This was the first weekend that felt like we actually lived here. We weren’t running around and unpacking all weekend ( although there was a little of that ). We had the luxury of sleeping in, exploring and discovering. A bike trail just around the corner from our apartment happily leads almost directly to Pike Place Market where we explored the seafood and produce stands and Mr. Forager bought me a bouquet of poppies. Which we quickly realized don’t last very long… We explored our neighborhood and searched out what are already becoming a few favorite spots.
[ calder sculpture and space needle ]
[ pike place poppies ]
[ publicly artsy ]
[ my favorite steps in magnolia ]
How about you, Artsies? Did you get out and explore this weekend? Any exciting discoveries? Want to see more from This Artsy Life? Follow me on Instagram!
Many of us have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. Maybe we love that voyeuristic glimpse into other people’s lives. Perhaps we hate that their lives might seem more glamorous than our own. What I personally love is the way it allows us to communicate the beauty in simple moments. The work of Cincinnati artist Emil Robinson carries with it the same celebration of the magic to be found in every day.
Catherine in Orange, oil on panel, 18×24
As I type this, I’m sitting at my desk and am struck by the loveliness of the orange candle sitting quietly on the deep white windowsill. Robinson’s work reminds us of that we don’t always have to seek out what is interesting and delightful. It is all around us, just waiting to be noticed.
Ikea Lamp, oil on panel, 30×36Storage, oil on panel, 12×15Pink Book, oil on panel, 24×24
It might seem strange to want to document such routine aspects of our lives, but it is these common moments that truly make up our lives– that fill the space between the extraordinary.
Man With Storage 2, oil on panel, 24×24
What ordinary moments did you see the beauty in today? To see more of Emil Robinson’s work, please visit his website.
I’ve been told I’m a good listener. So people tend to tell me things. Secret stuff that maybe no one else knows. We all have that friend, the one everyone confides in and is completely confident their secrets will be taken to the grave. In her Other People’s Secrets series, Portland artist Dorothy Goode has found a way to get those piled up secrets out, without ever truly spilling a single one.
No. 3, Egg tempera and sumi ink on panel, 32×48No. 16, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32 x48
The artist began each panel by dipping her fingers into sumi ink, then sprawling secrets over the surface of each panel, first her own and then the confidences of others came leaking out. The letters and forms are mostly illegible, making sure that each secret is still safely hidden.
No. 1, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48
Once the secrets are spilled, the artist then covers them with colorful, scrawling abstract gestures in paint. In that final step, I see an analogy to the way we live with our own well kept mysteries– we hide them in plain sight, often burying them just beneath the brightly colored surface.
No. 8, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48No. 13, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48
To see more of Dorothy Goode’s work, please visit her website.
It feels like things are sort of finally getting back to normal.. almost. After being gone for what seemed like an eternity, I’m back on Escape Into Life today sharing the work of Nicolas Kuligowski in my Artist Watch. Head on over to EIL to see more!
This Featured Artist post is coming a bit late due to the craziness of adjusting to our new digs. Being born a flat-lander ( Sunshine State, represent! ), I continue to be amazed by the change in perspective that comes from living among the mountains. Whether you’re in a valley looking up or gazing down from the top of a hill, your way of seeing changes. The work of this month’s Featured Artist, photographer Pamela Viola moves our eye in much the same way into new perspectives. Her way of seeing gives us a new manner of looking.
Brelly I
Viola focuses her lens, not only straight ahead, but up above, down below, over, under and every which way in between. What we’re left with as the viewer is a capture of an angle we might have otherwise never noticed.
Gallery Place with Red DotsGray Light
Supreme Court Behind Bars
And it isn’t only those unique angles that draw us in. But also the way in which the light and shadow plays differently from those unexpected perspectives.
Pyramids
To see more of Pamela Viola’s work, please visit her website and be sure to check out her work on the Artsy Forager Facebook page!
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
For most of us, Crayola crayons were our very first artistic tools. Whether it was those thick, fat ones perfect for uncoordinated, chubby little hands to grip or the de-luxe 64 pack with the built-in sharpener, those colorful little sticks were our first glimpse into the world of artistic expression. Seattle based artist Diem Chau takes those original tools, carving them into tiny figures reminding us of how they shaped our own young imaginations.
Storytelling Crayons, installation view, carved crayons and wood base
That distinctive scent, the waxy texture, peeling the paper down so that more of the brilliant color could sweep across the paper.
Yellow Girl, carved crayon and wood base, 3×3.5×3Girl and Dog, carved crayon and wood base, 3×3.5×2
My most distinct memory of Crayolas happened on a summer road trip with my grandparents. A long trip in the car, of course, meant bringing along plenty to keep us busy. For me, that meant books, crayons and paper. My crayons ended up strewn all over the back deck of my grandparents’ green Impala and were promptly forgotten about when we stopped for a bit. We came back to a colorful mess! I don’t think my Mimi & Papa were ever able to completely clean the wax out of the upholstery. Oopsie!
Boy and Girl, carved crayon and wood base, 3×3.5×3
What memories do Chau’s crayons bring back for you? Please visit her website to see more of her work. She’ll be showing at the Elvistravaganza during Bumbershoot in Seattle or if you’re on the other coast, you can see her carving crayons LIVE at Saks 5th Ave on Sept. 6th from 6pm-10pm.
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
There are some artists whose work just sticks with me. I first saw Seattle artist Victoria Johnson’s work during my art consulting days through art publisher Grand Image. I loved using Grand Image for unique, stylish, colorful work and Victoria’s paintings definitely hit all those criteria. So when I spotted a painting of hers leaning against the wall at Lisa Harris Gallery in Seattle– boom! The love for her work came flooding back to me.
Nereides- Sea Nymphs, pigmented resin on panel, 20×20 ( via Lisa Harris Gallery )
Free-flowing, organic forms drift in and out of her canvases’ planes, creating enticing visual rhythm and movement.
Coast to Coast, pigmented resin on canvas over panel, 48×40 ( via Lisa Harris Gallery )
The placement of shapes lend the idea of landscapes to these abstracts, yet their enigmatic colors and forms keep the work abstract and modern.
Lady of the Lake, pigmented resin on panel, 80×20
A warm palette juxtaposed with muted, more neutral-hued highlights create even more depth and spatial play.
The Echo, pigmented resin on panel, 36×24Simply Said, pigmented resin on panel, 40×50
To see more of Victoria Johnson’s work, please visit her website. Thanks to the Lisa Harris Gallery for reminding me of Victoria’s work!
Featured image is Lady of the Lake, pigmented resin on panel, 80×20. All images are via the artist’s representing Seattle gallery, Lisa Harris Gallery.
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
I grew up in a family of motorheads. My grandfather owned a neighborhood service station from 1961 to 1979, the kind where you didn’t pump your own gas and a fluid check and windshield wash was complimentary. I was only seven when he retired but can still remember the sights and smells of the station. Seattle photographer Todd Jannausch’s series Garage Evidence captures the decline and decay of these iconic landmarks.
Garage, 2009
Through Jannausch’s photos, I can practically smell the familiar faint odor of oil mixed with orange cleaner ( my grandfather kept his place immaculate! ) and hear the ring of the station bell as a car drives over it, signaling Granddaddy to service.
Tune-Up, 2009Little Boxes, 2009
I can remember playing on the lifts in the garage, drinking Coca-Cola in glass bottles and following my grandfather around like a puppy.
Old Pumps, 2009
Just like my grandfather’s station, these old relics have been replaced by more bigger, more efficient yet less friendly models. Thank you, Todd, for capturing their last breaths and for taking me back to the time I spent in such a place. Be sure to check out Todd’s website for more from the Garage Evidence series, as well as his other work.
PS– Scroll down for a peek at my granddaddy, Lester ( aka L.V. ) Hamilton on the day of his retirement, April 14, 1979, the day before my 7th birthday.
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
Is the adjective buck actually used in the common vernacular? Or do only So You Think You Can Dance geeks like myself know what it means, thanks to Lil’ C? He uses it as slang for something that is crazy good and cool. Which is exactly how I would describe the sculptures of Portland artist, Rachel Denny.
Red Buck, polyurethane foam, wool and wood
On my morning walk with George today, we came upon a deer munching on flowers in a neighbor’s yard ( one of the things we love about the Northwest ). So when I came across Rachel’s work this morning, I connected with it instantly. Her work explores that surprise of the unexpected wildness of nature in urban settings and every day life.
Young Buck, merino wool, polyurethane foam, thread and wood
Young Buck and Red Buck, both above, are part of her Domestic Trophies series, which while appearing at first to be whimsical and playful, actually seem to be making a commentary on how we try to justify our own violence or antipathy against nature. The head of an animal that was once a living, breathing creature, killed for sport and mounted as a trophy gets “domesticated” and rendered impotent by blanketing it in a warm and colorful wrap of fuzzy wool. It is now rendered to be merely a decorative object instead of a wild beast.
The Lion and The Lamb, polyurethane foam, wood and wool
Or perhaps the artist is comforting these poor creatures. Covering their eyes and shielding them from a future of staring down at the same scene day after day. Or maybe she’s just having a little fun by creating something beautiful out of something so symbolically grotesque.
Teal Doe, polyurethane foam, wood, wool, paint and thread
Whatever Rachel Denny is doing, I am on the bandwagon. These pieces are fanciful and fun and if there is a deeper message behind them, so much the better.
Go to Rachel Denny’s website for more of her sculptural work– the ceramics are great, make sure you check them out!
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
Yes, I just quoted Bob Ross. But the whimsical trees of Seattle artist Liz Tran are miles beyond Ross’s prosaic “happy trees”. Tran’s trees practically shout with joy.
Encircle, mixed media on panel, 36×36
With her use of bright colors and whimsical patterns, these trunks and limbs capture the fun spirit of yarn-bombing in paint!
Winter Drop, mixed media on panel, 48×48August Bloom, mixed media on panel, 36×24
These transporting works take me back to the feeling of being a kid, lying on my back in the grass and looking up into a canopy of trees with sunlight bursting through. There is no other feeling more peaceful and happy.
Summer Stripes, mixed media on panel, 36×36
In a lesser hand, these candied conifers could turn a bit too sweet, but Liz gives them just the right modernity to keep up the fresh and contemporary feel. To see more of Liz Tran’s creations, please visit her website.
Featured image is Traveling Two, mixed media on panel, 36×24. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
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