While Mr. F and I were living outside San Francisco, we both had a feeling of being hemmed in. Even though we were living in a small town in the mountains, the number of people had us feeling a bit cagey. Now we’re in another small town, but here in Idaho Falls, there is hardly any traffic and life is just more laid back.
These paintings by Los Angeles artist Seth Armstrong reminded me of the cages that we find ourselves in, sometimes of circumstance, sometimes of our own making.
After spending the past two years going from small town to small town, I’m still kind of in awe of Seattle buildings. From what I happen to think is one of the prettiest skylines in the country ( if not THE prettiest! ) to the fantastic examples of modern architecture and traditional storefronts. The paintings of Massachusetts artist Hannah Richman explores the facade of the urban landscape, man’s touch upon the terra.
Fulkserson Street II, oil on canvas, 30×24
Especially here in this city surrounded by such amazing natural beauty ( Hello, Cascade Mountains! Hello, Olympic Mountains! Holy cow, you are huge, Mt. Rainier! ), it’s interesting to note how some buildings seem to perfectly fit into the landscape. For instance, as I type this, I’m looking out the window at a Mid-Century apartment building that perfectly hugs and nestles into the landscape, it’s lines mimicking the hills beyond.
Untitled, oil on canvasFelton Street VI, oil on canvas, 55.5×42.75Fulkerson Street I, oil on canvas, 18×14
Then there are other examples, where we see the hand of man has rushed in and decimated everything in its path for the sake of commerce. Wonderful old neighborhood storefronts are abandoned for the lure of the shiny new strip mall. It happens in most cities in all states and more and more, many countries.
Earle Street, oil on canvas, 36×24
Richman’s work illuminates these man made structures as she catches them in mother nature’s light. And for a moment, they seem to have been there always.
To see more of Hannah Richman’s work, please visit her website.
When you travel as much as Mr. Forager and I do, there is always a danger of confusing memories of where we’ve been and when! One of our favorite post-dinner-over-a-glass-of-wine past times is watching the screensaver slideshow of all our adventures. The Global Cities series of paintings by Toronto artist Catherine Beaudette seem to be an artful conglomeration of urban wanderings.
Funnel, oil, 36×27
In Beaudette’s paintings, buildings, interiors, and vistas overlap one another, so that we’re never quite sure exactly where we are. Its as if the artist is painting the most special memories of each place.. the way the light and shadows feel through a window, beautiful lines of architecture, the warmth of a spring day.
Strada, oil, 36×27Corridor, oil, 36×27
The farther we travel from some places, the more fuzzy our memories become. Like Beaudette’s work, we may remember the most beautiful parts of each place, taking with us only the good and happily leaving behind any darkness.
Balustrade, oil, 36×27
To see more of Catherine Beaudette’s work, please visit her website. Mr. F & I definitely have a few places we’ve been that we’ve grown fonder of over time, thanks to good memories overshadowing the bad. How do you keep track of your travels? Old fashioned photo albums, post card collections?
If you’ve been reading Artsy Forager for a while, you may have noticed me mention the love my hubby & I have for Seattle. He was living there when we began dating and although we’d known each other a long time before, it was in the Emerald City that we truly fell in love. Exactly 2 years from this Sunday, I flew to Seattle to celebrate my birthday ( the 15th ) and George’s birthday ( the 11th ) and to truly test the waters after 12 years of friendship, 1year of online flirting and 1 month of long distance dating. Not only did I fall madly in love with George, I fell hard for the city of Seattle. So we’re heading there on Sunday to spend a few days soaking in the delights of our favorite city. Needless to say, I’m pretty Seattle obsessed today. Hope you enjoy these artists’ renditions of our city of love!
Snow White by Deborah Scott, oil and mixed media on canvas, 36×6065th and Roosevelt by Julia Hensley, gouache collage on Bristol board, 9×12
Parallel Bars #1 by Michael Prince, mixed media, 40×30From the Explorations of the Viaduct series by Marie GagnonFamily Trio, Seattle by Robin Weiss, oil, 12×12
Have a fantastic weekend! Posts will be going up as normal for the next few days, but I’ll only be online sporadically to answer questions and approve/respond to comments. See you on Wednesday!
Featured image is The Original Starbucks at Pike Place Market, Seattle by Marsha Glaziere. All images are via the artists’ websites.
We are headed to Seattle this weekend, one of my favorite cities in the world, the city where George and I fell in love. And while I was falling in love with G ( I was probably a little in love with him when we were friends in FL, but that’s a story for another time ), I was also falling in love with Seattle. I adore visiting cool cities– the urban landscape and architecture fascinates me. So it carries over that I would adore the art of the cityscape.
For this Friday Fave round-up, I’d like to share some of urbanist artists whose work I’m crushing on lately:
Hill Houses 2 by Brin LevinsonPassing 1 by Jason WebbSolitary I by John DuckworthLoew’s Hotel, 33rd Floor, Philadelphia by Sara YeomanMiyami by Darra CrosbyGreat Tortoise Hostel, Seattle by Robin WeissBoulevard Windows by Sharon Dowell
Looking forward to bringing you more from these artists soon! In the meantime, take a gander at their websites..
As many of you know, my hubby George and I have been planning to move to the Pacific Northwest, pretty much since we started dating a little over a year ago. But first we had to #1, get engaged, #2, sell his house in Tulsa, #3 plan a wedding, #4 get married and #5 sell my house in Jacksonville. We have finally accomplished that last objective ( well, almost, our closing is May 18th ) and are planning the next stage of our life together.
I have an ongoing list of artists I’d like to feature on Artsy Forager, but sometimes fate steps in and pushes a certain artist ahead of the rest. I happened to be checking out a design blog I follow and spotted a painting the blogger had purchased from Seattle artist, Julia Hensley. I surfed on over to her website and was impressed by what I found. I discovered via Facebook, that today is Julia’s birthday!
So, in honor of Julia’s birthday, our upcoming move to the Northwest and just because her stuff is just genuinely awesome, I’m sharing her work with you.
Chinatown, oil on masonite, 13 1/2″ x 11″
65th and Roosevelt, gouache collage on bristol board, 9″ x 12″
Hot Day Bremerton, gouache on bristol board, 7 1/2″ x 4 3/4″
( this might be my favorite )
Flat Iron, acrylic on bristol board, 8″ x 12″
Sunday Downtown, acrylic on paper, 19″ x 24″
Hope you enjoyed meeting Julia, be sure to wish her a happy birthday!
