Fire is fascinating. At once necessary and dangerous. Delicately beautiful and vigorously potent. It lives and breathes. It is no wonder that artist’s embrace its beauty and harness its power. Take a look at these artists who are using their firepower for good.
As many of you know, my husband and I are currently living in a new locale every three months. Each new place has its own personality and part of the excitement ( and scariness! ) of our journey is to find where we fit within each community. Peruvian-born artist Cecilia Paredes‘ work explores, what to me, are very personal themes of displacement and relocation.
Parades uses make-up, body paint and costume to visually blend into intricate backgrounds. This visualisation of our desire to fit, to be a part of who or what surrounds us resonates with me, not only as someone not currently rooted, but also because I am in many ways, still learning who am I apart from what or who surrounds me.
In each image, though her figure is well disguised, we are still given a hint to her presence, whether it be through her hair or the whites of her eyes. She is hidden in full view. Blending in, yet waiting to be discovered.
Normally, this is where I would direct you to the artist’s website. Cecilia Paredes does, indeed, have a website, but unfortunately, at the time of this posting, it doesn’t seem to be working. You can find her on ArtNet or check out any number of reviews that come up on Google. I found her via Lost at E Minor.
All images are via Cecilia Parades’ feature on My Modern Metropolis.
Each year, Pantone announces its “Color of the Year”. The color authority combs the world looking for influential color and its Color of the Year proclamation affects design decisions in fashion, interiors, products, packaging, you name it. This year’s color is a bold and vibrant reddish-orange, Tangerine Tango. Artists, always ahead of the curve, have been embracing orange for quite some time. I know it’s always been one of my own favorite hues. Take a peek at some of these lovely examples of tangerine dreams!
Any orangey hued works you’re loving lately? Would love to hear about them! Have a great weekend, Artsies, and if you’re snowed in and in need of some warming, check out today’s featured artists’ websites!
4. Pamela Viola
All images are via the artists’ websites, noted above.
Perhaps it began with too many pre-teen viewings of Funny Face or Gigi. Or maybe it was even earlier with The Aristocats. For whatever reason, France in general and Paris in particular, have always been a source of fascination and inspiration to me, as it has to countless artists through the ages. Recently, it seems as if Paris is just in the air. So, today, mon chere Artsies, I bring to you a few of my recent Frenchy favorites. Vive la France!
Be sure to check out the websites of my fellow Francophiles below. Have a beautiful weekend, Artsies!
1. Liz Lind
2. Lisa Abelson/ Dasken Designs
4. Aaron Straup Cope; Pretty Maps available through 20×200.
Featured image is Le Petit Zinc by Irene Suchocki. All images are via the artist’s websites unless otherwise stated.
Sometimes I’m just not sure how the work of certain artists escapes my notice. Then one day, as I happen to be perusing Pinterest, searching for a home exercise regimen I just knew I saw but forgot to pin, I see an image that blows me away. Case in point: the image below by fine art photographer Tom Chambers.
Chambers’ fine art photo montages have a haunting surrealistic quality, but have a spiritual and ethereal quality that has a sentimentality to it that perhaps owes itself to one of Chambers’ influences, Andrew Wyeth.
Chambers’ work also has the same soft muted colors and striking light as Wyeth’s, which adds to the dreamlike quality. Add to that their narrative nature makes them seem to me, like a fairy tale meets a folk song.
To see more of Tom Chambers’ work, please visit his website. Be sure and read the artist statement for each series– the stories behind the images definitely enhance your viewing experience!
Featured image is Blue Fox by Tom Chambers. All images are via the artist’s website.
Check out my Escape Into Life post today featuring Laird, a Northeast Florida photographer whose work can be seen at Florida Mining. You may remember his work from my Gallery Spotlight post featuring FM. This new work is stunning!
Art and textiles have enjoyed a long and happy partnership. Every art student has known the joy of capturing supple folds of fabric in charcoal. As we explored during artsyF A S H I O NWeek, many artists have been captivated by the beauty of intricately crafted garments. In her work, Massachusetts photographer Carin Ingalsbe celebrates the remarkable colors, textures and patterns of clothing and costume.
Carin’s latest series focuses concentration on fashion normally admired from afar– ballet costumes.
Inherently, these opulent pieces are designed to be beautiful while in movement. But in her closely cropped still lifes, Carin captures their quiet beauty and we are treated to a look at the intricacies of each individual garment.
If you are anything like me, you’re now dreaming of floating across the stage in one of these numbers. To see more of Carin Ingalsbe’s stunning photographs, please visit her website. Make sure you read the history of each garment– fascinating stuff!
You can also check out Carin’s work in person at Lanoue Fine Art in Boston.
Featured image is The Royal Swedish Ballet, Metallic Skirt c. 1790-1830. All images are via the artist’s website.
You will never catch me watching a gory horror movie, so I’m not usually drawn to truly gruesome imagery. But I do love a good spooky mystery, so just in time for Halloween, today’s round-up features some of my favorite frightful art!
To see more of these artists awesomely creepy work, please visit their websites listed below. Happy Halloween!
2. Kim Kamens
3. Dirk Westphal ( the print shown is available via ArtWeLove, but make sure to check out Dirk’s website, too! )
Featured image is “Flock” by Kim Kamens, thread, nails & wood, 72×48. All images are courtesy of the artist’s websites, unless otherwise noted.
One of the things that really drew my hubby and I to the Pacific Northwest is the dynamic, breathtaking landscape. For a photographer to be able to truly capture not only the natural beauty here, but the atmospheric mystery found in this place is no small thing. Today’s artist, photographer Raquel Edwards‘ landscape imagery not only catches the physical elements of a place, but the magical feeling one might get being there.
Want to see more of Raquel Edwards’ work? Please visit her website— make sure you check out her encaustic photography, too and her still lifes– tons of gorgeousness! She’ll be showing in November at the Annie Meyer Artwork Gallery in Portland.
Featured image is Alders On Kachemak Bay. All images are via the artist’s website.
I find it intriguing when artists let us into their imaginations, giving us a glimpse of the world as they see it, scenes of life as they interpret it. Portland photographer Grace Weston creates small, staged vignettes that take on big, universal themes and canonical artwork.
The images are simple in their composition, poetic in their imagery and completely relatable. Their dreamlike quality is, depending upon the image, entrancing, wryly humorous or slightly disturbing in an intentionally sweet yet creepy way.
I especially love her take on iconic artwork such one of The Unicorn in Captivity tapestry from the Metropolitan Museum in New York and The Son of Man by Rene Magritte. What can I say, the art history major in me totally geeks out on these kinds of references and reinterpretations.
Grace Weston is represented by G. Gibson Gallery in Portland, Oregon, so if you’re in that area, stop in to see her work in person or visit her website.
Featured image is Laundry Day. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.