artsy forager

Posted on March 21, 2014

Some people are urbanites. And I used to think I might be one. But then we lived in Seattle for three months ( and not even in a super-urban neighborhood! ), and I quickly confirmed that while I love and occasionally need a visit to a concrete jungle, the city just isn’t me. Give me trees and an unobstructed view across the landscape and my heart is at peace. In her series, Marjory’s World, New York photographer Rebecca Reeve captures the experience of our loss of connection to the natural world.

Taking inspiration from the 1800s Dutch practice of covering mirrors, landscape paintings and portraits, Reeve chose to point her lens toward the disappearing landscape of the Florida Everglades. Using household drapery to frame each scene, the photographer reminds us of our continuing forsaking and consumption of the natural world.

To see more of Rebecca Reeve‘s work, please visit her website. Happy weekend, Artsies! Mr. F and I are planning to immerse ourselves in the magnificence of the Redwoods a bit this weekend. Hope you can get out and enjoy the beauty around you.

All images via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Finding My Own Artsy Paintings

Posted on March 20, 2014

Another week, another painting in my Feminine Wiles series to share with you! Feminine Wiles is a series of small abstract color studies based on iconic female film characters. My introduction to many of these films and characters came through my mom, with whom I share a love of sappy love stories, witty characters, and gorgeous design. One of her favorite character turns ( and mine!! ) is Barbara Streisand as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.

images found here here here and here

I’ve always loved the palette of this film– filled with warm earthy browns and oranges, highlighted with delicate pinks and passionate reds– but when thinking about this project, I was struck by the reoccurring use of lavender hues on and around Fanny. Of course, this could have something to do with how the cool hues so beautifully compliment Streisand’s creamy complexion! But I like to think that costume designer Irene Sharaff and the production team were delicately clueing the audience in to the fact that the character of this young girl from Henry Street was destined for greatness.

Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl by Lesley Frenz

acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

Purples hues are often associated with royalty, riches and power. So it isn’t surprising that Fanny would often assume a lavender glow. She was a star, but unlike Jo Stockton, one of her own making. She was confident in her talent and passionate in her pursuit of fame and stardom, even at personal loss.

Funny Girl still found here

In the end, despite setbacks and heartache, Fanny perseveres and shows that the strong will always survive. I’ve always thought there were great lessons to be learnt from Funny Girl— of tenacity, talent, love, humility and perseverance. Oh and let’s not forget that unbelievably beautiful voice!

To see more from the Feminine Wiles series, check out the archives here. Next week, a polarizing character and one of the most iconic! Hint: drapery.

Film image sources linked above, art images by Lesley Frenz.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Mixed Media Paintings Sculpture

Posted on March 20, 2014

As many artists know, much of the time, art making is a matter of knowing when enough is enough. Or even when enough is just a bit too much. In her work, New York artist Miya Ando is creating pure moments of simply just enough.

By working in a process in which she hand-dyes metallic surfaces, Ando creates pieces with an incredible sense of stillness and light. Translucent layers of color reflect not just the light without but the light within. By keeping the compositions simple, the work is free from distraction, allowing the viewer to fall into its spell, to meditate on the purity of color and transformative power of light.

To see more of Miya Ando‘s work, please visit her website and be sure to follow her on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Here the artist speak about her work in this video interview–

Teaser – MIYA ANDO from Tricycle on Vimeo.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy

Posted on March 19, 2014

I follow every artist ever featured on Artsy Forager on various social media platforms, which helps me keep an eye on what’s new & wonderful coming out of their studios. Recently, Atlanta artist Ryan Coleman has been cranking out some staggeringly stunning stuff!! I first featured Ryan’s work in the Fall of 2011 and over the past few years, it has been such a pleasure to watch his work evolve. His work consistently has the most amazing light and energy, but these days, there is a more graphic element coming into play that adds incredible depth to the compositions. He is also playing with the push and pull of negative and positive spaces and I just can’t get enough of it all! To see more of Ryan Coleman’s work, please visit his website, where you can purchase originals as well as prints of Ryan’s work. And be sure to follow him on Facebook, Instagram, etc! All images via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Landscapes Paintings

Posted on March 19, 2014

Do you ever think about what kind of legacy you will leave behind? I’m not thinking of material wealth or possessions, but the impact that your life will have had on the people who’ve known you? It’s a sobering thought, to be sure, to contemplate what your impact will have been. Brooklyn artist Zaria Forman ‘s series Chasing the Light is the culmination of the impact of a mother’s dream on her daughter.

The artist’s mother originally conceived the idea to lead an art expedition up the Northwest Coast of Greenland, the only other expedition here of this kind not done since 1869. Illness overtook her mother and the daughter kept her promise to carry on with the expedition.

The hyperreal pastel drawings of the disappearing glacial landscape remind us that we are continually impacting the world around us, whether we are aware of it or not. These monumental mountains of ice are slowly melting away, perhaps forever. We are losing a loved one, gradually, reluctantly.

To see more of Zaria Forman‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

Design Foraging

Posted on March 18, 2014

I have a great love for wind chimes. My paternal grandfather used to fashion his own from aluminum pipes and every time I hear breezy chimes, I’m transported back to summer days in the cool grass of my grandparents’ backyard. So when I spotted these Aura Chimes by Seattle based design house Ladies & Gentlemen Studio ( in collaboration with artist Nicholas Nyland ) on The Jealous Curator, I just had to share them with you!

Handmade in small edition, each chime is unique, made of metal, wood, and leather components complimenting Nicholas Nyland ceramic pieces. Such a lovely modern take on an ancient ornament!

To see purchase or see more work by Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, please visit their website!

All images via the Ladies & Gentlemen Studio website.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Mixed Media Paintings

Posted on March 18, 2014

We all seem to seek peace and quiet. An escape from the chaos. And yes, its true, we do need those times of rest and rejuvenation. But sometimes it is in the chaos that we find our strengths, what we are really made of, that hone what we are all about. The abstract works of Washington, DC artist Katherine Mann are incredible clashes of material run wild and moments of fastidious control.

Each piece begins with a spill of color, an organic beginning to work that shifts between careful discipline and perceived pandemonium. They almost have a feeling of accidental abandonment, as if a pot of paint was spilled over a meticulously wrought drawing. I say almost because you can see that each is a mastery of composition– every placement of line, color and shape providing just the right compliment and contrast.

To see more of Katherine Mann‘s work, please visit her website. PS– I posted larger images than I normally do for artist features because these are human-scaled works– check out that last installation image for scale! Amazing.

All images via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Figurative Mixed Media Paintings

Posted on March 17, 2014

It’s easy to look at the past through a utopian filter, usually fueled by too many historical novels and costume dramas. We’re often shown worlds filled with richness, decadence and graceful living. But under all the frills and frippery lie the other side of riches– the backs upon which the wealth is gained, those who serve, and ultimately, the problems caused by overabundance. The work of artist Louis St. Lewis touches on the themes of decadence, privilege and the myth of history.

I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of watching one too many Jane Austen movies, finding myself wishing I could have been born into aristocratic 19th Century privilege rather than 20th Century middle class. Oh to have the luxury of being a “lady”! With a lady’s maid at my bidding and all the time in the world to read, paint, sew, dance and all the other proper skills a lady must possess. But then there were always little hints to break the facade of carefree privilege– the pressure to marry “up”, to bear sons, the boredom of not being able to pursue what may truly be of interest.

Mr. F and I just last night were talking about what being “rich” might mean. For us, it would mean freedom– freedom to travel, to spend our lives doing exactly what we want to do when we want to do it. But with that freedom must come an incredible burden and responsibility, too. Perhaps it is best that we remain solidly middle class. We live a life of privilege by the standards of most of the world’s population and we do have freedom– the freedom to chose to live our lives in the way we choose. It is a mythological goal, but one that is definitely attainable with vision and sacrifice.

To see more of the work of Louis St. Lewis, please visit his website. You can see his work in New Orleans at one of my favorite galleries, Gallery Orange!

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via Gallery Orange.

Daily Artsy Figurative Photography

Posted on March 14, 2014

Remember the old days, when all your photographs were on paper and were precious and fragile? If you’ve ever had a photo destroyed by heat or liquid, you know what I’m talking about. The once familiar image becomes distorted, a face we knew now obliterated. The work of Venezuelan photographer Angelica Garcia reminds us that though our photographs can now be “backed up” and last forever, their subjects are still fragile and fading.

The photographer manipulates each photograph, not with digital software, but hand manipulates each one post printing. Purposefully distorting and abstracting each figure, we are left with ghostly apparitions of what was once. The plainclothes style of each figure makes them universal and relatable, someone we might have known.

To see more of Angelica Garcia‘s work, please visit her see.me page.

All images via the artist’s see.me page. Artist found via The Artful Desperado.

Abstract Art Finding My Own Artsy Paintings

Posted on March 13, 2014

I admit, I’m a big fan of the candy color confections of the film variety that came out of the 1950s and 60s. The costumes! The dancing! I love it all. One of my favorites of these sweet treats is Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn.

image found here

For the third painting in my Feminine Wiles series, I wanted to capture the glamour and struggle of Jo’s transformation in Funny Face. Intellectual and bookish Jo finds herself thrown into the world of modeling and couture fashion, finding herself struggling with reconciling her newfound feminine allure and her high minded beliefs. I love that the character doesn’t allow her physical transformation to change her ideals.

hepburn image found here

In the scenes in which she wears this blue satin cape, the character is distressed over what she sees as insurmountable differences of mind between herself and the man she’s falling for, photographer Dick Avery played by Astaire. The color is such an intense, moody blue, with hints of grey and lavender, I’ve always felt like it captured the conflict inside her character beautifully.

Audrey Hepburn as Jo Stockton, Funny Face, The Blue Cape by Lesley Frenz

acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

What do you think of this one, Artsies? I wish my camera could do these little paintings justice. Any sources/tips for photographing paintings using a point & shoot digital camera? Would love a DSLR but don’t see it in the budget any time soon! If you have tips to share, please let me know in the comments!

You can find more of the Feminine Wiles series here. I’ll have a new one for you next week, one of my favorite all time characters!

Film images linked above. Paintings by Lesley Frenz.

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Studio Sale 2022!
August 12, 2022
Reviewing. 2019.
December 31, 2019
Showing. Charlotte & Sacramento!
October 6, 2019
Showing. Tiny Art for ETA 26.
September 4, 2019
Showing. Anne Irwin Fine Art EAS 2019.
August 7, 2019

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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