We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another.
Lucretius
At this time of year, angels are everywhere. Both in ornamentation and figuratively. Hope you’ll be an angel to someone this holiday!
Be sure to be an artsy angel and check out these artists’ websites:
2. Steven DaLuz
3. Brad Kunkle
All images are via the artists’ websites.
In our modern and sleek world, we find fascination in old things and places. These are objects with a story, subway walls wallpapered with layer upon layer upon layer of poster ads or the stratum of paints on a bedroom wall, showing us the history of its owners. These are the ideas New Jersey artist Jill Ricci strives to convey in her work, those hidden discoveries.
By combining elements of advertising ephemera, fabric, wallcoverings and abstraction, Ricci’s work manages to feel at once ancient and modern.
With contemporary graphics layered under the patina of paint, these pieces almost feel like we are peeling back the scales from the antiquated to find that what is hidden beneath is not obsolete, but avant-garde.
The artist’s layering collected materials mirrors society’s ever abiding search for the next big thing. We are constantly looking for the latest gadget, fashion or whatchmacallit that will give us joy. But perhaps, joy doesn’t come from the newest thing, but looking back with fondness and learning from what has come before.
To see more of Jill Ricci’s work, please visit her website. Her work can currently be seen in shows at Jules Place in Boston, MA and at Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, NJ. Check these artsy spots out if you’re nearby!
Featured image is Cherish, mixed media on canvas, 48×30. All images are via the artist’s website.
I am busy spreading holiday cheer today ( OK, actually running around like crazy trying to get stuff done ), which is kind of fitting for the work of today’s featured artist. Sarah Spitler’s abstracts come from the artist’s concern with chaos manifested. And because of aforementioned chaos of my own today, I’m going to let Sarah’s work speak for itself.
Be sure to check out more of Sarah Spitler’s work on her website and don’t miss reading her artist statement— deep stuff there, definitely read it and then go back and look at her work again.
Featured title image is Monomythical Geopolitika, ink, acrylic, spray paint and graphite on Mylar, 28×22. All images are via the artist’s website.
I LOVE this time of year. It’s a few weeks out of our lives that we take the time to beautify our surroundings, making sure everything sparkles with a holiday glow. We all become artists, creating vignettes of tinsel and holly, making our homes magical for our loved ones, our children, ourselves. A wonderful trend that I’m seeing is holiday decorating that is inspired by what we love to surround ourselves with every day. ( Oh, there’s still room for those homemade childhood ornaments! )
I thought it would be fun to pair some beautifully decorated Christmas trees with a work of art. I’m no stranger to art-inspired tree decorating, take a look at these trees I decorated for the gallery where I was working a few years ago. Just goes to show, any piece of art can inspire your holiday decor. So let’s deck our Artsy halls!
the art:
the tree:
the art:
the tree:
the art:
the tree:
Hope you’re inspired to think about your art collection when decorating for the holidays. If it’s too late for this year, there’s always 2012.. it will be here before we know it!
Featured image is via SimplifiedBee. All art images are via the artists’ websites.
I’ve been so busy painting this morning ( Yes, you read that right! I may or may not share the finished work with you. Depends on how I feel about them.. ), that I almost forgot to let you know about today’s Escape Into Life feature. Now, that would just not do at all, because I am a huge fan of today’s artist, Liz Tran.
Joy positively radiates from Liz’s work. They twinkle and wink and flirt with you. So at what can be a stressful time of year, fill a cup of egg nog and enjoy some happy time.
And just in case you missed it, check out her recent Artsy Forager feature here.
It’s no secret that here in the Pacific Northwest, we love our coffee. Caffiing up is taken very seriously around these parts. Our coffee house experiences are not limited to the ubiquitous Starbucks. The most wonderful, interesting coffee joints are the independent shops, where they might roast their own beans onsite ( these are the places my hubby prefers ), the baristas are extremely knowledgeable and are generally a whole heckuvalotta fun. So I was very excited that Seattle artist Marsha Glaziere has created a series of works inspired by the coffee houses of Puget Sound. She’s put 13 of the series into a 2012 calendar, here’s a peek at the cover art:
The calendar is a prelude to her upcoming book, eclectic COFFEE spots in Puget Sound, a “table coffee book”. ( Get it? 🙂 ) An excerpt from the book’s introduction gives us a peek into the driving force behind this new series:
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to live in the Pacific Northwest, specifically the Puget Sound region, and not become seduced by, and ultimately become part of, the pervasive coffee culture that thrives in this part of the country—come rain or shine.
In our increasingly-fast-paced world of electronics, hyperactivity, and constant change, gathering with friends, even coffeehouse strangers, perhaps fulfills our deep-seated desire for community. Whether we engage in conversation or focus on a book, our computer or on the artwork exhibited, being anchored in the company of others may be as satisfying as a cup of coffee itself.”
As a lover of both independent coffee houses and Starbucks ( what can I say, I’m a sucker for their diabetic-coma inducing drinks ), I was so excited to see that Marsha had chosen to document these places that will surely be remembered as an important part of life and culture in the 21st century.
Marsha’s artistic style fits so well with her subject, the sketchy, seemingly fleeting movement of her lines, her use of negative space and primarily light washes of color provide a spontaneity and lightheartedness that seems perfect for capturing these modern day salons.
This calendar is ideal for the art and/or coffee lover on your gift list! You can see all thirteen calendar images and place your order here. While you’re there, be sure to wander around the rest of Marsha’s website to see more of this artist’s incredible work. And buy a calendar! You’ll be checking someone off your shopping list AND supporting an artist. Win-win!
Featured image is Starbucks, The Original at Pike Place Market ( March ). All images are via the artist or her website.
Today’s Artsy Forager post on Escape Into Life features one of my favorite artists, Steve Williams. Check out his feature and peruse around the EIL site, lots of fabulous goodies to be had!
It seems to be human nature to look for meaning in everything. We agonize over the meaning of baby names before choosing monikers for our offspring, we overanalyze other people’s words to find out what they really meant, we take silly quizzes that tell us what our favorite color says about who we are. And of course, we look for meaning and subtext in artwork. Guilty, as charged, officer. What is the artist trying to say? What message is being conveyed? In the case of Geoff Mitchell, it is a case of what the artist is striving not to communicate.
The artist, whose show, Entries of a Diary Thief, opens at Florida Mining in Jacksonville, FL next Friday, creates work driven by the sense of “pareidolia, a psychological misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something distinct and significant”. ( quote via Florida Mining )
In other words, our tendency to create meaning where there is none. The artist describes his use of representational imagery as being done “in a free associative and purely intuitive manner. I mix and layer images together in a way that is reminiscent of an abstract painter layering color.” ( via Florida Mining ) So any “meaning” inferred by the viewer is not intended by the artist himself, but instead by the viewers personal association with the imagery therein.
So, with that being said, I leave you to draw your own conclusions about Mitchell’s work. His sense of color, composition and design are undeniable, which is what makes the unrelated imagery so compelling and visually arresting.
Please visit Geoff Mitchell’s website to see more of his work online. If you’re in North Florida, don’t miss his show opening December 9, 2011 at Florida Mining.
Camisoles and combat boots.. cayenne and chocolate.. some things just don’t seem like they would go together. Take, for example, the work of Mary Chomenko Hinckley. This is an artist who enjoys finding the harmony in the disparate.
Like pairing the detailed natural images of ordinary birds against mod-style backgrounds whose colors may echo or complement those of the bird, but the contemporary patterns give these ol’ birds a new spin.
In her work, the artist is exposing the relationship between objects that seem completely unrelated. By juxtaposing these seemingly incongruent objects, she finds harmony in the new relationship. Plus, I think they give these guys the cheeky little personalities they deserve. Birds are fun, what can I say?
To see more of Mary Chomenko Hinckley’s fine feathered friends and her other work, please visit her website.
Featured image is Pileated Woodpecker in Ellipse Field, digital pigment print on silver rag, 28×21, 40×30 or 52×40. All images are via the artist’s website.
This year, autumn has been a completely new experience for me. Having never experienced a full autumn outside of my home in northeast Florida ( short trips north don’t really count ), one of the things I was most looking forward to this year was enjoying a cool and brightly colored Fall. And Southern Oregon did not disappoint!
For me, there is just something about this autumnal time of year that makes the natural world more evident and magical. Things slow down, trees and animals prepare for the long winter ahead. Blazing sun is replaced with fog and clouds, making the amber colored leaves that much more striking. California artist Susan Goldsmith captures the essence of the natural beauty of autumn in her mixed media work. I want to buy one so that I can gaze at it in the middle of summer, dreaming of the return of cool days and warm colors.
In her work, Susan uses digital photographic prints as the base layer of her paintings, applying them to the surface then enhancing them with paints and/or pastels, so that the resulting effect is not one of merely an embellished photograph, but rather the impressionistic reinterpretation of the original composition.
What the viewer is left with is a lovely sense of atmospheric abstraction, light and mood, that bursting forth of vibrant color against grey skies which is so characteristic of autumn.
I first caught glimpse of Susan’s work at Davis & Cline in Ashland, OR, but have sense discovered her connection to another favorite gallery resource, Lanoue Fine Art in Boston. Of course, you can also see her work on her own website.
Featured image is Brandy Creek I, silver leaf with pigment print, oil, oil pastel and resin on panel, 61.5×21.5 ( overall size ). Images are via Susan Goldsmith’s representing galleries, as noted.