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  • March Featured Artist: Peri Schwartz

    March Featured Artist: Peri Schwartz

    I may have mentioned Mr. Forager has taken up beer making. Lately he has been obsessed with finding out the best methods and practices for brewing the perfect beer. He recently told me about a fellow brewer he found online that worked for over twenty years to perfect one particular brew recipe. Talk about practicing and perfecting your craft! This month’s Featured Artist, Peri Schwartz is equally tenacious in striving to capture every nuanced surface, angle and corner in her own studio.

    Studio IX, color monotype, 30×34.5
    Studio XXX by Peri Schwartz
    Studio XXX, oil on canvas, 38×48

    By narrowing her scope of work and field of vision, Schwartz frees herself to carefully explore her space, the forms inhabited therein, and the light that enters and retreats each day. Although her overall style and palette remains consistent, we can see her exploring how the space and objects are represented.. sometimes they are mere planes of color, other times their shapes are more concrete.

    Studio 12 by Peri Schwartz
    Studio 12, ink and charcoal on mylar, 12.34×27
    Studio 13 by Peri Schwartz
    Studio #13, ink and charcoal on mylar, 13.30x28x25

    In other instances, as in her black and white drawings above, she is carefully studying the effect of light on the familiar surfaces, carefully watching and interpreting the reflective play between light and shadow.

    Bottles and Jars XII by Peri Schwartz
    Bottles and Jars XII, oil on canvas, 30×20

    To see more of Per Schwartz’s work, please visit her website. You can also see an album of Peri’s work on the Artsy Forager Facebook page. Peri will be a busy bee soon with three openings– at Davis & Cline Gallery in April, Garvey/Simon Art Access in May, and Gerald Peters Gallery in July. Whew! Hope you’ll be able to catch one!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Just a Little Thank You

    Happy weekend, Artsies!  I don’t normally post on Saturdays, but I just had to extend a big thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of the debut show and sale at foundCity Mouse | Country Mouse.  Christina, Deann, & I are so truly grateful for all the encouragement and artsy love that has been thrown our way!

    We would especially like to publicly thank those that have blogged, Tweeted, and/or Facebooked about our little show this week!

    isavirtue | Lovely blog post about City Mouse | Country Mouse

    The Jealous Curator | Thanks for the Twitter and Pinterest love!

    Inward Facing Girl | Thanks for the tweet-out!

    Arbus Magazine | Mine & Christina’s hometown art publication supported us Florida girls

    and of course, our sponsor,

    Gregg Irby Fine Art | Showing artsy love for CMCM on her blog, The Art Selectress!

    CMCM will be up in found through March 28th.  If you haven’t seen it yet, please click over to found and check it out!  Beautiful little small originals, perfect for giving yourself a little artsy treat!  Want to hear more about the CMCM “story” take a peek here.

  • Welcome our March Featured Artist!

    March is here! Where in the world did February go? Sneaky little short month catches me off guard every time. But I’m excited to welcome a new month because it means welcoming a new Featured Artist to Artsy Forager! Please help give a warm artsy welcome to New York artist Peri Schwartz!

    Studio XXXII by Peri Schwartz
    Studio XXXII by Peri Schwartz

    Be sure to head on over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page where Peri’s work will be gracing the cover for the month of March! And don’t forget to check out her Facebook album, where you’ll see a combination of her latest work and a few of my personal favorites. Happy month of March!

    Image via the artist’s website.

  • Friday Design Finds: I Find You Facet-nating

    Friday Design Finds: I Find You Facet-nating

    Excuse the horrible pun in the title.  I just couldn’t resist! As any jeweler will tell you, cut makes all the difference in bringing out the best in a material.  Just like gemstones, these pieces of functional art are geometrically cut and patterned to take advantage of their materials and create a different view from every angle.

    Faceted Globe Pendant Light by Raw Dezign
    Faceted Globe Pendant Light by Raw Dezign

    source

    Citrine/Lemon Basil Rock Soap Stone by Pelle
    Citrine/Lemon Basil Rock Soap Stone by Pelle

    source

    Faceted Pushpins by Anthropologie
    Faceted Pushpins by Anthropologie

    source

    Side Table by Phil Cuttance
    Side Table by Phi Cuttance

    source

    Ceramics by The Mod Collective at Follow
    Ceramics by The Mod Collective at Follow

    source

    Wouldn’t any of these add a little extra artsy to your day?  Want to see some facet-nating artists?  Check out the work of Jackie Tileston and Aaron Moran!

    All image sources linked above.

  • Guest Foraging: Curated Persona: The GlobeTrotter

    Guest Foraging: Curated Persona: The GlobeTrotter

    Doing a little Guest Foraging over on the UGallery blog today!  For this month’s installment in my series for UGallery, Curated Persona, I’ve put together a little collection of art for The GlobeTrotter.  Methinks I might be feeling a bit of wanderlust myself!  Mr. Forager & I are both itching to hit the road on to our next adventure!  Check out the post over on UGallery’s blog here!

    Searching For the Light by Savina Gost
    Searching For the Light by Savina Gost
  • Art Association Winner!

    Big artsy thanks to everyone who participated in this month’s Art Association and HUGE thanks to artist Emily Jeffords for providing such an interesting and inspiring catalyst and art prize!

    The winner of the February Art Association and new owner of an original lithograph by Emily is…

    Alexandra Suarez!

    This month’s lucky winner!

    Alexandra’s board was amazing.. she even pinned some of her own artwork, she obviously loves that palette as much as Emily does!  Be sure to check out Alexandra’s AA board on Pinterest and her website to see more of her own pretty awesome artwork!

    Be sure to stay tuned in March for another fun & inspiring Art Association!  You are going to love March’s art catalyst and prize.  Pinky promise.

  • Amplified Spaces: Jeffrey Palladini

    Amplified Spaces: Jeffrey Palladini

    Hotels are usually advertised as a luxurious means of escape. A place where you don’t have to make your bed and clean, neatly folded towels appear while you are out as if by magic. But they can also be places of desolation and despair. Where a cast-out husband goes to sort out his life, where the traveling salesman spends countless hours missing his family. In his Hotel series, San Francisco artist Jeffrey Palladini explores the intimacies of this microcosm of life.

    Pool #10 by Jeffrey Palladini
    Pool #10, oil and charcoal on wood, 55×37

    When I first spotted Palladini’s work at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, I was immediately drawn to his quiet expanses of solid color. The simplicity of his palette adds to the somber, isolated feeling in some of the work.

    A Late Morning by Jeffrey Palladini
    A Late Morning, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9
    Missing Our Reservations by Jeffrey Palladini
    Missing Our Reservations, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9
    The Highlights by Jeffrey Palladini
    The Highlights, oil and charcoal on wood, 13×9

    Then there’s the flip side of hotel visits– when all is fun and irresponsibility. Staying up late, sleeping in, lounging around the pool doing nothing at all. The anticipation of what might happen and memories you might make. In showing us glimpses of his subjects from behind, we voyeuristically gaze, wondering which kind of hotel scene we’ve stumbled upon.

    Pool #8 by Jeffrey Palladini
    Pool #8, oil and charcoal on wood, 37×25

    If you’d like to see more of Jeffrey Palladini’s work, please visit his website.  I hope you love this work as much as I do.  Seriously it was like a scene from a hotel bar.. I spotted it across a crowded room.. 😉

    All images are via the artist’s website.

     

  • Wear the Artsy: When Night Falls in the Forest

    I just love the idea of translating the artwork we love into the jewelry and clothes we wear.  After all, the artwork we love is an extension of our souls, so why shouldn’t the way we clothe ourselves be, too?  In this edition of Wear the Artsy, Featured Artist Diana Lemieux’s When Night Falls in the Forest pairs beautifully with an agate ring from Terrain.

    art | When Night Falls in the Forest by Diana Lemieux

    ring | Dendritic Agate Ring by Melissa Joy Manning

    I think any maiden of the forest would be thrilled for this ring to adorn her artsy finger!

    Art and jewelry linked above.

  • Intimate Weavings: Michelle Forsyth

    Intimate Weavings: Michelle Forsyth

    Sometimes there is nothing more inviting than curling up in one of Mr. Forager’s shirts.  He has his favorites and most of the time, the others hang in the closet, just calling out for me to put them on!  They’re so roomy and comfy and wearing them physically connects us.  Pullman, Washington artist Michelle Forsyth has created an entire series centered around the plaid patterns her own husband’s shirts, lovingly titled Letters for Kevin.

    Kevin's Shirt: Seven Diamonds by Michelle Forsyth
    Kevin’s Shirt: Seven Diamonds, gouache on paper, 10×10

    The series consists of paintings of the initial plaid patterns, the weaving of the actual material in her Pullman studio, and often the eventual painting of the finished textile crumpled against a stark background.  I’ve often made mention of the importance and influence of the materials we clothe ourselves in.  And, as evidenced in Forsyth’s series, the tale being woven by our choices isn’t one just for our own ears, but a story we are telling to others, as well.

    Kevin's Shirt: Vintage by Michelle Forsyth
    Kevin’s Shirt: Vintage, gouache on paper, 10×10
    Michelle Forsyth Studio
    Studio in Pullman, WA
    Kevin's Shirt Vintage ( woven ) by Michelle Forsyth
    Kevin’s Shirt: Vintage ( woven ), wool, alpaca and cotton, 18x 40

    These plaid patterns, with their beginnings in Scottish highlands, were also once the domain of preppy yuppies in the 80s and grunge fashion in the 90s.  So with such a diverse background, what can we infer from these plaids?  Perhaps, due to the grid-like repeating pattern that the person who wears them is stable and the rock for all who know him.  Or maybe the intersecting lines tell us he enjoys connecting with others and for others.  The artist, in the variety of patterns, may be telling us how many very different sides she sees to the person with whom she has chosen to spend her life.

    Small Plaids by Michelle Forsyth
    Small Plaids, all watercolor on paper, 5×5 each

    All of my inferences may be true or they may just be what I’m construing on my own.  But this series is obviously a labor of love.  Take it from another wife of a plaid-wearing husband.  To see more of Michelle Forsyth’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.  Artist found via Two Coats of Paint.

     

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Eva Magill-Oliver

    Artsy on Escape Into Life: Eva Magill-Oliver

    Less is more.  Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.  Sometimes, I just love to cleanse the artsy palate so to speak, with work that is beautiful in it’s seeming naivete and guilelessness.  Perhaps that is why I was drawn to the work of Atlanta artist Eva Magill-Oliver and am featuring her in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today.  Go on over to EIL here to see more of Eva’s work!

    Turn by Eva Magill-Oliver
    Turn by Eva Magill-Oliver

    Eva Magill-Oliver on Escape Into Life

    Artist found via Gregg Irby Fine Art.  Image via the artist’s website.