artsy forager

Posted on March 13, 2014

Hmm.. It would seem I’m having a thing for books and cowboys this week. Let’s just go with it, ‘kay? I had a different artist planned for today, but sometimes, I’m just not feeling it, so I go into my Pinterest archives to see what might strike my fancy a little, um, fancier. And these sewn sculptures by Lisa Kokin got me excited.

The artist has taken old pulp cowboy novels and transformed them into organic branches and beings. Cowboy culture has been such a prominent and accepted part of American history, pop culture elevating the cowboy as hero throughout the mid-twentieth century, it isn’t any wonder the gun totin’ good-guy mentality has permeated the minds of so many. Kokin is taking a stereotypically male culture and fusing it with a stereotypical female craft by taking apart these books and sewing them together. It is interesting to think of the young boys who once held these books and played the cowboy role. Have their lives transformed? Or are they still playing cowboy?

To see more of the work of Lisa Kokin, please visit her website. Lisa’s work can currently be seen in Women’s Work at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley, CA through March 30th.

Images via the artist’s website.

Artsy Dwelling

Posted on March 12, 2014

There’s this thought that’s been dominating the art and interiors world for a while now– the white cube phenomenon– the thought that art is shown at its best on a clean white wall. And perhaps sometimes that’s true, but when you live with art, it becomes a part of your surroundings in a much more subtle and incorporated way. Layering your art on patterned walls can create a complex visual even more intriguing to the eye!

Here’s four ways to display art on patterned walls–

1 | soft texture So maybe you’re more into super subtle patterns, letting a softly textured pattern play a secondary role in a solid, rich color, allowing monochromatic artwork takes center stage. Just an understated wash of color and visual texture plays up the nuances in the artwork.

found here

2 | playful repeats Play up an element in your artwork by subtly repeating it in your wall covering. The nautilus shell-like pattern below is a quiet nod to the lollipop swirl in the painting. It’s not in-your-face-repetition, but once you start looking, you’ll see repeating patterns everywhere!

found here

3 | modern botanics This isn’t your grandma’s family portrait on floral wallpaper. The monochromatic scheme of the paper keeps it feeling fresh and modern and subtly picks up on the greens in these contemporary portraits without being matchy-matchy. Plus it’s like being in a sunny garden! Bonus.

found here

4 | graphic goodness Big bold, graphic artwork is too much for all this pattern, right? Wrong! The symmetrical and relatively small pattern repeat on the wall covering is the perfect foil for the freeform overlapping squares in this piece. Keep the scale of pattern in your artwork complementary and you’ll be sure to please the eye.

found here

These definitely have me rethinking my aversion to wallpaper! Have you ever hung art on patterned walls? Did you love it or hate it?

All image sources linked above.

Daily Artsy Mixed Media Paintings

Posted on March 12, 2014

Now you’ve got your cooties shot. But maybe that cooties shot will do you more harm than good. It might help prevent you from contracting the dreaded cootie, but the side effects will have you begging for cootieville. In his work, Akron artist Casey Vogt explores this country’s relationship with drugs and big pharma.

The background of each piece is composed of elaborate mandala-like patterns, massive layers of dots of house paint. These layers create a trippy atmosphere recalling the disorientation of a drug induced state. Cowboys in various situations find themselves among the meditative chaos. Maybe the cowboys are ghosts– the vestiges of times before corporations took on the role of healer. Or perhaps they are the new generation of American thinker, the one that rebels against the accepted norms and strikes out on their own, carving their own way and pioneering through unknown territory.

To see more of Casey Vogt‘s work, please visit his website.

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

Abstract Art Interiors Live the Artsy Paintings

Posted on March 11, 2014

While we are getting settled into our new temporary Eureka home, what we want in our eventual forever home is heavy on our minds. While Mr. F aka Mr. Practicality is thinking of square footage, alternative power sources and cost, I tend to focus more on how the space will feel and how we will live in it. A home that is a peaceful retreat, yet full of life and creative energy. The mix of warm neutrals, light pales and bright shots of color in Untitled by this month’s Featured Artist Erin McIntosh, feels like the best of artsy spaces– inviting, yummy colors and patterns and spots of cool serenity.

art | found here

interior | found here

Now to design a space how this painting feels– this interior featured on Apartment Therapy feels like the perfect translation. Though this series by Erin is based in geometric shapes, the atmosphere remains organic and flowing, never hard and stagnant. There is warmth to be found in the natural woods and nubby textures in the room and the pattern on the rug & other textiles calls out to the geometrics in Erin’s painting. My favorite element, the light blue concrete floor, provides a stream of lightness and translucency, just as shots of the same blue do in Untitled. Oh how an Artsy could live here!

To see more of Erin McIntosh‘s work, please visit her website! Want to see more from the Live the Artsy series? Check out the archives!

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Mixed Media Paintings

Posted on March 11, 2014

I’m a touchy feely person. As in I love running my hands over interesting textures. I’m that shopper who touches everything, I run my hands over tree bark and moss when we’re hiking and I have to force myself to refrain from touching artwork anytime I’m in a gallery or museum. So it kind of goes without saying that I love paintings with lots of yummy texture. The work of British artist Jessica Zoob is fairly oozing with lovely scrapes and swishes and piles of paint, celebrating the abstract beauty found all around.

From her vibrant palette to the multitude of visual and physical textures in each piece, Zoob creates incredible abstract impressionistic compositions that transport us to dreamy places. It’s easy to imagine yourself looking up through the clouds into a blinding and beautiful sun or looking down on sandy beaches and coral reefs. But these aren’t merely abstracted scenes, they carry within them their own story, their own idea of beauty, their own path of feeling.

To see more of Jessica Zoob‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Paintings Still Life

Posted on March 10, 2014

As Mr. F and I travel, we find ourselves not only in a different town but a different home every few months. Some rentals are more furnished than others but we love the ones that have a small library of books. You can tell so much about a person from the books they read! In this series of acrylic paintings, artist Jordan Buschur uses collections of books to give the viewer clues into the stories behind them.

Some titles call out to us, some are left intentionally blank. If you’re a reader like me, you can recount certain eras of your life by the books you were reading– I went through a heavy Jane Austen phase in my single days and now find myself more often devouring artist biographies. Stacks of books can become stacks of time and moments, reminding us of the person we were then, who we were striving to be, perhaps who we were able to overcome.

To see more of Jordan Buschur‘s work please visit her website. She has six pieces, including a few of the above, for sale in her show on Buy Some Damn Art.

All images are via the artist’s website.

Abstract Art Collage Daily Artsy

Posted on March 7, 2014

Sometimes, all it takes is a slight shift to see things from a completely new perspective. I’ve always loved the slight glimpses seen through doorway cracks and angled views. These minimalist collages by Paris based artist Rosemarie Aubserson with their slightly skewed peeks give us the quickest little glimpses into new places.

The placement of some elements around the periphery of the compositions relate the feeling of catching a fleeting glance around a corner. Expanses of solid color heighten the drama of discovery, almost making it seem like a package being opened– making me want to rip away the paper to see more of what’s there!

If you’d like to see more of Rosemarie Auberson‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via Little Paper Planes.

Daily Artsy Figurative Paintings

Posted on March 6, 2014

Mr. F and I are generally cheerful, non-moody people, but we each have what we call our “blah” days. You know the ones, the days when you just aren’t feeling quite yourself, the days when all you want to do is curl up in bed, speak to no one and watch trash tv all day. These paintings by French artist Lou Ros struck me in their contemplation and moodiness, beautifully painted representations of melancholy.

From the use of a primarily grey and neutral palette with punctuations of pink and other vibrant colors, we’re reminded that although the grey sets in temporarily, it is by no means permanent. I love the artist’s use of frenetic brushwork and drips, the slightly “unfinished” quality to each piece accentuating the fleeting nature of mood.

To see more work by Lou Ros, please visit the artist’s website.

All images via the artist’s website. Artist found via The Artful Desperado.

Abstract Art Daily Artsy Mixed Media

Posted on March 5, 2014

It is the unique gift of an artist to create beauty from the unexpected, to look at a thing and see its potential in a way no one else does. In her A Sacred Space series, Baltimore artist Rosemary Liss deconstructs the canvas then puts each back together in a way that emphasizes the beauty of the materials themselves.

By focusing on the parts that make up the whole, Liss compels us to think about the entirety of the process of art making. From the tree that was felled for it’s wood, to the wood cut and sanded for stretchers, to the threads woven together to create the canvas’ surface, through these tiny works of art, we realize that while most artists are individual creators, a village of hands are woven together in each piece.

To see more work by Rosemary Liss, please visit her website. You can purchase some of her work through her show on Buy Some Damn Art, up now on the BSDA site!

All images via the artist’s website.

Daily Artsy Landscapes Paintings

Posted on March 4, 2014

The sea or the snow? The sea or the snow. Mr. F and I go back and forth on this question frequently. While spending the winter in Idaho, we decided on snow. But now that we are on the Northern California coast, I wonder, will the tides turn back toward the sea? There is something wild and mysterious about the ocean, and Massachusetts artist Jeremy Miranda captures the struggle by man to understand and control the uncontrollable character of nature.

We move in to the wild places, we build our houses and cultivate lawns and gardens, we want to be surrounded by nature’s beauty yet when the elements go about their way with no regard for us, we resent it. We try to control it. To bend and shift nature’s way to meet our own needs instead of leaving it to its own perfectly evolved devices. Miranda’s work captures that intrusion of man on wild, not only the destruction and encapsulation that ensues, but the way that nature reclaims what is hers when man moves on.

To see more of Jeremy Miranda‘s work, please visit his website.

All images via the artist’s website.

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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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