Many of us have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. Maybe we love that voyeuristic glimpse into other people’s lives. Perhaps we hate that their lives might seem more glamorous than our own. What I personally love is the way it allows us to communicate the beauty in simple moments. The work of Cincinnati artist Emil Robinson carries with it the same celebration of the magic to be found in every day.
Catherine in Orange, oil on panel, 18×24
As I type this, I’m sitting at my desk and am struck by the loveliness of the orange candle sitting quietly on the deep white windowsill. Robinson’s work reminds us of that we don’t always have to seek out what is interesting and delightful. It is all around us, just waiting to be noticed.
Ikea Lamp, oil on panel, 30×36Storage, oil on panel, 12×15Pink Book, oil on panel, 24×24
It might seem strange to want to document such routine aspects of our lives, but it is these common moments that truly make up our lives– that fill the space between the extraordinary.
Man With Storage 2, oil on panel, 24×24
What ordinary moments did you see the beauty in today? To see more of Emil Robinson’s work, please visit his website.
I’ve been told I’m a good listener. So people tend to tell me things. Secret stuff that maybe no one else knows. We all have that friend, the one everyone confides in and is completely confident their secrets will be taken to the grave. In her Other People’s Secrets series, Portland artist Dorothy Goode has found a way to get those piled up secrets out, without ever truly spilling a single one.
No. 3, Egg tempera and sumi ink on panel, 32×48No. 16, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32 x48
The artist began each panel by dipping her fingers into sumi ink, then sprawling secrets over the surface of each panel, first her own and then the confidences of others came leaking out. The letters and forms are mostly illegible, making sure that each secret is still safely hidden.
No. 1, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48
Once the secrets are spilled, the artist then covers them with colorful, scrawling abstract gestures in paint. In that final step, I see an analogy to the way we live with our own well kept mysteries– we hide them in plain sight, often burying them just beneath the brightly colored surface.
No. 8, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48No. 13, egg tempura and sumi ink on panel, 32×48
To see more of Dorothy Goode’s work, please visit her website.
It feels like things are sort of finally getting back to normal.. almost. After being gone for what seemed like an eternity, I’m back on Escape Into Life today sharing the work of Nicolas Kuligowski in my Artist Watch. Head on over to EIL to see more!
Seattle, Seattle, Seattle ( Marcia Brady voice ).. we arrived on Saturday and are completely in love with the city but overwhelmed by apartment hunting. So this week, I’m re-running posts featuring some favorite Seattle artists. Sorry for the repeats, hope to be back to normal artsy blogging next week!
Yes, I just quoted Bob Ross. But the whimsical trees of Seattle artist Liz Tran are miles beyond Ross’s prosaic “happy trees”. Tran’s trees practically shout with joy.
Encircle, mixed media on panel, 36×36
With her use of bright colors and whimsical patterns, these trunks and limbs capture the fun spirit of yarn-bombing in paint!
Winter Drop, mixed media on panel, 48×48August Bloom, mixed media on panel, 36×24
These transporting works take me back to the feeling of being a kid, lying on my back in the grass and looking up into a canopy of trees with sunlight bursting through. There is no other feeling more peaceful and happy.
Summer Stripes, mixed media on panel, 36×36
In a lesser hand, these candied conifers could turn a bit too sweet, but Liz gives them just the right modernity to keep up the fresh and contemporary feel. To see more of Liz Tran’s creations, please visit her website.
Featured image is Traveling Two, mixed media on panel, 36×24. All images are courtesy of the artist’s 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
We all struggle against that ideal we have in our head of the person we feel we are supposed to be. Whether it be the strong head of household, the June Cleaverish mom or the anti-establishment free thinker. Artist Haley Hasler conveys the inner archetypes caught in the complexity of the exterior world in her self portrait series.
Portrait as Sunday Brunch, oil on canvas, 46×56Portrait as Lady Bearing Snacks, oil on canvas
I am continually in awe of any working mom’s as when I glimpse into the insanity of their daily lives, I wonder how in the world they do it. My friend V and I talked about it once, that inert striving that seems to always be present to live up to some sort of ideal.
Portrait as St. Caslide, oil on canvas, 32×46Portrait of Allegory of Fidelity, oil on canvas
But when we let go of that ideal, as my very wise friend told me, that’s when we can really dwell in each moment. The dishes may be dirty, the laundry may be piled up, but our loved ones will remember the time we gave them. There will always be the inner struggle for the “perfect” life– whatever that may look like. But even if the life we cultivate isn’t perfect, it can still be filled with moments of magic.
Portrait as Tooth Fairy, oil on canvas, 38×56
To see more of Haley Hasler’s work, please visit her website.
Forget those boring old still lifes from your grandma’s era. Artists like Thrush Holmes are taking that classic subject and reinterpreting it through modern eyes. The result is anything but boring.
Untitled 2011, oil on canvas, 84×84Untitled 2012, oil on panel, 16×20
Neon-hued petals in flattened, simplified shapes let you know these aren’t just any old floral paintings. With color blocking reminiscent of Matisse, these blossoms fairly jump off the canvas.
Untitled 2011, oil on canvas, 60×84Untitled, oil on panel, 16×20
Graffit-like lines incorporated give these paintings a freewheelin’ freedom their classical predecessors never dreamed of.
Untitled, oil panel, 52×62
To see more of Thrush Holmes’ work, please visit his website.
As you know, dear Artsies, our time in the California high desert is quickly coming to an end. We are this very moment packing and preparing to leave Joshua Tree on Saturday. As much as we’ve been looking forward to this day, anytime you make yourself at home anywhere, leaving can be the slightest bit bittersweet. In each new spot, we find ourselves searching, contemplating.. could we live here permanently? Could this be home? Very often we find the answer to that question rather quickly, but it doesn’t diminish how unique we find each place and how each one carries its own memories. The work of Kansas City artist Robert Josiah Bingaman resonates with the recollections of moments we find with each place we visit.
Texas, acrylic on linen, 102×61I-70 Drive-In, acrylic on birch, 24×18
Bingaman captures the magic of those flashes in time, when we become engrossed in the scene in which we find ourselves, instead of thinking of where we are headed next. We see the beauty in the simplicity of neon against a night sky or a small corner of a big world.
Trex Northwest, acrylic on panel, 20×16Trex Southwest, acrylic on panel, 20×16
It’s so easy to focus on what isn’t right about a place. Especially as Mr. F and I always know that for now, each spot is just a temporary home. But we’ve found that once a place is just a memory, we tend to recall it more fondly. Its flaws fade and we learn to love it from afar.
Nevada, acrylic on linen, 120×54
To see more of Robert Josiah Bingaman’s work, please visit his website.
There has been a poignant video being posted all over social media this week. By now, you’ve probably seen the Dove Real Beauty Sketches on YouTube. In it, we are confronted with the disparity between the way others see us and how we perceive ourselves. As I was watching it this week, it brought to mind these portraits by German artist Olaf Hajek.
In these portraits, we see women of African descent adorned in the extravagant style of Marie Antoinette, the standard of beauty and opulence in her day. These women look every bit as refined and elegant as Antoinette ever did, yet there is a discomfort and sadness about them.
To put on the trappings of another person’s beauty is to not embrace what is truly beautiful about ourselves. We all buy into the lies being told that we need to look a certain way to be considered attractive. Do the birds in all their glory worry about the way their feathers are arranged?
We are constantly in search of the next fashion trend, face cream or make-up that will transform us into the beauty we hope to be. But instead, why don’t we embrace our beauty for what it is? We are each uniquely lovely in a way that no other person in the world could be.
To see more of Olaf Hajek’s work, please visit his website. For a laugh, check out this parody of the Dove Real Beauty Sketches. 😉
Ordinary things explored with interesting color and texture.. I love the simplicity of the work of artist Megan Dorien, being featured in my Artist Watch on Escape Into Life today. Head on over and check it out!
