artsy forager

Posted on January 30, 2015

Every morning lately, somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00am, my eyes are drawn away from the laptop screen and through the windows outside. You see, at this time of day, the morning light becomes its most intense and everything outside seems lit from within! I am powerless to resist. The paintings in the Flux series by Los Angeles artist Kate Davis Caldwell seem to capture that intensity of light, in which everything glows warmer.

That concentration of light creates these beautiful pockets of brightness and deep, dark shadows. But the best part is how much more intensely every color shines. You might think that such forceful light may cause a washout of color, but instead the saturation is amped up to the extreme! The wash of color and light provides warmth on a winter’s day, like the sanctuary of a stained glass cathedral.

To see more of Kate Davis Caldwell‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 29, 2015

I’m always amazed by how such a variety of species exist peacefully together in the wild. Why do we find it so difficult to do the same? People seem to revel in their differences, eager to point out the one who diverges from the pack, instead of being content to accept the deviation. In her work, Kansas City artist Jaime Rovenstine addresses a case of coexistence– that of chaos and order.

As she layers the elements of each painting, chaos gives way to order, and vice versa. Neither demands dominance over the other, they tranquilly reside, one next to the other. Actually, they seem to almost revel in sharing the same space. Lines dripping gracefully, even joyously against geometric forms and grids, the shapes not seeming to mind a bit. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from them.

To see more of Jaime Rovenstine‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 28, 2015

One of my favorite things about winter is the bareness of the branches. That may seem strange, I’m sure most people prefer trees full of lively green or technicolor orange. But I love the transparency that the stripped limbs bring. We can see much farther into the forest, the shapes of the individual branches become more apparent. These paintings by Los Angeles artist Marie Thiebault reminded me of the tangles of spartan boughs outside my window.

Although much of Thiebault’s work may be inspired by places of abandonment and destruction, I see a parallel between those and the winter season. Not in a negative way, of course, winter is my favorite! But in how those types of places often cause a hushed reverence, such as the quiet of a snowfall. Shadows grow long and deep and the noise of life is muffled.

To see more of Marie Thiebault‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Sculpture

Posted on January 27, 2015

Who remembers the Rubik’s Cube sensation back in the 80s? I can distinctly remember spending hours twisting and turning, trying to line up all those little colored squares! I always thought the more random arrangement of colors much more interesting than the neatly lined up hues. These sculptures by London artist Sophie Smallhorn how much more interesting things can be when we allow for a bit of disarray.

A life where all is neat and orderly, all black and white, in which we can easily answer any question with this is wrong and this is right is one hardly worth talking about, is it? It is in the missing pieces, in the gaps between where we may not find answers, but will likely find understanding.

To see more of Sophie Smallhorn‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 26, 2015

We can be deceived, sometimes, by social media and society’s talk of “friends” and “followers”. How is it even possible to have over 500 friends? I ask myself that sometimes when I look at my own personal profiles. These past few years of traveling, in addition to this time since my mom’s diagnosis, has been an eye opening experience for me in my relationships. These paintings by Norwegian born artist Kristin Vestgard remind me of those friendships that have proven the tests of time and miles.

They are the supporters, those friends that may not be valuable to our “networking” but are priceless in their tenacious love and loyalty. I’ve found a renewed beauty in these friendships that persevere. Theirs are the notes and texts that excite me these days, because I know the motivation behind them is simply a desire to connect and to check that all is well. And if, for some reason all is not, these are the arms that will be the first to hold me up.

To see more of the work of Kristin Vestgard, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 23, 2015

It’s been a long day at work. You pack up your desk, turn off your light, get into your car. Then it seems like the next minute, you’re pulling into your driveway, not remembering anything about the journey home. Have you ever had this experience? You didn’t black out, aren’t experiencing any serious neurological issues. You’re just kind of on auto pilot. You take this journey so often, you can do it in your sleep and it almost seems as if you do.

Isn’t it easy to go through life that way? Just cruise along, maintain speed. The problem is that when you’re on auto pilot, you aren’t especially paying attention. You missed that amazing sunset or that middle aged guy in the car next to you jamming out to Taylor Swift. You didn’t see those deer munching quietly on the side of the road or the magical bird murmuration flying overhead.

These paintings by Sean Yelland kind of cried out to me in their melancholy. We’ve all been there, on that long stretch of highway that seems our destiny. Where we meant for this? Going from one place to the next, home, work, errands, home, work, errands, never straying away from the path laid out before us. We hesitate to take the road less traveled. What if I get lost? What if I can’t find my way back? But what if you find something even better?

To see more of Sean Yelland’s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 22, 2015

Confession time: I’m a bit of a neat freak. I make the bed every day. I always have a place for everything. In college, I was the only one in the painting studio meticulously cleaning off her palette after each session ( which wouldn’t have been necessary had we been able to leave all of our stuff in the studio, but I digress ). Being married has helped with my neatness obsession a bit, I admit to occasionally putting Mr. F’s stuff away but find myself able to cope with the imperfectness of living with someone not quite so obsessive. Maybe because he treats my quirky neatnikness with humor and grace.

Is it strange that I admire folks who can live with, even relish in the messy? I think it is what has drawn me to the work of West Palm Beach artist Alyssa di Edwardo.

As I’ve been back painting regularly now for over a year, I’ve found myself confronting my fear of the mess. Even in my work, I relish those moments where the canvas or panel is as beautiful as I’d imagined it could be.. but then there creeps in a need to push a bit further. Beyond the beauty of a controlled surface is a need for a type of exploration and experimentation that will only happen when I allow things to get a little messy. When I let go of what seems good enough but not exciting and my need to control the outcome. I’m working at finding a balance between the not denying the necessary calm and embracing the mess that needs to surface.

To see more of Alyssa di Edwardo’s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Sculpture

Posted on January 21, 2015

It can be easy to get stuck pigeon-holing people into the roles in which we know them best. Mother, father, sister, brother, doctor, lawyer, artist. But we aren’t flat and one-dimensional. We are made up of many sides, many layers– some complementary to each other, others contradictory. When we think of abstraction, for me at least, my mind automatically runs to painting. But, as the work of Hilary Harnishfeger shows, abstraction can move past the dimensional limits of a painting on canvas.

Harnischfeger’s work feels to me like what happens when we peel open the layers of a person we’ve never attempted to understand outside the box we’ve placed them in. All of sudden, we begin to see a world opened up– dreams and interests we could have never imagined because we never took the time to ask. It’s so easy to take that flatness for granted, to not bother to think beyond it. And on the other side, it can be difficult to let those dimensions be seen. It’s less risky to just settle into and reveal ourselves in only that one role. What if, when we turn ourselves around, we find it was all just a facade?

To see more of Hilary Harnischfeger‘s work, please visit the website of Rachel Uffner Gallery.

All images via the Rachel Uffner Gallery website.

Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on January 20, 2015

After nearly a year of coastal living and four years in the Northwest, I feel like I’ve become a connoisseur of clouds. Recently Mr. F and I sat high atop a local rock formation, watching for whales as they migrate South to Mexico. In just the space of a few hours, the skies changed dramatically– the clouds would roll in, then out, in, then out. As I was looking through the paintings of Denver artist Laura Guese, it got me thinking about how that ever changing sky mimicked every day life.

Some days, we wake up and all is clear– we feel filled with purpose and positivity. We see clear the path we are on and know exactly where we are headed. But on other days, our vision seems clouded. Whether by work or worries, we can’t see clearly the road ahead. We get bogged down, slowed down, we’re stuck, afraid to move forward because we have lost sight of our destination. But if we’ll only press on, keep hiking up, we can move above the clouds. Suddenly we glimpse a spot of blue sky! And we’re back on track.

You can see the paintings of Laura Guese in her solo show at Mike Wright Gallery in Denver through February 28th. Or drop by her website to see more of Laura’s work.

All images are via Mike Wright Gallery.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Posted on January 19, 2015

There is more to nakedness than the simple truth of being without clothing. It requires trust and vulnerability, traits not always easy to come by. This season of my life, dealing with my mom’s illness, has without a doubt at times left me raw, while also virtually piling on layers in the way of self preservation and protection.

Situations like these tend to bring out our worst or our best. We’ve been dealing with both sides of the coin. The best people leaving us feeling protected and safe in our vulnerable state, the worst piling on judgement and hurtfulness when we are at our most bare.

My poor mom has been left without her own shroud physically and in just about every other way. Stripped of her health and her independence, she has had to lay herself open, to lose the security of her ordered world, to ask for help in ways she never dreamed of.

I’ve had friends thank me for being so open about what we’ve been going through as they go through similar circumstances, yet keep to themselves. And that would usually be my own way.. to keep everything private, bottled up. But to be naked is to also let others know that they have your trust, that they are needed, that you know that you can’t do it alone.

Since her diagnosis, there have been a lot of tears. But there has also been meaningful conversation and deep laughter with those who’ve allowed us the freedom to be vulnerable and the security of knowing we are safe in our nakedness.

Featured paintings are by Daniel Catalano. Please visit his website to see more of his work.

All images are via the artist’s website.

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