Daily Artsy Drawing

Lost in the Aviary: Fran Giffard

Posted on September 27, 2012

I’ve admitted it already, I can be a bird-brain.  Not in a ditzy way, in an I am completely fascinated by birds kind of way.  When we go out for evening walks, especially here at the lake, many times I’ll stop just to gaze at a lovely bird or try to catch a glimpse as one flits from tree to tree, trying to avoid the approaching humans.  London artist Fran Giffard takes ornithological study to an artsy degree as she draws these fine-feathered illustrations on the pages of old moleskin diaries.

U, O for Ornithology series, graphite pencil and aquarelle, 26×21 cm

Her latest series, O for Ornithology, features birds drawn within layouts similar to those of Mondrian’s paintings.  The birds “perched” within the grid seem to be peering in on us from a windowsill or perhaps peering out from a cage.

U, Old Paper Alphabet series, graphite pencil and aquarelle, 26×21 cm

F, Old Paper Alphabet series, graphite pencil and aquarelle, 26×21 cm

Giffard’s use of old diaries as substrate create an interesting juxtaposition between the beautifully rendered fowl and quickly jotted notes about every day life like grocery lists and appointments.

G, O for Ornithology series, graphite pencil and aquarelle, 26×21 cm

To see more of Fran Giffard’s work, please visit her website.  Looking forward to seeing lots of lovely new birds while we are in Joshua Tree, CA this Fall!

Featured image is P, Old Paper Alphabet series, graphite pencil and aquarelle, 26×21 cm. All images are via the artist’s website.

Curated Persona Galleries Guest Foraging

Guest Foraging for UGallery: Curated Persona: Your Favorite Hipster

Posted on September 26, 2012

Hiya Artsies!  Today I’m doing a little guest foraging over on the UGallery blog for my Curated Persona series.  I’ve put together a collection of UGallery artwork perfect for Your Favorite Hipster.  You know you have one.  Check it out here!

Diver by Daniel Lachman

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Abject Extraction: Jen Garrido

Posted on September 26, 2012

For many artists, the act of creation isn’t just about projecting an image onto a canvas.  Artists like Jen Garrido understand that often, it’s more about pulling a hidden entity out of the mist.

From the Rock #7

Garrido’s images straddle the line between abstraction and representation, which creates a beautiful tension in her work.  With their stark and white, yet heavily textured backgrounds, the colors and lines feel like the emergence of spring after a long winter.

Buckle, oil on panel, 12×12

Birdhole A, oil on panel, 8×8

The way she molds shapes and textures together leave her paintings with a sculptural quality, bringing them to life in a way that makes them seem almost alive.

From the Rock #10, oil on panel, 12×12

To see more of Jen Garrido’s work, be sure to check out her website.

Artist found via Anthropologie.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Artsy on Escape Into Life Mixed Media

Artsy on Escape Into Life: Larissa Haily Aguado

Posted on September 25, 2012

I do love a fabulous collage.  And these creations from Argentinian artist Larissa Haily Aguado immediately caught my eye when I spotted them over on The Jealous Curator.  The artist seamlessly blends disparate found images to create the spectacularly simple but striking work.  Check out more of her work over on my Artist Watch at Escape Into Life today!

Pinky Esmeralda by Larissa Haily Aguado

Larissa Haily Aguado on Escape Into Life

Daily Artsy Mixed Media

Urban Existentialism: Nicola Lopez

Posted on September 25, 2012

It often feels like there is no place left in the world untouched by technology.  Even in some of the most rural areas, you’ll still find yourself within technology’s reach.  The work of Brooklyn artist Nicola Lopez explores the idea of how the saturation of technology is shaping the way we experience the world.

Water, etching, carborundrum collograph and collage, 41×41

Beyond the brilliant depictions themselves, Lopez utilizes the creative process to mirror the transformation the landscape goes through as it is built upon.  From her website– “I use the language of printmaking to address the processes of automation and mass production that have brought today’s world into existence. The specific media of intaglio, woodblock and drawing that I choose to work with, however, are still closely linked to the artist’s hand and allow the work to be about my own attempt as an individual to come up with a system of navigating this overwhelming landscape instead of simply consuming one of the pre-fabricated, mass-produced and -marketed versions, of which there are so many.”

Excerpt from the Flood I, lithograph on paper and mylar, 30×44

Half-Life 7, woodcut and photolithography on mylar collage, 36×48

“As with the evolution of the human-built landscape, there are moments in the construction of my world where the building proceeds according to plans that have already been laid and there are moments when the building precedes its own planning, expanding unpredictably and organically towards an order of a very different sort. Our world is full of the tension between just this order and disorder.. “

Boneyard, woodcut, photolithograph, silkscreen on mylar collage, 22×22.5

To see more of Nicola Lopez’s work, please visit her website.  If you happen to be in Florida, be sure to stop by J.Johnson Gallery in Jacksonville Beach to see Lopez’s show, Multiplicity, which can be seen at J.Johnson until November 2nd.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Figurative Mixed Media

Alien Nation: Fidencio Martinez

Posted on September 24, 2012

Living the way we do, Mr. Forager and I are no strangers to feeling like outsiders in a new place.  We try to make a new town home every three months.    I can only imagine how difficult it must be to move to a completely new country, where perhaps you don’t even speak the language or where you noticeably stand out due to the color of your skin.  The work of Mexican-born Memphis artist Fidencio Martinez deals with such feelings of social alienation, assimilation and isolation.

Clandestino, acrylic paint and newspaper, 12×12

Although Martinez’s figures tend to be Latino or indigenous, we’ve all likely experienced some level of isolation.  Yet do we really have any idea what it might be like to be live in a place fraught with danger, one you flee in order to be able to live your life free of fear?

A Coup Beneath Meek Flores, mixed media, 12×12

Nos Caimos Como Balas, mixed media, 12×12

What if, when all you wanted was to be able to live a quiet, happy life in your new world, you were constantly met with hate and prejudice?  Would you be able to accept such treatment with a sanguine attitude?

La Cosecha de Su Vida, mixed media, 24×36

Can you relate to Martinez’s work?  When do you feel like an outsider?  You can see more of Fidencio’s work on his website and be sure to check out his Etsy shop for his available work for sale!

Artist found via Clair Hartmann.  Featured image is Teal Fields in Skin Seas, mixed media, 12×12.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Design Foraging Textiles

Friday Finds: Fabrications

Posted on September 21, 2012

I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to sewing.  Pretty sure I got a “C” on my big sewing project in junior high Home Ec ( a C was pretty unheard of for this nerd ) and my attempts as an adult haven’t been much better.  But I have a great love for textiles of all colors and textures.  Not only do I completely love contemporary artists who work in fabric, but I am completely envious of their abilities.  You know what they say, those who can, do.. those who can’t, well share with others!  Check out these beautiful examples of textile art!

Structures #72 by Lisa Call

Cleveland Foreclosure Quilt by Kathryn Clark

Ada Quilt by Meg Callahan

Prairie/Wall I by Sue Benner

Lisa Call | Kathryn Clark | Meg Callahan | Sue Benner

Be sure to check out these artists’ websites, linked above for more of their amazing work.  Happy weekend!

All images are via the artists’ websites, linked above.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Outsider Beauty: Margaret Bowland

Posted on September 20, 2012

Coming from the South, I had this image in my mind of the Northwest– open minded and full of diversity.  And it is like that, in major cities like Seattle and Portland.  But in the small towns we’ve lived in and especially for the last 10 months spent in Coeur d’Alene, ID, we’ve found diversity pretty hard to come by.  We get used to all of the faces looking like ours.  The work of New York artist Margaret Bowland explores what it means to be beautiful outside the expected standard– tall, thin, white.

Flower Girl #2, oil on linen, 48×48

Bowland contends, via her artist statement, that “being beautiful is as as important as being rich, that being beautiful is itself a form of wealth.”  Women have, for centuries, tirelessly sought to conform to the celebrated standard of beauty at the time. Bowland’s images of young black girls with sad, painted faces convey what it must be like to be asked by society to put a mask over your own unique beauty in order to be accepted.

Color, pastel and charcoal on paper, 37x 48

Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna, oil on linen, 72×80

We feel compelled either by our environment or by ourselves ( or more likely a combination of the two ), to comply to what we are told is beautiful.  Stay hungry all the time to be thin, dye your hair, whiten your teeth, don’t be too pale.. don’t be too dark.  When will we, as individuals and as societies realize that to homogenize beauty only serves to promote what is ugly within ourselves.

Flower Girl, oil on linen, 44×52

To see more of Margaret Bowland’s work, please visit her website.

Artist found via Artist A Day.  All images are via the artist’s website.

Art Association

Art Association Pinterest Contest!

Posted on September 19, 2012

The fabulous Erin Cassidy of art social and I want to play a little game with you!  OK, so you’re Charlie Brown and we’re Lucy.. the art doctors are in.. Now look at this piece, Rorshach by Laura Newman.. what do you see?

Rorshach by Laura Newman

An open window looking out onto a sunset?  Two heads?  Or are you like me and just get distracted by the luscious rainbow of colors?

But now for the real fun, the CONTEST!  Here’s how our little artsy mad scientist experiment will work–

Step 1|  We give you a piece of artwork, this month’s work is Laura Newman’s Rorschach ( above )

Step 2 | You create a Pinterest board titled Art Association, like mine here, where you pin any and all images you associate you have with the featured artwork ( like word associations, only visual )– here’s a little sneak peek at my board to get your creative juices flowin’

Artsy Forager’s Art Associations board

Step 3 | Leave a link to your Art Association pinboard in the Comments section of this post

Step 4 | Follow both art social and Artsy Forager on Pinterest ( if you already are, you’re ahead of the game and doubly awesome )

Here’s what you can win–

Once you’ve completed the steps above, you’ll be entered for a chance to win one month of free BOSS ad space on artsocial. This top spot gets you shout outs on Twitter, Facebook, and a spotlight post all about you, Boss. At 200×400 pixels, you’re blog, shop, or biz will get some awesome exposure by association. 😉

The pinner with the best art associations ( as judged by me and Erin ) will be chosen on Wednesday, September 26th at 5pm (mountain standard time).  I know that ya’ll are a creative bunch, let’s see what ya got!

Ready..   set..   associate!!

Would you like your artwork to be featured as an Art Association subject?  Shoot Erin an email at artsocialonline@gmail.com for more info.

Laura Newman image via 20×200.

Daily Artsy Mixed Media

Fresh Translucence: Maria Olivares Alfaro

Posted on September 19, 2012

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of artwork filled with thick, saturated color.  But there are times when I happen upon an artist whose work feels like a breath of fresh air.  When I saw Mexican born Maria Olivares Alfaro’s work, it felt refreshingly light and simple.

Velos

I hate to use the word simple to describe her work, because  I feel like it has such a negative connotation.  But they seem like beautiful little doodles.

Cuaderno

Von Dibujo

Alfaro’s work has a young, naive quality but they are too elegant to feel immature.  There is a thoughtfulness and sense of restraint behind each composition.

Cuaderno

To see more of Maria Olivares Alfaro’s beautiful work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.