Happy September, Artsies! I’m so excited to bring you this month’s new Facebook Featured Artist. Not only is she one of my favorite artists EVER, but one of my favorite people in the world. Be sure to head on over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see the beautiful new cover image by Florida artist Christina Foard!
Stay tuned throughout the month of September for more from the fabulous Ms. Foard!
Hiya Artsies! Most of you know, my hubby is a medical professional who works as a “traveler”– he takes contract assignments all over the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast. We are finally getting to use his California license and will be headed to Joshua Tree, CA in October! We’re super excited to finally spend some time in Cali, be near friends in San Diego and I can’t wait to explore all the artsiness of SoCal!
With each new place we go, I spend hours perusing the internet, looking for furnished rentals, when I’d much rather be searching for fantastic artists to share with you! So far, we aren’t having much luck in Joshua Tree– there are lots of rental options, but few are very budget friendly! 😉
So I’m asking, begging, pleading ( dramatic, much? ).. if you have any connections in the Joshua Tree area or know of anyone who may have a home in or near there for rent, please let me know!
Also, I’m taking suggestions for galleries to visit in the San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Springs/Hi-Desert areas. Hit me with whatcha got.
Image via the artist’s website.
There is something about this time of year that makes me long to go back to school. OK, maybe not. But I do look longingly at the school supplies on display everywhere, wishing I had a reason to buy a Trapper Keeper and some brand new #2 pencils! Not only do I love Anthropologie for their use & promotion of work by artists I love like Sarah Ashley Longshore and Dolan Geiman, but they also have a beautiful collection of studious accessories perfect for any artsy. Here are a few of my favorites–
Pinwheel Push Pins | Madurodam Colored Pencils | Dip-Dye iPad Case | Watercolor Postcards | Clothbound Ikat Journal
What about you, Artsies? What are your favorite school supplies to splurge on? 😉
All images are via the Anthropologie website. All opinions are my own, this is not a post sponsored in any way by Anthropologie or its affiliates.
Artsiness isn’t just about the art we create or appreciate. It is the way we live, the way we treat others, how we carry ourselves. Over the course of the last year, I’ve read so much regarding how the way we chose to clothe ourselves says so much about who we are or who we are trying to be. I’m a firm believer in artsy self-expression in any form! In this new feature, Wear the Artsy, we’ll pair a piece of artwork with a piece of clothing or accessory that captures the spirit of the art.
In today’s pairing, our inspiration piece is this gorgeous, colorful abstract by artist Dura Hana AKA D.U.R.A. What better way to wear those beautiful jeweltones than with that cheery Tom Binns Riri Painted Swarovski Cuff?
Do you have suggestions for a piece of art to be featured on Wear the Artsy? Comment below and let’s see how we can wear our favorites!
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I have a bit of a weakness for saturated color mixed with bold graphics. I don’t know what it is about this combo, but I am completely unable to resist. The colorful abstract collages of Charleston, SC artist Sarah Boyts Yoder had me at hot pink.
I am completely enchanged with those heavy black lines reminiscent of a child’s coloring book.. Often the lines are left partially “colored-in”, a playful nod to their childlike quality.
And I love the way Boyts Yoder seems to take two disparate compositions and layers one over the other, creating a game of visual “peek-a-boo”. I want to peel back each layer to see what’s hiding underneath!
To see more of Sarah Boyts Yoder’s work, please visit her website. Her work can be seen in Charleston at the Michael Mitchell Gallery.
All images are via the artist’s website.
Today seems to be the day for posting childhood memory-inspired works of art! I am a firm believer in public art that serves to delight and inspire any viewer. Public art should appeal to the public, you shouldn’t need to be versed in art history or elements of design to appreciate and admire it. The Bubblegum installation of artists Merijn Hos and Renée Reijnders perfectly demonstrates the ability of public art to enchant and amuse.
The installation could be seen floating above Weerwater Lake in the Netherlands in 2010. Check out the websites of Merijn Hos and Renee Reijnders to see more images and what they’ve been up to lately.
All images are via Renee Reijnders’ website.
Hiya Artsies! Oh boy, so many exciting things happening ’round these parts! Feel like I’m all over the place in the best sort of way. This week, I have a guest post up over on the Image South blog. If you’re not familiar with Image South, they are a publisher of fine art prints offering beautiful work at affordable prices. For my guest post, I took one IS print, Essential Line #4 by Mitra Ghaffari, carefully chose versatile Larson Juhl framing and then showcased it in three very different spaces. Head over to the Image South blog to check it out!
As much travelling as Mr. Forager and I do, we have yet to venture outside the US. But we have big plans to do so and I can. not. wait.!! Recently Artsy Forager fave artist, M.A. Tateishi, journeyed to a dream destination of mine, Turkey ( read all about it on her blog here ). While she was there, M.A. experienced the most amazing looking installation, Revolution Revelation, created by artists Arkin (Mercan Dede) and Carlito Dalceggio. I was especially struck by the style of Dalceggio– so modern Byzantine meets urban graffiti! So I’m featuring his work on my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. His works feel like an escape into the intricacies of Moorish architecture in a delightfully twisted way. Nothing but love from this Artsy.
While living on a lake in Northern Idaho this summer, I swear I have never seen skies soooo blue. Every day around lunch time, I take a break from blogging work and walk outside to text my hubby ( danger of living in the boonies, spotty cell reception ) and almost every day as I look up above the canopy of trees and into the sky, it is the most impossible shade of blue. A blue so deep and saturated and perfect that it would be impossible to capture, at least for this amateur photographer. New York artist Eric Cahan seems to have a similar obsession with sky, but where my own limitations keep my from even trying, his skill and talent beautifully capture the simple magnificence of the expanse above us.
His work focuses on the pure joy of color that the sky and landscape affords, breaking the vast space and complexity of the natural world into simple gradients of color.
In his sculptures and photographs alike, we are left to revel in the pure liquidity of color and environs. We forget the chaos on the earth below and are transported to the space above.
To see more of Eric Cahan’s work, please visit his website. Eric represents just one of the many talented artists and photographers I’ve found via Pinterest. It’s not just shoes and recipes! Check out the Artsy Forager Pinterest board, Artsy in Living Color, for more found photographic talent.
I have always been a voracious reader, nerd that I am. Summers were often spent with my nose in a book and summer reading contests were usually won handedly. These days, with so much time spent reading blogs and articles online, I don’t pick up a book nearly as often as I’d like. When I do, sometimes it’s an artist biography or other art/art history related tome, with the occasional fun & easy fiction read thrown in. Since some of my artsy reads might be of interest to you, I thought I’d begin posting my thoughts on my latest conquests.
My most recent artsy read has been Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock by Henry Adams. Many of us know that Pollock was a student of Benton, but this book really delves into both their lives and careers, their complicated relationship and the influence of each on the development of modern art.
While I’ve always admired Thomas Hart Benton’s work for its sweeping nature and subtly satirical voice ( though it is still widely criticized by many as too provincial ), I’ll admit my main draw to the book was Pollock.
Remembering back to my earliest forays into art history, I wasn’t especially intrigued by Pollock. At the time, I was drawn to the more feminine abstractions of Georgia O’Keeffe and Helen Frankenthaler. It wasn’t until I came face to face with a Pollock canvas during an Abstract Expressionism show at The Cummer Museum of Art in Jacksonville. I was completely blown away.
The texture, the seemingly randomness that once you really stare at it, is not so random, the thick build-up of paint.. I was now officially hooked. The book details the rise of Thomas Hart Benton, paying special attention to his influences, as these would trickle down to ultimately influence Pollock. Benton’s theory of “the hollow and the bump” becomes especially important to Pollock’s artistic growth. Once studied side by side, it’s interesting to map how Pollock went from devoted student of Benton’s to the development of his own unique, groundbreaking style while still utilizing theories taught to him by this mentor and father figure.
I confess, this one took me several library renewals to get through.. The first half of the book, which focuses heavily on Benton and his contemporaries is a bit of a challenge, perhaps because I was more interested in Pollock. But once you begin to see it all culminating in the explosion of Pollock’s career, the transition from the Modern movement to Abstract Expressionism and the shifting of the center of the art world from Paris to New York, the book is impossible to put down. Yes, there’s plenty of speculation regarding Pollock’s alcoholism, mental and emotional battles, but the focus comes back to how he dealt with those demons through his work. A fantastic read if you are at all interested in modern art, abstract expressionism, Benton or Pollock. I just wish I’d bought it instead of checking it out of the library!
Anyone else out there read this book? What were your thoughts?
PS– If you have any recommendations for artsy reads, please share! Right now, I’m really enjoying Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty. Thoughts on that one to come soon! You can see more of my reading list on my Artsy Book Club Pinterest board. 😉