Have you ever thought about the stories unfolding around you? I don’t mean what the neighbors are up to, but the countless big and tiny worlds humming along around us, hardly aware of our presence? As Mr. Forager & I were backpacking in the Trinity Alps last weekend, it struck me how very small we humans are in this vast world, and yet how self-important, while the majority of life on earth couldn’t care less who we are and what we do. The work of Belgian artist Isabelle Menin seems to illustrate those teeming microcosms so blissfully unaware of our presence.
Menin creates these flowery domains by photographing flowers and then using digital software to layer, manipulate, and bring forth explosions of color and light. The resulting images are incredibly mysterious and sensual, almost operatic in their style– filled with melodrama and small, elegant nuances. There is a feeling of emergence and immersion, that walking out of darkness into light and vice versa. I might seriously consider giving up this world for hers.
It seems I’ve been more obsessed with flowers this spring than ever. Perhaps because here in Northern California, everything has been blooming like crazy! I’m constantly discovering new floral delights, both of the cultivated and wild varieties. Our favorites are the wildflowers that can only be discovered by hiking into the woods, where they grow freely and without abandon. These paintings by French artist Laurence Amelie capture the untamed beauty of flora unleashed.
When we’re hiking, I often wonder how a certain flower came to be in the place we find it. Was it’s seed dropped by an overhead bird? Or carried on the wind to arrive at its destination? Whatever the method, the result is a beautifully haphazard garden where flowers grow content and untethered. On her website, the artist refers to this as “poetic disorder”. Such a lovely turn of phrase for the way in which wild things grow.
I may have mentioned before how enchanting I’m finding our new temporary home. Eureka’s Victorian architecture is very well preserved, many of the buildings have been lovingly restored or revamped. There is such beauty, grace and elegance to be found in every detail. The work of Bainbridge Island artist Kathe Fraga recalls the fanciful beauty of those departed days.
Modern frescoed canvases bring to mind Chinoisserie wallpaper, layers of reminders of sweet lives and loves of the past. Dark, smudged edges reinforce that feeling of antiquity, yet Fraga’s painterly style and composition give the work a modern edge. Like wearing your grandmother’s pearls with a biker jacket. Sweet but not saccharine.
To see more of Kathe Fraga‘s work, make sure you check out her website. You can see her work in person at a number of representing galleries, including one of my favorites, Gallery Orange in New Orleans. Oh and she is now offering gorgeous pillows featuring her imagery!
Often when we think of spring, our thoughts turn to light, pale pastels but this season, I’ve noticed just how saturated everything around me seems. Maybe it’s just a shock to my eyes following the white and grey winter or perhaps this has just been an unusually sunny and bright season. In any case, I’m finding myself more drawn than usual to heavy doses of color and I’m blaming this saturated spring!
Here are just a few of the full color palettes inspiring me on Pinterest lately–
In love, as in life, things aren’t always neat and orderly. Emotions go awry, we find ourselves sliding down the rabbit hole of sensitivity, going from sadness to anger to regret to tenderness and back again. These large scale floral paintings by Florida artist Carmelo Blandino capture that undeniable exquisite mess that comes with loving another person.
Paint is applied thick and frenzy-like, just like the whirlwind of those first moments of falling in love, every touch, every minute together is dripping with excitement and overwhelming beauty. Then, as time goes on, we settle into a different kind of messy loveliness, the kind that knows what you look like first thing in the morning, but can’t wait to kiss you anyway. The kind that loves you through your moodiness and emotional outbursts. The kind that fights honestly and fairly and then loves you even more when it is over.
On this Valentine’s Day, I wish you the messiest sort of love, dear Artsies! If you’d like to see more gorgeous flowers by Carmelo Blandino, please visit his website.
It’s happened again. We’ve turned over the calendar page to a new month. February is such a short & sweet month, isn’t it? It’s here and then over before we know it, but while it remains, it’s filled with Valentines and chocolates, hugs and kisses and cuddles. The work of this month’s Featured ArtistJenny Brown with her use of antique papers and ephemera seemed the perfect way to put just a little more love into the next 28 days!
Jenny collects antique papiers and books, which she methodically and meticulously weaves together to create these magical organisms that seem to float in the ether. Each small element is put into place just so, resulting in a delightfully real fictitious character on the page, like little Victorian nymphs.
To see more of Jenny Brown’s work, make sure you head over to her website. Jenny is opening two shows this month– she’ll be in the Enormous Tiny Art Show at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, NH and over here in the Northwest at Ghost Gallery in Seattle. If you’re in either area, please check out her work in person! You can also follow Jenny on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram ( her feed is so fun! ), and Pinterest. Four of Jenny’s pieces are gracing the Artsy Forager Facebook cover for the month AND I’ve compiled an album over there of the Jenny Brown’s I love the most.
I can’t think of many more inspiring ways to live than with a partner who shares your passions. Yesterday, we had a little chat with Jon Davenport, who is married to fellow artist Christy Kinard, and today, it’s Christy’s turn to fill us in on her thoughts on what makes their creative partnership so special. You’ve heard what He Said, here’s what She Said.
artsy | Christy, you’re from the American South, Jon is from the UK. How have your backgrounds influenced your own work and has each of your backgrounds influenced the other’s work?
she said | The South has always influenced my work with its beautiful rich landscapes and flowers. The brightness and vibrancy of the South comes out in my work. There is a lot of light in my work which comes from being in such a bright environment. My work is colorful and happy. I did live in in London with the darker overcast sky and I truly believe the sunshine is a direct influence in my work. It pours into my studio space and flows into the details of my work.
After living in London and painting there, I had the opportunity to visit many fabulous museums and galleries. Two of my favorites are the Tate Modern and the Saatchi Gallery. I use to walk along the South Bank almost weekly to visit the Tate Modern and I always went to the exhibitions at Saatchi Gallery. The work in both of these places are extremely contemporary and very different from my own.
I also had the opportunity to paint with a British artist in a studio in Wimbledon. My work was less edgy but I loved being around something different . This was a wonderful time for me and changed my work significantly. I started to incorporate fabric and fabulous papers while in London. They had an amazing paper shop I found in London and I started to really layer my work with fabric I found and really fantastic papers.
artsy | Do you share a studio or work separately?
she said | Jon has his own office space where he does graphics and design which he incorporates in his work he spends most of his time there. I have the studio or did have the studio..lol! I have a large studio space and Jon does use it, but we are usually not working at the same time. I am usually in the studio during the week and he will slip in and do his work sometimes but it is usually when I am not painting. He works sometimes over the weekend he will use the studio. We are respectful of each other’s space and the studio is really large enough to share.
artsy | Do you talk about your work together, give each other artistic advice of any kind?
she said | Yes! We talk about our work. We have critiques often, it is really quite helpful to see your work from another set of eyes. When painting for shows, it is especially helpful when I am stuck on a piece. He has such a great sense of design and composition, he can help me start to get unstuck. It is me though who either takes his advice or not. I sometimes I disregard it and sometime I play with his idea but always make it my own. I have to say though it is a beautiful situation. I love him being there and it’s a great gift to have him when I need advice.
artsy | Being an artist especially in the internet age, is often an around the clock job. How do you balance your work and home life?
she said | It is a real challenge and I’m still working on it! My day usually starts at 9-10 and ends at 4-5. We are lucky to be able to work at home with our three young children. We have some help with the children during the week but it’s nice to run upstairs to eat lunch with them or say hello. We like to be involved with our children and it is a blessing to be here with them and watch them as they grow. During the week they also go to preschool so we still have the flexibility to be there for carpool and all that comes with having children at school. We have a schedule now that is working but something is always changing with three kids 4 and under!
artsy |Every marriage is a balance of gifts and personality, each partner bringing with them their own strengths and imperfections. Are there certain areas where you each excel and others in which you find yourself helping each other out?
she said | Jon is super dad with the kids! He does all the “boys stuff “with our three which is new to me being the youngest of three girls. He does so much with the boys and their games. I grew up in a house with barbie dolls and cabbage patch kids. I am learning though about super heroes and legos!
I help keep the house in order! With three boys there is lots to do at home everyday. I love being an artist and having this career but as much as I love being the artist I love more being a loving wife to Jon and a mom to my three boys. We both help each other out, we are a team and have to be to be able to run family and careers and try to find that balance.
artsy | You have three young ( and adorable! ) sons. Have any of them shown an artistic inclination? If one of your sons told you he wanted to become an artist, what advice would you give?
she said | One of the twins, Charlie, is showing unbelievable talent at 2! I think he may be an artist or do something with the arts. His drawings and paintings are so developed for a 2 year old, they have shocked Jon and I. All three are special though and exceed in many activities. I will encourage my children to go after their dreams..always! Thats what I did!
artsy | What do you see as the most important characteristic for two creative people in partnership to cultivate?
she said | To encourage, love and support each other and work together as a team. It helps to have the kindest most loving husband in the world. I am deeply in love with him.
Thank you so much to Christy & Jon for giving us this little glimpse into their work and family lives and how the two are intertwined. The way they love and support each other as people and artists truly shines!
Are you missing flowers yet? I absolutely LOVE winter, but we’ve gone a few weeks now without any snow and the brown grass is making me uncharacteristically antsy for spring. I imagine many of you are longing for the brightness of a blooming earth, too, yes? These magical floating floral worlds of Swiss artist Thierry Feuz are sure to warm your spirit.
Flowers and organisms float freely through the atmosphere, squiggling and jiggling their way through, destination unawares. Feuz’s work brings to the forefront of our minds just how very magical the natural world is– how haphazard it can sometimes seem but how cleverly and intricately it is designed and connected. And how very fragile each species is, tethered to life by the most delicate of strings.
January can be a tough month for some folks. I love the winter, but I understand how the cold air, brown grass and gray skies can get ya down. Which is why I love the work of this month’s Featured Artist, Christy Kinard so much– her paintings are like a warm breath of spring any time of the year!
But spring is still three months away, you say? Why not just infuse some warm and bright florals into your probably drab winter wardrobe? Your countenance and outlook will instantly cheer and chase away the January blues!
Want to see more work by our Featured Artist, Christy Kinard? Check out her website.
One of the things that continues to draw Mr. F and I to the Northwest is the bigness of this world. Everything just seems to exist on a grand scale here– trees tower, mountains loom, rivers stretch far and wide. In his sculptural work, artist Matt Wedel creates fantastical oversized forms and flowers, leaving no doubt that sometimes bigger is indeed better.
Wedel’s larger than life flowers and plant forms spring forth from craggy rock-like shapes, fairly bursting forth as if they simply cannot be contained. Color spills down from their petals, as if the life held therein is overflowing onto the rock below. Exaggerated faces and fantastical forms create a wonderland where we might come to recognize that humans really are so very small.
