I don’t know about you, but I love anything that’s just a bit off.. wonky if you will. So of course, I’m loving this collection of Wonky Pots by Anthropologie Featured Artist Vanja Bazdulj. A little odd, a little irregular, a whole lot wonderful! Here are a few of my favorites!
Normal is completely underrated! ( see yesterday’s post 😉 ) I’ll take my artsy a little on the wonky side any day. Happy weekend, Artsies!
All images via Anthropologie here.
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 15 [ Different Kinds of Normal ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/20130417-173312.jpg)
I’ve been thinking a lot these days on the concept of “normal”. As we prepare to leave Joshua Tree after Mr. F’s six month work contract here, it feels normal to us– this constant research of new places, rental prices, average weather temps, this packing up of our belongings and anticipation of discovering a new place. While this is life for us right now, it’s taken a while for it to feel normal for me. I don’t freak out as much as I used to. In fact, it’s possible we could leave the desert without actually knowing where our next landing spot will be. I know for many folks, the concept of this way of life would be too scary, too unpredictable to handle. But for us, at least at this point in our lives, that’s what makes it fun! And in each new place, we settle into our own very normal routine, just as if we’ve lived there for years. We find our favorite coffee purveyor, weekend breakfast spot and an evening walking route.
We were back in San Diego this weekend to celebrate the birthdays of the young sons of our friends there. A & N turned three years old. Three years ago, their parents had just adopted big brother C, and were getting used to the idea of being parents to him when they found out they were pregnant with two more boys. Their idea of normal life had been turned on its head.
After lots of scares and complications, the boys were born, but very prematurely. They struggled to survive in the NICU for weeks. M & V’s new normal was caring for C while championing A & N to grown strong enough to come home. Their normal changed again after finally being able to bring the boys home but then continuing to endure hospital stays, testing and therapy.
Eventually it was determined that A wasn’t progressing in the same way as N. Normal then morphed again when their son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. So normal became not only the craziness of juggling life with three small children, but fighting the odds to make sure A had every chance possible. He is now a thriving three year old boy with a smile as wide as the ocean. He can communicate in three languages– English, Spanish ( V is from a wonderful, large loving Mexican family ) and sign language. He loves music and went horseback riding with no fear the morning of his birthday party.
And now their normal has been shaken again, as C undergoes genetic testing for a possible muscular disorder. It seems that normal will be an ever changing concept for this sweet family. But what remains constant through each twist and turn is their love and strength and grace in weathering each storm and embracing each change. After all, their normality is what becomes every day practice for them, just as our normality is our own familiar experience. Circumstances may feel foreign at first, but the more we immerse ourselves in our new experiences, the more normal they become. This is what I’m continually reminding myself when I think about the uncertainty that lies ahead. With each change, we become better versions of our normal selves.
Photos were taken during the “painting party” for A&N on Saturday. Want to see more from This Artsy Life? Follow me on Instagram!
All images by Artsy Forager.
There has been a poignant video being posted all over social media this week. By now, you’ve probably seen the Dove Real Beauty Sketches on YouTube. In it, we are confronted with the disparity between the way others see us and how we perceive ourselves. As I was watching it this week, it brought to mind these portraits by German artist Olaf Hajek.
In these portraits, we see women of African descent adorned in the extravagant style of Marie Antoinette, the standard of beauty and opulence in her day. These women look every bit as refined and elegant as Antoinette ever did, yet there is a discomfort and sadness about them.
To put on the trappings of another person’s beauty is to not embrace what is truly beautiful about ourselves. We all buy into the lies being told that we need to look a certain way to be considered attractive. Do the birds in all their glory worry about the way their feathers are arranged?
We are constantly in search of the next fashion trend, face cream or make-up that will transform us into the beauty we hope to be. But instead, why don’t we embrace our beauty for what it is? We are each uniquely lovely in a way that no other person in the world could be.
To see more of Olaf Hajek’s work, please visit his website. For a laugh, check out this parody of the Dove Real Beauty Sketches. 😉
Images via the artist’s website.
Yep, it’s back! The time has come once again for your monthly Pinterest image association bonanza AKA the Art Association Pinterest contest, wherein Erin of artsocial and I team up with an artist to get your own creative juices flowin’ AND give you a chance to win an awesome piece of artwork!
If you’re new to Art Association, here’s the haps– You create a Pinterest board around one work of art ( which we provide ), filled with anything and everything that pops into your mind while gazing at the catalyst piece.
Our catalyst piece for this month is Untitled by Jessica Brilli ( below )! I can hear all your wheels turning already..
Step 1| We give you a piece of artwork, this month’s work is Untitled by Jessica Brilli ( above ).
Step 2 | You create a Pinterest board titled Art Association, like mine here, where you pin any and all images you associate with the featured artwork ( like word associations, only visual )– here’s a sneak peek at some of my associations
Step 3 | Leave a link to your Art Association pinboard in the Comments section of this post
Step 4 | Follow both art social and Artsy Forager on Pinterest ( if you already are, you’re ahead of the game! )
Here’s what you can win–
I mean seriously, how fun is this print?! Perfect addition to an artsy office, I say!
The pinner with the best Art Association board ( as judged by me and Erin ) will be chosen on Wednesday, April 24th at 5pm (mountain standard time). Now GO– PIN!!
**So sorry but the contest is open to US residents only. Stupid laws.
Would you like your artwork to be featured as an Art Association subject? Shoot me an email atartsyforager@att.net or Erin an email at artsocialonline@gmail.com for more info.
Art images via Jessica Brilli.
In this world, it’s difficult sometimes to find something truly genuine. Everything seems to be derivative of some earlier idea. In her We’re Going on Vacation series, sculptor Erin McKenna takes fragments of hot tubs and plays with their inherent imitator qualities to create sculptures recalling sea life, both of the artificial and organic variety.
So hot tubs are designed to look like the inside of shells– thinking that somehow our simple minds might be fooled into thinking we are in some sort of tropical hot spring instead of where we really are, a plastic box full of chlorinated water. McKenna takes broken pieces of jacuzzi plastic and reminds us of the artificiality they represent by recreating them into artificial representations of actual seashells.
I think that’s what I find most interesting about McKenna’s Vacation series.. the glorification of imitation. Taking an object that emulates nature and fashioning it into objects that parody that same nature. There’s a parallel with our own lives in there somewhere. How often do we borrow ideas only for them to echo back to us their counterfeit nature?
To see more of Erin McKenna’s work, please visit her website.
All images via the artist’s website.
Ordinary things explored with interesting color and texture.. I love the simplicity of the work of artist Megan Dorien, being featured in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today. Head on over and check it out!
Megan Dorien on Escape Into Life
Image via the artist’s website.
What does an artist do when he is gifted with classical skills yet wants his work to be modern and exciting and relevant? For painter Russ Noto, it means creating figures who strike traditional poses, but adding elements of the absurd.
Classically posed figures in contemporary clothing are placed in incongruous situations. Kind of leaving us to wonder.. where does traditional work and style fit in? Is it still pertinent to the conversation?
There is an inherent sadness to Noto’s work. It’s as if his archetypal characters have been set down in unfamiliar territory and now find themselves isolated and despondent.
But is the future of classical work and traditional themes so bleak? Is there truly room for all in contemporary art? Deep thoughts for a Monday. If you’d like to see more of Russ Noto’s work, and I highly recommend you do, please visit his website.
Monday morning, as Mr. Forager & I were leaving home, we both got excited at how grey and blustery a morning it was here in the desert. A “Northwest kind of day!” we both exclaimed. Perhaps you might think us a bit odd, but we really miss the grey and the rain. Cool days spent reading in a coffee shop, wandering through used bookstores and galleries. Those days just don’t seem to happen here in the desert. So as I’m finding myself longing for clouds, I rounded up a few artsy finds of the cumulus variety!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and may all your clouds end in rainbows. See you Monday, Artsies!
One of my favorite things is to discover new views just by changing my angle of perspective. How much more interesting some things become when we look at them with different eyes! The work of San Francisco artist Travis Collinson challenges us to see consider simple scenes from a new aspect.
Collinson’s figures, often caught in moments of what seems to be a trance-like state, are seen by the viewer in a sometimes voyeuristic perspective. We may feel as if we are walking in upon a moment of private reflection, or intruding on the subject’s privacy.
In each composition, there is always the tiniest detail that almost goes without notice. Yet once it has been seen, we can’t un-see it. And it captures our attention with each glance, changing how we consider everything else we’re taking in.
To see more of Travis Collinson’s work, please visit the websites of his representing galleries, Eli Ridgway Gallery and Maloney Fine Art.
Artist found via New American Paintings. Scatter via Maloney Fine Art, all other images via Eli Ridgway Gallery.
For an artist or avid art lover, often the joy and specialness of a work of art is to be found not in the overall meaning or composition but in the mark making. Those little strokes that mean so much. The work of Australian artist Camille Hannah gives us pause to consider how each mark of the brush is made.
In each squiggle, the light and shadow moves along with the paint. These strokes create form, line and texture, all through choice of paint loaded onto the brush and the way in which the hand of the artist guides it.
This adept “play with paint” is always what draws me in. There is such beauty in the way the paint swirls from the bristles of the brush, the way the colors mix together on the surface, catching the light and deepening not just the visual but the visceral experience of the painting!
To see more of Camille Hannah’s work, please visit the website of her representing gallery, the Nellie Castan Gallery.
All images via the Nellie Castan Gallery.