Birds must have magically wonderful lives, don’t you think? I’m always envious of their freedom and grace, their ability to walk on land, swim through the water ( well, some birds ), and fly to far off places. As delicate as they may seem, birds are strong, hearty creatures. In her series of avian paintings, London artist Amy Judd beautifully explores the relationship between woman and bird that has been the subject of many a myth and tale.
In Judd’s work, the feathers serve as armor, a sign of strength and dignity. Their delicacy belies the protection they offer, just as in their avian counterparts. Classically lit figures glow ethereally as if somehow transformed by their gossamer shields.
As summer passes into fall, those vibrant brights we’ve embraced in the heat slowly begin to fade into pale grey and warm, rosy light. I’ve always loved this in-between season, when the afternoon light begins to glow with the promise of cool evenings and coming snows.
With the change brings a turn back to delicate, cool tones echoing the coziness of the months ahead. I want to bathe myself in these gentle hues! Below you can see just a few of the dustings of blush I’ve been foraging over on Pinterest..
I’m ready to embrace this new season in all its guises. How about you? I’m collecting more autumnal inspiration over on my new Pinterest board, Artsy Welcomes Autumn. Come over and check it out!
Do you ever find yourself fascinated by the way certain substances act and react? I’m always intrigued by how different types of liquid interact.. the way oil floats on water, how you can make those pretty drinks by layering the heavier liquid at the bottom of the glass. New York artist Julie Evans takes advantage of liquid reactions in her abstract creations of water-based media on mylar.
These Rorshach-like works seem to take on different forms depending on your perspective.. appearing at once botanical, sea creature-ish, even like organs in our own bodies. What I’m most intrigued by is the various consistencies that the media seem to take on throughout each composition, lovely transparently thin layers melt into deep pools of pigment.
So here’s the thing. When I first saw these paintings by Antionio Santin in my Pinterest feed courtesy of designboom, I loved the palette and hyperealism and unusual subject matter. I immediately repinned them for featuring later on the blog. Then, before I had a chance to write about these paintings, I started seeing other people post about there being bodies under the carpets!
Santin began his artistic journey as a sculptor and has since focused much of his work on the figure, namely women who seem to have met their fate, with pattern often playing a large role in his compositions. A natural progression then, to place the body instead of on top of the carpet, under it? Much more subversively sinister, to be sure. But nonetheless, beautifully rendered work!
If you would like to see work by Antonio Santin, please visit his website. You can also read an interview with the artist and get a peek into his Berlin studio here.
I know it’s not officially Fall yet, but this weekend it finally began to feel as if it is on its way! the Pacific Northwest has had an utterly gorgeous, yes, but uncharacteristically warm and long summer. And as a Florida girl who moved to the Northwest hoping to never experience 90+ degrees again, I am more than ready to welcome my favorite season!
When we were in this area two years ago, we loved being so close to Olympic National Park, but since we were closer to the coast then, we explored more along the West side of the park, never making into the Hood Canal side. It was a cloudy and foggy morning, but that just added to the beauty of our Saturday hike. The Olympics, to me, feel the most “Northwest” of all the parks in these states. You get a little taste of everything– big mountains, crystal clear streams, giant ferns and moss covered trees.
This little hike was so beautiful, I felt like I was grinning the entire time. While the long, arduous hikes usually reward us with panoramic views, sometimes these quiet woodsy hikes are just as nice. It’s on these traipsing-through-the-woods hikes that we really talk and connect and check in with each other. ( I’m usually too out of breath on the more strenuous hikes to do much chatting! )
At one point, we sat quietly on a felled tree along the riverbank, just soaking in the smells and sounds so different from what we’d been experiencing recently. We agreed that although we both felt some sadness that Seattle didn’t work out for us, our decision was right. We need quiet. We crave peace and wildness and beauty. And while you certainly catch more glimpses of such in Seattle than perhaps other cities, we knew we would long for more than glimpses.
We talked about how much we loved the landscape in this region– this perfect mix of mountains and rainforest, how much good stuff is such an easy distance away– a short drive and we’re at the Pacific, in Seattle, in Oregon wine country, in Portland, at Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, even the drier, more desert-y Eastern Washington, if the rain ever gets to be too much. We reflected on how funny it would be if we were to end up settling in the first Northwest place we came to together. We’re still not sure what the future holds, but the Olympic Peninsula is still on our list of possibilities. 😉
The rain held off and gave us a perfect day on Saturday, while Sunday was a more typically Northwest Fall-ish sort of day. Quiet, sporadic drizzly rain made for the perfect day for a day at home, Mr. F in the kitchen and I on my laptop catching up on blogs and watching a lovely, autumnal movie.
We have so much to look forward to, so many trips to take and plans to make and dreams to nurture. In many ways, it feels like this Fall is a new beginning. I can’t wait to see what else is in store!
How was your weekend, Artsies? Did you enjoy fine weather? Dream and make plans? If you’d like to see more from This Artsy Life, follow me on Instagram.
First three images by Artsy Forager, last image foundhere.
In some ways, it seems like collage work is on the downside turn of its recent resurgence. There is so much of it out there, it can be a challenge to find work that feels fresh and original. Los Angeles artist Heather Landis uses a tight palette of color, cheeky use of typography and just the right mix of vintage and modern in her collages.
Her palettes are filled with those decidedly vintage-feeling hues of peaches and pinks, accentuated by the steely greys that were so indicative of the atomic age. Much of her work seems to deal with the coming loss of “innocence” brought on by turbulence of the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and well, just the end of what many perceive as the The Golden Age of pop culture.
The women in Landis’ collages seem to be blissfully unaware of what is soon to come. Beatific domesticity will give way to struggling to push through the glass ceiling and climbing the corporate ladder.
But Landis isn’t hitting us over the head with messages. Just subtly drawing us in to her happy-go-lucky world, then subversively reminding us that what used to be wasn’t always better.
I just discovered the most horrible accident! It seems that WordPress in all her annoying glory never posted this Guest Forager feature back in April! And I just discovered the “missed schedule” post. For shame! So today you get a bonus post, one that should have posted oh so many moons ago. Mucho apologies to Gab who wrote such a wonderful post!
Today’s Guest Forager is Gabriel Cabrera, whose art blog The Artful Desperado is chock full of deliciously lovely artwork as well as artfully inspired food, florals, fashion and more! Be sure to check it out!
Hello artsy foragers! This is Gab from The Artful Desperado. Fancy meeting you here.
It’s no secret how much I love quirky art, and today I’ll be sharing some of that love with ya. Say hello to Gordon Wiebe and his cheerful collage illustrations!
Mr. Wiebe is a Toronto-based artist (yay Canada) whose work has been honored by the Society of Illustrators in NY and LA, among many others. He’s well known for his bold, conceptual images that are influenced by childhood memories and even some political affairs.
I love how there’s always some sort of smiley face painted in his illustrations. It’s always nice to find a happy surprise when you’re looking at art, yes?
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ve probably guessed that Mr. Forager & I are the outdoorsy types. Hiking, biking, camping, did I mention hiking? All stuff we love. Are you an artsy sport type? Just because you’re sportin’ it up doesn’t mean you can’t be artsy. Today’s design finds prove it.
How long has it been since I’ve done an Artsy Lately feature? Way too long, if you ask me! Especially since sooo many of the artists whose work has been featured on AF are continually amazing me! This young artist has been working hard and when I saw what she’s been up to, I just had to let you see. Tallahassee artist Anna Kincaide knows that the way to grow as an artist is to continually practice your craft and experiment. She’s playing with color and pattern these days and I’m loving this direction!
Catwalk is part of a series the artist completed for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at Florida State University. Perfect! If you’d like to see more of Anna Kincaide‘s work, please visit her website and Facebook page. Want to see more of what AF featured artists are up to? Follow the Artsy Lately Pinterest board! If you’re an artist whose work I’ve featured and you haven’t received an invite to participate in the board, shoot me an email at lesley(at)artsyforager.com!
Have you ever gone back to places you visited as a kid and found that they were nothing like what you’d been remembering all this time? Perception can be muddled by age, memory, and association. The work of UK artist Stephen Thorpe speaks to our distorted perceptions of place and reality.
Void, oil on canvas, 59.8×71.7Lepton, oil on canvas, 17.7×23.6
We might associate a place with a certain feeling, due to the memories created there, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In our travels, I’ve definitely found that distance and time softens my memories of some places. The town I couldn’t wait to leave, I can now look back on fondly. Well, sort of.
Boson, oil on canvas, 17.7×23.6
Sometimes, we might remember a place altogether differently than the reality of that spot. Thorpe’s paintings jumble reality with transparent planes and skewed perspectives. What looks vaguely familiar seems just a bit abstracted and absurd.
Deviant Boson, oil on canvas, 23.6×29.9Event Horizon, oil on canvas, 35.8×29.5
If you’d like to see more work by Stephen Thorpe, please visit his website. Love his work enough to make it your own? Selected works are available at Saatchi Online, including some works as prints. Accessible, affordable art. It’s a good thing.
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