Have you ever been so enraptured by the natural beauty surrounding you that you feel as if the wonder of it actually becomes a part of you? I have suspect Pakayla Biehn has encountered this feeling. Her dreamlike works tell me she is one who also has visions of laying in a field of flowers and floating down sparkling streams.
Ten Thousand Times, oil and acrylic, 28×18
Biehn’s work has such a quiet, poetic beauty. To look upon them seems as if we are encountering a hidden, magical place, filled with fairies and wood nymphs.
All the Time I Was Making This I Was Thinking of You, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36×24
They remind me of the enchantment of the most beautiful places I’ve seen and of places from my dreams I have yet to visit.
People in Love, oil and acrylic on canvas, 22×14Hope There’s Someone, oil and acrylic on canvas, 28×19
To see more of Pakayla Biehn’s work, please visit her website. If you’re in Cali, you can see her work at Gallery Hijinks in San Francisco or at Thinkspace Gallery in LA.
Spring is almost upon us, artsies! Did you lose yourself in a lovely place over the weekend?
Featured image is The Study of the Structure of Subversive Existence, oil & acrylic on canvas, 28×20. All images are via the artist’s website.
Photographer Mario Testino’s art collection is to die for.. his home looks like the coolest gallery ever. The work is beautifully displayed and the furnishings compliment rather than compete. A feast for the eyes.
Mario Testino's LA Home, artwork: Moonlight Bamboo I by Rob Pruitt
Mmmm.. Skittles. Now that I have you craving some multi-colored chewy candies, let’s talk rainbows. The ubiquitous symbol of hope seems to be everywhere these days. Artists are embracing prismatic colors and shapes like mad! Check out a few examples I found..
Sarah ApplebaumLisa CongdonChristopher Derek BrunoMarco Puccini ( via Design Milk )Mark Warren Jacques
Be sure to check out the artists’ websites to see more rainbow-hued wonders!
Many of you know that my hubby & I are living a bit of a vagabond life. My other half is working as a medical traveler, so since May 2011, we’ve moved across the good ol’ USofA from Florida to the Northwest, living in a new town every 13 weeks. So these days, we’re traveling light. Everything live with fits into the back of our mid-size SUV and a 4’x8′ UHaul trailer. All our other belonging are stored in a 10’x10′ storage unit in Jacksonville. The rest is gone. In preparation for this move and change in lifestyle, we sold or gave away all of our furniture except for a few sentimental pieces of mine. When I first saw these works on paper by Massachusetts artist Candice Smith Corby, they resonated with this slightly displaced soul.
Madge's Fox Den, gouache & watercolor on paper ( via Lost at E Minor )
I am no stranger to the competing feelings of freedom and loss that come from purging your life of unnecessary stuff. In our society, our possessions define us in so many ways. They demonstrate to the world, our tastes, our values, our experiences. The things that we live with become a part of our memories, so to be separated from them may result in a disconnect with our past. Of course, that could be viewed as positive or negative..
You'll Be A…, I'll Be a Bear, gouache on wallpaper
While I do often dearly miss some of my lovely things ( especially when living in some furnished rentals! ), there is also an incredible sense of liberty that comes with knowing that we can live ( almost ) anywhere. We no longer have the mortgage and maintenance of owning a home filled with rooms and stuff we rarely use.
My Worries Are Behind Me, acrylic, watercolor & gouache on paper, 36×80
Smith Corby’s works speak to that overwhelming sense of being possessed by our possessions. How many of us have gone into large amounts of debt just to have the homes of our dreams? Oh, how difficult it can be when we insist on holding on, when what we really need is to just let go.
Brooding Mood, screenprint, 22×30Repossessed, gouache & watercolor on paper ( via Lost at E Minor )
So have I made you want to give away all your worldly goods? 😉 Maybe just a spring cleaning is in the cards.. To see more of Candice Smith Corby’s work, please visit her website.
OK, who is willing to confess to watching the Red Carpet shows for the Oscars on Sunday? Some of those celebs just know how to make an entrance! ( Um.. Angeline Jolie’s leg, anyone?! ) Using eye-catching artwork in your home’s entry can create a welcoming impact, giving guests an instant idea of your style.
So let’s see.. are you..
Earthy Mod?
via House Beautiful, designer Thom Filicia
Modern Femme?
via Coastal Living ( photo by Annie Schlechter )
Contemporary Glam?
Interior by Suzanne Kasler
Spirited Minimalist?
via Elle Decor, designed by Richard Found, photographed by Simon Upton
Elegantly Graphic?
via FlourishDesignandStyle.blogspot.com, design by Jennifer Worts Design
Provocative Funk?
via Remodelista.com, designed by Jamie Bush & Co.
Is your entrance making a true “you” statement?
Featured image via Elle Decor, designed by Rafael de Cardenas, photographed by William Waldron. All image sources can be found by clicking on each image.
Like attracts like. So it’s no surprise that many times, I find great artists by way of other great artists! Today’s Escape Into Life artist, Elly MacKay is just such a case– thanks to Dolan Geiman for introducing me to such lovely work!
The world today is so loud and pushy. We are visually bombarded at all times with color, typography, imagery, you name it. It begins to weigh us down unknowingly. Atlanta artist Erin McIntosh’s recent work has a quiet, delicate quality, the perfect antidote for a noisy world.
Watercolor 30, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paper
In her work, Erin is seeking to explore the silence to be discovered among the cacophony. Her intuitive process and use of water-based media give her works on paper a soft, gossamer-like quality.
Watercolor 32, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paper
Diaphanous shapes and translucent forms float freely, randomly just as our thoughts as we lie in the grass and daydream. We’re wafted away through the chaos and into the quiet stillness.
Watercolor 31, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paperUntitled, watercolor on paper ( via Gregg Irby Fine Art )
Ah.. I feel so peaceful now! To see more of Erin McIntosh’s work and enjoy a bit of her own brand of artsy stillness, please visit her website. I also highly recommend a visit to the website of her representing gallery, Gregg Irby Fine Art. If you happen to be in Atlanta, drop by and see these lovelies in person!
And, as a wonderful little treat, here’s a video of the artist herself, telling you a bit about her work–
I’ve heard that some people only dream in black and white. My dreams are always in color, but muted, like faded photographs or old home movies. It seems that German born artist Catrin Welz-Stein has been somehow seeing into my dreams. Her digital collages are strikingly similar to the palette and imagery of my dreams..
Her Secret, digital collage
So perhaps the imagery isn’t exactly like the images of my own slumber, but the atmosphere is the same. And there are always animals. And lots of flying. And sometimes flying animals.
Whale Watching, digital collage
The artist,while working as a graphic designer, experimented with mixed media and collage, eventually moving to digital imagery and her current surreal style. Using license-free, non-copyrighted images, photos and illustrations, Catrin breaks apart the original images and transforms them into her own creations.
Precious Flight, digital collage
The images she creates are at times ethereal, melancholy, disturbing, reassuring and sweet. They truly run a gamut of emotions. Just as our dreams do.
After The Hunt, digital collageThe View, digital collage
To see more of Catrin Welz-Stein’s work, please visit her page on ImageKind. She has three fabulous galleries of imagery, prints available of all– I’m certain you find one 0r ten to love!
Featured image is Sisters, digital collage. All images are via the artist’s ImageKind site.
I have a long, ongoing love affair. With books. I blame my grandparents, who were avid readers and every night spent with them was ended curled up in my grandmother’s lap listening to her read. Growing up, books were a favorite escape, summers were often spent with my nose buried in story after story. I came very close to pursuing a degree in literature rather than art history ( I was obviously never destined to be rich! ). But one of the best things about studying art history was all the stories. The best of both worlds. Here are some artists who seem as obsessed with books as I am!
It's Story Time IV by Christopher StottCome With Me by Na Zhao ( via ArtLink )Blonde But Not Forgotten by Harland MillerUnicorn by Gala BentBooks by Holly Farrell
Be sure to check out these artist’s websites below. So I just finished a Frida Kahlo biography. Any artsy reads you would recommend?
While digging through my Pinterest inspiration boards, planning my features for next week, I noticed a color trend in a few of my pins. It’s funny how our minds gravitate toward certain palettes some days, isn’t it? Apparently, my eyes are loving the combination of orange and indigo these days! I thought you might enjoy a few examples from my boards..
Christina Otero ( via My Modern Metropolis )Michael RiceNeil Wax ( via Skidmore Contemporary )Frances SewardHenry DomkeChristopher St. Leger
Any color combos you’re enamored with these days? Guess this native Florida girl can’t escape the Orange & Blue!
Featured image by Stephanie Paige. Sources can be found by clicking on each image.
