artsy forager

Blog

  • Churning. Lorene Anderson.

    Churning. Lorene Anderson.

    After spending almost 2 years in small towns, it is such a treat to be close to a big city and all it has to offer.  Recently Mr. F and I spent a Saturday morning gallery hopping, one of my favorite ways to spend a day!  We hit up a bunch of galleries in Union Square, including K. Imperial Fine Art and it was there I fell in love with the work of Lorene Anderson.

    Inspired by the rolling hills here in Northern CA, Anderson uses stripes to mimic the landscape but only slightly– she bends and churns their parallel lines to create movement and depth.  What would have been solid and stagnant becomes fluid and lively.

    Lorene Anderson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Lorene Anderson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Lorene Anderson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Lorene Anderson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Lorene Anderson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart

     

    While sharing work on the blog is important, I can’t stress enough how much difference it makes to get out and see art in person.  The depth of the layers in Anderson’s work amazed me on sight.  There was so much going on, so many little worlds to get up close and explore! And I’m still mesmerized by those stripes.  Landscape painting has been around for centuries, artists will always be inspired by the earth’s beauty.  But it is in the work of artists like Lorene, who show us a different vision of the land we see every day that I find endless inspiration and fascination.

    To see more of Lorene Anderson‘s work, please visit her website.  If you’re in the Bay Area, you can see her show, Landscape Multiverse at K. Imperial Fine Art until April 30th.

  • Convergence. Edwige Fouvry.

    Convergence. Edwige Fouvry.

    Trees break free from rocky soil.  The sea crashes onto land.  The natural world is filled with interesting and often incongruent intersections.  In her paintings, French born Brussels based artist Edwige Fouvry calls our attention to those confluences to be found around us.

    Edwige Fouvry | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Edwige Fouvry | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Edwige Fouvry | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Fouvry5 Edwige Fouvry | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings

     

    These places of intersection are often some of my favorites– the drama of cliff faces rising above a glassy lake is just too incredible to be true sometimes!  Landscapes remind us of our own juxtapositions, the way our lives don’t always seem to make sense and yet, somehow we continue to thrive.  There is a certain type of wildflower found in Florida that actually needs what we would normally think of as disaster ( wildfire ) in order to grow.  Perhaps it is at those times when the sea crashes onto our shore that though we think we are drowning, we are actually being nourished.

    To see more of Edwige Fouvry‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Dolby Chadwick Gallery.

  • Distortions. Jennis Li Cheng Tien.

    Distortions. Jennis Li Cheng Tien.

    It seems like we are finally taking a stand.  For years now, we’ve been bombarded by photoshopped images of “perfection”, leading to unrealistic expectations on both sides of the gender aisle.  While the underlying issues are still pervasive, the tide seems to be turning.  Companies are at last standing up and reinforcing the idea that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.  In her series, Have a Nice Day, Berlin based artist Jennis Li Cheng Tien gives the world her own take on how digitally enhanced images have altered our perceptions.

    Jennis Li Cheng Tien | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jennis Li Cheng Tien | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jennis Li Cheng Tien | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jennis Li Cheng Tien | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jennis Li Cheng Tien | artsy forager #art #artists #photography

     

    How disorienting and disconcerting it must be to have your digital representation, whether it be your face or body, so altered that it doesn’t reflect the image you see in the mirror.  What may begin as a tweak here, an airbrush there, perhaps with the good intention of clearing up one’s less than perfect skin or helping that designer’s clothes to hang a bit more ideally, can quickly escalate into dangerous territory.  We’re left in a world where the face on the screen or the page doesn’t match the face we see in person.  Where certain idealized qualities that often don’t naturally exist leave the rest of us striving for the unattainable.  What we end up doing is erasing not the blemishes, but ourselves.

    To see more of the work of Jennis Li Cheng Tien, please visit her website and her Saatchi Art portfolio.

    All images are via the Saatchi Art website.

  • Move. Jasmine Deporta.

    Move. Jasmine Deporta.

    As a blogger and freelancer, I spent a good deal of each day planted in a chair in front of the computer screen.  Isn’t there a rule of physics that an object at still will stay at still?  That is what it feels like some days.  The chair is sucking me in.  I’m glued to it.  Before I know it, hours have gone by without moving from the seat.

    Jasmine Deporta | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jasmine Deporta | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jasmine Deporta | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jasmine Deporta | artsy forager #art #artists #photography Jasmine Deporta | artsy forager #art #artists #photography

    Barcelona based photographer Jasmine Deporta‘s sofa safari series seems to reflect our tendency to become married to our seats.  What is that about, anyway? Isn’t life so much more enjoyable when you are in motion?  Like me, many of us use work as an excuse for our inertia.  On the weekends, I am usually bursting to move- to get out from the cell of four walls whether that means hiking, gallery hopping or just wandering about.  Seeing the world in three dimensions, away from the sofa cushions brings vibrancy to the work you do from your seat.  And motivation to leave it.

    How are you moving this weekend?  I’m ready to go!

    To see more of Jasmine Deporta‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via I Need a Guide.

  • Abundance. Todd Hunter.

    Abundance. Todd Hunter.

    Something about spring brings to mind the word lush. The landscape here in Northern California has been filled with blossoms and green.  It’s like the earth is ready to explode with the joy of warmth and sun following the grey of winter.  But we know all this riotous color is short lived, soon to give way to the scorched earth of summer.  These abstract paintings by Australian artist Todd Hunter remind me that the overabundance of life isn’t to be taken for granted.

    Todd Hunter | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Todd Hunter | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Todd Hunter | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Todd Hunter | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Todd Hunter | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings

     

    Just as Hunter’s paintings are a deluge of color and texture, so does our life sometimes seem overflowing with happiness and good fortune.  We store up those feelings, to be called upon in the midst of the drought.  But right now the rains are coming and we relish the abundance while we have it.

    To see more of Todd Hunter‘s work, please visit his website.

    Images via the artist’s website and the website of his representing gallery, Scott Livesay Gallery.

  • Coverings. Brian Coleman.

    Coverings. Brian Coleman.

    For painters, it can be so intoxicating to fall in love with those first strokes laid on a canvas.  They can seem so pure, so guileless.  It’s tempting to call it done.  But what we learn over time is that choosing to cover and rework can bring depth and clarity that wasn’t there at the beginning stages.  We might lose something we loved, but we always know it is still there, under the latest cover of paint.

    Brian Coleman | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Brian Coleman | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Brian Coleman | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Brian Coleman | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings Brian Coleman | artsy forager #art #artists #abstractart #paintings

     

    Charleston artist Brian Coleman knows a thing or two about what he calls “excessive reworking”.  Painting intuitively and to music, Brian’s thoughts and feelings flow freely onto canvas.  Yet with many a freewheeling emotion, sometimes those first strokes need to be reigned in.  Just as we push aside a hurt to focus on what is better, so his work reminds us to cover what was in hopes of finding better in the new.

    To see more of Brian Coleman‘s work, please visit his website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Anne Irwin Fine Art.

  • Sliding. Leslie Wayne.

    Sliding. Leslie Wayne.

    Momentum can be a tricky thing.  If we’re moving in a positive direction, building and maintaing momentum is crucial.  But if we’ve begun sliding into bad habits or toward danger, we need to do everything we can to stop the propulsion.  In her Plank sculptures, New York artist Leslie Wayne  takes her paint on a journey, pushing and piling like lava flowing down a hillside.

    Leslie Wayne | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Leslie Wayne | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Leslie Wayne | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Leslie Wayne | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture Leslie Wayne | artsy forager #art #artists #sculpture

     

    Sometimes we can temporarily stop the slide, but what if it just keeps coming, piling and piling until it overflows?  Maybe the trick is to just let it slide.  Sometimes we need to allow ourselves the freedom to shift so that we can position ourselves to move away from one thing and build toward another.  The shifting can be tricky, though.  Overcorrecting might delay or detour.  But if just allow a tiny, scary bit of sliding, we move with greater purpose.

    To see more of Leslie Wayne‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Views. Christopher Ryan Russell.

    Views. Christopher Ryan Russell.

    Mr. F and I have an ongoing difference of opinion.  When we’re hiking, he is all about big, open, impressive views.  I like hikes that take me deep into the forest where the light does magical things among a myriad of textures.  But no matter the view, the point is to get out and just see!  These paintings by Christopher Ryan Russell take us down both paths towards divine prospects.

    Christopher Ryan Russell | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Christopher Ryan Russell | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Christopher Ryan Russell | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Christopher Ryan Russell | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings Christopher Ryan Russell | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings

     

    On occasion, Mr. F and I both get what we want– a journey that takes us deep down into the forest and then up and out into an amazing landscape view.  Russell’s work well represents that dichotomous marriage between what lies beneath and what is to be found above.  One would not be nearly as thrilling without the journey to or from the other.

    Check out Christopher Ryan Russell‘s website to see more of his work.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Explorations. Amy Alice Thompson.

    Explorations. Amy Alice Thompson.

    Before the mister and I began traveling together, I lived in the same city my entire life.  The urge to wander was always there, lurking beneath the surface.  I would feed it now and again with weekend trips with friends but never imagined doing anything close to our life today.  In each new place, we make a list of what we’d like to see and do in our short time there.  And every time, we’re amazed by how many locals are less acquainted with their home territory than we become.  This series of collages by Amy Alice Thompson explores the journey of exploration.

    Amy Alice Thompson | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Amy Alice Thompson | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Amy Alice Thompson | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Amy Alice Thompson | artsy forager #art #artists #collage Amy Alice Thompson | artsy forager #art #artists #collage

     

    Nothing substitutes visiting a place in person.  Even the most beautiful photograph or painting  can’t capture the sounds, the smells, the essence of what we experience first hand.  As Mr. F and I travel, we’re fortunate to be able to really immerse ourselves into each place.  We explore not simply as tourists but as temporary citizens.  Some places fall short of expectation, others exceed it beyond what we had hoped.  But each time, the value is in the exploration.

    To see more of the work of Amy Alice Thompson, please visit her website.  Where are you exploring this weekend?

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Piles. Brigid Watson.

    Piles. Brigid Watson.

    Are you a piler?  At any given time, we live with at least half a dozen piles scattered among us– stacks of mail, bills, laundry, books, you name it.  Sometimes one pile begets another pile and so on and so on.  These paintings by Brigid Watson, with their heavily layered texture reminded me that the piles are simply the layers of life.

    Brigid Watson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Brigid Watson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Brigid Watson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Brigid Watson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart Brigid Watson | artsy forager #art #artists #paintings #abstractart

     

    In Watson’s paintings, the layers of paint swirl together, overlap, sometimes just piling one right on top of the other.  So it is with our own piles.  We try to keep things neat and compacted but that just isn’t the way life works most of the time.  The piles continue and soon we can only catch glimpses of what lies beneath.  The layers add to the foundation, creating movement, color, creating life.

    To see more of Brigid Watson‘s work, check out her Facebook page.  I chose to focus on these textural paintings but I fell in love with everything she does!

    All images are via the artist’s Facebook page.