artsy forager

Tag: Artists

  • Guest Foraging: Artsy Forager on curate 1k!

    Like most art lovers, I’m a collector on a budget.  Not quite a “ramen noodles every night” budget, but I would gladly eat peanut butter sandwiches all the time if it meant owning work by my favorite artists.   So when Norah Guignon of curate 1k asked me to guest curate for her this week, I jumped at the chance!  Each week on her blog, Norah or her guest curator rounds up a collection of artwork that together totals less than $1,000.  Seriously affordable, accessible and beautiful work!  For my week, I curated a little “Sand & Sea” collection, as hubby and I have been landlocked here in Idaho for almost 9 months and are seriously missing being on the Coast.

    Here’s a little taste, but be sure to head over to curate 1k to see it all!  Each day a new piece debuts, so make sure you check back for the rest of the week!

    Sea0014a by Thomas Hager
  • Candied Graffiti: Line Juhl Hansen

    Candied Graffiti: Line Juhl Hansen

    I have a weakness for the pairing of feminine and masculine elements.  Like pairing a flimsy, flowing sundress with a motorcycle jacket.  The mixed media work of Line Juhl Hansen shows off characteristically male and feminine abstract elements in a way that results in work that marries the graphic and expressive beautifully.

    Graphic typography, scribbles and liberal touches of black temper the happy, candy colored swaths of painterly texture.  These evocative details lend weight and gravity to each canvas, inviting us in for a closer look.

    Like the strength of a woman, these touches are lingering just below the surface, peeking in and out.  We catch a glimpse of the resilience behind the sweetness and beauty.

    To see more of Line Juhl Hansen’s work, please visit her website.

    All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Artsy on Escape Into Life: Diana Delgado

    Bright vibrant color? Check.  Painterly drips and texture? Check.  Expressionistic composition?  Check.  The work of Diana Delgado encompasses all my favorite abstract art elements.  Check out my Artist Watch feature on her work over on Escape Into Life today!

    She Could Drape it in Color, oil, enamel, tape and acrylic on canvas, 72×48

    Diana Delgado on Escape Into Life

  • Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    Enigmatic Entities: Jenny Brown

    One of the benefits of our rural home for the summer is the large garden our landlords maintain on the property.  For the first time in my life, freshly picked vegetables and berries are mere steps from my door.  Pulling up fresh spinach for our salads a few nights ago got me thinking about roots.  And so does the artwork of Providence, RI artist Jenny Brown.

    Untitled Yellow, ink & found collage on paper, 8.5×11

    As people, we, in the same way as plants, are growing our roots and reaching for the sky at the same time.  The roots provide nourishment and hold us steady, while our very nature and soul fights against their pull as we stretch toward who we are meant to be.

    Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11
    Flowering Crab, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    Some people, like smaller plants, don’t grow far vertically, keeping very close to their roots.  But others, like giant redwoods, soar to unimaginable heights far above their rooted beginnings.  Yet, it takes incredibly strong roots to steady one whose reach is so high.

    Untitled #3, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11

    To see more of Jenny Brown’s work, please visit her website.

    Featured image is Untitled #1, ink, gouache, pencil and collage on paper, 8.5×11.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • Stranger Rememberings: Amy Pleasant

    Stranger Rememberings: Amy Pleasant

    There is a wonderful phenomenon that happens to me from time to time.  I call it “name serendipity”.  Every so often when I search an artist’s name on Google, I happen upon the work of another talented artist by the same name!  Which is exactly how I happened upon the work of Seattle artist Amy Pleasant.

    Free Spirit, mixed media, 36×36

    Like Amy, I too, have a collection of vintage photographs from my grandparents’ collection and they are among my most treasured possessions.  In her latest series, Lost and Found, Amy was inspired by the discarded memories of strangers.  Namely old family photos found in thrift shops and antique stores, now being sold along with old tablecloths and broken lawnmowers.

    Three Graces, mixed media, 40×30
    Kindred, mixed media, 40×30

    Captured moments of past lives now cast away like any other piece of household paraphernalia.  Pleasant rescues these memories that have been tossed aside, giving them new life in paint.

    Night’s Nest, mixed media, 36×36

    In them, we see not the memories of strangers but our own ancestral rememberings staring back at us.  To see more of Amy Pleasant’s work, please visit her website.  Her work can be seen in her show, “Looking For the Coolidges” opening August 2, 2012 at the Shoreline City Hall Gallery in Shoreline, WA.  And on August 1st, she  will be the featured artist (along with Dutch artist Janneke Van Leeuwen) at the Visual Thinking Strategies European Symposium in partnership with the Rijks Museum and will be showing at a gallery on site at a large hospital in Amsterdam(! ).

    Featured image is Three Graces, mixed media, 40×30.  All images are via the artist’s website.

  • The Artists are Taking Over!

    I’ve got a little treat coming for all you Artsies!  Coming the week of July 30th, the artists are taking over the blog!  A few of the artists who have been featured on Artsy Forager are turning the tables on me and asking the questions their inquiring minds want to know.  Monday- Thursday, each day will feature a different artist asking a series of questions of yours truly.

    BUT I need the help of more artists for Friday!  If you’re an artist whose work has been featured on Artsy Forager, email me here with your favorite artist ( other than yourself 🙂 ) who has been featured on the blog and both your work and theirs may appear side by side in the Friday Finds.  I’ll choose 5 artists & their faves to feature!

  • Friday Finds: A Little Birdie Told Me So

    Friday Finds: A Little Birdie Told Me So

    One of our favorite things about living at the lake this summer has been our evening walks.  Once the heat begins to wane, all the birds begin to sing.  We often end our walk by making our way down to the dock where we sit and watch birds both great and small as they hunt for dinner.  I’ve even told George I’m going to take up serious bird watching.  I’m going to be a funny old lady with her huge hat and binoculars watching all the birds that fly by.. So today’s round up is brought to you by some pretty little birds of the artsy kind that I’m admiring this week!

    Mindy Hawkins
    Maribel Angel
    Abigail Brown
    Sophie Woodrow

    Mindy Hawkins | Maribel Angel | Abigail Brown | Sophie Woodrow 

    What say you, Artsies?  Want to grab a big floppy hat & your sunnies and join me on the dock for some birdwatching?  Happy weekend!

    Featured image is by Abigail Brown.  All images are via the artists’ websites, linked above.

  • Slow Build: Mel McCuddin at Art Spirit Gallery

    Slow Build: Mel McCuddin at Art Spirit Gallery

    I can only imagine the courage it takes for an artist to create in front of a group of people.  Heck, even one other person would terrify me.  But at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene, ID ( our hometown for just another 6 weeks ), their new featured artist for the month gives a demo on the Saturday following their opening.  It is a fantastic way to gain a real “behind the art” glimpse into the creative process!  I can’t believe it took me this long to attend one, but I’m so glad I did.  The work of Spokane artist Mel McCuddin is striking online, luminous up close, but to see it in progress was truly inspiring.

    Matchmaker, oil on canvas, 52×48
    Reveries, oil on canvas, 48×44

    Each canvas begins as an exercise in Abstract Expressionism– it is all about the paint, texture and color.  Slowly, as formations evolve in clouds, a figure emerges on the surface.

    The Old Dog, oil on canvas, 36×40
    Black Dirt Farmer, oil on canvas, 48×48

    McCuddin thoughtfully builds his layers, alternating patches of light and dark.  Deliberate smudging of large swaths of canvas give way to areas of delicate and careful application.

    The Late Bus, oil on canvas, 52×48

    His finished works are often left with an eerie glow, giving them a slightly alien quality yet they are approachable and likable.  His subjects stare back at us with curious wisdom.  You can see a slideshow of images of Mel McCuddin in action here ( Artsy Forager now has a YouTube channel! ).  His solo show can be seen at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene until August 4, 2012.  I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area!

    Featured image is Three in a Tub, oil on canvas, 48×52.  All images are via The Art Spirit Gallery website.

  • Woodland Delicacies: Kari Herer

    Woodland Delicacies: Kari Herer

    As you may have gathered by now, hubby and I spend a lot of time in the woods.  Which means we’ve had our fair share of wildlife sightings, heck, we have deer visiting our yard every night at our current lakeside rental.  The sight of a moose, elk or bear is thrilling in a yikes-if-he-wanted-to-he-could-take-me-down kind of way.  But for me, it’s the lovely quiet and grace of smaller woodland creatures that captures my heart.  These prints from photographer and artist Kari Herer really impart their impish qualities I love so much.

    No. 9893 Fox & Flower
    No. 9889 Fox & Flower

    Even though deer sightings are pretty frequent for us, I still get a thrill when I look up and see them grazing in the woods around our yard.  Their quiet, peaceful movements always entrance me.  Rabbits and foxes are less frequent visitors, but we’ve had our glimpses..

    Rabbit No. 0048
    Rabbit No. 0031

    Herer’s mix of whimsically sketchy drawings juxtaposed with elegantly styled florals truly speaks to the dignity of these creatures and how we delight in them.

    To see more of Kari Herer’s work, please visit her website.  You can purchase prints of her work in her Etsy shop— a series of these would be lovely in a nursery!

    Featured image is No. 9894 Fox & Flower.  All images are via the artist’s Etsy shop.

  • Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Between a Rock and a Soft Place: Emily Gherard

    Rocks are hard.  Anyone whose ever stepped on one knows this.  But I can remember a dream I once had as a little girl sleeping with a rock as my pillow.  Seattle artist Emily Gherard’s paintings provide us with a different way of seeing these often immovable objects.

    Untitled, oil on canvas
    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    Gherard presents us with rocks, mountains and cliff faces that though they are rigid to the touch, these stones are vulnerable.  The smallest crack can create a weak point, endangering the stability of the structure.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32

    We thinks of rocks as unyielding and impenetrable, yet they are shaped over time by the elements.  It may take eons to see the change but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place.

    Untitled, oil on canvas, 30×32
    Untitled, oil on canvas on panel, 9×12

    To see more of Emily Gherad’s work, please visit her website.  If you’re in the Seattle area, you can see her work in person at the Francine Seders Gallery.