Category: Artsy Happenings

Events on Artsy Forager

  • Showing! Pop-Up at Seattle Art Source

    Showing! Pop-Up at Seattle Art Source

    September has been a super busy month, ya’ll!  My work has been poppin’ up from New Hampshire to Seattle, but this coming weekend, it’s an actual POP-UP!

    Popup1 Popup2

    Friday & Saturday, September 22nd & 23rd, there will be a one-time Pop-Up show of my latest work at the Seattle Art Source showroom in the International District in Seattle.  New acrylic paintings from both my ECHOES & LEMOLO series, as well as large & small watercolors on cradled panel will be on display inside the SAC showroom, showcased with Plank & Grain’s gorgeous reclaimed wood furnishings.

    I will be in the showroom gallery on Saturday, 9/23 from 11am-1pm and would love to meet you in person!  I’ll have my watercolors with me, so you may even catch me doing a little watercolor sketching!

    For directions to Seattle Art Source and showroom hours, click here.  Hope to see you on Saturday!

    Images by me.

  • Showing! ICON at Lynn Hanson Gallery

    Showing! ICON at Lynn Hanson Gallery

    Hi friends and especially Seattle area folks!  A new painting from my LEMOLO series has been chosen to be a part of the juried group show, ICON, opening at Lynn Hanson Gallery on Thursday, September 7th.

    Photo Aug 20, 2 22 17 PM

    The Mountain Comes To Me, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 20x20x1.5

    Since being in the Tacoma/Olympia area for nearly a year, we’ve spent a good bit of time exploring around Mount Rainier.  This summer, while camping at Cougar Rock, we took a few strolls at dusk at the base of the mighty mountain and I was awestruck once again by her presence.  The Mountain Comes To Me was painted the following week.

    20265112_10155718653504701_8945306327693701081_n

    view of mount rainier from the nisqually vista trail at paradise

    The ICON show opens during the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square where dozens of galleries and venues stay open late for your art browsing pleasure.  Lynn Hanson Gallery will be open for First Thursday from 5pm-8pm and there will be an Artists Reception & Awards event on Saturday, Sept 16th, from 4-7pm.  I won’t be able to make it to the First Thursday opening, but Mr. F and I will be at the gallery for the artists reception on the 16th– come by and say hi! 

    If you’re in Seattle for First Thursday or if you’d just like to see the show in person, drop by Lynn Hanson Gallery, 312 S Washington St, Sept 7-30th to see the show! For purchase information, please contact Lynn Hanson Gallery at 206-960-2118.

    Images by me.

  • Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #22.

    Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #22.

    Since beginning the #100littleartworks project way back in 2016, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into my love of watercolors.  I’m excited to announce that six new watercolors on Aquaboard panel are part of my second showing with Nahcotta Gallery in Enormous Tiny Art #22 opening this Friday, September 1st!

    Photo Aug 15, 4 06 49 PMwaterbound I and VI, watercolor and cold wax on aquaboard panel, 7×5 art in 10×8 white float frame

    I’ve been exploring watercolors beyond paper and have completely fallen for Ampersand Aquaboard panels.  The surface reacts much the same way as watercolor paper, but unlike paper, they can be displayed without glass once sealed.  These watercolors on panel are sprayed with fixative and then, for extra protection, coated with a cold wax finish.

    To see all of the Waterbound series available at Nahcotta, check out my artist page on their website.  Work is available for pre-show purchase now and the show will be up in the Portsmouth, NH gallery until September 30th.

    Image by me.

  • Finding ECHOES. Inspiration.

    Finding ECHOES. Inspiration.

    Water, water, everywhere. The abundance of water is a big part of what draws me to the Pacific Northwest. Here we have rivers, sound, sea, alpine lakes, streams, waterfalls, the mighty Pacific Ocean, all within reach.

    Some of my favorite childhood memories happened around water– time spent at my aunt and uncle’s lake house in Florida continue to influence me as an adult. It was there that I spent mornings and afternoons– always a break for lunch and then a “rest” before more swimming, my aunt was a firm believer in that whole no swimming an hour after eating, much to my childhood frustration– in the cool, dark water. 

    IMG_20161011_180952~2 copy

     

    For nearly a year now (the longest I’ve yet to spend focused on one series), I’ve been painting ECHOES, my abstract interpretations of what happens above, beneath, and upon the water’s surface. When we would go out exploring, I was finding myself taking photos of the water itself, instead of the scene as a whole.

    f764d6c1bcd9ef314ef6c5040a4c0e77 copy

    I was fascinated by the way you could almost detect a sense of another landscape in the reflected surface, but it was often distorted and abstracted by the angle of view, ripples in the water, or fog upon the surface. 

    File Jan 18, 3 44 25 PM copy

    It’s these abstractions and distortions that most fascinate me. I’m not interested in an exact replication, but what I find happening is that the more I look, the more I see, and the more it pours out in the work.

    File Jan 18, 3 43 14 PM copy

    You can see the latest of my ECHOES paintings on my website. I’m starting on two large canvases this week.  I can’t wait to dive in!

    All images by me.

     

  • Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #21

    Opening! Enormous Tiny Art #21

    Over the last few months, I’ve been working on some new SCINTILLA paintings, just in time to be included in the Enormous Tiny Art Show #21 opening this Friday, March 3rd at Nahcotta Gallery in Portsmouth, NH!

    IMG_1195 copy

    scintilla 14, 2017, acrylic on cradled wood panel, 4x4x1.5

    This new group of SCINTILLA mini paintings are a bit of a departure from the last group– still minimal in design and palette, but instead of varying the hues with each painting, I kept to a seaside color scheme, inspired by the Puget Sound and the coastal Northeast.

    You can see the new series in person at Nahcotta or check them all out online here!  The show runs through April 2nd and all the work is available to purchase both in the gallery and online.

    Image by me.

     

  • Scintilla.

    Scintilla.

    If you’re following along with me on Instagram, you may have seen a new series of tiny paintings I’ve been creating, SCINTILLA.

    These 4″ square works on deep cradled wood panel began as an exercise to fill the time while larger paintings dried.  I always find myself falling in love with the earliest stage of a painting– the stage in which I paint in a monochromatic palette to work out basic light, contrast, and composition.   So I thought these little pieces would be the perfect avenue to explore those monochromes as finished work.

    scintilla-collage-part-1

    Beginning with one color, then adding white and grey for light and contrast, the compositions emerge intuitively.  I try not to begin with a set idea in mind, but instead allow a trace of a landscape to emerge slowly.

    scintilla-collage-part-2

    The first eight of the SCINTILLA paintings are currently hanging at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento as part of their Small Gems show!  Check out the EFG website for pricing and contact information for the gallery.

    I’m looking forward to creating more in this series after I get settled into my new studio in Tacoma. Oh yeah, did I not mention we’re headed to Tacoma for the next six months?  🙂

    I’ll check in again once we get settled!  Meanwhile, check out the SCINTILLA series and all the other Small Gems on the EFG website!

  • Defining Venters. The Palette.

    Defining Venters. The Palette.

    Each season, in each place, has its own palette and I find that each informs my work, wherever I happen to be.  We’ve spent our spring and summer on the Puget Sound where I’ve been soaking up the way the water glistens, the seagulls call, the foghorns sound.

    While here, in addition to the #100littleartworks project, I’ve been painting my VENTERS coastal series. Initially inspired by the wildness of the Oregon Coast and my memories of the beaches and marshes of North Florida, I wanted these paintings to have the palette and reflective transparency of sea glass and sunsets.

    Seaglass and sunsets collage

    top image found here; bottom image by me

    As I do for each series, I put together a Pinterest board for my palette inspiration, printing and referencing these images as I worked in the studio.

    Rope collage

    painting knocking on heaven’s door, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 40x30x1.5

    right image found here 

    Eggs collage

    painting how she moves, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 15x19x.75

    bottom image found here

    Angel collage

    painting make me an angel, 2016, acrylic on canvas, 30x40x1.5

    left image found here

    As I look back on the completed series, I see the way the work and the palette shifted the longer we were here on the Sound.  I’m looking forward to finding my way through the Fall and the changes it may bring in my palette and my way of seeing.

    PS– I’m shipping the last of the VENTERS paintings out to Art & Light Gallery very soon!  Then onto the next!

  • Speak.

    Speak.

    I was introduced to Speakarts through my fellow Art & Light artist, Eva Magill-Oliver, as she is one of four artists partnering with Speakarts to combine great sound with great art to create a beautiful way to listen to music.

    Eva Magill-Oliver on a WAF speaker by Speakarts
    eva’s work on a WAF Speakarts speaker
    via

    These wireless speakers are based on a Danish design, with the front fabric cover attached with magnets so that the cover art can be changed out as you wish!  Beautifully brilliant.

    I’m excited to announce that I am one of four finalists for the fifth and final Speakarts artist partner!

    Speakarts finalists

    the four finalists!  1 | inge flinte, 2 | me!!  3 | jasmine leigh, 4 | andre miller

    The final artist partner will be chosen via popular vote on Instagram beginning now through Sunday, July 24th.  I would love if you would click over to @speakarts on Instagram here and vote for #2!  I would be so excited to see my work as a vehicle for bringing beauty and music into people’s homes!  Thanks, friends!

  • True. Artistic Identity.

    True. Artistic Identity.

    Soft, moody.  Bold & brushy.  Which am I?

    Once, in a job interview, I was asked what my favorite fashion brand was.  I told the interviewer, I would love to be a Free People girl.  But I think I’m more Anthropologie.  And I think it’s the same with painting.  I’ve gone through this questioning before, a few years ago, and thought I’d come to a happy conclusion.

    But voices come in from all directions and we give them heed, perhaps we should but more than likely we shouldn’t.

    Am I making work that makes my heart sing, that challenges me or am I making work that focuses on the way other people respond to it?

    Give Me Your Forever by Lesley Frenz | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart

    give me your forever, 2016, acrylic on cradled wood panel, 12×12

    available at art & light gallery

    I’m a quiet person.  I’m not loud or brash or even sparkly.  I’m introspective.  Some might say mysterious, since I usually keep my cards close to the vest.  Why would I try to make work that doesn’t reflect who I truly am?

    As I was beginning the VENTERS series, I experimented a bit with slightly bolder movement and texture and while successful, the more quiet and soft paintings that have come lately feel more “me”.  I just finished up four more small coastal inspired pieces and am starting on larger canvases this week.  They are turning out beautifully and sharing them will feel like sharing my heart.  As art should be.  I can’t wait for you to see, stay tuned!

    Image by me.

     

  • Finding Venters. Inspiration.

    Finding Venters. Inspiration.

    It seems like one coast or another has always been a part of my life.  Growing up in Florida, I spent a lot of Saturdays collecting seashells with my mom on white sand beaches.  Then five years ago, Mr. F and I crossed the country and I was introduced to the Pacific Ocean and the beaches of the Northwest.

    I carry both with me and both coasts have inspired this new series, Venters.  The title of the series, Venters, is the word for what the wind or tide drives in from the ocean upon a wave.

    Photo May 17, 8 57 52 PM Photo Apr 01, 6 19 17 PM

    I love the way the light bounces off the waves, how the sand glistens in the afterglow of each kiss of the waves upon the shore.

    Trinidad sky Richmond beach shore

    And at the breaking and closing of the day, the coastal waters light up like the sea glass jewels they wash upon the sand.  At those times, it seems that the ocean quiets and the earth revolves a bit more slowly.  It is that feeling that I hope the Venters paintings capture.

    All images by me.