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  • Constructed Dreams: Laura Redburn

    Constructed Dreams: Laura Redburn

    I’ve been having some pretty weird and vivid dreams lately.  One night’s sleep involved a marriage proposal from The Office’s Michael Scott ( admittedly, I do have a bit of a Steve Carell crush ) AND an actual wedding to George Michael circa his Wham! days ( and yes, 80s girl that I am, I had a huge crush on GM back in the day ).  So it isn’t any surprise that as soon as Welsh artist Laura Redburn emailed her work to me, I was instantly drawn to it.

    Gannex, mixed media
    The Truest Thing We’d Ever Known, mixed media

    Her mixed media work, constructions of things and images that inspire her, reminded me of my own dreams.  The scenes are familiar and usually friendly, yet slightly so ever askew.

    In the Warm July Sun, mixed media
    Messenger in Disguise, mixed media

    Redburn’s collages unearth old memories, finding them perhaps not quite as we remembered them.  Which is sometimes a bit unsettling, but there is a bit of freedom in the renewal of memories in an unfamiliar fashion.

    Keen, mixed media

    To see more of Laura Redburn’s work, please visit her website.  You can buy her prints of her work ( and other cool goodies, too! ) at Society6.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Friday Finds: Stairmasters

    Friday Finds: Stairmasters

    There is nothing I love more than being out & about and coming across a fabulous piece of street art or public sculpture.  Something I’ve noticed lately is a wonderful propensity for decorating public staircases.  Here are a few of my favorite examples from around the world!

    Beirut, Lebanon steps by Strictly Dih-zayhners
    Piano Steps, Valparaiso, Chile
    Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
    Painted steps, Valparaiso, Chile
    Yarn bombed steps oustide Helsinki Cathedral, Finland ( photo by Peter Norris )

    Strictly Dih-zayhners on Street Art Utopia | Valparaiso Steps via We Heart It  | Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago | Painted steps on Street Art Utopia | Yarn Bombed Steps via The Daily Telegraph 

    Who knew Valparaiso, Chile was so full of street art goodness?  Definitely on my list of places to visit now!  Have a favorite pair of artsy stairs?  Share ’em over on the Artsy Forager Facebook page!

    All image sources are linked above.

  • Exploratory Expressions: Amadea Bailey

    Exploratory Expressions: Amadea Bailey

    I love the way some artists are visual archaeologists.  California based artist Amadea Bailey takes a journey of exploration and excavation each time she works a canvas.

    In the Pink, mixed media on canvas, 53×89
    Out of the box, mixed media on canvas, 60×80

    Like other “excavation” artists whose work I love, such as M.A. Tateishi and Christina Foard, Bailey builds her work, layer upon layer, eventually unearthing treasures as they resurface.

    La Dolce Vita, oil on canvas, 38×54

    Her large canvases are worlds unto themselves, images appearing out of the chaos, like mirages in the desert.

    Free Fall, mixed media on canvas, 54×62
    The Little Prince, acrylic and oil on canvas, 62×78

    To see more of Amadea Bailey’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Guest Foraging: New Monthly Feature on UGallery’s Blog!

    Good afternoon, Artsies!  I’m happy to announce that beginning today, I’ll be writing a monthly feature for the UGallery blog!  UGallery is an online gallery featuring affordable & accessible original artwork.  I’ve been pinning to UGallery’s group Pinterest board, Artful Rooms, for a few months now and  you may remember Kurt Yalcin, Community Manager for UGallery, popped in to do a little Guest Foraging for me while I was on vacation earlier this month.  We’ve been enjoying our collaborations so much that Kurt offered me a regular feature on the UGallery blog!

    Curated Persona will run once a month and with each new post, I’ll introduce you to a new “personality” and curate a collection of work from UGallery’s fabulous stable of artists especially tailored to that persona.  Head over the the UGallery blog to check out the first installment of Curated Personas: The Romantic Sophisticate!

    At the Edge by Joy McKinney
  • No Ordinary Imaginary Magic: Alexandra Eldridge

    No Ordinary Imaginary Magic: Alexandra Eldridge

    I always loved listening to my nieces when they were playing alone in their rooms.  Their imaginations, so fertile and free, creating worlds all their own.  So many of us, as we grow older, lose our childlike imaginations.  But artist Alexandra Eldridge obviously still has hers firmly intact, as she crafts imagery full of whimsy and dream-like charm.

    The Garden House, venetian plaster, mixed media, collage on panel, 18×24
    Elephant, mixed media

    Eldridge’s mixed media work combines seemingly disparaged elements in such a enchanting way, they have the feeling of our childhood day dreams.  Reminders of the days when life was filled with possibilities and wonder.

    Miracle by Miracle, mixed media, 24×24
    This is Where I Live, mixed media, 24×24

    To see more of Alexandra Eldridge’s work, please visit her website.  I discovered her work at Diehl Gallery in Jackson Hole, WY ( more artists to come from Diehl! ).  You can see her work in person there and at other galleries around the country.  Check out her website for details!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Linus Lohoff

    I have a feeling there is a contingency out there who think Pinterest is filled with nothing but images of shoes, decadent cuisine, house porn and Ryan Gosling memes.  OK, perhaps they have a point.  But when you follow smart, intelligent, artsy folks like I do, Pinterest can be a treasure trove of artistic goodies, like the work of German photographer Linus Lohoff, whose work I’m featuring in my Artist Watch over on Escape Info Life today.  Hope you’ll head over to EIL to check it out and while you’re at it, take a peek at the Artsy Forager boards on Pinterest!

    Linus Lohoff on Escape Into Life

  • Flights of Fancy: Diana Beltran Herrera

    Flights of Fancy: Diana Beltran Herrera

    I’ve told you before about my visions of becoming a crazy bird watcher.  While Mr. Forager loves to lookout for ospreys, hawks and other large birds of prey, my own preference is for birds of smaller varieties.  Spotting a hummingbird is especially thrilling!  Their diminutive size and speed make their sudden appearance fascinating.  Colombian artist Diana Beltran Herrera recreates their flights of fancy in her paper sculptures.

    While we were recently camping in Glacier National Park, we awoke one morning to what sounded like tiny jets buzzing above the roof of our tent.  The hummingbirds were enjoying a frolic among the lupine surrounding our campsite.

    Herrera’s birds seem to come alive as they search for nectar among paper sculpted flowers.  You can practically hear the buzz of their wings as they keep themselves suspended mid-air.

    So what do you think?  Has my slight ornithological obsession completely taken hold?  I think the only cure is to just seek out more fowl, both of the living and artistic variety. 😉 To see more of Diana Beltran Herrera’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via My Modern Metropolis.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Contemporary Muses: Hope Gangloff

    There are certain times, especially when he lays on the floor for a power nap, that I long to break out my charcoal and sketch my husband.  I’m moved to capture the beauty of his face and his peaceful position.  As I’ve mentioned, figure drawing took me a while to master but once I did I truly began to see the magic in the body of each person.  Our expressions, our posture, our countenance is all unique to who we are.  The paintings of Hope Gangloff capture every day moments of ordinary people, rendering them in an extraordinarily beautiful way.

    Her figures in repose, bear stylistic resemblance to masters such as Schiele, Matisse, Cassatt and Toulouse-Lautrec.

    Queen Jane Approximately, acrylic on canvas, 108.5×67.5

    But these are contemporary muses, this is the way we live now.  Friends come over and take their shoes off and relax with us, the parlor has been replaced by the kitchen and the patio.  Conversations remain unchanged– we talk politics, relationships, art and music.

    Catherine Despont, acrylic on canvas, 48×72
    Upstate Neighbor ( Gavin Anderson ), acrylic on canvas, 84×56

    Gangloff’s figures are familiar.  They are our friends, our neighbors, our world.  To see more of Hope Gangloff’s work, please visit her website.

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

  • Friday Finds: Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Art

    Friday Finds: Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Art

    Ya’ll, I am a long time fan of The King.  Not a crazy-I-have-an-Elvis-room-in-my-house-and-make-a-yearly-pilgrimage-to-Graceland fan, but I will sing along with him every time he comes up on the iPod.  Yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of Elvis’s death and I’ve been seeing a lot of artists drawing inspiration from Mr. Presley lately, so thought I’d round up a few of my faves for you!

    Sticker Elvis by Jim Blanchard
    ( Elvis ) Beyond the Bend by Deborah Scott
    The Dr. Martin Luther King of Rock & Roll by Troy Gua
    Thank You, Thank You Very Much by Sarah Ashley Longshore

    Jim Blanchard | Deborah Scott | Troy Gua | Sarah Ashley Longshore 

    Be sure and check out all these artists’ websites, linked above.  If you happen to be in the Seattle area, don’t miss Elvistravaganza!, a curated show featuring works inspired by The King during Bumbershoot, Sept 1st-3rd.  All the cool kids will be showing, including Deborah Scott, Jim Blanchard and more!

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

  • Dreams of Doris Day: Tracey Sylvester Harris

    Dreams of Doris Day: Tracey Sylvester Harris

    In my much younger years, many a Sunday afternoon was spent glued to the television, enraptured by the movies of my parent’s generation.  Each one filling my impressionable mind with images of the perfectly coiffed hair, sophisticated fashions and charming coquettishness of starlets like Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn and Leslie Caron.  The work of California artist Tracey Sylvester Harris hearkens back to those glamorous days of my dreams.

    Convertible, oil on canvas, 24×30

    Those old films and their heroines led me to believe in a world in which women wore heels to the swimming pool, men were redeemable rakes and an awkward bookworm could be transformed into a beautiful swan.

    Light Blue Slip, oil on canvas, 60×40
    Starlet, oil on canvas, 60×40

    They caused me to prance around our house in my mom’s high heels and a floating negligee dreaming of the glamorous and romantic life I would lead when I grew up.  But soon, reality taught me its hard lessons and I realized that the worlds I so admired weren’t real after all and the world of my dreams began to look a little different.  A bit more earthy and down to earth.  A little less frothy but a lot more fun.

    Cocktail Hour, oil on canvas, 36×48

    But that doesn’t mean I don’t still occasionally long to thrown on a little black dress and pearls.  Old dreams die hard.

    To see more of Tracey Sylvester Harris’ work, please visit her website.  You can also see her work in person, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, at Skidmore Contemporary.

    All images are via the artist’s website.