In this digital age, it seems like you can’t spit without hitting a self-proclaimed “photographer”. I don’t begrudge anyone a creative outlet– if you want to take photos with your digital SLR, slap ’em up on Facebook and call yourself a photographer, I guess that’s your beeswax. But for me, there is a point where photography ends and artistry begins. There are photographers who are truly artists of their craft and Thomas Hager is a master.
Tom takes the simplest of forms, like the sweetgum pods above and isolates them and infuses them with a ethereal quality. These are no longer those annoying, sharp little balls that litter the sidewalk, they are now magical spheres where fairies reside.
A simple floral stem becomes a beanstalk for a boy named Jack.
Shore birds become ghostly apparitions in a watery tableau. Are they really there or are our eyes playing tricks again?
Is the water moving or is it the earth? Where does the reflection end and the reality begin? Does it even matter?
Check out more of Tom’s work on his website and be sure to stop by the site for his brilliant limited edition line, Town Editions. Oh and did I mention he has a show opening tonightat the University of Maine Museum of Art? Now I just have to get him out here on the West Coast..
In the interest of full disclosure, I think there is something you should know. I love Audrey Hepburn. Adore her. Want to be her when I grow up. Her style, her intelligence, her philosophy of living and her legendary kindness all inspire me. So it will come as no surprise to you that I actually gasped with glee when I saw stumbled upon these paintings by Sarah Ashley Longshore.
For attractive lips, speak words of kindness
War and Peace AudreyAudrey with Monarch Butterflies
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people
Audrey with a Cherry on the Top
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry
A Moment Between Moments
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone
As you grow older, you will understand you have two hands
One for helping yourself
And the other for helping others
Audrey Underwater with Lilies
— Audrey Hepburn
Visit Sarah Ashley Longshore’s website to see more of her work and learn more about the artist. Her work is carried by New Orleans gallery, Gallery Orange, they have fabulous taste in artists, check them out!
The Matisse post yesterday got me in the mood for color. AND it’s the first day of summer, perfect for sharing work that is bright, colorful and full of whimsical goodness. George & I took a day trip to Olympia, WA this past Saturday to scope it out a bit. In Childhood’s End Gallery, we both fell in love with the imagery of Lisa Telling Kattenbraker.
U-Turn
Lisa works in batik, an ancient process of wax-resist dyeing. Her work juxtaposes traditional Batik patterning with simple, stylized childlike imagery.
Language Convergence
Most of her figures are faceless, so that the viewer can apply their own experience and emotions to the scene, which reminds me of another favorite artist, Yvonne Lozano.
Dress Rehearsal
These just make you smile, don’t they? Wouldn’t you love to see this gal every day? Doesn’t every good goat need a yellow rain slicker and wellies?
Lorelei the Pacific Northwest Goat from the New Moon Goat Rescue and Sanctuary
I would love to begin a tradition of collecting one piece of artwork from each of our travel assignments. Thinking a Lisa Kattenbaker might just be The One for this summer.
Find out more about Lisa and her work, including originals and ( very affordable! ) limited editions on her website, here.
Do you have a certain outfit you wear when you need a pick-me-up? Or maybe there is a particular piece of music that always gets your blood pumpin’ and instantly uplifts your mood? The work of Henri Matisse does the same for me.
Sorrows of the King
From his beginnings as a Fauvist, Matisse was never afraid of exploring expression through color.
Open Window
And like his friend and rival, Pablo Picasso, Matisse loved painting figures and still lifes, but it is the way he paints interiors that get me. Maybe it is my love of interior design or the fact that I too, went through a “let’s paint pictures of fun & pretty rooms” phase. Whatever the cause, Matisse gets the joy of painting rooms full of life and color and I dig it in a big way.
Dance(I) by Matisse, 1909
It is that brilliance of color and exuberance of design that draws me to his work. As the artist himself said, “With color, one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft”.
Les Codomas for Jazz, 1944
If that be the case, I am under the spell of Matisse’s color and hope to never be awakened.
Check out more of Matisse’s work at the MOMA website.
Sunday is Father’s Day. Geographically, I am farther away from my dad than I have ever been in my entire life. We are blessed, in this age of technology, to still be able to keep up with each other every day even though we are miles apart. If you’re on the blog’s Facebook page, you’ve seen my dad around. He reads and “likes” everything I post. He has always been that kind of father– supportive no matter what I’m doing, even if it isn’t exactly his cup of tea. Today, in honor of my dad, I’m posting my favorite pieces of art that remind me of him, his interests and the things he loves. This one’s just for you, Dad!
The Late Show by Russ WilsonWhitewall by Leslie PetersonCorner Station by Stephen Parker1957 Chevy by Craig Pursley
Happy Father’s day to my dad & all the other Artsy Fathers!
Here in the Northwest, the trees are so spectacular that they grab your attention and demand to be noticed and admired. St. Augustine, Florida artist Joe Segal’s work does the same. His sculptures are a celebration of these kings of the forest, their textures, patterns, their cycle of life.
Instead of a literal translation of branches and limbs, Joe instead chooses to focus on the core of what gives a tree its strength, character and economic value, the hard, fibrous wood.
By cutting, stacking, carving, painting, even burning the wood, Joe re-envisions the pattern of the tree’s life. He takes the normal processes for which and by which wood is harvested and calls our attention to the beauty of the materials in their simplest forms.
The steel used to cut the tree becomes instead, the connecting force that holds the wood together. Pieces of stacked wood, recalling a firewood pile, are juxtaposed with charred wood creating an interesting “before and after” effect.
Working with the nature of the materials, rather than against them, going with the grain, if you will, Joe is exploring the rhythms of the natural world and reinterpreting them into beautifully designed works of art.
To see more of Joe’s work, check out his Pick of the Crop page here at Artsy Forager, where you’ll find a link to his website. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Last night, as my hubby was catching up on my blog posts ( he reads them all, even if he has to sit and catch up on a week’s worth at a time, such a good hubby! ), over his shoulder I re-read my In Search Of post from last week and man, what a whiney little whiner! To save you all from more self-pity-filled posts from me, sweet George took me on a day trip to Astoria, OR on Saturday, in the hopes of helping me feel a bit more connected to the 3-dimensional art world. You know, the one that doesn’t live inside my laptop.
Astoria, Oregon
Despite the gray day, my spirits were sunny. Astoria’s main claim to fame is the movie, The Goonies, which was filmed here way back in 1985 ( yes, we made a children of the 80’s pilgrimage to The Goonies House ). But movie history isn’t the only draw to Astoria. Its downtown area is super charming, filled with a mix of restaurants, coffee houses, shops and YES, some very interesting and diverse galleries.
Our first stop was Lightbox Photographic, a wonderful little gallery dedicated to the photographic arts. Their current show, Plastic Fantastic II, features images created using plastic toy cameras. Absolutely beautiful, emotion-filled images. Be sure to check out their website to see images created their member photographers.
Inside Lightbox Photographic
Astoria was definitely starting out with a bang! We continued our walking tour of downtown, stopping for coffee and treats along the way. Right across from the Astoria Coffeehouse, was Lunar Boy Gallery, whose quirky-look caught my eye. And LunarBoy definitely brought the quirk. June 7th was Astoria’s Official Goonies Day, so Lunar Boy was exhibiting a special show of Goonies-related work. Fun!
This Is Our Time Now! Goonies Show at Lunar BoyLandscapes by Nicholas Knapton at Lunar Boy
After lots of cool art & laughs at Lunar Boy, we perused a few bookstores & other shops ( it can’t be ALL about me ) before finding RiverSea Gallery. This contemporary gallery features a wide variety of work by artists from the Northwest and beyond. I was thrilled to find that their current show, The Fabled Landscape, featured the work of Marla Baggetta.
Artist, Marla Baggetta
Since my days of specifying art for the corporate & healthcare industries, I’ve been a fan of Baggetta, her landscapes bring that perfect combination of happy color and peace, perfect especially for healthcare. Her work is even more lush and gorgeous in it’s original state than her reproductions even begin to show. I was in awe.
Artist, Marla BaggettaArtist, Marla Baggetta
Though seeing Baggetta’s original work was a highlight for me, RiverSea had many other artists whose work caught my eye. Like…
Maple wood sculpture by Michael HampelEncaustics by Paula BlackwellFigurative work by Shannon RichardsonWonderful urban landscapes by Brin Levinson
George had his favorites, too– like the work of abstract mixed-media artist, Charles Schweigert ( told you he was loving abstracts now! ) and kooky sculptures by Pamela Mummy.
Namikaze by Charles SchweigertA Lot on His Mind by Pamela Mummy
Our little day trip to Astoria was just what the art doctor ordered. I was able to peruse some lovely, unique galleries and found some really interesting artists to share with you. We even spotted a couple of empty storefronts that would make great galleries.. you know, just in case.
Wonderful post by Jacksonville artist, Yvonne Lozano. Very well articulated, Yvonne!
The exploitation of artists seems to be an ongoing topic of conversation lately. The more these conversations pop up, the more upsetting it is to hear how so many people prosper from the very existence of artists yet the majority of artists continue to be in “starvation mode.” I think the problem starts even earlier than most people realize. Think about the general life of an artist, most start dabbling in arts & crafts even before they c … Read More
Thanks to our next door neighbor, who creates “sculptures” out of found objects and has a rotating display in his front & side yard, I’ve been thinking a lot about sculpture lately. Which has led me to discover an egregious error here at Artsy Forager and that is the incredible, unforgiveable lack of sculptural work on this blog! I am here to rectify the situation, beginning with one of my favorite contemporary masters, Constantin Brancusi.
Sleeping MuseBird in Space
In his work, Brancusi breaks down the forms of his subject into simple, geomtric shapes, so that the end result is less a representation of the actual subject, but rather the essence of the feeling that subject’s form evokes.
Mademoiselle Pogany, 1912The Newborn, 1920
The elegance of Brancusi’s lines and the restfulness and peace his forms suggest, even when depicting a screaming baby ( see The Newborn, above ), help to quiet my spirit. What about you? Any artists whose work “quiets your spirit”? Or maybe you’re not in to Brancusi ( and that’s OK ).. Whose sculptures do you love?
Yesterday I went out searching for some artsy inspiration in the area around Aberdeen. I’m sorry to say that, though I visited a couple of galleries in Ocean Shores, I found only one artist’s work that caused me to take a second look. Unfortunately, most of what was there was pretty touristy, not-great-art-but-there-must-be-a-market-for-it kind of stuff. So I came home feeling a tiny bit defeated.
To give myself a pick-me-up, I watched an episode of So You Think You Can Dance ( guilty pleasure confession time! ). While the commercials were playing, I found myself glancing out of the windows of my office/studio and found myself inspired. So I started sketching– for the first time in a long time. It turns out I did find some artsy inspiration yesterday, from a surprising combination, the view of Aberdeen out of our windows and my own inner spirit.
So today, we’re celebrating other artists who’ve inspired me to make the most out of my current view! On with the show!
Vertical Horizontal Break I by Hamish MacEwanEarly Morning Breeze by Camille EngelWindowpane by Sharon SprungParthenon I by Lisa Ernst
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Take the time to enjoy your view, whatever it may be.
