own.  Quite a legacy of feminine power she left us, but it looks like Lily Stockman is well on her way to leaving one of her own.

    Check out Lily’s website for more of her “Agro Pop” series from India, as well as other work.  She also writes a wonderful, witty blog full of artistic, culinary and literary goodness at BigBANG Studio.

  • Under(the)cover(s) Artist: Clare Elsaesser

    Under(the)cover(s) Artist: Clare Elsaesser

    There are certain artists whose work is so striking that once you’ve seen it, it will be immediately recognizable when you happen upon it again.  Clare Elsaesser is just such an artist.  I first saw her work a few years ago while reading the blog of interior designer Erika Powell, principal at Urban Grace Interiors.  Not only does Erika have great taste in furnishings and shoes ( her boot collection is amazing! ), she also has a great eye for artwork, which she incorporates beautifully into her designs.

    Bedroom project in progress, Urban Grace Interiors

    I then happened upon Clare’s work on the Papernstitch handmade exhibition site, started following her blog and the rest, as they say, is history.  I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to feature her on Artsy Forager, but as I’m usually fashionably late anyhow, here we go!

    Wrapped

    Clare works in acrylics, painting on either wood panels or heavy watercolor paper for her “sewn” work.  Many of the pieces in her Etsy shop are originals or prints with a single-line, hand-stitched “frame” around the perimeter.  The stitching adds an intriguing textural element to the work and ties in with the fabrics so often featured.

    Undress

     These little paintings are at once charming and innocently provocative.  The simplicity of line and form, coupled with the capturing of a private moment are reminiscent of the drypoints and aquatints of Mary Cassatt.

    Stripes

    The white sheets and pillows glow against the dark neutral backgrounds, like the moon glowing in the night sky.  Or the translucent light in the blue sky of day.

    Comforted

    Whether night or day, Clare’s work makes me long to lounge in a tangle of sheets and pillows, reading a good book or daydreaming myself into a glorious nap.  Grab a pillow and spend some time peeking around Clare Elsaesser’s Etsy shop, Tastes Orangey or stop by her blog to say hi and see her latest art, fashion and music recommendations.

  • Friday Faves: Put A Bird On It

    Friday Faves: Put A Bird On It

    It seems that the hipster craft craze has given birds a bad name in the art world.  If you’ve seen the “Put a Bird On it” sketch from IFC’s hilarious Portlandia, you know what I’m talkin’ about.  Bird “art” is everywhere.  It’s those mixed-media collagey things that you see at outdoor art festivals and markets, it’s the ubiquitous black bird on a bare branch.  Now don’t get me wrong, some of this bird art is lovely and fun.  But after a while, it all begins to look the same.

    I want to set the record straight.  Restore the good name of bird art.  Here’s a round up of my favorite pieces featuring our fine feathered friends…

    Barn Owl by Mary Alayne Thomas
    Trespasser by Camille Engel
    Clover by Jim Draper
    Clover by Jim Draper
    Golden Light by Diane Farris
    Beginnings by Susan Hall
    Caeli by Vicki Sawyer

    Think we may be doing a bit of bird watching this weekend.  If you’d like to do some online birding, check out the featured artists’ websites for more ornithological goodies.

    1. Mary Alayne Thomas 

    2. Camille Engel 

    3. Jim Draper 

    4. Diane Farris 

    5. Susan Hall

    6. Vicki Sawyer 

    PS– I mean no disrepect to hipsters or their too-cool-for-school birds.  I love them both.

  • A Delicate Peace: Susan Hall

    A Delicate Peace: Susan Hall

    Coco Chanel once said, “I consider lace to be one of the prettiest imitations ever made of the fantasy of nature; lace always evokes for me those incomparable designs which the branches and leaves of trees embroider across the sky..”

    Shoreline, oil on panel, 48×43

    I came upon Susan Hall’s paintings as we ascended the stairs up to Butters Gallery in Portland, our last gallery stop of a long day spent in that art mecca.  Through the glass doors, I spied beautiful tone-on-tone figures, peaceful in their exquisite solitude.

    Vision, oil on panel, 60×48

    As they drew me in, I realized that I was viewing these figures through a veil, not one over my own eyes but through the intricate patterns in which Chicago artist Susan Hall ensconces each of her subjects.

    Companion, oil on panel, 35×40

    Veils may have both negative and positive connotations– The view through the veil of a bride is lovely and full of hope, while the view through the veil of a burqa may be considered by some as the prospect of a prisoner, someone not allowed to view the world through naked eyes.

    Reverie, oil on panel. 27×27

    Hall’s work also has a bit of a voyeuristic quality, as if we were gazing through lace covered windows, intruding upon a private moment or catching a glimpse of a ghostly deer’s visit before he disappears into the dark night.

    Arrival, oil on panel, 43×48
    Clearing, oil on panel, 48×43

    We see him but does he see us through our gossamer covering?  Or perhaps he is merely an apparition of our imagination?  Either way, I am enthralled.

    Please visit Susan Hall’s website to see more of her breathtaking work.  If you are in the Northwest, a visit to Butters Gallery to see her work in person will be a delight for your eyes, pinky promise.

  • The Poetry of Shapes: Susan Melrath

    The Poetry of Shapes: Susan Melrath

    “Rich colors draw me in, patterns guide me through, and flat, poetic shapes allow me to rest.”  — Susan Melrath

    It is just these rich colors and flat, poetic shapes that drew me in to Susan Melrath’s work.  Susan takes complex forms like flowers, architecture and figures and condenses them to their most basic shapes.

    Crimson Kiss, acrylic on canvas, 36×36

    By doing so, the viewer becomes more drawn in by the emotionality brought to the surface through her use of vibrant color applied to the forms, rather than by the subjects themselves.

     

    Cafe, acrylic on paper, 11×19 framed

    Though I love ALL of Susan’s work, it is her Garden series that speaks something to my soul.  Perhaps it is how I am amazed by the flora to be found here in the Northwest.  ( Wildflowers!! )

    Out of the Blue, acrylic on paper, 22×22 framed

    She takes what could be a mundane subject and with the use of pattern and color creates something extraordinary.  It’s a little bit Pop-Art, a little bit Fauvist, kind of Cubist without the hard edges ( Cone-ist? ).The flowers seem to be underwater, floating in a happy haze of pattern.  Or maybe it’s drizzly rain?  We ARE in the Northwest..Sometimes it seems that we are seeing the flower’s shadow, rather than the plant itself, looking through the shadow to the play of patterns and light beyond.  Which makes the work groovily mysterious.

    Moonflower, acrylic on canvas, 24×24

    Susan created a floral series called “Bloom” for a recent Art & Sustainability show at the Sightline Institute in Seattle, integrating technology and traditional painting, posting a mobile tag by each painting providing more insight and information about each work of art.  You can see the progress of one of these works and hear Susan speaking about the work here.  And because I always personally find these things to be so much darn fun, here’s a time-lapse video of Susan completing a painting.  What’s up next for Susan after her technology driven show?  Unplugged, artwork created during a one-week period in which artists went without TV, internet, social media and texting.  Because great art is always about finding balance.

    Be sure to check out Susan Melrath’s website to see more of her work and learn more about the artist.

  • Masterworks Monday: Madame X

    Masterworks Monday: Madame X

    She has been a source of fascination, scandal and intrigue for over a century.

    Madame X, 1884

    John Singer Sargent’s masterpiece, Madame X, while initially a source of pain and frustration to the artist, proved to be his most recognizable and memorable work.  The portrait’s subject, Virginie Amelie Avegno Gautreau, was a Paris socialite renown for her beauty and though it is a remarkably beautiful work to contemporary audiences, at the time of its Paris salon debut, the portrait was greatly criticized by critics, the public and Gautreau’s family ( her mother was outraged ).

    The characteristics that appeal to our modern eyes are some of the same characteristics by which it was condemned upon its debut.  The elegant lines of her simple black dress create a decidedly contemporary feel to Madame Gautreau’s ensemble, but this would be years before Coco Chanel’s “little black dress” would become ubiquitous with timeless fashion.  The expanse of almost translucent white skin may not seem provocative to our 21st century eyes, to show such a sweep of bare skin, especially the beautifully turned neck and decolletage would have been quite provocative in 1884.  Though artists had long been painting nudes of mythical and fictional figures, showcasing the body of a real person in such a seductive way would have been scandalous.  ( Even if said person was infamous for her infidelities.. ).

    Madame X, detail

    The most scandalous component of all though may be her dress strap.  The strap as pictured above laying rightfully upon her shoulder is not how Sargent originally painted it.  In looking at his sketches for the portrait, it would seem that her strap had a tendency to slip off her shoulder..

    Sketches for Madame X

    So, painting the truth in beauty, Sargent originally depicted the strap as having fallen casually from Gautreau’s shoulder.

    Madame X, recreated as may have originally been painted

    This detail caused such a backlash, that when Sargent picked the painting up after the Salon showing, he took it back to the studio and repainted the strap well stationed upon her shoulder.  Despite the outrage the painting incited when it was first shown,  Sargent would eventually come to realize the importance of the portrait, describing it in a letter to the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as “..the best thing I have ever done”.  He would sell it to the museum in 1916 and it is there that I saw it in person in 2007 during the “Americans in Paris” exhibition.  Photographs online do not do this painting justice in any way.  In person, it is commanding in scale, mesmerizing in presence and breathtaking in beauty.

  • Friday Forager Faves: Horsin’ Around

    Friday Forager Faves: Horsin’ Around

    Artists have long held a fascination for horses.  Some of the earliest cave drawings were filled with equine imagery.  Modern artists are no different.  Today’s faves feature artists with a penchant for ponies.  Enjoy!

    Maribel Angel
    Thomas Hager
    Marsha Glaziere
    Jim Draper
    Dolan Geiman

    Happy Friday!  Hope your weekend is filled with lots of horsin’ around and such.

    To see more work by these Friday Faves artists, check out their websites:

    Maribel Angel

    Thomas Hager

    Marsha Glaziere

    Jim Draper

    Dolan Geiman

     

  • Artfully Audrey: The Work of Sarah Ashley Longshore

    Artfully Audrey: The Work of Sarah Ashley Longshore

    In the interest of full disclosure, I think there is something you should know.  I love Audrey Hepburn.  Adore her.  Want to be her when I grow up.  Her style, her intelligence, her philosophy of living and her legendary kindness all inspire me.  So it will come as no surprise to you that I actually gasped with glee when I saw stumbled upon these paintings by Sarah Ashley Longshore.

    For attractive lips, speak words of kindness

    War and Peace Audrey
    Audrey with Monarch Butterflies

    For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people

    Audrey with a Cherry on the Top

    For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

    A Moment Between Moments

    For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day

    For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone

    As you grow older, you will understand you have two hands

    One for helping yourself

    And the other for helping others

    Audrey Underwater with Lilies

    — Audrey Hepburn

    Visit Sarah Ashley Longshore’s website to see more of her work and learn more about the artist.   Her work is carried by New Orleans gallery, Gallery Orange, they have fabulous taste in artists, check them out!

  • Masterworks Monday: Mad About Matisse

    Masterworks Monday: Mad About Matisse

    Do you have a certain outfit you wear when you need a pick-me-up?  Or maybe there is a particular piece of music that always gets your blood pumpin’ and instantly uplifts your mood?  The work of Henri Matisse does the same for me.

    Sorrows of the King

    From his beginnings as a Fauvist, Matisse was never afraid of exploring expression through color.

    Open Window

    And like his friend and rival, Pablo Picasso, Matisse loved painting figures and still lifes, but it is the way he paints interiors that get me.  Maybe it is my love of interior design or the fact that I too, went through a “let’s paint pictures of fun & pretty rooms” phase.  Whatever the cause, Matisse gets the joy of painting rooms full of life and color and I dig it in a big way.

    Dance(I) by Matisse, 1909

    It is that brilliance of color and exuberance of design that draws me to his work.  As the artist himself said, “With color, one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft”.  

    Les Codomas for Jazz, 1944

    If that be the case, I am under the spell of Matisse’s color and hope to never be awakened.

    Check out more of Matisse’s work at the MOMA website.

  • Friday Forager Faves: For My Dad

    Friday Forager Faves: For My Dad

    Sunday is Father’s Day.  Geographically, I am farther away from my dad than I have ever been in my entire life.  We are blessed, in this age of technology, to still be able to keep up with each other every day even though we are miles apart.  If you’re on the blog’s Facebook page, you’ve seen my dad around.  He reads and “likes” everything I post.  He has always been that kind of father– supportive no matter what I’m doing, even if it isn’t exactly his cup of tea.  Today, in honor of my dad, I’m posting my favorite pieces of art that remind me of him, his interests and the things he loves.  This one’s just for you, Dad!

    The Late Show by Russ Wilson
    Whitewall by Leslie Peterson
    Corner Station by Stephen Parker
    1957 Chevy by Craig Pursley

    Happy Father’s day to my dad & all the other Artsy Fathers!