For many artists, the act of creation isn’t just about projecting an image onto a canvas. Artists like Jen Garrido understand that often, it’s more about pulling a hidden entity out of the mist.
From the Rock #7
Garrido’s images straddle the line between abstraction and representation, which creates a beautiful tension in her work. With their stark and white, yet heavily textured backgrounds, the colors and lines feel like the emergence of spring after a long winter.
Buckle, oil on panel, 12×12Birdhole A, oil on panel, 8×8
The way she molds shapes and textures together leave her paintings with a sculptural quality, bringing them to life in a way that makes them seem almost alive.
From the Rock #10, oil on panel, 12×12
To see more of Jen Garrido’s work, be sure to check out her website.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to sewing. Pretty sure I got a “C” on my big sewing project in junior high Home Ec ( a C was pretty unheard of for this nerd ) and my attempts as an adult haven’t been much better. But I have a great love for textiles of all colors and textures. Not only do I completely love contemporary artists who work in fabric, but I am completely envious of their abilities. You know what they say, those who can, do.. those who can’t, well share with others! Check out these beautiful examples of textile art!
Structures #72 by Lisa CallCleveland Foreclosure Quilt by Kathryn ClarkAda Quilt by Meg CallahanPrairie/Wall I by Sue Benner
The fabulous Erin Cassidy of art social and I want to play a little game with you! OK, so you’re Charlie Brown and we’re Lucy.. the art doctors are in.. Now look at this piece, Rorshach by Laura Newman.. what do you see?
Rorshach by Laura Newman
An open window looking out onto a sunset? Two heads? Or are you like me and just get distracted by the luscious rainbow of colors?
But now for the real fun, the CONTEST! Here’s how our little artsy mad scientist experiment will work–
Step 2 | You create a Pinterest board titled Art Association, like mine here, where you pin any and all images you associate you have with the featured artwork ( like word associations, only visual )– here’s a little sneak peek at my board to get your creative juices flowin’
Artsy Forager’s Art Associations board
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 and doubly awesome )
Here’s what you can win–
Once you’ve completed the steps above, you’ll be entered for a chance to win one month of free BOSS ad space on artsocial. This top spot gets you shout outs on Twitter, Facebook, and a spotlight post all about you, Boss. At 200×400 pixels, you’re blog, shop, or biz will get some awesome exposure by association. 😉
The pinner with the best art associations ( as judged by me and Erin ) will be chosen on Wednesday, September 26th at 5pm (mountain standard time). I know that ya’ll are a creative bunch, let’s see what ya got!
Ready.. set.. associate!!
Would you like your artwork to be featured as an Art Association subject? Shoot Erin an email at artsocialonline@gmail.com for more info.
I’m going to kind of tell my age with this post.. I’m a child of the 80s. There, my secret is out. I remember all too well the punk movement– the mixing of Victorian-inspired lace with torn fishnets and combat boots. The latest work of Los Angeles artist Susan Carter Hall reminds me of those bad-a$$ chicks this good girl could never be, like totally.
Circus, oil on canvas, 32×36
Her soft palette and supple forms are punctuated with areas of darkness, lending a little hard-edge to what otherwise might feel overtly feminine.
Earth No. 1, oil on canvas, 24×24Bridge, oil on gessoed paper, 25×40
Those punches of black and the slash-dash expression of color make Hall’s work bodaciously rad. Ok, enough of the bad 80s lingo. Her work just rocks. Period.
Earth No. 2, oil on canvas
To see more of Susan Carter Hall’s work, please check out her website and to keep up with her latest work & shows, be sure to like her Facebook page.
I am so taken with the way artists take common materials and lead us to think of them in a more abstract way. San Francisco artist Mary Button Durell uses simple tracing paper to create beautifully simple yet amazing sculptures.
The Piles, tracing paper, wheat paste and acrylic, 17x18x16The Piles ( detail )
Using the tracing paper and wheat paste, Durell hand shapes the forms, resulting in light, organic arrangements that seem to be suspended in a fragile state.
Empty, tracing paper and wheat paste, 16x12x43 Cloud Blue, tracing paper, wheat paste and acrylic, 17x24x1.75
The cell-like shapes and translucency call to mind shells or bubbles, ever changing and fleeting.
Lush color and luminosity? What could be better! Head over to Escape Into Life to check out this week’s Artist Watch on New York artist Kristine Moran.
Slow Wave 2 by Kristine Moran, oil on canvas, 54×60
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager long, you’ve seen me gush about the work of this month’s Facebook Featured Artist, Christina Foard. Christina is an artist whose work is as much about her mental and spiritual journey of creating as it is about the physical result of paint on canvas.
Urban Falling, oil on board, 36×34
Each canvas is a labor of intense devotion, worked and reworked until the artist is satisfied with her destination.
Lovers Behind the Wall, oil on canvas, 24×24Grey Land, oil on canvas, 24×24
As she works the canvas, adding layer upon layer or excavating what lies beneath, the resulting textures become a large part of the story, until the composition she is longing for emerges.
Pink Wall Two, oil on canvas, 40×30
To see more of Christina Foard’s work, please visit her website and be sure to check out her album on the Artsy Forager Facebook page! If you’re near the Jacksonville, FL area, you can still catch Christina’s show with July Featured Artist Thomas Hager at the Jacksonville International Airport, but only until the end of September. She’s currently working on a special long-term collaborative project I hope to share with you once she’s ready. Stay tuned.
Our first full day in Glacier, while Mr. Forager & I were on our big camping trip this summer, we did a 15 mile hike. The longest I’d ever hiked before was around 7.5 miles. And I need new hiking boots. This combo equalled some pretty painful, ugly blisters on both my little pinkie toes. I love hiking, but I’m not a huge fan of anything that causes me physical pain. Mr. Forager was appropriately contrite and to make it up to me, a few days later let me drown my pain in pizza, huckleberry ice cream and a little artsiness in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was there that I discovered some of the most striking work I’ve seen in a while– the work of mixed media artist Monica Petty Aiello. [ Warning: Online images do not do this work justice! The richness of the colors and texture can really only be appreciated in person! 😉 ]
TheTwins at Babbar’s Edge, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 72×48
Upon first view, I was drawn to Aiello’s work for the way it reminded me of the beauty of the geological wonders we’d just begin to explore in Yellowstone. These were familiar, yet most excitingly foreign.
Many Faces of Prometheus 3, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 32×32Many Faces of Prometheus 2, acrylic, ink, fiber and paper on panel, 32×32
The pieces are “actually topographical landscapes of the planets and moons within our solar system”. Not what you were expecting? Me either! Once I heard that, I could see it, but I also see other possible inspirations– such as fossils, lichen, microbiological imagery, geodes, underwater life.. the list goes on. It’s the ambiguity of these that is much of their appeal. We’re looking at a glimpse into another world, but which one?
Many Faces of Pele, acrylic, ink and fiber on panel, 28×28
To see more of Monica Petty Aiello’s work, please visit her website and the website of Diehl Gallery. What do you see in these?
When I took figure drawing in college, I recall my professor telling us that once we mastered drawing the figure realistically, that’s when the real fun begins. For once you understand the hollows and bumps of the human figure, you can then abstract your representation to your heart’s content. Savannah artist Betsy Cain’s work energetically fuses the figure with the abstract in gorgeous layers of color.
Red Yellow Love Melt, oil on canvas, 60×80
Like the work of other abstract expressionists, Cain’s work appears to be purely non-representational, but often you can detect a figure coming through the energetic fever of the canvas.
Neural Nude, oil on canvas, 54×72Nature of Not Knowing, oil on canvas, 60×60
Each work consists of layer upon layer of colorful, expressive strokes which may end in a purely abstract composition yet each gives us a glimpse into the artist’s connection between her mind, the paint and the canvas.
Nerve Flower, oil on canvas, 60×60
To see more of Betsy Cain’s work, please visit her website. If you happen to be reading from North Florida, you can check out Betsy Cain’s solo exhibition, Selections at Florida Mining in Jacksonville, opening this Friday, September 7th!
Happy September, Artsies! I’m so excited to bring you this month’s new Facebook Featured Artist. Not only is she one of my favorite artists EVER, but one of my favorite people in the world. Be sure to head on over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see the beautiful new cover image by Florida artist Christina Foard!
Flow by Christina Foard, oil and acrylic on canvas, 96×66
Stay tuned throughout the month of September for more from the fabulous Ms. Foard!
