I have to stop myself from running my fingers over paintings in galleries and museums. I’m such a sucker for the texture of paint and the way it informs and enhances a piece of work. Sometimes, the texture is merely a by-product of the artist’s process, but for artists like Patricia Larsen, the texture is the star.
I know that often, for me, when I’m painting, I get caught up in the deliciousness of the juxtapositions of texture and color. There is a certain zen like state that happens when an artist surrenders to what is happening on a canvas. A kind of stream-of-consciousness type of painting tempered with a thoughtful composition results in a wonderful tension.
To see more work by Patricia Larsen, please visit her website. If you happen to be in the Tulsa area, you can see her work in person in the current exhibition at Exhibit by Aberson.
December is here! Mr. F and I are back living in Idaho ( Moscow, ID to be exact ) for the next three months. As we were driving up, we were treated to a spectacular display of snow juxtaposed against the evergreens, rocks and rushing waters. These pieces by this month’s Featured Artist, Casey Matthews remind me of that wintery palette I love so much.
I’ve been in love with Casey’s work for a long time and she was one of the first artists I featured on Artsy Forager. Her work is full of luscious texture and lots of delicious little details that don’t always come through in digital form. Orbs and circles are a large part of her visual language and some of her latest work, she’s exploring a whirlpoolish composition in addition to her characteristic floating shapes and drips. And I’m especially enamored of the way she is overlaying linear elements, adding yet another intriguing dimension.
Casey lives in North Florida, so its pretty doubtful that her inspiration would have come from the snow and evergreens of Northern Idaho. Yet these pieces have much of the atmospheric feel I was imagining as we drove through snow covered canyons and delighted in patches of white dotting the rocks along the river. Isn’t it amazing how an artist’s work can resonate your own imagination?
If you’d like to see Casey’s work in person, you can do so at a number of representing galleries, a list can be found here. If you’re in North Florida, Casey will be showing work at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club during the month of December, with a holiday reception on December 12th. Or if you happen to be in the Atlanta area, her work will be a part of the annual Masterpiece & Its Minis show at Gregg Irby Fine Art, where you could snatch up a sweet smaller Casey Matthews original, what an amazing gift one would make!
Mr. Forager and I are spending this week celebrating Thanksgiving, so I decided to show my thanks to this month’s Featured Artist by re-running a few of her previous posts! This feature first ran in July 2012. This was before I started calling my husband George Mr. Forager here on the blog, in case you’re wondering who I’m going on about. 😉 Enjoy!
Welcome to Day 2 of our Artists Takeover Event! Today’s artist is the only Canuck in the bunch this week, Vancouver artist M.A. Tateishi. M.A. is an artist whose work I immediately connected with and the artist herself has become a great supporter and friend. Our conversation gives you a little behind-the-scenes peek at Artsy Forager!
The Walls of This Old House, mixed media with resin, 36×48
M.A. Tateishi | You feature a lot of inspiring and different artists. How do you find the artists, and is there a particular reaction you have to art when you find it…like an immediate fall-in-love feeling, or does some work grow on you? Do you have to sort through a lot of “bad art” to find the good ones?
Artsy Forager | I find the artists I feature through a number of different avenues– some I’ve known through working in the industry, others I’ve found through galleries ( both visited in person & online ), social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, through other artists, through other art blogs, lifestyle blogs, even some DIY, fashion & home decor blogs will occasionally feature interesting artwork. Really just keeping my eyes open at all times. I try to always have a pen & paper handy, as you never know when you may happen upon something amazing! The reaction is a little like falling in love or at the very least having a crush! My heart will skip a beat and many times my mouth will drop open. 😉 I’ve been told I have a “great eye” and my husband used to always ask how I knew really great work from mediocre– it’s hard to describe, it’s more of an artistic intuition, I guess. It’s funny, but many of the sources through which I find work are so full of great stuff that I don’t really have to sift through much “bad art”. I do get emails from artists whose work doesn’t quite make the cut for Artsy Forager, though. I always want to be encouraging to anyone who is willing to reach out and ask to be featured, but I strive very hard to keep the standard of work featured high. If I do need to “reject” an artist, I try to offer other avenues for online exposure.
Pixelated Rhythm, mixed media with resin, 36×48
MAT | How do you organize your writing? Do you have a lot of posts ready to go, or do you work on deadlines? Do you have an editor/friend to bounce things off, or do you work alone? And how to you manage all your social media? Are you typing away on your iPhone while you’re waiting at the post office?
AF | I plan out Artsy Forager posts usually no more than a week or two ahead. I’m a bit of a procrastinator by nature, something I’m trying to work on, so right now, that’s about as far out as I can plan & organize for the posts themselves. Since I post to the blog Monday-Friday and my husband’s schedule can change, I’m sometimes writing & scheduling posts in advance for the days when he is off. For instance, he’s currently working Wed-Sun, so I make sure to have all my posts completed and scheduled for Monday & Tuesday by Sunday night, so that we can enjoy time together without too much distraction. I normally work alone, but will sometimes bounce ideas off fellow bloggers, artists and of course, my hubby is always a ready ear. I’m still learning to smartly manage social media.. I finally signed up for Hoot Suite, which allows me to advance schedule posts to social media and has gone a long way toward helping me maintain an online presence even when I may not be physically near a computer. 😉 You may be surprised to learn that I don’t have an iPhone or even internet access on my cell phone and right now the hubby and I share one MacBook Pro between us. It can make keeping up more difficult, but it also helps to be able to disconnect when spending time with my hubby.
Neon City, mixed media with resin, 36×48
MAT | Finally, what motivates you to do the Artsy Forager? As an artist I can see the benefits for me, and I think it’s important to bring original art to as many people as possible, but I was wondering what inspires you?
AF | This is a really interesting question and one I’m sure many artists are curious about. I began Artsy Forager when I left a long time gallery/ art consultation position and was preparing to leave Florida to begin traveling the Northwest with George. I knew that I would be bored without something to occupy my time while George was working and getting a different job in a new town every 3 months didn’t seem appealing or even possible. I thought about what I’d loved the most about my former position, what really excited and motivated me– it was the artists themselves and their work. I’ve always loved writing, I was almost a Lit major before switching to Art History and I thought blogging would be an interesting way to fuel my passion for art, help artists succeed in whatever way I could and allow me to build and create something of my own. What really inspires me is the relationships I’m building with artists from all over the country. When artists come to me for advice, I am honored, humbled and inspired to do more of whatever I can to help them succeed. Who knows where Artsy Forager may lead in the next few years. I hope it leads to greater success, not just for me, but for every artist featured.
Champagne Pop, mixed media with resin, 24×36
To see more of M.A.’s work, please visit her website. Taking over tomorrow: Christina Baker!
Mr. Forager and I are spending this week celebrating Thanksgiving, so I decided to show my thanks to this month’s Featured Artist by re-running a few of her previous posts! This feature first ran in November 2011. Enjoy!
Many artists will paint multiple paintings on the same canvas, one on top of the other. But while most are painting over work that they’ve tired of or that was unsatisfactory, Vancouver artist M.A. Tateishi, layers her paintings in order to later reveal what is hidden underneath.
Pink Is The Navy Blue Of India, mixed media and resin on board, 36×48
In her Excavations series, she layers 10 to 20 underpaintings onto her panel, then begins her process of excavation to reveal the varied surfaces underneath. A final coat of resin seals the surface and enhances the visual depth of each work.
Neon City, mixed media with resin, 36×48
To me, there is something really beautiful and moving about work that utilizes this process of selective revelation. After the artist has created a visual history, to then go back and unearth those hidden gems must be a bit like the excitement of opening gifts on Christmas mornings. Oh, what treasures may be found! What happy surprises lurk just beneath the surface!
Spiral Joy, mixed media on panel, 36×36
M.A.’s Transparency Series offers an even more fluid experience of each work’s visual history, as each layer is transparent and clearly visible in the finished work, as well as the underlayer of the wood panel, adding a wonderful organic texture against the pops of bright color.
Fire Snake, mixed media on panel, 40×40Free Bird, mixed media and resin on board, 36×48
M.A. once told me that she often feels like a piece isn’t complete without a little touch of pink. This is an artist that definitely embraces the power of pink and isn’t afraid to unearth what is hidden.
To see more of M.A.’s revealing work, check out her website and Facebook page. If you happen to be in the Vancouver, BC area, MA Tateishi will be participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl this weekend. See her website for more details!
Featured image is Thrush Song, mixed media on panel, 36×36. All images are via that artist’s website.
It’s funny how the shorter days of winter effect our psyche. Less daylight has us longing to curl up and hibernate until the spring. When the sun is out and shining, we turn our faces toward it, soaking up every precious ounce that we can. For artist Elise Morris, seeking and finding the light is a part of her process, resulting in paintings that are positively luminous.
In Morris’s paintings, the light fairly flutters across the canvas, darting in and out of the shadows like a firefly. Those flickers of light shine through to give her paintings the magic of light being filtered through a forest canopy– alluring and glowing, giving us reassurance that the light will find its way through the darkness.
Its so easy sometimes to lose sight of exactly who we are. Circumstances bend and shape us in ways we didn’t foresee and then one day, we glance in the mirror and don’t recognize the face looking back. The work of Los Angeles based artist Winifred Johnson Brewer seems to address issues of confusion in the environment and within ourselves.
On her website, the artist recounts a story of confusion happening among honeybees. Although the bees are not attracted to artificial light like moths might be, the artist witnessed the insects circling a bare lightbulb in her studio, then dying in a pool on the floor. The bees seem to be forgetting their very innate nature, then suffering the consequences for it. How often have we done the same? Lost sight of our own talents or goals in order to fit in or succeed? If we continue to don our masks, our real selves are likely to go the way of the honeybee.
Creating and choosing art for healthcare environments is about much more than just beautifying a space. People in those environments are often worried, stressed, sad, and in need of healing. Experts have found that through evidence-based design, these places can become much more warm and welcoming and certain design choices can actually aid the healing process. Carefully chosen artwork in these settings not only has a positive impact on the patients, visitors, and staff, but also on the perception of care given by the facility.
I’ve had several artists, designers, and publishers ask about placing artwork in healthcare environments. They want to be a part of creating a healing environment, but aren’t sure how to go about it. So considering evidence-based design and my own experiences in curating art for healthcare, I’ve put together a few guiding principles when creating or choosing art for healthcare environments–
1 | happy, engaging imagery
Nine times out of ten, unless you’re there for the entrance of a new baby into the world, being in a hospital or other type of healthcare environment is not a happy or joyful occasion. And with all the weird smells, strange noises, and necessary sterility of these settings, no wonder they can be seen as such cold, intimidating places! Creating and curating art for healthcare environments that fosters a more warm, welcoming atmosphere goes a long way toward making patients and visitors feel more at ease in their surroundings. Work that makes us smile, reminds us of family and love, and calls to mind memories of happy times all can work together to ease the mind and spirit.
Often when you ask a hospital patient how they’re doing, you may get an answer that begins with “I’d rather be…”. Patients and visitors often wish they were anywhere but where they are. Artwork that creates a sense of voyeuristic escape can lessen anxiety by giving the viewer a means of liberation from their current situation. They’re able to think less about their pain or circumstances as their mind wanders and wonders what might be over that hill or around that bend.
3 | create a sense of calm, peacefulness and positivity
By using natural, organic imagery as symbols of peace, restoration, and comfort, the artwork in healthcare environments can become instruments of healing. Studies have shown that patients shown nurturing scenes of nature required lower strength pain medication. These kinds of images also foster a sense of the world outside the walls of the facility and the goal to get back to where the skies are blue and the waters peaceful.
Hospitals can be lonely, scary places. Choosing artwork that may garner conversation goes a long way toward creating connections among patients and visitors, as well as providing a much needed mental escape. Sculpture and interactive digital artwork do well to give patients and visitors a purposeful sense of exploration and the unexpected and abstract can create a path to solving a puzzle and thereby, a means of distraction.
5 | create reflections of community
Each hospital or healthcare facility has an important role to play as a part of a community. Honoring the history, landmarks, and atmosphere of that community can create a sense of familiarity and connection in places where we often feel helpless and alone.
Creating and curating art for healthcare environments is about so much more than simply manufacturing a pleasing looking space. Instead of merely being places of clinical procedures and processes, through art and design hospitals and other medical facilities are becoming places of nurturing and healing. Artists, designers, and consultants are looking more and more not at what the artwork speaks to them, but how it promotes positivity and restoration to the visitor and patient.
You can read more on evidence based design in this Guide to Evidence Based Art by Kathy Hathorn, MA, and Upali Nanda, Ph.D.
I am a long time fan of Seattle artist Liz Tran. Evidenced in posts herehere and here. The color and movement in her work creates such a lovely, happy atmosphere. Obviously, its work that I return to again and again. Following an artist residency in North Iceland this June, Tran created a series of Electric Necklaces out of ceramic pieces found on the beach in Reykjavik. Most of the elements in the necklaces are old electrical components that have been worn by the North Atlantic and then transformed by the painter’s hand.
Aren’t they magical? You can see more work from Liz Tran on her website. And if you really want to stir up your own green eyed monster, follow Liz on Instagram, where she is taking you along on her very artsy tour through Frances. Tres jaloux!
Being nature loving outdoorsy types, Mr. Forager and I sometimes discuss what it would have been like for Adam & Eve– to dwell peacefully with wild animals. Mr. F hopes that being able to interact safely with wild creatures will be one of the perks of heaven. He really really wants to hug a grizzly bear. In her mixed media work, New York based artist Lauren Matsumoto uses unexpected elements to focus on nature and how we relate to it.
The artist uses female figures from vintage erotica among playful and whimsical flora. But there is an element of the looming industrial age, as planes, satellites, and automobiles threaten to intrude and destroy our love affair with nature. How often do we completely unplug? No wifi, no cell phones, no cable t.v. It’s definitely easier said than done, but maybe if we try it, we can recapture some of that peaceable kingdom that once was.
It’s the end of the week, but the beginning of a brand new month! Oh, October, did you have to go so soon? I’ll forgive you, though, because November means a new Featured Artist and she is one of my long-time faves! The work of Vancouver, BC artist M.A. Tateishi explodes with color and movement, so its fitting that the artist would find recent inspiration in the undersea realm.
Following a trip to the Vancouver Aquarium, the artist has been cranking out these jellyfish inspired works. ( if you’re up Vancouver-way, there’s a special jellyfish exhibit but it’s only on exhibit until November 14th! ) The graceful, flowing creatures are a perfect vehicle for Tateishi’s bold, fluid style. The jellyfish are part of a new Pure series, in which the artist combines drawing and pure, transparent colored resin. Stunning, right??
All this month, I’ll be featuring M.A.’s work here on the blog and the Artsy Forager social media pages. Be sure to head over to Facebook where her work will be gracing the cover of our page and I’ve put together an album of my personal Tateishi faves.
Another note for you Vancouverites ( Vancouverians? ), M.A. Tateishi will be participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl with 400 fellow artists November 15-17th. Don’t miss out on the chance to see these beauties in person! Want to see more? Make sure you visit M.A.’s website and Facebook page.
