An artist I met recently regaled me with tales of how she painted with “glow in the dark” paint. While I can certainly understand the desire for work that glows, I prefer to see the luminosity achieved instead by the deft use of color, layering, and a way of revealing light in a more natural, less neon-sign kind of way. Case in point, the work of Atlanta artist Jennifer JL Jones glows gracefully, as if lit from within.
Bluebird, mixed media on wood panel, 48×48
Taking her cues from nature, Jones builds layer upon layer of material, creating a canvas as ever changing as the scenes they reflect. As the seasons change, different aspects of the landscape advance and recede. So too, in Jones’ work, as we gaze upon it the elements in each work seem to float and fluctuate in a delicate dance.
Radiant Flux I, oil on wood panel, 40×40Prelude to Spring, mixed media on wood panel, 40×40
These paintings have an ethereal mystery to them, like a wooded lake shrouded in mist or standing behind the veil of a waterfall. What we see isn’t quite clear, but we know there is beauty.
Ojai, mixed media, 60×60
To see more of Jennifer JL Jones’ work, please visit her website. If you’re in the Atlanta area, don’t miss her show Wet Ink with fellow artists Courtney J. Garrett and Kathryn Jacobi at Alan Avery Art Company. I’m looking forward to seeing what new work Jennifer has at Stellers Gallery when I go home to Florida in a few days!
Last weekend, after our day spent art touring, Mr. Forager asked me to explain how to draw. What a loaded question! I hoped what got across to him the most was that it isn’t always how proficiently you do something, but the way in which you do it that makes you unique as an artist. While the work of Zuzka Vaclavik may appear to be elaborate doodles, the lines, patterns, and forms show an artist’s eye at work. Check out more of her work on my Artist Watch on Escape Info Life today! ( See it here and linked again below ).
Since the glory days of the Polaroid and the advent of the digital age, photography in many ways has become a bit of an “everyman’s medium”. We all pick up our pocket digital cameras and iPhones when a scene inspires us. Artist photographers like Jose Betancourt seek to bridge the gap between historical processes and modern sensibility.
Danky’s BlueSassafras
In this latest series, a collaboration with artist ( and ex-wife of Robert Rauschenberg ) Susan Weil, the two artists come together using historic and experimental photo processes such as cyanotypes, photograms, and Van Dyke Brown prints to create constructions consisting of photographic images.
Secrets, Weil’s Reflections
Sometimes, the constructions are configured to take on the form or another aspect of the photographed subject. In this way, the photographs aren’t just two-dimensional images but come to life in a multi-demensional way.
Spring SprungCatenary
To see more of this series, please visit the websites of Jose Betancourt and Susan Weil. The exhibition of this series, Blueprints, can be seen at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, Alabama until November 15th.
There are some artists whose work I’ve been following and admiring long before my blogging days. I first spotted this month’s Facebook Featured Artist, Susan Melrath’s work in print form during my art consulting days in Florida. I was always drawn to the beauty in her limited palette and the way her distilled compositions were powerful in their simplicity.
Party Table, acrylic on board, 22×19Charger, acrylic on board, 12×12
In her Figurative series, Susan takes those quick little moments that often pass by unnoticed, capturing the sweetness of this particular day, that particular party.
Landscape, acrylic on panel, 30×25 framed
Although her shapes are simple, Susan uses color and pattern to create depth and visual texture, especially evident in her Garden series ( although she’s now playing with pattern in her Figurative series as well! ). Her use of floating, layered patterns give her florals a colored gossamer effect, leaving them distinct yet beautifully distorted.
Memory of Magnolia, acyrlic on paper, 20×26 framed
To see more of Susan Melrath’s work, please visit her website and be sure to check out her gorgeous cover image and album on the Artsy Forager Facebook page.
I have a huge soft spot in my heart for Seattle. While Mr. Forager has lived in Seattle, I haven’t yet. But when I do ( and when I visit! ), you can bet I’ll be utilizing the recently launched site, Artsyo to find local artists and their work. The brainchild of Sarah Brooks and Stella Laurenzo, Artsyo is a searchable site providing users with ways to find the kinds of local artists and artwork they love, connect with those artists and ( hopefully! ) buy a work of art they adore.
Co-founder Sarah Brooks gave me a little time yesterday to chat about the how, what, why of Artsyo–
Artsy Forager | How did Artsyo get started?
Sarah Brooks | When I moved to Seattle in 2007, I had my first apartment and my first real job, and I was really excited to buy a piece of original art for the first time. I was going to art walks and loving the art scene here, but it was harder than I’d expected to find a piece that I both loved AND could afford. I knew that somewhere out there in Seattle, maybe at a coffee shop in Ballard or a studio in Georgetown, there was a perfect piece for me that was also in my price range…but how would I ever find it? I was working a lot, and I didn’t have enough time to visit every gallery and every art walk, and I was wishing for some way to see a bigger visual of what was out there to guide my search. I finally decided last year to leave my job and start working on building this big visual map of the Seattle art scene for real.
AF | What do you see as the biggest challenge to connecting would-be art collectors with artists and galleries?
SB | One big challenge I see is that there are a lot of people who don’t think of themselves as collectors. Because it’s historically been this thing only for the really wealthy and the people-in-the-know, the prospect of buying art is intimidating. And the way most of the avenues are set up now — you have the gallery that’s only open by appointment, for example — reinforces that very formal, art world exclusivity feeling. Which is great for some, but I think there are a lot of people who would rather be able to get familiar with pieces in a stress-free setting, like in their own home. I think more and more people are starting to realize that anyone can be an art collector, and that not every piece costs $20,000. There are a bunch of great people working on the same problem in Seattle right now: Sharon Arnold with LxWxH, Wynne Greenwood with SeaCat. It’s an exciting time, and the more people who realize that they can be appreciators and owners of art, the better for everyone!
War Horse by Rachel Denny, available through Artsyo
AF | What is it about Seattle that attracts so many artists?
SB | Good question! I think it has something to do with the freedom to be different over here, and that’s got to be linked with creativity. I’m from the northeast, and one thing I love about Seattle is that out here, you can be weird. And that’s cool. I think it’s also the reason that we have such a great tech community here…there’s room to be creative and weird and try new things, and the whole culture out here embraces it. Look at the Solstice Festival! I can’t imagine that happening where I grew up…
Connotation No. 29 by Shaun Kardinal, available through Artsyo
AF | Have you purchased any Artsyo featured work for yourself yet? Any particular piece you’re coveting?
SB | Not yet! I knew I was putting myself in a dangerous spot with all of this amazing art right in front of me all day every day, so I made a solemn promise that I wouldn’t buy a piece until I found a way to make Artsyo financially sustainable. Right now all of my expendable cash is tied up in getting Artsyo off the ground. But there are so many pieces on the site that I would love to take home with me. Ryan Molenkamp’s Cut Bank in particular (but you might have guessed that from the Artsyo home page design).
AF | What are the hopes and dreams you & Stella have for the future of Artsyo? Any plans to expand to other cities?
SB | Our hope is to make Artsyo the site that we were dreaming about before it existed: a new way to discover art in Seattle that makes it easier and more fun to find art and buy art and live with art. With that in mind, we’re working on an art map (so that if you’re going for a walk in your neighborhood, you can see what’s up at every place nearby and drop in if something catches your eye). We’re about to add “last mile” services, too — the whole process of framing and installation is daunting for a lot of busy people, and so we want to take care of that and make it as easy as possible. In terms of new cities, we’d love to try Artsyo in Portland and San Francisco in the future…actually, I think there are a lot of cities that need an Artsyo. But first, we want to make sure we’re doing it right in Seattle.
Thanks, Sarah, for taking the time to chat– now here’s a fun little announcement for you! To commemorate its launch, Artsyo is running a Pimp My Wall contest for Seattle art lovers! Basically show Artsyo that your wall is in major need of some art lovin’ and you could win an Artsyo work of art of your own choosing ( worth up to $500 ). See the Artsyo blog for more details! Sorry, the contest is only open to those lucky enough to live in Seattle. 😉
While it certainly doesn’t feel like it here in Joshua Tree, Fall is in full swing and November is upon us! A new month means a new Featured Artist is up over on the Artsy Forager Facebook page. I’m thrilled to feature this month’s artist, Seattle artist Susan Melrath.
Dog Park by Susan Melrath
Stay tuned throughout the month of November for more from Susan Melrath! Make sure you check out the Artsy Forager Facebook page to see her beautiful cover image. ( And be sure to check back often, as we’ll be rotating several of Susan’s images as our Facebook cover- fun! )
There is something in the eyes of an animal that connects with us. Their faces full of trust, loyalty and hopefulness can bring us peace in the midst of so many storms. In her Equine & Herd series, Atlanta artist Courtney J. Garrett captures the tranquility of domestic animals, showing us the gentle spirit behind the bucolic.
The Little Foxes Turned and the Fields Stopped Bleeding No. 14, mixed media oil on birch wood with resin, 48×48The Awakening, mixed media oil on birch wood with resin, 48×48
What is it about the presence of another species that seems to make life more bearable? While we were living in Northern Idaho, a simple walk up to our mailbox, passing by the horse corral was enough to lift my spirits, as the horses trotted over to investigate. Or even spotting a small bird flitting around city streets will instantly calm me.
The Little Foxes Turned and the Fields Stopped Bleeding No. 12, mixed media oil on birch wood with resin, 36×36
Perhaps we are envious of the simplicity of an animal’s life? How they are provided for, whether by their human guardians or by the natural world surrounding them. They’ve no need to fret over the presidential election, car payments, or forgetting to call on Mother’s Day. They are happy merely to exist.
Free, mixed media oil on birch wood with resin, 60×60Reconciliation No. 5, mixed media oil on birch wood with resin, 24×24
To see more of Courtney J. Garret’s work, please visit her website.
Artist found via Exhibit by Abersons, her representing gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I am continually fascinated by what inspires each artists. It seems that the more unique the work, the more intriguing the inspiration. Los Angeles artist Melissa Manfull takes her artful cues from the beliefs of Southwestern utopian communities of the 1960s and 70s.
Interior, ink on paper, 42×56Diffusion, ink on paper, 16×18
According to Manfull’s website, these communities held a strong affinity for geometric forms and patterns and “just as the polygonal forms of minerals and the cellular structure of plants formed perfect complex systems, the growth patterns of these communities often resembled fractals in which a single shape repeated itself until a complex, organic cluster was formed.”
Web, ink on paper, 16×18Dome ( Soleri Meet Gaudi ), ink on paper
The artists work embraces these affinities by beginning with a simple grouping of geometrical shapes which then build upon one another to form a fantastical structure, linking the architectural world with the natural one. To see more of Melissa Manfull’s work, please visit her website.
I’m a closet Francophile. I loved my two years of high school French and think everything sounds better in a French accent. I could watch Amelie every day. The collages of French artist and illustrator Mathilde Aubier are so sophisticated and cheeky and French, I couldn’t resist featuring her in my Artist Watch over on Escape Into Life today. Voir l’art ici!
To paint the feeling of a person or place, rather than a representation of your subject can be quite the task. An artist must be able to interpret their impression into nothing but line, texture, color and form. Through her abstract work, Los Angeles artist Julie Schumer gives us fleeting glimpses into the world around her.
Crowdscape, mixed media on canvas, 84×64
Through her use of color, expression, and texture, each canvas is given a sense of place. You can feel the swish of people rushing by, feel the shade between the canyon walls, sense the warmth of the sun beating down.
Landscape Composition 21, mixed media on panel, 42×36Canyon Suite 3, acrylic and cold wax on panel, 30×40
Just as music can abstractly transport us to another time and place, so can art like Julie’s. It speaks to us visually, perhaps not in a language we speak, yet one that can understand.
Canyon Suite 1, acrylic and cold wax on panel, 40×30
To see more of Julie Schumer’s work, please visit her website. Her work can currently be seen at several galleries across the country– see her website for more info on one near you!
