artsy forager

Tag: Artists

  • November Featured Artist: M.A. Tateishi

    November Featured Artist: M.A. Tateishi

    It’s the end of the week, but the beginning of a brand new month!  Oh, October, did you have to go so soon?  I’ll forgive you, though, because November means a new Featured Artist and she is one of my long-time faves!  The work of Vancouver, BC artist M.A. Tateishi explodes with color and movement, so its fitting that the artist would find recent inspiration in the undersea realm.

    M.A. Tateishi M.A. Tateishi M.A. Tateishi M.A. Tateishi M.A. Tateishi

    Following a trip to the Vancouver Aquarium, the artist has been cranking out these jellyfish inspired works. ( if you’re up Vancouver-way, there’s a special jellyfish exhibit but it’s only on exhibit until November 14th! )  The graceful, flowing creatures are a perfect vehicle for Tateishi’s bold, fluid style.  The jellyfish are part of a new Pure series, in which the artist combines drawing and pure, transparent colored resin.  Stunning, right??

    All this month, I’ll be featuring M.A.’s work here on the blog and the Artsy Forager social media pages.  Be sure to head over to Facebook where her work will be gracing the cover of our page and I’ve put together an album of my personal Tateishi faves.

    Another note for you Vancouverites ( Vancouverians? ), M.A. Tateishi will be participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl with 400 fellow artists November 15-17th.  Don’t miss out on the chance to see these beauties in person!  Want to see more?  Make sure you visit M.A.’s website and Facebook page.

    All images via the artist.

  • Chemistry of Place: Matthew Brandt

    Chemistry of Place: Matthew Brandt

    With each place Mr. Forager & I travel to, we always come away with corresponding memories and associations.  Maybe with the weather, maybe with the food of the region, maybe with the experiences we had.  The work of Los Angeles artist Matthew Brandt takes the idea of associations of place and actually physically informs his work.

    Taste Tests in Color, Laffy Taffy 3 by Matthew Brandt

    [ taste tests in color, laffy taffy 3, blue raspberry, banana and grape laffy taffy multi-layered silkscreen on paper, 30×40 ]

    Dexter Lake, OR 3 by Matthew Brandt

    [ dexter lake, or 3, c-print soaked in dexter lake water, 40×30 ]

    120821716891 by Matthew Brandt

    [ 120821716891, bubbilicious blueberry gum on paper, 40×30 ]

    Ketchup and Mustard by Matthew Brandt

    [ ketchup and mustard, ketchup and mustard multi-layered silkscreen on paper, 40×30 ]

    Mary's Lake, MT 2 by Matthew Brandt

    [ marys lake, mt 2, c-print soaked in marys lake water, 105×72 ]

    In his photographs of iconic American landscapes and places, the artist pays homage to the locale’s meaning sometimes by soaking his prints in the water of the scene in question, or by using unusual yet culturally meaningful printing mediums.  For instance, in his Houses series, photographs of typical American homes are printed with flavored gum, perhaps a nod to the children who grew up there and the memories the buildings carry.  For the Taste Test series, the artist printed quintessentially American landscape scenes with typical American condiments like mustard and ketchup or processed sweets like Laffy Taffy and Jello.

    The resulting prints become not just images of idealized places, but those places have somehow become a part of the artwork itself.  Just as each place becomes a part of those who have visited it.

    If you’d like to see more of Matthew Brandt‘s work, please visit his website.  Seriously, so much more amazing work to see there!

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Insert the Artsy: One Painting, Three Rooms

    Insert the Artsy: One Painting, Three Rooms

    A phenomenal piece of artwork can find its home in any sort of space.  Especially when its as beautiful as this one, Darzita by this months’ Featured Artist, Jennifer JL Jones.

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    Darzita means “to reveal” and I love how this abstract mixed media work informs the personality of each of these spaces in such a chameleon-like way!

    It goes soft and serene in a monochromatic bedroom retreat..

    ITA_jones_dreamy

    room found here

    Or adds dynamic movement to dramatic charcoal walls in this copper-accented dining room–

    ITA_Jones_drama

    room found here

    Modern texture and little pops of bright color echo this loft’s downtown feel–

    ITA_jones_urban

    room found here

    Which is your favorite? Personally, I think it would look stunning in a little modern cabin in the mountains.. preferably one with my name on the welcome mat. 😉

    If you’re in the Tulsa area, be sure to check out Jennifer’s latest exhibition opening on November 14th at Aberson Exhibits!  Don’t miss out seeing her work in person!

    Interior images linked above, art image via the artist.

  • In Essentials: Daniele De Batte

    In Essentials: Daniele De Batte

    You have to walk before you can run.  But you see things more clearly when you’re walking, you know?  So it goes with black & white vs. color.  In art school, we were all taught to begin with a black and white sketch.  Master that, then move on to color.  But what if just those two hues– the absence of color and the sum of all colors was enough?  For Italian artist Daniele De Batte, it wasn’t color that fascinated, but composition and juxtaposition of space.

    D_012_Y_2011 by Daniele De Batte Noise 1 by Daniele De Batte Linoleum 4 by Daniele De Batte Noise 4 by Daniele De Batte Squares by Daniele De Batte

    In breaking these down to the most essential elements of line, shape, and space, the artist is able to focus our attention on the strength of composition and the way each element contributes to the overall scheme.  The absence of color and even shading ( ok, there is some shading in other work ), keep our eyes from being distracted.  The graphic forms advance and recede, changing our perception of each composition with every new glance.

    To see more of Daniele De Batte’s work, please visit the artist’s website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Painted Skies: Scott Naismith

    Painted Skies: Scott Naismith

    There is something so magical about the way the skies color with the beginning and end of each day.  It’s almost like a painted message– there is new joy and hope in a new day or take heart, this day is done, a new one comes in the morning.  In his work, Scottish painter Scott Naismith explores the brilliance of those colored skies and the effects of light and color in the atmosphere.

    Consonance and Disonance by Scott Naismith Dissonant Skye by Scott Naismith Diminuendo Shore by Scott Naismith Staccato Loch Study 1 by Scott Naismith Diminuendo Sky Study 2 by Scott Naismith

    Through the refraction and reflection of light, we are treated to skies filled with glorious color.  What happens within the atmosphere and how our eyes perceive it is completely explicable, scientifically, but what about our emotional reaction to such a sight?  How do we explain the warm glow within that light and those colors bring?  Maybe we don’t have to.  Let’s just enjoy the gift.

    If you’d like to see more of Scott Naismith‘s work, please visit his website.  The artist also has some really interesting thoughts on color theory, which you can see in this video on his YouTube channel.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Defaced: Rogelio Manzo

    Defaced: Rogelio Manzo

    When you look in the mirror, what face do you see?  Not a trick question!  Do you see your own visage as it actually is or do you tend to see the face of ten, twenty years earlier?  We often think of faces as unchanging, until a glance from just the right angle shows us the mortality of time marching across our faces.  In his work, Mexican artist Rogelio Manzo deals with the fragility of life and notion of beauty by deconstructing and distorting the faces of his subjects.

    Nicolasa by Rogelio Manzo Nicanor by Rogelio Manzo Rogelio Manzo Lupe II by Rogelio Manzo Juanjo by Rogelio Manzo

    As a society, we’ve become so obsessed with the idea of youth and perfection as beauty– that the end result seems to be that we are ending up with a homogenized standard of attractiveness.  The unique face, the one with a bent nose or not-quite-perfect teeth is reconstructed through surgery and orthodontia to fit the idealized “normal”.  We all begin to look the same, losing our sense of what makes us each rare and uncommon.

    If you’d like to see more of Rogelio Manzo‘s work, please visit his website and Facebook page.

    All images are via the artist’s Facebook page.

  • In Celebration of the Mundane: Giordanne Salley

    In Celebration of the Mundane: Giordanne Salley

    We love our adventuring, we truly do.  But there’s somehow something even more special in those ordinary moments we spend together each day.  Comfort and joy in our routine, the way we “assume our positions” at the sink following dinner, he rinses, I fill the dishwasher.  How I know that I’ll get a kiss each night before I close my eyes.  It makes me think that these moments, not the big ones, are the ones we miss most.  New York artist Giordanne Salley captures the warmth and life in her paintings that I think so many of us forget is there in the every day.

    Yellow Sink by Giordanne Salley | artsy forager #art #paintings Penny by Giordanne Salley | artsy forager #art #paintings #cat #quilt Friends by Giordanne Salley | artsy forager #art #paintings #quilt #love Cat Under the Table by Giordanne Salley | artsy forager #art #paintings #cat Family Dinner by Giordanne Salley | artsy forager #art #paintings

    I love her use of texture and pattern– real life is layered with complexities and real homes don’t always look perfectly trendy and spotless.  But if we’re lucky, we are graced with a roof over our head and every day life is filled with people we love.  The next time you find yourself ready to complain about those ugly kitchen cabinets or wishing you could just redecorate that living room, remember, it isn’t the place you live that matters, it’s who lives there.

    Want to see more of these charming paintings by Giordanne Salley?  Please visit the artist’s website.  

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy Lately: Amanda Clyne

    Artsy Lately: Amanda Clyne

    If you’ve been following Artsy Forager for a while, you may have noticed a few recurring themes in some of the work I write about– man’s relationship with nature, fashion industry and its psychology of influence, and art historical themes being a few.  When I first wrote about the work Toronto based artist Amanda Clyne , she was drawing reference from and making connections between historical portraiture and high fashion photography.  In her latest series, she continues the fasciation and the lines become even more blurred ( pun intended ).

    In this work, she begins with a photograph of a painting.  The photograph is then printed onto paper to which it doesn’t stick, creating a wet, workable surface.  She then “paints” the photograph, then once the residue dries, the surface is scanned and the painting then once again becomes a photograph of a painting.

    Gainsborough, Erased by Amanda Clyne Coello ( Catarina Micaela ), Erased Fragment by Amanda Clyne Van Dyck ( Henrietta Maria ), Erased by Amanda Clyne Coello(la Dama del Abanico), Erased by Amanda Clyne

    The resulting image is ghostly, with an x-ray-ish quality.  A nod to the illusory nature of the original portrait?  An attempt to find the real person beneath the layers of fashion and facade?  In style and palette, these are much softer than Clyne’s previous series.  Yet they are still asking the same questions and it seems we, as a society tend to continue to give the same answers.

    If you’d like to see more of Amanda Clyne‘s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Walled In: Rosa Rendl

    Walled In: Rosa Rendl

    We often think of walls in a negative light, something to put up to keep danger out.  But they can also bring a sense of safety and comfort, creating for us a haven from the weather and the world outside.  In this series of photographs, Austrian artist Rosa Rendl gives an intimate look at the walls and the views they create in a Paris building.

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy forager

    Rosa Rendl | artsy foragerRosa Rendl | artsy forager

    The perspective from which she composes her photographs creates flattened planes of view, so that the photographs lose a bit of their perspective and take on characteristics of abstract collages.  I’ve always found those spots where one surface meets another to be very interesting and quite telling regarding the way a space feels.  Rendl definitely has an eye for composition as she invites us into this Parisian world with just a peek at what may be.

    If you’d like to see more of Rosa Rendl’s work, please visit her website.

    Artist found via It’s Nice That.  All images are from the artist’s website.

  • Wear the Artsy: Megan Auman Scarves + A Special Deal Just For You!

    Wear the Artsy: Megan Auman Scarves + A Special Deal Just For You!

    I am forever in awe of how interconnected we have become through the glory of the inter webs!  Case in point– I receive an email from artist & designer Megan Auman, telling me about her new line of gorgeous scarves based on her paintings.  I think to myself, Artsy, these are awesome!  But those paintings look so familiar.. Sure enough, a quick check of my Pinterest boards reveals that I’d recently pinned one of Megan’s paintings for a future Artsy Forager feature.  Turns out I’d seen her work through Jaime Derringer’s Instagram feed and well, the rest is internet history!

    I’ve made no secret of my scarf obsession.. my friends and family know it well!  And scarves that begin life as abstract paintings, thereby combining two of my absolute favorite things?  Winner, winner, warm & artsy neck!

    Megan Auman Scarves

    Auman’s richly colored abstract paintings provide the starting point for these lovelies.  The work is then digitally printed onto soft organic cotton ( bonus! ) and hand sewn in her Pennsylvania studio.  Each scarf is made in small batches and available in limited quantities.  Truly works of wearable art!

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    WTA_Auman_trio

    SONY DSC

    Auman collage

    Megan Auman scarves are available for purchase in her online shop here.  And Megan is generously offering a special FREE SHIPPING offer to Artsy Forager readers!  Just enter the code ARTSY at checkout, but make it fast because this offer ends at midnight (EST) on Sunday 10/27.  Be sure to check out Megan’s other artsy wares– gorgeous art pillows, jewelry, and especially these ingenious cozy/cuffs!

    All images are via Megan Auman.