artsy forager

Posted on April 28, 2014

I’ve written before about my admiration for artists using modern quilt making as their medium. I love the way these artists are taking an old folk tradition and making it fresh. But there is something altogether different about what Seattle artist Joey Veltkamp is doing with his contemporary art quilts.

The quilts, part of an exhibition titled It’s Not a Protest. It’s a Celebration! showing at ArtsWest Playhouse & Gallery in Seattle through June 7th, are part play, part politic and all truth tinged with humor. Veltkamp is known for his comforting subject matter– imagery of beer and blankets ( two of Mr. F’s favorite things! ) and now taking it a step further by creating his own art quilts and flags.

There is nothing so comforting as being wrapped in a quilt handmade with love– it’s almost like being shrouded in love. Many of Veltkamp’s quilts carry messages of tolerance and acceptance, a gentle way of saying to the world that we are all the same, all long for the same thing– to be bundled up in love.

To see more of Joey Veltkamp‘s work, please visit his website. If you’re in Seattle, be sure to check out his show at ArtsWest!

All images via the artist’s website.

Posted on April 25, 2014

I may have mentioned before how enchanting I’m finding our new temporary home. Eureka’s Victorian architecture is very well preserved, many of the buildings have been lovingly restored or revamped. There is such beauty, grace and elegance to be found in every detail. The work of Bainbridge Island artist Kathe Fraga recalls the fanciful beauty of those departed days.

Modern frescoed canvases bring to mind Chinoisserie wallpaper, layers of reminders of sweet lives and loves of the past. Dark, smudged edges reinforce that feeling of antiquity, yet Fraga’s painterly style and composition give the work a modern edge. Like wearing your grandmother’s pearls with a biker jacket. Sweet but not saccharine.

To see more of Kathe Fraga‘s work, make sure you check out her website. You can see her work in person at a number of representing galleries, including one of my favorites, Gallery Orange in New Orleans. Oh and she is now offering gorgeous pillows featuring her imagery!

All images via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Finding My Own Artsy Paintings

Posted on April 24, 2014

You know what made for a perfect Sunday afternoon for a young Artsy Forager? A few lazy, rainy hours and Pillow Talk on my parents’ bedroom TV. If I was ever tempted to trade my brunette locks for blonde, Doris Day could make me do it. As an awkward preteen growing up in the 80s, I was always drawn to Day’s down to earth flirtiness. So when I began the Feminine Wiles series, I knew without a doubt that Doris Day would make my list of inspirations.

found here

The first of three movie pairings of the quintessential romantic comedy duo of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Pillow Talk not only launched their iconic partnership, it also drew box office and critical acclaim. In the movie, Day plays Jan Morrow, an independent Manhattan interior decorator who finds herself sharing a party line with Hudson’s composer playboy Brad Allen.

Like many films of the era, Pillow Talk is painted in the pastel frosted palette of the late 1950s. Perhaps owing to Day’s trademark blonde locks, noted designer Jean Louis and the film’s costume designer Bill Thomas often dress Day’s Morrow in buttery yellows and creamy ivories.

found here here here and here

Even in the set design, she is often surrounded by lemony hues. Maybe a nod to the innocence of this unattainable “golden girl” or the hidden warmth buried beneath the icy ( at least to Hudson’s Allen ) exterior.

Doris Day as Jan Morrow in Pillow Talk, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

Day’s natural sunniness and the joie de vivre of this classic romantic comedy made a creamy yellow color study a natural choice for this piece. Although Pillow Talk doesn’t necessarily hold up well in terms of gender equity, its brightness outshines its dated conventions.

Want to see more in my Feminine Wiles series? Check the archives! I’m beginning to brainstorm how to display and where to show these pieces. Think I have some fun ideas! If you’re a boutique or gallery owner or know someone who might be interested in partnering, give me a shout!

Film image sources linked above, painting by Lesley Frenz aka Artsy Forager.

Daily Artsy Drawing Mixed Media Sculpture

Posted on April 24, 2014

This planet we live on is an incredible example of a delicate balancing. I’m always amazed to read stories about the ripple effect one tiny plant or micro organism may have on an entire eco-culture. Often it is man whose hand begins the tidal wave. In her work, New Orleans artist Hannah Chalew explores the tenuous relationship between nature and the built environment.

Much like the work of Jess Riva Cooper, Chalew examines the idea of the built environment being overtaken and pushed back to the earth. So often it is man and his development that does the encroaching, providing an interesting juxtaposition when plant life is given the opportunity to reclaim what was.

To see more of Hannah Chalew‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Design Foraging

Posted on April 23, 2014

Mr. F & I were chatting the other day about the long list of things we’d both like to try our hands at– high on my list? Pottery and/or ceramics. It’s always been one of my favorite mediums and I would love to see what I could do with it. This week I came across the work of German artist Elke Sada and was so inspired by her form and process!

Sada’s process is a bit of a work in reverse, as she paints on plasterboard, then pouring clay onto the painted play. The pliable clay is then cut and shaped into form. You can read more about her process here. The resulting forms have a wonderful whimsy about them with their shifting compositions and tilted shapes. I mean, when you’re creating pieces like this, how could it not be fun?

More of Elke Sada‘s ceramics can be seen on her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Posted on April 23, 2014

There are artists whose work inspires one of two reactions in me– either I want to strive to be even a fraction as good as they are or I want to throw my brushes down and never pick them up again. Russian-born Philadelphia based artist Alex Kanevsky, with his painterly style and beautiful light is just such an artist.

Kanevsky’s work has this amazing sense of chaos and freedom, as if these were dashed off quickly as the artist moved on to the next canvas. Yet each piece is a carefully composed, heavily layered composition, his process often taking weeks or even months of immersion into and retreating from each painting. Are there stories being told? Perhaps. But more than mere narrative speculation is the feeling each piece projects– sadness, desolation, satisfaction.

If you’d like to see more of Alex Kanevsky‘s incredible work, please visit his website. Be sure to check out his fascinating Progress page in which he shares sequences of paintings in various stages of progress!

All images via the artist’s website.

Color Harvest

Posted on April 22, 2014

Often when we think of spring, our thoughts turn to light, pale pastels but this season, I’ve noticed just how saturated everything around me seems. Maybe it’s just a shock to my eyes following the white and grey winter or perhaps this has just been an unusually sunny and bright season. In any case, I’m finding myself more drawn than usual to heavy doses of color and I’m blaming this saturated spring!

Here are just a few of the full color palettes inspiring me on Pinterest lately–

found here here here here here and here

I’ve even started a new series of paintings on paper inspired by this glorious season! How has spring been inspiring you, Artsies?

Want to see more Color Harvesting? Check out the archives!

Top image by Artsy Forager. All other image sources linked above.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Paintings

Posted on April 22, 2014

Remember that tendency towards simplicity I mentioned yesterday? We’re continuing on that theme today! Wisconsin based artist Robert Atwell creates striking paintings using shapes so simple they are almost instantly recognizable, yet still remain ambiguous.

Atwell draws upon his graphics background to great effect– the bold colors and simple forms communicate to the viewer instantly, although we may not know exactly what it is we’re seeing, we know we recognize it. A swing, a kite, a camera, who knows? It is in the not knowing that the art is found.

To see more of Robert Atwell’s work, please visit his website. You can see his work in person at his representing galleries Gilman Contemporary in Ketchum, Idaho and Simon Gallery in Morristown, New Jersey.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Gilman Contemporary.

Collage Daily Artsy Figurative

Posted on April 21, 2014

I’m kind of a bit bi-polar sometimes when it comes to artwork.. I either fall for work that is super textured, busy, crazy with color and line and visuals, or I do a complete 180 and find myself falling in love with simple compositions and clean lines. Lucky for me, collage artist Eugenia Loli does both incredibly well. But today, my simplistic side is taking over!

You may recognized Eugenia’s work from an Escape Into Life feature I did on her a while back. Her latest work has been showing up in the Artsy Forager Facebook feed and I have been consistently blown away, so thought it was high time she got a real feature!

In her digital collages, Loli uses vintage and modern imagery to create fanciful, surreal scenes that give the viewer just a glimpse at what the underlying narrative might be. Like still shots from a B-movie, there is a delicious campiness to them, made even more striking by her use of bold, vintage-y color.

To see more of Eugenia Loli‘s work, head over to her Tumblr. She has a number of products available in her Society6 shop, including striking and super affordable prints. I’m personally coveting a tote bag, although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to decide which image I like best.

All images via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Figurative Sculpture

Posted on April 18, 2014

While we were hiking last weekend, Mr. F & I spotted something we’d never quite seen before. We’re familiar with nurse logs, but noticed several trees whose roots had grown over and around a fallen redwood. In her Viral Series, Toronto artist Jess Riva Cooper explores ideas of environmental impact and change as flora overtakes the human face.

It has always amazed and intrigued me the way we build things up, yet nature always finds a way to inhabit and continue on its own journey. From the spider taking up residence in the smallest corner of the bathroom, to abandoned buildings through which vines and trees have grown, try as we might to prevent it, nature takes what is needed. How much more would we live in harmony if we simply left things alone or provided nature a place to thrive among us? Something to ponder over your weekend, dear Artsies.

If you’d like to see more work by Jess Riva Cooper, be sure to check out her website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Colossal.

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August 12, 2022
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October 6, 2019
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September 4, 2019
Showing. Anne Irwin Fine Art EAS 2019.
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All posts are written by Lesley Frenz, unless otherwise stated. If you would like to repost something you see on Artsy Forager on your own blog, please provide a link back to the original post. All artwork images are the property of the individual artists, please link to this site or theirs when reposting and credit the artist appropriately. Artsy Forager contains some contextual affiliate links. An affiliate link means that I receive commission on sales of the products that are linked to in noted posts. So if you click on a link and make a purchase from an affiliate site, such as Mantle Art or Great.ly, then I may make a commission from that purchase. Those affiliate links may also be found on my Pinterest page. Artsy Forager reserves the right to delete any comments deemed as inappropriate. Play nicely, please.

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