I am craving color. It seems like spring has sprung everywhere except where we are. Don’t get me wrong, I love winter, but after almost 4 months without flowers, I am ready for blooming! So it should be no surprise that this week I’m drawn to the work of Anne Harper.
Persuasion #2, acrylic and mixed media on canvas
Spring is full of contrasts– bright flowers glowing against skies wet with rain. Harpers work parallels for me the loveliness of an urban spring. Her liquid color reminds me of my first spring visit to Seattle, where the cherry blossoms littered wet sidewalks. It seemed magical. ( Probably didn’t hurt that I was newly in love, both with the city and my then soon-to-be hubby! )
Persuasion #4, acrylic and mixed media on canvas
Then, the rainy days of spring gradually dry, giving way to the glorious glow of summer. I am ready. Are you?
Spontaneous #2, acrylic and mixed media on canvasPersuasion #7, acrylic and mixed media on canvas
To see more of Anne Harper’s work, please visit her website. In addition to being a fantastic painter, she is also a talented musician! You can listen to her tunes here.
Hubby and I are treehuggers. Not in a holier-than-thou, I-always-recycle, never-ever-use-plastic-grocery-bags kind of way ( though there may be a little of that ), we’re more the Babe!-did-you-see-the-size-of-that-tree, doesn’t-that-tree-trunk-look-like-the-Venus-de-Willendorf, oh-I-want-to-hug-it variety. As the days get longer and the weather gets slightly warmer, we’re beginning to plan lots of treks into the woods to do some tree-gazing. One of our favorite things to do is lay on the ground and look up at the trees and their branches. So to get you in the mood for perhaps a little tree-gazing of your own, here are a few artists who share our woodsy love!
Rumis Ladder by Adam Shaw, oil on canvas, 64×70Rusted by Liz Ruest, digital collage, prints availableAll Things Great and Small by Angie Renfro, oil on panel, 30×24Eastern Redbud II by Susan Goldsmith, white gold leaf with pigment print, oil pastel, oil paint & resin on panel, 36×36
Special treat for your Monday! Due to Escape Into Life website maintenance, my EIL feature ran early yesterday. Head over and enjoy!
Love at first sight. That’s what I felt for Jill Ricci’s work. The colors! The texture! The graphics! I love it all and am sharing it over on Escape Into Life today. Click on the link below to fall in love!
Sometime in my late 20s I went through a slight obsession with the Irish part of my heritage & Irish culture in general. I think it stemmed mainly from too many Maeve Binchy books and multiple PBS viewings of Riverdance. Add to that the fact that my husband thinks Guinness is the greatest thing since, well, Guinness, and it isn’t any surprise that we love St. Patrick’s Day. So to get you in the mood for a little Erin Go Bragh, how about some artwork to remind us of the Emerald Isle?
Runaway Trees by Christina Baker, acrylic on canvas, 48×48Ives Pond I by Susan Morosky, acrylic on canvas, 30×30Cold Feet by Casey Matthews, mixed media, 24×24Covenant Commitment by Steve Williams, mixed media on canvas, 84×84
Some days my happy mood gets kicked in the gut first thing in the morning. This usually results from something I’ve read online that a) infuriates me, b) disgusts me, c) leaves me sick to my stomach and shaking my head in dismay, or d) all of the above, as was the case this morning. So it is only fitting that the work of today’s artist, Portland’s Trish Grantham, is the perfect antidote for what ails me!
The Creators, mixed media, 54×24
Unapologetically sweet, Trish’s work is filled with joy-inducing imagery. Masked-bandit-like birds, happily wise woodland creatures, smiling toast (!).. they all speak to me, saying “Hello! We’re here to remind you that the world is really a happy place filled with kind beings!” Many of the world’s inhabitants have simply forgotten how to be truly grateful, gracious and happy.
The Creators Gather, mixed media, 24×12
Just as it is impossible to look into the face of a smiling child and not smile back, as I was looking through Trish’s portfolio, my pursed mouth and heavy heart where replaced by a light-hearted grin.
The Flight Instructor, mixed media, 30×36
This world can be an ugly place and for some reason, it seems, many of the people in it are striving to make it even more hostile, all for the sake of their fear of someone taking away something that never truly belonged to them. We don’t own this world. It owes us nothing. Oh what a happier place it would be if the world were ruled by the creatures in Grantham’s work! Instead of devouring the innocent, the wolf instead sets the baby birds free to live as they please. Sure his belly may not be as full, but his heart will be bursting.
Free to Fly, mixed mediaSympathetic Sea, mixed media, 72×60
Trish’s work spoke to my weary heart this morning. I hope it speaks to yours and perhaps, instead of choosing bitterness and hate, you will instead choose joy. I have.
To see more of Trish Grantham’s work, please check out her website. If you happen to be in Portland, OR ( And if you are, how about sharing a little housing advice? What areas are affordable but still nice & safe? Hubby and I are looking to the future.. ), sorry for the sidetrack– you can see Trish’s work in Portland at Augen Gallery, a delightful contemporary gallery downtown.
Featured image is The Futurist, mixed media, 24×12. All images are via the artist’s website.
Mmmm.. Skittles. Now that I have you craving some multi-colored chewy candies, let’s talk rainbows. The ubiquitous symbol of hope seems to be everywhere these days. Artists are embracing prismatic colors and shapes like mad! Check out a few examples I found..
Sarah ApplebaumLisa CongdonChristopher Derek BrunoMarco Puccini ( via Design Milk )Mark Warren Jacques
Be sure to check out the artists’ websites to see more rainbow-hued wonders!
Many of you know that my hubby & I are living a bit of a vagabond life. My other half is working as a medical traveler, so since May 2011, we’ve moved across the good ol’ USofA from Florida to the Northwest, living in a new town every 13 weeks. So these days, we’re traveling light. Everything live with fits into the back of our mid-size SUV and a 4’x8′ UHaul trailer. All our other belonging are stored in a 10’x10′ storage unit in Jacksonville. The rest is gone. In preparation for this move and change in lifestyle, we sold or gave away all of our furniture except for a few sentimental pieces of mine. When I first saw these works on paper by Massachusetts artist Candice Smith Corby, they resonated with this slightly displaced soul.
Madge's Fox Den, gouache & watercolor on paper ( via Lost at E Minor )
I am no stranger to the competing feelings of freedom and loss that come from purging your life of unnecessary stuff. In our society, our possessions define us in so many ways. They demonstrate to the world, our tastes, our values, our experiences. The things that we live with become a part of our memories, so to be separated from them may result in a disconnect with our past. Of course, that could be viewed as positive or negative..
You'll Be A…, I'll Be a Bear, gouache on wallpaper
While I do often dearly miss some of my lovely things ( especially when living in some furnished rentals! ), there is also an incredible sense of liberty that comes with knowing that we can live ( almost ) anywhere. We no longer have the mortgage and maintenance of owning a home filled with rooms and stuff we rarely use.
My Worries Are Behind Me, acrylic, watercolor & gouache on paper, 36×80
Smith Corby’s works speak to that overwhelming sense of being possessed by our possessions. How many of us have gone into large amounts of debt just to have the homes of our dreams? Oh, how difficult it can be when we insist on holding on, when what we really need is to just let go.
Brooding Mood, screenprint, 22×30Repossessed, gouache & watercolor on paper ( via Lost at E Minor )
So have I made you want to give away all your worldly goods? 😉 Maybe just a spring cleaning is in the cards.. To see more of Candice Smith Corby’s work, please visit her website.
The world today is so loud and pushy. We are visually bombarded at all times with color, typography, imagery, you name it. It begins to weigh us down unknowingly. Atlanta artist Erin McIntosh’s recent work has a quiet, delicate quality, the perfect antidote for a noisy world.
Watercolor 30, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paper
In her work, Erin is seeking to explore the silence to be discovered among the cacophony. Her intuitive process and use of water-based media give her works on paper a soft, gossamer-like quality.
Watercolor 32, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paper
Diaphanous shapes and translucent forms float freely, randomly just as our thoughts as we lie in the grass and daydream. We’re wafted away through the chaos and into the quiet stillness.
Watercolor 31, watercolor on paper, 9×9 image on 11×14 paperUntitled, watercolor on paper ( via Gregg Irby Fine Art )
Ah.. I feel so peaceful now! To see more of Erin McIntosh’s work and enjoy a bit of her own brand of artsy stillness, please visit her website. I also highly recommend a visit to the website of her representing gallery, Gregg Irby Fine Art. If you happen to be in Atlanta, drop by and see these lovelies in person!
And, as a wonderful little treat, here’s a video of the artist herself, telling you a bit about her work–
I have a long, ongoing love affair. With books. I blame my grandparents, who were avid readers and every night spent with them was ended curled up in my grandmother’s lap listening to her read. Growing up, books were a favorite escape, summers were often spent with my nose buried in story after story. I came very close to pursuing a degree in literature rather than art history ( I was obviously never destined to be rich! ). But one of the best things about studying art history was all the stories. The best of both worlds. Here are some artists who seem as obsessed with books as I am!
It's Story Time IV by Christopher StottCome With Me by Na Zhao ( via ArtLink )Blonde But Not Forgotten by Harland MillerUnicorn by Gala BentBooks by Holly Farrell
Be sure to check out these artist’s websites below. So I just finished a Frida Kahlo biography. Any artsy reads you would recommend?
