Note: The title of this post is a reference to the original Dead or Alive song, not more recent versions featuring people who are possibly young enough to be my children. Children of the 80s unite!
I love art of all shapes and sizes. Large scale, small, square, rectangle, ROUND. Artists who take on the circular composition get extra kudos. Check out some examples I’m loving this week!
Andy Says by Jill Ricci, mixed media on wood, 24″ diameterNational Soil Destruction Leading to Self Implosion by Steve Williams, mixed media, 48″ diameterEmily by Ben Hughes, oil on canvas, 22″ diameterNo. 555 by Nicholas Bodde, oil and acrylic on aluminum, 80cm diameter
Any other orb-obsessed artists I should know about? Tell me about ’em in the comments!
Featured image is Andy Says by Jill Ricci. Be sure to head over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page where Jill Ricci is this month’s featured artist! All images are via the artists’ websites, linked above. Special thanks to The Jealous Curator for introducing me to Ben Hughes’ work!
Advertising imagery has become such an integral part of our cultural landscape that products are often instantly recognizable simply by their logos. Like his Pop Art predecessors before him, Jacksonville, FL artist Mark George takes inspiration from the inescapable world of advertising, putting his own spin on the Mad Men era.
Of course, there are obvious parallels between George’s work and that of Pop Art icon, Roy Lichtenstein. Yes, the imagery also takes its cues from advertising imagery and comic books. But where as Lichtenstein enlarged his imagery to the point of replicating in paint the Ben-Day dots that comprised printed materials of the day, George chooses to flatten out the imagery even further.
The lack of visible brushstrokes and use of smooth, reflective surfaces emphasizes the slick nature of the mid-centuray imagery. While the severely cropped faces and “torn” edges of his panel suggest that these are relics abandoned to a different kind of future.
But what interest me most is the emotionality to be found in the faces of George’s subjects. There is a sad, melancholia about the imagery, bordering on the disturbing. In this respect, his work could be seen as our past looking back upon itself with current eyes, shocked and saddened by what is seen in hindsight.
What do you make of the faces of Mark George’s subjects? Please visit his website to see more of his work. If you’re in South Florida, he will be participating in a show, Jet Set Glamourat Harold Golen Gallery in Miami, opening tonight!
I absolutely adore work that is marries striking visual elements and imagination stirring imagery. Come and take a magical ride through Geoff Mitchell’s work with me over on Escape Into Life today!
Things we experience in childhood have such a powerful impact on the people we become. They are the memories, good and bad, which come back to us again and again. Ontario artist Casey McGlynn’s work recalls recurring symbols from his childhood and life, symbols that many of our own lives share.
How 2 Do Snake Graffiti on Water Tower, mixed media on canvas, 36×36 ( via Foster/White Gallery )
I first saw Casey’s work at Foster/ White in Seattle, where he was exhibiting alongside Rachel Denny. His work is striking from afar, but the elements in each work are what really drew me in and caused me to closely examine each one.
We Thought We Were Going to Space, mixed media on canvas, 42×48 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver )
His canvases are filled with symbols of formative memories and experiences throughout his life. You’ll see repeating pictographs recalling influences and events– like the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion and blues musician Robert Johnson, along with even more personal memories like the artist’s pregnant wife.
20 Lucky Horses, mixed media on canvas, 60×48 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery )
The work is autobiographical, but remains accessible and universally appealing. I found myself pouring over the canvases and thinking– “Yes! I remember where I was when the shuttle went down.. yes! I know what it’s like to gather coins for the laundromat.
Bird Found, mixed media on canvas, 48×48 ( via Foster/White Gallery )Coin Laundry, mixed media on canvas, 48×40 ( via Bau-Xi Gallery )
His primitive drawing style adds to the power of these visual memories, works created by the child within the man acknowledging where he’s been and how he arrived at where he is. To see more of Casey McGlynn’s work, please visit his Facebook page and his representing galleries, Foster/ White in Seattle, Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver, BC and Artistic Spirit Gallery in Charleston, SC.
Featured image is Coin Laundry, mixed media on canvas, 48×40. All images are via the artist’s representing galleries, linked above.
Wow. Has another month really gone by already? It’s Art to Inspiration time again! This month’s inspiration, Echoes of Fragrant Voices by Jo Howe inspires me on so many levels. Her sculptures, created from book pages ( love level one- check! ) are full of beautiful shapes ( two- check! ), soft color ( three- check! ), rhythm ( four- check! ) and gorgeous texture ( that makes five- check! ). Just as with Pakayla Biehn’s work last month, Jo’s work inspired me to create a gallery of varied complementary works, each of which shares characteristics reminiscent of Jo’s work.
The inspiration:
Echoes of Fragrant Voices by Jo Howe
The gallery:
Pendant by Erik Gonzales, mixed media on panel, 60×60Half Hickory by Virginia PettyCore III by Joe Segal, wood and paint, 54×9Trophy by Brenda Mallory, cloth, wax, welded steel, 20x20x13Mercury by Karen Margolis, watercolor, gouache, graphie, thread on Abaca paper, 11×14Expansion by Haley Farthing, pastel on wood, 48×24Relic by Jay Heryet, box elder, 200mm diameter
Visit the artists’ websites, linked above, for more inspiration!
You can find more information on Art to Inspiration here and if you would like to participate in the next Art to Inspiration, just fill out this form! Follow me and all the other Art to Inspiration bloggers on Twitter by subscribing here. Let the inspiring begin!
All images are via the artists’ websites unless otherwise noted.
I hope you guys have wandered over to the Artsy Forager Facebook page to check out this month’s Featured Artist, Steve Williams! It’s been so much fun sharing Steve’s work with you over the month of April. With the Month of Steve is coming to a close, I wanted to share with you a few new pieces from the irrepressible Mr. Williams.
Cap Tossing Over the Wall of Space
These latest works were created for the Sustainotopiaconference, which happened in Miami this week. Sustainotopia is “an impact conference that encourages people to really consider how social relationships between investing, finances, and environmental sustainability can become more collaborative, creating a global community that benefits economically from doing what is, essentially, the right thing.”
A Slender Acquaintance With the WorldNational Soil Destruction Leading to Self Implosion
You can read more about Sustainotopia on their website ( and make plans to attend next year! ) and read about Steve’s thoughts on living an impactful life on his blog, Making Cheddar. And if you’re new here or haven’t already done it, be sure to check out Steve’s website!
Pretty sure I read in the latest InStyle Magazine ( we all have our guilty pleasures! ) that polka dots are big for spring. Maybe it’s the influence of Damien Hirst’s spot paintings. Here are some more artists marking the spot!
Small Spots by Georgia Gray, acrylic on canvas, 10x20cmPatterns With Purpose O by Paul Ecke, mixed media on panel, 48×60Cut 11-034 by Michelle Y. Williams, metal/plexiglas, 15×15#562 by Tory Cowles, mixed media, 48×48
Living in places with so many wild areas, whenever we go out hiking, we’re still very aware of man’s impact on the landscape. Salt Lake City artist Thomas D. Aaron brings attention to the natural landscape and the effect of man’s hand upon it.
20, mixed media, 48×48Bend, mixed media,66×72
Aaron uses PLSS ( Public Land Survey System ) imagery as the jumping off point of his mixed media works. Focusing on manmade grids imposed upon the landscape and the paradigms they create with the natural order of the terrain.
Two Canyons, mixed media, 24×24 each
The painterly textures mimic the natural terrain and in some, dominating brushwork overpowers the landscape, just our infrastructure has done the same to natural wild spaces.
New Blue New, mixed media, 68×60Like the Sea, mixed media, 68×60
To see more of Thomas D. Aaron’s work, please visit his website. To learn more about the motivation and ideology behind his work, check out his interview with Ellen Caldwell on the New American Paintings blog.
As I mentioned before, there were certain shows I knew I wanted to see while we were in Seattle last weekend. I’ve loved the work of Seattle artist Anne Siems since first seeing it online and was excited to get my chance to see her work up close and personal. Her solo show, Guidance is showing at Grover Thurston Gallery, just up ( or down? Still don’t have my Seattle geography down pat ) the street from Foster/White, so away we went.
Wolf Girl, acrylic on panel, 48×48
Siems’ inspiration behind the show was the evolution of her daughter from childhood into adolescence and the idea that wild animal spirits may help children navigate their way through this transition. In each of us there is a wild, animalistic-like spirit that, as we grow up and grow older gets buried under years of suppression and training in proper behavior.
Antler Girl, acrylic on panel, 40×52
In Siems’ work, we see children taking on historically grim expression and formal, constricting garb, reminding us of centuries of children whose innocence is lost all too soon. Children whose natural wild spirits may fight against the constraints of social tradition and custom.
Bison Boy Drawing, mixed media on paper, 38×50
I was particularly drawn to Bison Boy ( above ), perhaps for the way the figure is isolated starkly against the white paper background. He has been taken out of his environment, out of his element. His garments are in the somewhat effeminate style of his era, yet his bison head & skin seem to be reminding us to not forget the wildness within.
George’s favorite work in the show was Lynx Cap ( below ), as this figure retains a sprightly, little girl expression in contrast to the other figures’ more suppressed, even haughty countenances. She is still an innocent.
Lynx Cap, mixed media on paper with embroidery, 22×30Guidance Tree, mixed media on panel, 48×48
I could go on and on about these and talk about every one– they are so interesting, visually and spiritually. If you’d like to see more of Anne Siems’ work, please visit her website. If you’re in Seattle, I highly recommend a visit to Grover Thurston to see these in person, a truly stunning show.
Featured image is Heart Branches, mixed media on panel, 30×30. All images are via the artist’s website.
A huge part of what drew George & I to the Northwest was the mountainous terrain. When the weather is good, every weekend is spent hiking and exploring the mountains around wherever we happen to be. We’re gearing up for the ultimate mountain adventure this June, when we’ll take some time off to camp and explore Glacier National Park, the Tetons and Yellowstone. So it’s only natural that I’ve got mountains on the brain these days. Hope you enjoy these artist’s takes on the peak life!
Kate ShawPeace and Love by Casey Roberts, cyanotype with gouache, 60×69Colorado Electricity by Christina Foard, oil on canvas, 36×36Pile of Nipples by Marian Brunn Smith, oil on canvas, 24×18One After Another, mixed media on panel, 30×24
