Daily Artsy Mixed Media

No Ordinary Imaginary Magic: Alexandra Eldridge

Posted on August 22, 2012

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 Photography

Artsy on Escape Into Life: Linus Lohoff

Posted on August 21, 2012

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

Daily Artsy Sculpture

Flights of Fancy: Diana Beltran Herrera

Posted on August 21, 2012

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.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Contemporary Muses: Hope Gangloff

Posted on August 20, 2012

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.

Design Foraging Paintings

Friday Finds: Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Art

Posted on August 17, 2012

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.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Dreams of Doris Day: Tracey Sylvester Harris

Posted on August 16, 2012

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.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Unknowing Symbiosis: Nick Lamia

Posted on August 15, 2012

Spending more than a week immersed in natural beauty, away for the most part, from the pull of technology, makes for a difficult re-entry into the realm of satellites and social media.  We tend to forget, while living in either world that the other exists.  The abstract work of Nick Lamia reminds us that though we often think of them separately, society must coexist with the natural world in order for either to thrive.

Untitled, oil on panel, 45×48

Lamia’s juxtaposition of street map-like grids over landscape-ish scenes give us glimpses into how we integrate ourselves into nature and vice versa.

Untitled, oil on panel, 30×32

Untitled, oil on canvas, 66×72

As societies, we are responsible for the care of the natural world around us.  In return, that world repays us providing food, resources, enjoyment and inspiration.

Untitled, oil on canvas, 36×42

To see more of Nick Lamia’s work, please visit his website.

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

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Expressions for Summer’s End: Sofia Lacin

Posted on August 14, 2012

We’re coming upon mid-August, some kids are already heading back to school, soon it will be Labor Day and autumn will be upon us.  The abstract paintings of Sofia Lacin have such an indian summer feel to them, don’t they?

Hunched Over Shoulder, oil on canvas, 36×36

Bright colors peep out among warm hues, reminding us that summer is slowly fading into Fall.

Two Moments, oil on canvas, 36×48

Smile, oil on canvas, 36×48

Lacin’s expressive lines and brushstrokes remind us that the slower pace of the warmer months will soon give way to the busyness of the school season and holidays.

Through the Surface, oil and chalk on canvas, 60×60

Please visit Sofia Lacin’s website for even abstracted gorgeousness!

All images are via the artist’s website.

Artsy Forager Featured Artist

August Facebook Featured Artist: Candice Smith Corby

Posted on August 13, 2012

So while I was traversing through the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, the torch was passed on to a new Facebook Featured Artist!  This month we celebrate the work of Boston area artist Candice Smith Corby.

Dinner Table Antics

Smith Corby’s quiet, delicate drawings on paper and found materials navigate us through the worlds of childhood and traditional feminine roles.  Who doesn’t remember making forts of chairs and blankets?

Hideaway

As little girls, were we making forts inside perhaps because we weren’t allowed to play rough & tumble outside with the boys?  Were we given traditional feminine tools yet still found a way to convert them to serve a traditionally male purpose?

Pup Tent

Perhaps we found a way to use those traditional roles to our advantage? These are some of the questions I see being asked in Smith Corby’s work.  Her answers are sensitive and subtle, while still posing more questions.

Pleading ( open )

To see more of Candice Smith Corby’s work, please visit her website and Facebook page.  Candice’s work will be up as the cover image of Artsy Forager’s Facebook page throughout the month of August.  If you happen to be in MA this Fall, be sure to check out her co-curating/co-exhibiting show, Self/Fabricated at The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA!

All images are via the artist.