Forget those boring old still lifes from your grandma’s era. Artists like Thrush Holmes are taking that classic subject and reinterpreting it through modern eyes. The result is anything but boring.
Untitled 2011, oil on canvas, 84×84Untitled 2012, oil on panel, 16×20
Neon-hued petals in flattened, simplified shapes let you know these aren’t just any old floral paintings. With color blocking reminiscent of Matisse, these blossoms fairly jump off the canvas.
Untitled 2011, oil on canvas, 60×84Untitled, oil on panel, 16×20
Graffit-like lines incorporated give these paintings a freewheelin’ freedom their classical predecessors never dreamed of.
Untitled, oil panel, 52×62
To see more of Thrush Holmes’ work, please visit his website.
No, not like that. We had one of those crazy running-around-trying-to-get-things-done-before-we-move kind of weekends. Mr. F & I love to hike and I am long overdue a new pair of hiking boots. Which isn’t as easy a purchase as you might think! Good boots don’t come cheap and the last thing you want on mile eight of a fifteen mile hike is to start getting blisters, believe me. So we drove all the way to Rancho Cucamonga to the nearest REI. Like Cinderella, I tried on a bunch of glass slippers boots but alas, no magic. Stopped in at a few art supply stores while there as I had it in my head to finish a large painting before we leave Joshua Tree. In less than three weeks. And next weekend we’ll be in San Diego. Mr. F delicately suggested I might be biting off more than I can chew.. he was right and besides they didn’t have the size I wanted on sale. So I decided to back burner it for a while.
We shopped for toddler birthday gifts and fun stuff like dental floss and toilet paper and took a break for a wine tasting ( thanks over-indulger for spilling red wine all over me! ) and a little sushi, which I’ve been dying for lately. Sunday was spent with me doing a little research for this little blog ( look for another redesign soon! ) and Mr. F bottling his latest batch o’ beer. Oh and we started packing for our move! We have no idea where we are going yet, but we’ve begun preparing for the journey. I think there’s something poetic and utterly hopeful about that. 😉 I didn’t take the time to snap many pics this weekend, but we spied some lovely spring desert blooms on our Sunday evening walk. Hope you enjoy!
[ cholla ]
[ prairie sunflowers, maybe? ]
[ no idea what either of these are, but they sure are pretty! ]
[ prickly pear ]
Anyone else in the midst of a move? Hoping to begin planning one? Any desert plant enthusiasts out there know what my unidentified blooms are? What spring flowers are you spotting these days?
I always remember my first visit to Seattle in the springtime. The cherry trees were blooming in the neighborhood where Mr. Forager was living ( this was before I became Mrs. F ) and then it rained, as it is always wont to do in Seattle. After the rain, the blossoms weren’t quite as fluffy and perfect as they’d been, but we were left with a magical blanket of pink petals dotting the sidewalks. The wind would eventually sweep each petal into its breeze and carry it away to some unknown place. As I look at the floral encaustics of Seattle artist Alicia Tormey, I’m reminded of the delicate strength it takes to withstand the storms.
Floral Study IV, encaustic with mixed media, 10×10
Tormey’s flowers have a wonderful, swirly diaphanous quality as translucent strands float from and around them. In some, we see look to be veins coming through, as if these are the angels of flowers loved and pressed between book pages as a remembrance.
Fly Away, encaustic, shellac and ink on panel, 36×36Floral Form V, encaustic, shellac and ink on panel, 24×24
Each flower almost takes on the personality of a dancer’s movements.. wild yet graceful.. controlled chaos, passionate yet maintaining an elegant line, always.
Floral Study III, encaustic with mixed media, 10×10
To see more of Alicia Tormey’s work, please visit her website.
Nothing says spring like girls with flowery tattooes! When I spotted this piece by Seattle artist Stasia Burrington on Artsyo, I was smitten with her work, her use of cut paper florals and girls is at once sweet and strong. Love it! I’m featuring Stasia’s work in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today, see it here!
Clementine, charcoal, ink and fabric collage on Stonehenge paper, 11×14
It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. Double-exposure photography is hardly a new concept, but the way Portland, Oregon photographer Misha Ashton-Moore does it is something special! I immediately feel for her warm + cool palettes and mixture of images, sometimes subtle, sometimes completely yet beautifully disparate. Check out more of her work in my Artist Watch today over on Escape Into Life. See it here!
It’s March. This time last year, we were in Northern Idaho and I’m pretty sure we were still wearing heavy sweaters and boots. But spring has officially sprung here in the desert! Although the emerging season definitely looks different here. The paintings of Temre Stanchfield remind me that somewhere there is a spring filled with soft petals, not cactus blooms.
Starlight, oil on canvas, 36×36Truffle, oil on canvas, 30×36
The artist’s floral groupings have a delicate strength, much like the plants themselves. Only slightly reminiscent of traditional floral still lifes, these bouquets seem much more fresh and alive.
Chortle, oil on canvas, 24×24Twinkle, oil on canvas, 36×36
As seeds float away from petals, we are reminded that the blooms we cherish so much are just one part of the life cycle of the plant. That the more quiet, dormant periods of a life are essential to the blossoming.
Less is more. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Sometimes, I just love to cleanse the artsy palate so to speak, with work that is beautiful in it’s seeming naivete and guilelessness. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to the work of Atlanta artist Eva Magill-Oliver and am featuring her in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today. Go on over to EIL here to see more of Eva’s work!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Artsies! Back in my singleton days, February 14th brought out the snarky cynic in me. I even owned and regularly sported a “Love Stinks” t-shirt. But ever since Mr. Forager finally realized he loved me, I’ve retired my sarcastic tee and look forward to this celebration of love. For millions of people, this day is all about sending and receiving beautiful bouquets of flowers. What could be more romantic? I say nothing says love like a painted bundle of blooms by Atlanta artist Christy Kinard!
Stripes and Roses, mixed media, 36×36
Kinard is obviously an artist painting what she loves and having the most fabulous time doing it! Her work is filled with such joyful energy, it is impossible to look upon it and be sad. Go ahead, try. See? The candy colored palette alone makes me want to sing silly love songs and dance in the kitchen with Mr. Forager.
Peacock Roses, mixed media, 48×48Yellow II, mixed media, 36×36
Kinard’s bouquets aren’t perfect and polished, they’re a bit messy and layered with textures. This isn’t modern, sophisticated, too cool for school kind of love. It’s your grandparents’ love. The kind that sits on a porch swing every evening. The kind that still holds hands after sixty years. This is what love is really like.
Pink, Yellow, Orange XOXO, mixed media, 36×36
How are you celebrating love today, Artsies? To see more of Christy Kinard’s work, please visit her website and show her some love on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest!
I am loving the illustrative quality to these watercolors by Massachusetts artist Michelle Morin! I’m sharing more of Michelle’s work in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today.. head over to EIL to check it out here.
Lusciously layered, elegantly styled, richly colored photographs resembling classical floral still lifes? Yes, please! Have a peek at the sensual work of Dutch artist Margriet Smulders, featured today in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life. Escape the rush of this Christmas Eve by gazing at these lovelies found here!
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