artsy forager

Tag: abstract art

  • Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    One of the benefits of our rural home for the summer is the large garden our landlords maintain on the property.  For the first time in my life, freshly picked vegetables and berries are mere steps from my door.  Pulling up fresh spinach for our salads a few nights ago got me thinking about roots.  And so does the artwork of Providence, RI artist Jenny Brown.

    Untitled Yellow, ink & found collage on paper, 8.5×11

    As people, we, in the same way as plants, are growing our roots and reaching for the sky at the same time.  The roots provide nourishment and hold us steady, while our very nature and soul fights against their pull as we stretch toward who we are meant to be.

    Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11
    Flowering Crab, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    Some people, like smaller plants, don’t grow far vertically, keeping very close to their roots.  But others, like giant redwoods, soar to unimaginable heights far above their rooted beginnings.  Yet, it takes incredibly strong roots to steady one whose reach is so high.

    Untitled #3, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    To see more of Jenny Brown’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Rocks are hard.  Anyone whose ever stepped on one knows this.  But I can remember a dream I once had as a little girl sleeping with a rock as my pillow.  Seattle artist Emily Gherard’s paintings provide us with a different way of seeing these often immovable objects.

    Untitled, oil on canvas
    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    Gherard presents us with rocks, mountains and cliff faces that though they are rigid to the touch, these stones are vulnerable.  The smallest crack can create a weak point, endangering the stability of the structure.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    We thinks of rocks as unyielding and impenetrable, yet they are shaped over time by the elements.  It may take eons to see the change but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32
    Untitled, oil on canvas on panel, 9×12

    To see more of Emily Gherad’s work, please visit her website.  If you’re in the Seattle area, you can see her work in person at the Francine Seders Gallery.

  • Sensual Flora: Megan Cosby

    Sensual Flora: Megan Cosby

    There are some artists whose careers I’ve had my eye on for quite some time.  Florida artist Megan Cosby definitely falls into that category.  I’ve always loved her figurative work, but when I saw her beginning to move in a more abstract direction, I knew she was really getting into a beautiful groove.

    Bouquet Toss, mixed media, 40×30

    This new series of abstracts, inspired by flowers, is soft, sophisticated and sensual.  In these mixed media paintings, I see abstract representations of the emotion of flowers.  The happiness they bring, their lingering scent and fleeting beauty.

    Gardenia Perfume, mixed media on canvas 40×40

    Flowers, with their delicately temporal nature, are associated with both life and death.  An early sign of spring’s renewal, as well as a token of abashed apology.

    Bouquet Confetti One, mixed media on canvas, 18×14
    Bouquet Confetti Two, mixed media on canvas, 18×14

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

  • Organic Conversations: Meredith Pardue

    Organic Conversations: Meredith Pardue

    I have an inherent weakness for artwork that combines nature inspired imagery in a completely abstracted way.  ( See the work of Susan Morosky, Deb Haugen, Brenda Hope Zappitell and countless others! )  The work of Austin artist Meredith Pardue captured me with saturated color and expressive yet achingly familiar shapes.

    Bloom, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 48×48

    In the same way that nature lovers commune with the outdoors, Pardue converses with her canvases.  Her paintings are intuitively expressive, filled with bright color dotting expanses of negative space not unlike the way rocks are scattered in lakes and rivers.

    Bloom X, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72
    Bloom XI, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 36×72

    Her Bloom series reminds me so much of the peppering of wildflowers all over the mountainsides during our Northwest summers.

    Bloom II, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 50×60

    To see more of Meredith Pardue’s work, please visit her website.  Be sure to check out some of her other series of work– amazing stuff!

    Featured image is Bloom XXV, ink, oil and oil crayon on canvas, 88×60.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Friday Finds: Inspired Geometrics

    Friday Finds: Inspired Geometrics

    As with many right-brained folks, math is not my strong suit.  But one thing I loved about taking geometry was the analysis of shape and how each is formed using different angles.  It seems that many creatives are finding geometrics inspiring these days.  Check out my artsy geometric finds for this week!

    Filzfelt Stools via Apartment Therapy
    Hare by Marco Cibola
    Brooch by No Milk Today
    Welsummer Oblong Cushion by Lindsey Lang
    Quilt by Lisa Call

    Filzfelt via Apartment Therapy | Marco Cibola | No Milk Today | Lindsey Lang | Lisa Call 

    Happy weekend, Artsies!  Will you be doing some artsy geometric foraging of your own this weekend? 😉

    PS– You may have noticed that I’ve switched up the Friday’s title from Friday Faves to Friday Finds.  I’ll be using the Friday round-up to not only explore what’s trending in the art world, but to also share my inspiring finds throughout the world of design!

    Featured image is Hare by Marco Cibola ( detail ).  All images are via the artists’/designers’ websites, linked above.

  • Expressive Conversations: Galen Cheney

    Expressive Conversations: Galen Cheney

    It’s no secret that street art has exploded in popularity recently, gaining momentum and long deserved recognition.  We’re living in a world in which people are constantly looking for sources of inspiration and stimulation, which street art often provides in the most surprising places.  Vermont artist Galen Cheney’s work melds together the painterliness of Abstract Expressionism with elements of street tags to create work that invites us into a conversation about how strivers and outsiders express their creative voice.

    Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50
    Illuminated Earth #2, oil and acrylic on paper, 22×30

    Just as the AE’s are often remembered for their intensity and rebelliousness ( think of AE poster boy Jackson Pollock ), so are street artists of yesterday and today.  Though street art is being increasingly recognized and accepted, it’s beginnings as graffiti were often considered ugly vandalism, more likely to be white-washed or painted over rather than celebrated.

    Morning Table, oil on canvas, 24×24
    Through Deepest Dark, oil on canvas, 42×43

    Cheney’s inclusion of graffiti-like elements against an expressionist background speaks to the evolution of both movements.  Just as Abstract Expressionism was a polarizing movement ( and still is, to a degree ), so is contemporary street art.  And just as AE artists gained more and more notoriety, so too, are street artists.  What once was seen as rebellious and highly individualistic eventually became lauded as a major movement and an important part of the art historical canon.

    Evocateur, acrylic, oil and enamel on canvas, 40×36

    Is this where “street art” is headed?  What will be the new means of outsider expression?

    To see more of Galen Cheney’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Catalyst, graphite, acrylic and oil on rag paper, 38×50.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Yellena James

    There are certain artists’ work that I am just dying to see in person.. Yellena James’ work is definitely near the top of that list!  But since I’m far away from anywhere she’s currently exhibiting, today I’m settling for featuring her over on Escape Into Life.  Head on over and check out her amazingly beautiful drawings!

    Arrival, pen, ink and gouache on paper, 13×17

    Yellena James on Escape Into Life

  • Assemblages of our Discarded Past: Aaron Moran

    Assemblages of our Discarded Past: Aaron Moran

    I have always been a lover of things past.  Some of my favorite places have been cities or towns that truly celebrate their history, even revel in it.  To walk into a building that has been repurposed and restored is such a delight.  But it seems that more often than not, older buildings and homes instead of being loved and revered are neglected and then torn apart to make way for the shiny and new.  The sculptural work of Aaron Moran uses pieces of found architectural wood to create works that are as complex and chaotic as our history.

    Progress Sprawl, found wood, acrylic, graphite, house paint, varnish, 23x19x21

    Each piece becomes a small monument to our collective history.  Just scraps might be affixed to repair a dying structure, so these scraps from buildings long gone are bound together physically in each work and spiritually in their shared destiny.

    Low Base, found wood, metal, acrylic, house paint, graphite, 19x12x14

    Instead of languishing at the bottom of a landfill, these relics become sculptural harbingers of what we hope may be our fate– to leave behind a little of ourselves, to know that our existence is remembered and celebrated.

    Geom Ridge, found wood, acrylic, house paint, pencil, 11x8x9

    To see more of Aaron Moran’s work, please visit his website.  My husband and I used two pews from the church where my grandparents were married for our outdoor wedding last year.  It meant so to have that continuity and share in the past as we began our future.  Is there a building from your past you wish you had a part of?

    Featured image is Tier 2, found wood, acrylic, house paint, graphite and varnish, 10x13x14.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Heightened Senses: Elizabeth Terhune

    Heightened Senses: Elizabeth Terhune

    Something interesting happens on our cloudy days here in the Northwest.  The grey softens and disguises the landscape so that details are normally left unseen and undercover are brought to the fore.  The paintings featured from Elizabeth Terhune today remind me of those days when the light is at its softest.

    About the Moon, oil on linen, 22×22

    Sure, we live for sunny days here in the Northwest.  When the sun shines, the landscape is absolutely breathtaking!  But when the clouds roll in, everything, even the sky becomes quiet.  A hike in the woods on a cloudy day offers a study in contrasts, much like Elizabeth Terhune’s abstract paintings.

    In the Realm of Mutability, oil on linen

    Dark tree trunks stand tall, silhouetted against a cloud-filled sky.  Above we see a mass of dark leaves, but the vibrant yellow flowers entwined along our path suddenly pops out at us, happy to have been given a chance to shine.  As in Terhune’s paintings, the complex becomes simple.  Shapes blend into one another but the darkest and brightest of them all demand our attention.

    Giraffe, oil on linen
    Crosshair’s Gaze, oil on linen, 22×23

    To see more of Elizabeth Terhune’s work, please visit her website.  I’m hoping to take a cloudy day hike or bike ride today.  I’ll be thinking about Elizabeth’s work!

    Featured image is In the Realm of Mutability, oil on linen.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Cosmic Primality: Rana Rochat

    Cosmic Primality: Rana Rochat

    Last weekend, while we were visiting Whitefish, MT with friends from Florida, we spotted the biggest, most orange moon I’ve ever seen.  Its glowing intensity loomed over the distant mountains, seeming close enough to touch.  Rana Rochat’s encaustic work reminds me of the seemingly random beauty and chaos that surrounds and surprises us.

    Untitled A108, encaustic on panel, 54×48

    The universe is constantly moving, people rushing about, planets migrating, everything in constant flux and evolution.  It seems that the world is never still, it is always changing creating tension between the chaos of life and the natural order of the universe.

    Untitled L750, encaustic on panel, 54×48

    In her work, Rochat explores this dynamic balance between regularity and impulsiveness.  Each work using similar marks and complementary palettes, yet surprising in their fluid movement and arrangement.

    Untitled ( 96 ), encaustic on panel, 60×35

    Shapes float across the canvas and lines seem to trace movement of forms unseen.  Her work feels like a visual record of migratory journeys and chaotic progression.

    Untitled ( 98 ), encaustic on panel, 42×42
    Untitled ( L790 ), encaustic on panel, 48×70

    To see more of Rana Rochat’s work, please visit her website.  Her work can be seen in several galleries across the US and Canada ( see the Contact page on her website for a full list ).

    Artist found via David Lusk Gallery.

    Featured image is Untitled ( 87 ), encaustic on panel, 48×42.  All images are via the artist’s website.