Completely in awe of these quiet, seemingly simple drawings by Asheville artist Kirsten Stolle. These unassuming little works deal in abstract ways with big issues such as climate change and genetic modification. I’m featuring Kirsten’s work in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today– see it here!
It’s no secret that colors can have an effect on our mood. There are certain shades that just make me happy and artwork that concentrates on the interaction of colors and their properties make my heart sing. Chicago artist Judy Ledgerwood’s work explores the ways in which the placement of color creates graphic interplay and the illusion of light.
Ledgerwood’s large scale works are drenched in saturated color, focusing on simple shapes and patterns. The eye isn’t distracted by detail but can concentrate on the sheer beauty of color and shape.
She uses the placement of color to play with pattern and light. Shadows and movement emerge through the simple interaction of color.
To see more of Judy Ledgerwood’s work, please visit her page on ArtSlant.
Artist found via The Art Cake. All images via ArtSlant.
I’ve always had a fascination with Asian cultures, especially Chinese folklore and familial traditions. Chinese American artist Hung Liu’s work evolves from her background in socialist realism taking traditional “mythic poses” of Chinese propoganda photography and reshaping them into visual stories of feminine strength.
The women in Liu’s paintings are not victims. They are towers of strength, their fortitude existing not in brute force but in quiet dignity.
To see more of Hung Liu’s work, please visit her website, as well as the website of her representing gallery, Diehl Gallery, where I first discovered her work.
All images are via the artist’s representing Jackson Hole, WY gallery, Diehl Gallery.
I’m a firm believer that the beauty of objects we use every day enhances our simple daily rituals. That doesn’t mean every meal should be eaten off Royal Dalton china with fine silver, but we do eat with our eyes as much as our mouths, so why not help even the most ordinary of meals a lovely experience? Here are some “painted” plates that would make any meal feel a bit more artsy!
Hmm.. wonder if we could get any of these in time for Thanksgiving next Thursday? 🙂 Happy weekend, Artsies!
All image sources are linked under each image.
There is so much cynicism to be had in this world, that sweetness and innocence seem to get lost in the shuffle. What drew me to the work of Scottish artist Catriona Miller is its charming purity.
Her figures gaze coyly to the side, just a hint of a smile on their lips. It’s as if they carry a delicious secret they cannot tell.
Isn’t it interesting how we might often feel sorry for “simple” folks, yet how much more happy might they be than we?
To see more of Catriona Miller’s work, please visit her website.
All images are via the artist’s website.
In the book I’m currently reading, The Opposite of Fate, author Amy Tan writes a great deal about the concept of fate, how much of what happens is in our own control or predetermined or even mere chance? In that same vein, how much control does an artist truly have in the creative process? Yucca Valley, CA artist William Loveless takes his own chances with the action & reaction of his materials in his series of glue paintings, which I first saw ( and fell in love with ) last weekend at The Red Arrow Gallery here in Joshua Tree.
Through this work, Loveless is able to “probe the intersection where the creative act meets the mystery of creation itself. Through experimentation with materials and their various autonomous interactions, I seek an organic empathy with the complex patterns and processes of the physical world.”
Although the primary way in which the materials will react is known, what cannot be foreseen is the unique end result of every interaction. The final result being a record of a unique synergy to be found between the materials in that one moment.
I see these interactions as similar to the way in which we connect with the world around us. Each moment we exist is a unique interchange between other individuals, other creatures, and the world around us.
To see more of William Loveless’s work, please visit his website/blog. If you’re Southern California, you can see his work in Culver City, in the exhibition ELEMENTal at Fresh Paint Art and in Joshua Tree at The Red Arrow Gallery.
All images are via the Fresh Paint Art website.
While most of the time I’m drawn to saturated “happy” color, occasionally my soul calls out for a little moody darkness. So when I laid my eyes upon the work of photographer Sarah Johanna Eick at The Red Arrow Gallery here in Joshua Tree, the quiet power in the work took hold of me and I just had to feature her in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today ( see the EIL post here ).
Sarah Johanna Eick on Escape Into Life
PS- stay tuned for another Red Arrow artist later this week!
I grew up around Mid-Century culture way before it was hipster cool. No, I’m not old enough to have experienced it first hand! But my dad did and we were heavily involved in a 1950s classic car club, one that celebrated mod style by restoring vintage cars, showing them off and even putting on the occasional sock-hop. Needless to say, when I spotted the California pop-tastic abstract work of New York artist Gary Petersen, it reminded me of the innovation and fantastic design that came from the atomic age.
Petersen uses overlapping and intersecting lines to create forms that play with our sense of perspective and place.
While perhaps the shapes may seem random, they create a palpable sense of movement across the canvas and even between each other. To see what I mean, try scrolling through down & up the post kind of quickly. The shapes seem to move, don’t they? Totally groovy.
To see more of Gary Petersen’s work, please check out his website.
All images are via the artist’s website.
Surprise! This month’s Art Assocition contest is coming at ya a bit early! With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up here in the US next Thursday, we thought many of our readers might be busy making pie & stuffin’ turkeys next Wednesday. So Erin & I decided to hold our Art Association contest a week earlier than usual. And it’s a good one!
If you’re new to Art Association here’s how it works– You create a Pinterest board around one work of art ( which we provide ), filled with anything and everything that pops into your mind while gazing at the catalyst piece.
Our “jumping off” art this month comes courtesy of artmuse.com, an online gallery website dedicated to bringing you beautiful artwork at accessible prices. Sphere of Influence by Jennifer Chenoweth will provide some fantastic associations, don’t ya think?
Are you ready to start pinning away and maybe win some art?
Here’s how Art Association works–
Step 1| We give you a piece of artwork, this month’s work is Sphere of Influence by Jennifer Chenoweth ( above )
Step 2 | You create a Pinterest board titled Art Association, like mine here, where you pin any and all images you associate with the featured artwork ( like word associations, only visual )– here’s a little sneak peek at my 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 any small size artmuse.com print of your choosing! Some super fantastic choices on their site– be sure to check out all your options so you’ll have your choice ready when you win. 😉 Big thank you to artmuse.com for generously donating the giveaway this month!
The pinner with the best Art Association board ( as judged by me and Erin ) will be chosen on Monday, November 19th at 5pm (mountain standard time). With this artmuse.com print as your catalyst, I know your boards are gonna be spectacular!
Pinning begins… NOW!!
Would you like your artwork to be featured as an Art Association subject? Shoot Erin an email at artsocialonline@gmail.com for more info.
Sphere of Influence & artmuse.com logo via artmuse.com.
You can take the Art History major out of college, but you can’t take the Art History major out of the girl. Yep, I still completely geek out on anything art historical, especially when it’s done in a dynamic way. Enter Norah See, a New Orleans artist whose Reboot series elegantly repositions famous works of art as tiny trinkets, giving us a lesson in our history of consumption.
In her take on Rene Magritte’s Son of Man, Magritte’s infamous face obscuring green apple is replaced with the Apple computer logo, showing us a link between the advance of technology and the loss of human interaction, as well as a loss of our connection to our own selves outside of our technologically driven lives.
Her Portrait of Madame Y reworks John Singer Sargent’s famous portrait into a modernized version of what a 19th century trophy wife might look like– fake tan, breast implants and all.
To see more of Nora See’s work, please visit her website. If you’re in New Orleans, her Reboot series can be seen at her representing NOLA gallery, Gallery Orange.
All images are via Nora See’s website.