Events on Artsy Forager
This weekend, we found a bit of latitude in Oregon’s Applegate Valley and I want to know where YOU are finding LATITUDE!
If you’re on Instagram, use the tag #latitudefound to share photos of the places where you’ve found room to breathe. I’ll be sharing a few each week on my Instagram feed!
Image by me.
Back when we spent a year on the Northern California coast, one thing ( besides snow in winter ) we found ourselves really missing– big mountains. The coastal mountains have their own drama and magnificence but we really missed those high mountain peaks and valleys. So we made sure to carve out a week to mark a must-see national park off our bucket list– Yosemite.
We spent a week in late August of 2014 camping in Yosemite’s grandeur. The months leading up to our trip had been stressful– hubby hadn’t had any time off in nearly a year, my mom had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and we had dealt with my own health scare, which turned out to be nothing but was very frightening nonetheless. We were in serious need of quiet time together in the wild.
If you’ve been to Yosemite in late summer, you can attest that time alone is a bit hard to come by. The park had over 4 million visitors in 2014 and I swear the majority of that number were there at the same time we were! To avoid crowds, we tried to get out early and stay out late, and chose to avoid the more popular trails in favor of the paths less traveled.
The California Sierras have such a unique look to them– the tall pines and cedars intermixed with granite peaks and rocky river beds. In places like these, it’s easy to understand why California holds such a mythical, magical allure. Our early morning and late evenings gave me a glimpse of the magnificent way the light moves among the peaks and through the valleys. Sunrise at Tunnel View is a mind blowing experience! As is driving the park road after dark, the car lights your only illumination as the trees rise above.
favorite trail | glacier point to nevada falls
Glacier Point was only about a 15 minute drive from our campground, so we spent more time exploring there than other areas of the park. Our last full day in Yosemite, we awoke before dawn and hiked from Glacier Point out to Nevada Falls ( you can take the trail all the way to the Valley floor or up to Half Dome but we wanted a nice, quiet hike, not a death march ). Starting so early meant that we were treated to not only a spectacular, misty sunrise over Half Dome but we had the trail to ourselves for most of the morning. It was the first time in the whole week were were there that we really felt at peace and were able to soak in Yosemite’s wilderness.
don’t forget | astronomy app
The weather was so perfect while we were there that we slept without the rain fly on our tent every night, so we were treated to looking up into the star-filled night sky while drifting off to dreamland. Unlike so many areas of California, ambient light is kept at bay in Yosemite and the darkness allows the starry sky to truly shine.
what I love most | sunrise
So we are normally very far from morning people. But something happens when we are camping– we can’t wait to get up and see what the day will hold. The days we rose before the sun in Yosemite we drank in the way the light poured in, not many people yet stirring, we were able to watch the wilderness come alive. Get up early in Yosemite. You won’t regret it.
To see more of the places that have inspired the LATITUDE show and series, follow the #findinglatitude hashtag on Instagram!
All photos by me.
When lamenting my delay in beginning to paint seriously again, an artist friend told me– you needed time to fill up. Looking back on the experiences of the last five years, I realized how very right she was. Florida has its own beauties and is inspirational in its own right, but it wasn’t until we began traveling the Northwest that something long buried was awakened in me.
My first job in the art and design world post-college was as a photo researcher for a stock image licensing company. I worked in the editorial department, selecting images for publishers of books and magazines. I distinctly remember being especially enthralled by images from the Northwest, specifically Olympic National Park. I was particularly taken with the images from the Hoh Rainforest— a rainforest? In the US? I knew I wanted to see it.
We’ve been lucky enough to live a close distance to the Olympics twice now, the first time being our very first travel gig. We made our way to ONP as much as we could during those first thirteen weeks, we hiked and backpacked, taken in by the cool, lush, fern covered forests, turquoise Hoh River, and towering Olympic Mountains.
I had my first from-the-trail bear sighting in the Olympics. The feeling there is of a primeval wilderness, something out of another time. Driving into the park, you lose cell service and don’t miss it. You are transported to a different century.
Not being a “major” national park, there is a peace and a sense of quiet in the Olympics that can be hard to find in the more popular parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone. What you hear is only the rush of a waterfall, the rustle of the wind through the forest, your breath as your climb.
The Olympics continue to inspire and inform my work, the lushness and sense of quiet, its coolness and mystery.
favorite trail | Staircase Trail
There may be more dramatic and challenging hikes in ONP but this one holds a special place in my heart. We took to this hike on a sprinkly Fall morning and after a hectic summer in Seattle, the quiet and peace we found was exactly what was needed. The trail leads past enormous felled cedars, fern covered forest floors, rocky riverbeds.
don’t forget your | Layers and rain gear
The weather in ONP can be variable and unpredictable, temperatures range depending on the area of the park and elevation. The Hoh Rainforest gets an average of 144″ of rain per year, so definitely make sure you have your rain gear when venturing into the Hoh.
what i love most | What the water brings
The wet atmosphere of the Olympics provides the ideal conditions for a lush, incredibly green forest. The ferns and mosses make my heart happy, especially when sunlight streams through amidst the misty rain.
Have you been to Olympic National Park? What was your impression? Favorite area? I’m always on the lookout for tips because I never know when we’ll be back on the Olympic Peninsula!
To see more images of the places that have inspired the LATITUDE show and series, follow the #findinglatitude hashtag on Instagram!
All images by me.
has two meanings–
Before I was approached by Teresa Roche at Art & Light last Fall to present a solo show of work in March of this year, I had already been working on nature based abstracts and abstract landscapes. Exploring wild and scenic places is a big part of our life and travels, so it has been a natural well of inspiration.
bolinas, california
When beginning to think about the body of work I wanted to create for my first solo show, I knew I would be seeking to capture not just a place on a map but the feelings of freedom, peace, and beauty in the experience of a particular moment in that place– LATITUDE.
mr. f on the rocks in trinidad, california
mt rainier, washington
Traveling the Northwest with my hubby provides me with endless artistic inspiration and with both of us endless moments of beauty to share. While many of the places that have inspired the LATITUDE show and series are incredibly beautiful, often the sense of specialness was not simply in the place itself, but perhaps in the way the light bounced off the water, the quietness of a morning beach all to ourselves, the way the landscape brought us peace, brought us joy.
friday harbor, san juan islands, washington
Over the coming weeks leading up to LATITUDE’s opening, I’ll be sharing more images, experiences, and inspiration from some of these very special places. You can see more of the places inspiring LATITUDE on Instagram, by searching #findinglatitude.
All photos by me.
Hiya artsies! I’ve been super sick this week with a horrible cold– that always seems to happen around the holidays, doesn’t it? But I just had to pop in and tell you about this amazing show opening at Voltage Coffee and Art tonight!
The show, Jealously Curated, is the brainchild of artists Jenny Brown, Jessica Brilli, and Anna Jensen. Jealously Curated is a collection of work by East Coast artists who all have one thing in common: they have all been featured on Danielle Krysa’s wildly popular blog, The Jealous Curator. For the first time on the East Coast, alums of the blog have organized a show at Voltage Art and Coffee to share their latest work—and to celebrate the blog that inspired and brought them together.
Artists and art bloggers are an incredibly supportive community and I absolutely loved this idea when I heard about it! If you’re in the Cambridge area, be sure and check it out! You can find more info on the show on the Voltage website.
I’ve featured several of these artists here, if you’d like to check out their Forager features– Jenny Brown, Jessica Brilli, Leah Giberson, Jeremy Miranda. And of course, check out the websites of all these amazingly talented artists!
It seems like a long time since I’ve caught ya’ll up on what’s going on with my studio practice. Has it really been a year? Yikes! If you follow along on social media, you know that I’ve still been diligently painting away, have launched my own artist’s website, and now have work represented by Art & Light Gallery in Greenville, SC. So much exciting growth in the last year, I can hardly stand it!
As my studio practice grows, I’ve found myself wanting something different for this space. For the last four years of writing Artsy Forager, I’ve focused my attention more on the work of other artists. Perhaps because I doubted that I had anything compelling to say as an artist myself. But like a baby bird, I have been finding my voice and am ready for my song to be heard.
Beginning this week, Artsy Forager, the blog and social media platforms, will be shifting direction. While Artsy Forager has in the past been concentrated on other artist’s work, moving forward I’ll be sharing more of my own artistic journey– my work, my inspiration, our travels and adventures and what it all means to me. And with a solo show at Art & Light coming up in March 2016 (eeeee!!!!), I am making more time to paint, and with that my posting to the blog will be less frequent– once or twice a week instead of daily. I’ll still be on Instagram & other social media daily, though!
I will always be an encourager and cheerleader for my fellow artists and count them among the catalysts that have propelled me forward. I completely understand that some readers come to Artsy Forager to discover new artists ( follow me on Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter for that– I’ll continue sharing my favorites on those platforms! ) and this new direction may mean a loss of readership. That’s OK.
For the first time in over four years of writing this blog, it will truly be my voice, my vision, my soul being shared. I hope you’ll continue on this journey with me!
We can all relate to being a part of a non-traditional family. Whether you’re a member of a blended “step” family, the parent or child in a same-sex led family, or have created your own definition of a family made up of friends you love and trust. Being a part of two blended families, I was especially excited when Seattle artist Amy Pleasant told me about a project she’s been working on, Continental Shift Seattle.
Continental Shift Seattle is an art exhibition exploring the dynamics of stepfamilies, broadly defined to include adoptive families, LGBT families, children raised by their grandparents or aunts/uncles.
The show and online forum explore this increasingly common family dynamic, how we deal with it individually and as families. The exhibition opens this Saturday, August 9th at the Georgetown Castle in Seattle. A one-night only exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, mixed media, a one-act play, and multi-media featuring submissions from experiences submitted by the public.
Be sure to check out the Continental Shift Seattle website and if you’re in the Seattle area, check out the show for yourself this weekend!
All images via the Continental Shift Seattle website.
Gallery Shows You Should Know About!
In this week’s round up of gallery shows and museum exhibitions, I am so bummed that I’m nowhere near any of these spots because each of these shows looks amazing!
north | Party Over, Joe Wardwell at LaMontagne Gallery
south | Beauty Reigns, group exhibition at The McNay Art Museum
west | Ice to Island, Zaria Forman & In Memoriam, Rena Bass Forman, at Winston Wachter
east | Variations on a Theme, Andrew Salgado solo exhibition, at One Art Space
Click through the gallery links above for more information about each show. If you check ‘em out, tag me ( @artsyforager ) on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness! If you go I’ll be totally jealous!
Images via gallery/museum websites linked above.
If you’re following along with my Foraging on social media, you may have seen me let a little cat out of the bag last week.. Since the end of last year, I’ve been working on a limited edition collaboration with the Seattle based online art & framing company, Mantle Art, and I’m thrilled to announce that the Artsy Forager Collection for Mantle Art is now live!!
In partnership with the folks at Mantle Art, I’ve pulled together this first collection of four emerging artists, each one of whose work I feel speaks strongly and beautifully a unique visual story. Allow me to introduce you!
alexandra bellissimo | Alexandra is one of my favorite finds of the past year and was the Artsy Forager Featured Artist just last month. Her work has an edgy elegance to it that I am particularly drawn to. That top left piece is perhaps one of my all time favorite pieces of work, EVER. I can’t get enough of it.
click the image above to shop Alexandra’s collection on Mantle Art!
kelda martensen | Kelda was a new discovery for me through this process, but the minute I saw her work, I fell in love with it. In her original mixed media pieces, Kelda is seeking to define what home may be and though the answer for each of us is different, her work speaks a universal language. Look for an Artsy Forager feature on Kelda soon!
click the image above to shop Kelda’s collection on Mantle Art!
matt sawyer | Mr. F had a circle of really super cool friends during his Tulsa days. And photographer Matt Sawyer just happened to be among them. When I was putting together artist options for the collection, I wanted a photographer who was treating traditional imagery in a modern, fresh way so I was thrilled when the folks at Mantle Art loved Matt’s work as much as I did!
click the image above to shop Matt’s collection on Mantle Art!
anna kincaide | One of the most thrilling things about writing Artsy Forager has been the joy of finding an artist and following the growth of their work. Anna is one of the artists I’ve been most excited to watch emerge! I fell in love with her work the first time I saw it and she has only gotten better and better since. Her compositions are always stunning and the playfulness of pattern, as well as her use of light just create such lovely juxtapositions.
click the image above to shop Anna’s collection on Mantle Art!
Each piece in the Artsy Forager for Mantle Art Collection is available as a limited edition print on Hahnemuhle fine art paper and is available in three sizes 11×14, 16×20, and 20×24. Edition sizes are limited to 200 pieces per size, and each piece will be shipped with a certificate of authenticity. Mantle Art also offers matting and framing options for each piece– one stop shopping, ya’ll!
I hope you’ll wander through the collection, perhaps you’ll fall in love and add one of these beauties to your collection!
All images via the Artsy Forager Collection for Mantle Art.
*This post contains affiliate links. As curator of the Artsy Forager for Mantle Art Collection, I receive a small commission on each piece sold from the collection.
You guys, we are loving our new little town so much! Since we arrived, everyone’s been telling me how many artists there are here in Eureka and that we must check out the monthly art walk, ArtsAlive. It was a perfect, beautiful evening and it seemed like everyone in Humboldt County was in downtown Eureka, enjoying the spectacular weather and taking it all in.
I knew there were a few galleries I needed to check out but what I didn’t know was that so there were so many artists with studios downtown and a great many of them were open that night! I do so love a peek inside artists’ studios! After checking out the mesmerizing work of Isabelle Staehle at The Black Faun, we wandered through the studios & Hall Gallery at C Street. Large, high ceilinged, open beam studios with tons of light? Yes, please. Mr. F asked if I would like a studio like one of these.. uh yeah, let’s find a way to make that happen! Lots of people wandering through the halls, and a nice variety of work to be found, from abstract expressionist to folk art inspired to traditional landscapes. Truly a cornucopia of artsiness!
studio of Augustus Clark
We also wandered through the studios at the Center for Insane Artists. How could we resist checking it out with a name like that? Alas, I’ve been unable to find any info for them online. But a handful of the studios were open, some interesting work to be found there, for sure!
Next stop was Piante Gallery‘s show Metal Pin Cushion featuring work by Sondra Schwetman and Patrick Williams, addressing the process and physicality of fabric.
My favorite stop was First Street Gallery, HSU’s non-profit, off campus art gallery. No cameras were allowed, but I HAD to share these shows with you, so I pulled images from their website. Currently, the exhibition space is broken up into two shows, one featuring the work of artist and Stanford University professor Gail Wight, on loan from Patricia Sweetow Gallery. Wight’s work is an elegant combination of beauty and science, her burned vellum drawings inspired by a 1948 pharmacological study of spiders and her composite digital prints, all drew my eye with their intricate simplicity.
The other half of the gallery was taken over by three North Coast artists, Seana Burden, Jeff Jordan, and Jesse Wiedel in their group exhibition, Laughter in Darkness. The works of these three artists combine traditional landscape and dream-like imagery often providing commentary on contemporary culture. I was especially drawn to Burden’s “Boob” paintings in which she creates a fantastical land in which all the subversive messages we are sent each day are much more blatant.
seana burden, jesse wiedel, and jeff jordan
Like most good art walks, we weren’t able to get to everything, but what we did see gave Mr. F and I lots to chat about over a glass of wine ( or 3! ) at the end of the night. I hope you’ll check out the websites of these artists and galleries– so much wonderful talent in this area. I feel so lucky to be here, even if for just a short while.
Gail Wight, Seana Burden, Jesse Wiedel and Jeff Jordan images via HSU website. All other images by Artsy Forager.