There is something so magical about the way the skies color with the beginning and end of each day. It’s almost like a painted message– there is new joy and hope in a new day or take heart, this day is done, a new one comes in the morning. In his work, Scottish painter Scott Naismith explores the brilliance of those colored skies and the effects of light and color in the atmosphere.
Through the refraction and reflection of light, we are treated to skies filled with glorious color. What happens within the atmosphere and how our eyes perceive it is completely explicable, scientifically, but what about our emotional reaction to such a sight? How do we explain the warm glow within that light and those colors bring? Maybe we don’t have to. Let’s just enjoy the gift.
Our current little bungalow backs up to a beautifully landscaped yard, verdant and green, even in the midst of Fall. As I sit working here every day, it’s easy to forget that the leaves are changing all around, I get so caught up in my own little world here. Austin artist Joseph Norderer chooses to celebrate those little corners of the world in which we dwell.
Lush and lively, his compositions crop in tightly on a small crop of land, beckoning us beyond the bushes to find who might be living inside. We get so caught up in our view from within that I think we sometimes forget that just a few feet or yards away, another life is being lived, perhaps very different or quite similar. But more and more we chose to hide behind our own walls. Choosing to dwell only in that same familiar corner.
If you’d like to see more of Joseph Noderer‘s work, please visit his website. You can also see his show at Tiny Park art space in Austin until October 19th.
There were days when, to commemorate an engagement or a special occasion, one might have a tiny portrait painted for a loved one. Or perhaps even now you wear a locket around your neck, or carry a special stone in your pocket. There’s something enchanting about the preciousness of miniature treasures, isn’t there? Tappan, NY artist Jefferson Hayman forges his own liliputian remembrances in his small framed photographs.
The handcrafted silver gelatin and platinum prints are a delightful surprise when tucked inside antique boxes or frames of the artist’s making. Larger than life places like Manhattan and the moon seem forever caught in a moment inside each little box, there to charm us all over again each time they are revealed.
Have you ever gone back to places you visited as a kid and found that they were nothing like what you’d been remembering all this time? Perception can be muddled by age, memory, and association. The work of UK artist Stephen Thorpe speaks to our distorted perceptions of place and reality.
Void, oil on canvas, 59.8×71.7Lepton, oil on canvas, 17.7×23.6
We might associate a place with a certain feeling, due to the memories created there, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In our travels, I’ve definitely found that distance and time softens my memories of some places. The town I couldn’t wait to leave, I can now look back on fondly. Well, sort of.
Boson, oil on canvas, 17.7×23.6
Sometimes, we might remember a place altogether differently than the reality of that spot. Thorpe’s paintings jumble reality with transparent planes and skewed perspectives. What looks vaguely familiar seems just a bit abstracted and absurd.
Deviant Boson, oil on canvas, 23.6×29.9Event Horizon, oil on canvas, 35.8×29.5
If you’d like to see more work by Stephen Thorpe, please visit his website. Love his work enough to make it your own? Selected works are available at Saatchi Online, including some works as prints. Accessible, affordable art. It’s a good thing.
As we travel, Mr. F and I get to know the places we live in an intimate way. Each place has its own distinct atmosphere, sense of rhythm and character. In these paintings, Vermont artist Michael J. Abrams distills his landscapes down to their own sense of atmospheric beauty.
Lucent Blue, oil on canvas, 51×38
The differences in each canvas are subtle, yet so often, are the differences in place. We’re currently living in the same general area where we were two years ago. And while many things are familiar and recognizable, this town and the immediate area surrounding it still feel new and unexplored.
Bourn Jetty, oil on panel, 8×8Scattered Yellow, oil on canvas, 74×68Bulrush, oil on panel, 8×8
Abrams’ paintings carry that same sense of mystery, the anticipation of what could be just beyond the haze, right around the next corner.
Water is one of those resources we tend to take for granted until we find ourselves without it. During the six months we spent in the California desert, Mr. F and I discovered just how essential its presence was to our psyches and overall happiness. Not only does it nourish us physically, but something about this liquid nurtures our souls. Boston artist Anne Neely explores the importance of waters seen and unseen in her Mopang series.
Turlach-Turlough, oil on linen, 72×60Pond Park, oil on linen, 36×44
The series is named after the Mopang Aquifer in Maine which was saved after an attempt to establish an ash dump near it. The artist plunges depths, showing off water’s sparkles and light in her use of color, shape and line.
Riverside, oil on linen, 32×24
We are lucky enough to have a beautiful little man-made stream and waterfall running through the backyard of our current rental. Just a few minutes gazing into the clear waters and listening to the splashing instantly calms me. The mere presence of water reminds us of our most basic needs and we relax in its cool calming being.
Off Island, oil on linen, 32×24Waterlines, oil on linen, 14×11
If you would like to see more of Anne Neely‘s work, please visit her website.
After yesterday’s afternoon post, it seems my obsession with blues continues, but this time, I’m gushing over the blue skies of photographer Vittorio Ciccarelli’sInvisible series.
We’ve had no shortage of cloudless, blue sky days lately and I’m always struck, as it seems Ciccarelli is, by the juxtaposition of architecture against an azure expanse. The skies in Ciccarelli’s work almost seem unreal, unbelievably translucent.
The bright aqua skies leave our eyes to feast upon the simply beauty in the ordinary urban sights we take for granted. Suddenly, we notice the gentle curve of the street lamp, never realizing before its beauty.
If you’d like to see more of Vittorio Ciccarelli’s work, please visit his Behance page.
When you think of a breeding ground for creativity, Tulsa, OK is probably not the first place that comes to mind.. but let me tell you there are some artsy folks in OK! Mr. F lived in Tulsa for a few years, so we definitely know some cool and creative folks there ( and a few that have moved Northwesterly! ). Tulsa is home to an awesome contemporary gallery, Exhibit by Aberson, which is showing an impressive round up of young Oklahoman artists, including Tulsa painter ( and musician, Tulsa is a hotbed for the musically inclined ), Jason Lockhart.
Bita-PitaAlite
I fell instantly in love with this Lockhart’s work as soon as I saw it in Exhibit’s newsletter. The architectural elements juxtaposed with typography and painterly abstractions, then add in that color palette and BAM! This is an artist to watch, folks.
E4ET
It’s not just the elements being used, but the way in which he is fitting them together. That slightly hidden “A” in Bita-Pita, the suggestive aviation shapes in E4.. It all just works. Sometimes I get tongue tied, ok, keyboard tied when I try to describe why I love an artist’s work. It’s just good. Trust me.
Ding-On
Want to see more of Jason Lockhart’s work? If you’re anywhere near Tulsa, don’t miss the show at Exhibit by Aberson, opening Thursday, July 18th. You can also check out Lockhart’s blog.
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.
While Mr. Forager & I wind our way up the Pacific Coast Highway to Seattle, I’ve asked a few of my fellow art bloggers to step in and share some of their own artsy finds.
Mr. F and I are exploring San Francisco today ( so excited! ) but once we’ve made our way to Seattle, you can bet that I’ll be using the website of today’s Guest Forager to find lots of amazing Seattle artists for you! Please welcome Sarah Brooks of Artsyo!
This is Sarah coming to you from Artsyo, a local-art-finder for Seattleites. As your Guest Forager today, I’m excited to introduce you to Seattle artist Susanna Bluhm!
Susanna’s lush abstracted landscapes caught my eye at an art auction last fall, and I’ve been taken with them ever since. She works from photographs of places she’s been, sometimes combining two dissimilar landscapes into one – Croatian islands with traffic islands, for example.
They Call It Way Too Rowdy, We Call It Finally Free, oil and acrylic on canvas, 95×72
Even though the paintings are based on photographs, you can’t always tell what you’re looking at. Abstract marks play off of recognizable shapes to create the story. “I love what you can’t articulate,” says Susanna.
Tell Me, You Whom My Soul Loves, Where You Pasture Your Flock, Where You Make It Lie Down at Noon, oil and acrylic on canvas, 71×119
Susanna’s most recent series of paintings is inspired by the Bible’s controversial book Song of Songs, reimagined in the form of a love song to her wife and son.
Who Is This That Looks Forth Like the Dawn, oil and acrylic on canvas, 63×102
Susanna says that Song of Songs can be read as a relationship narrative: it begins with a frenzied crush and giddy romance, later giving way to more difficult periods of anxiety and loss.
Your Name is Perfume Poured Out, oil and acrylic on canvas, 40×40
Not everyone considers Song of Songs to be a story of two people in love: “Some Biblical scholars believe it is about God’s relationship to the Holy Land,” says Susanna. “In that case, God and the Holy Land should probably get a room.”
Your Cheeks Are Like Halves of a Pomegranate, Hidden Behind Your Veil, oil and acrylic on canvas, 83×77
