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Tag: abstract art

Prevailing Beauty: Megan Weston

I am never not struck by the incredible beauty of this planet we call home any time Mr. Forager and I are out hiking. It is amazing to think of the way this earth evolves, adapts, endures. In these beautiful mixed media paintings, Australian artist Megan Weston, in her own words “presents our earth as fragile and damaged by our selfish behavior, but also demonstrates that its beauty still survives“.

Inspired by aerial landscapes, these mixed media paintings seem to whirl and swirl within their planetary atmosphere. Just as the earth is filled with wonder and variety, Weston’s work leads the viewer on an imaginary journey around its circumference. We don’t know if we’re looking at storm systems brewing from above or microscopic views of tiny bits of our planet. As the colors bleed and blend, we are left with the assurance that no matter how we abuse it, this ever changing earth will endure long after we have left it.

To see more of Megan Weston‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

June 10, 2014
Don’t Miss Artsiness: NSEW 6.5.2014

Gallery Shows You Should Know About

This week, it would seem, is one to be filled with all sorts of newness! In addition to the new post series started on Tuesday and the introduction of my Great.ly shop, I’m excited to finally launch a new featured series I’ve been pondering for a while now. I’m always on the hunt for new ways to support and promote the artists whose work I love. When we travel, we’re on the lookout for local art shows and happenings. Which led me to think, hey, you guys must be, too!

Each Thursday afternoon, I’ll be posting a round up of interesting gallery or museum shows I think you outta know about– one from each region of the country, North, South, East & West. ( FYI– sometimes North and Northwest will be interchangeable, just because. )

Here’s the very first round up–

north | Marie Watt, Receiver at Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA

south | Lily Kuonen, Playnthings, at the Crisp Ellert Museum, St. Augustine, FL

east | Jeremy Miranda, Late Winter/Early Spring at Nahcotta, Portsmouth, NH

west | Jennifer JL Jones, Invisible Thread at Hunter Kirkland Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM**

Find details about each show by clicking through to the gallery or museum links above. If you check ’em out, tag me ( @artsyforager ) on Instagram with the hashtag #dontmissartsiness!

**Jennifer JL Jones’ show ends June 8th! Get there before it closes.

Image sources via the galleries & museum sites linked above.

June 5, 2014
Luscious Piles: Susan Carr

You guys know I love some thick goopy paint! These small paintings by Susan Carr may just be the densest, most luscious piles of paint I’ve ever laid my artsy eyes on.

I’m in love with the way these paths of paint wind their way up, down, and around each canvas, blending and weaving together like rainbowed tree bark. I mean, I kind of want to dip a corn chip into that goodness and eat it. But I won’t. However, I will just sit here and admire and wish I could run my fingers over all that lovely paint.

To see more work by Susan Carr, please visit her page at Saatchi Art or her representing gallery’s website.

All images via the Giampietro Gallery website.

June 5, 2014
Ceremonial Garb: Amy Boone McCreesh

When it comes to ceremonies and celebrating, it seems like here in the US, our traditions are pretty mundane. Where are all the costumes and displays? For many other cultures, milestones are met with ritual and fanfare. Baltimore artist Amy Boone McCreesh explores that relationship between exhibition and ephemera in her sculptural work.

Crafted from cut paper, ribbons, sequins, found objects, you name it– these sculptures are teeming with texture, color, and movement. Reminding us of maypoles, leis, and exploded pinatas, they are contemporary interpretations of ancient traditions.

To see more of the work of Amy Boone McCreesh, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

June 4, 2014
The Artsy Nature: Yellowstone & Amy Donaldson

Judging from the blog’s title & if you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ve probably guessed that Mr. F and I are the outdoorsy types. We both thrive on time spent among the quiet beauty of the outdoors, whether surrounded by snow-capped mountains or digging our toes into the black sand of Northwest beaches. I’m finding artistic inspiration in nature for my own series of work, so why not find it in the work of other artists, too? Often when I see an artist’s work, my mind connects it to the memory of a place I’ve been or a detail observed or sometimes, an outdoor scene will call the artist’s work to mind. It’s the whole chicken vs. egg thing, but this time, with art and nature.

So with this post, I’m launching a new series, The Artsy Nature, in which I pair a photograph from our traverses in the great outdoors with a piece of artwork.

photo | spring at The Black Sand Basin, Yellowstone National Park by Artsy Forager

art | Purpose by Amy Donalson

One of my absolute favorite features in the wondrous beauty that is Yellowstone were the geysers and hot springs. Algae and micro bacteria create gorgeously saturated coloration in the most heavenly palette.

Nature is the most spectacular of canvases, isn’t it? Look for more The Artsy Nature posts coming your way!

Photo by Artsy Forager, art image credit linked above.

June 3, 2014
June Featured Artist: Deb Haugen

There are certain artists whose work just instantly resonates with me. Perhaps it’s their style or subject matter, but in the case of this month’s Featured Artist, Deb Haugen, it’s both. When I first saw her work waaay back in 2011, I immediately responded to the free flowing naturalness to her work.

Since then, Deb’s work has evolved beautifully, in some cases incorporating graphic drawing as in her ink pieces featured above. These intuitive drawings have a delicious tension between the concrete illustrative quality of intricate patterns and the bright, watery world surrounding them.

I’m not the only one who is drawn to these organic beauties– Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel have both carried Deb’s prints ( currently available through Neiman Marcus, new large print to come for C&B! ). But you can also purchase Deb’s work directly through her own website shop! Gorgeous work at super affordable prices, you can’t go wrong!

To see more of Deb Haugen‘s work, please visit her website and be sure to follow her on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram to keep up with what she’s up to! You’ll be seeing more of Deb’s work around the blog & Artsy Forager social media all June long!

All images via the artist’s website.

June 2, 2014
Finding My Own Artsy: Feminine Wiles, Painting Ten

It’s been a while since I shared a new Feminine Wiles piece with you! I’ve been so distracted by the gorgeous weather, hikes with Mr. F, and my new series on paper, that I let the FW pieces slip a bit. But then Sunday came and along with it a warm and sunny afternoon, so I spent some time painting out on our little deck. When I was ruminating on starting this series, iconic feminine film icons were popping into my noggin’ and Rita Hayworth‘s Gilda was among the first to come to mind.

found here

In the 1946 black & white film noir, Rita Hayworth plays title character Gilda, the passionate and beautiful songstress wife of an illegal casino owner. The film plays out a dark love triangle between Gilda, casino owner husband Mundson, and Gilda’s former love, and indebted confidante to Mundson, Johnny Farrell.

The 40s film is teeming with tension– crime, secrets, anger, revenge. It’s not wonder costume designer Jean Louis outfitted the femme fatale character is slinky black, reminiscent of Sargent’s Madame X.

Rita Hayworth as Gilda Mundson Farrell in Gilda, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6

My darkest FW piece yet, it also has a slightly looser feel– something that I thought fit the characterization of Gilda so well– full of turmoil and contradiction.

To see more from the Feminine Wiles series, check out the series portfolio page. Up next? I’m thinking a little Monroe. 😉

Film image source linked above, painting by Lesley Frenz.

May 29, 2014
Gestural Forces: Zachary Keeting

For many an abstract painter, there is a tense push and pull between artist and material. What makes their heart race is the predictable inquietude of the way the paint will respond and react. The work of artist Zachary Keeting is filled, layer upon layer, with painted gestures carefully considered yet surrendered to the forces of material.

Keeting’s planes of paint are built up like high rises jammed into a cityscape, one on top of the other, but retaining such distinction that the resulting paintings have almost a collage-like feel. Paint is pushed, poured, pulled, manipulated this way and that so that a beautiful chaos ensues.

To see more of Zachary Keeting‘s work, please visit his website and make sure to check out his documentary art project, Gorky’s Granddaughter.

All images are via the artist’s website.

May 28, 2014
Artsy Lately: Margie Livingston

As artists, we are pretty obsessed with our materials and mediums. Photographers baby their cameras and lenses, sculptors take precious care of their tools. And painters, well, we love paint– the way it smells, the way it looks, the way it behaves. Seattle artist Margie Livingston, whom we last heard from in October 2012 during her run as Featured Artist, has been continuing her own wild love affair with the properties of paint.

Stretching, pulling, carving, slicing, dicing, Livingston pushes paint to its ever expanding limits. This latest group of work seems to have an elegant electricity about it, in the juxtapositions of graphic black & white against super charged neon purples and pinks. Then she spins that on its head with her gloriously shroud-like draped paint sculptures.

Poured, Sliced, and Draped, a show of Margie Livingston’s latest work, opens at Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle today, with the opening reception taking place during First Thursday on June 5th. If you’re in Seattle, don’t miss her Artist Talk this Saturday, at 11:30am, see the Greg Kucera site for details! Aaaah, some days I really miss Seattle.

And of course, be sure to check out Margie Livingston’s website for more of her work.

Top, second & fifth image via the artist’s website. Other images via the Greg Kucera website.

May 22, 2014
Pattern Recognition: Duane Cregger

Our lives don’t exist in a glossy, one dimensional universe. We are surrounded each day by a myriad of patterns and textures. From the paint on our walls, to the weave of our garments, even the skin covering our bodies, texture fills our vision every day. In his work, Virginia artist Duane Cregger heaps layer upon layer of painted texture and pattern to create canvases that are a feast for the eyes.

But not only is life full of physical texture and pattern, but it’s there mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, too. We fill our heads and hearts up each day with the sights, sounds, and thoughts surrounding us, so that they become one with who we are. On any given day, our spirit might be quenched by the sounds of nature and the warmth of light, or worn down by the incessancy of a ringing phone and arguing children. Each “texture” piles, one on top of the other, some peeking through more than others, to create a pattern of self that is unique to each one of us.

To see more of Duane Cregger‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website. Artist found via House of Turquoise.

May 22, 2014

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