America is often a strange place and seems to just keep getting stranger. Los Angeles artist Deborah Martin captures the sad desolation found across our country in her poignant paintings.
Aces and Spades, oil on canvas, 36×36Slab City Chairs, oil on canvas, 36×36
Her use of a limited, pastel neutral palette softens the sometimes oddly grim reality of many lives in America.
Keep Out, oil on canvas, 36×36
Yet somehow, these aren’t dark, depressing images of life in one of the richest countries in the world. They don’t feel critical or satirical, but rather reverent and dreamy.
Fifty-two, oil on canvas, 36×36
To see more of Deborah’s work, please visit her website. If you are in the Los Angeles area, she is currently showing at The Red Arrow Gallery in Joshua Tree, CA. I have a feeling these paintings are even more intriguing in person!
Featured image is Yellow Camper, oil on canvas, 36×36. All images are via the artist’s website.
Said it before, I’ll say it again. Fall is my favorite season. The cool, crisp air, the golden light, the colors, the comfort food, I love it all! For the very first time, this Florida girl is experiencing a real Fall. With boot weather and incredible changing leaves, I’m so excited, I can barely stand it. While in this autumnal frame of mind, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite Fall-inspired art…
Trees and Light by Debbie Martin, 40×40Tree View #7 by Kristi Taylor, acrylic on canvas 18×24Penelope DullaghanNine Full Moon Maples by Mary Chomenko Hinckley, pigment print on archival german paper, 21×21
Please visit these artists’ websites to see more of their work– some Fall-ish, some not. I’m hoping George & I might see some real Fall color this weekend here in Southern Oregon. What about you? Any autumnal activities on tap?
I find it intriguing when artists let us into their imaginations, giving us a glimpse of the world as they see it, scenes of life as they interpret it. Portland photographer Grace Weston creates small, staged vignettes that take on big, universal themes and canonical artwork.
Winter Wish, Winter Dream
The images are simple in their composition, poetic in their imagery and completely relatable. Their dreamlike quality is, depending upon the image, entrancing, wryly humorous or slightly disturbing in an intentionally sweet yet creepy way.
LovebirdsBaby Makes Three
I especially love her take on iconic artwork such one of The Unicorn in Captivity tapestry from the Metropolitan Museum in New York and The Son of Man by Rene Magritte. What can I say, the art history major in me totally geeks out on these kinds of references and reinterpretations.
Petting ZooThe Overseer
Grace Weston is represented by G. Gibson Gallery in Portland, Oregon, so if you’re in that area, stop in to see her work in person or visit her website.
Featured image is Laundry Day. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
I am constantly inspired by how people live with art in their own homes. I love the way folks are thinking outside the box in terms of the art they collect, where and how they display it. I’m hoping these short little visual features, Artsy Dwelling, will help inspire you!
We spend so much time in the kitchen these days– let’s face it, this room is the hub of any home. It is where people inevitably gather during any party! So why not display some of your favorite art in the spot where you spend so much time? The only guideline? Keep valuable original art away from cooking & prep areas to prevent damage. Otherwise, feel free to think outside the icebox!
How about you, Artsies? Do you have art in your kitchen? Or have images of how you live with art in your home that you’d like to share? We would love to see! Feel free to email digital images to artsyforager@att.net and we might just feature your home on the blog!
Image sources can be found by clicking on the image.
Do you ever wish you could just escape? From your cares, stresses, work, technology, you name it. Take a moment to run away with me into Minnesota artist Melissa Loop‘s landscapes of fantastical refuge. They are part wonderland, part social commentary, but fully contemporary and brilliant.
Walmart, acrylic and enamel on panel, 36×24
Slide down a huge pink curvy slide as tall as a skyscraper leading down to a river coming out of a mountain shaped like a bear’s head? Don’t mind if I do!
City Park 3, acrylic and enamel on panel, 48×36
Her use of flat shapes, vivid colors and perspectives make these a bit reminiscent of vintage travel posters, but then the added contemporary pops of patterns such as swoopy stripes and repeating textile-like shapes add more dimensions of interest. These truly are works that I could escape into– just to try to figure out all that is going on! They are like a crazy dream gone wild. And I love them.
U.A.E. Arc Intervention, acrylic and enamel on panel, 24×36St. Thomas All Inclusive, acrylic and enamel on panel, 36×24
To see more of Melissa Loop’s world, please visit her website. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to close my eyes and dream of curvy pink slides.
Everyone loves a parade, don’t they? Well, I certainly do. And Seattle artist Pamela Durga Robinson’s Parade series brilliantly captures the spirits of the parts that make the whole.
Drill Team Captain, oil on canvas, 36×36
She choses to isolate the individual players– band members, clowns, audience– so that we can focus in on them and their experience.
Seasoned Critics, oil on canvas, 12×12
Her figures are so human.. these are your parents, children, friends, the people you see at the supermarket on Sunday. She uses negative space to give importance to figures that otherwise might just be faces lost in the crowd. And her brightly colored backgrounds recall the upbeat cheeriness of a parade and provide an interesting juxtaposition against the sometimes sullen faces.
Flutes All In A Row, oil on canvas, 12×12Drill Team Wannabes, oil on canvas, 12×12
To see more of Pamela’s parade of characters, be sure to check out her website. You can also see her work in person ( and enjoy some yummy goodies ) at Fresh Flours on Phinney Ave in Seattle.
Featured image is Anticipation, oil on canvas, 36×12. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
Cooler weather has finally made its way to Southern Oregon. Which brings with it my favorite season, autumn. There is something about the quality of light in the Fall that makes everything seem to glow like candlelight. Atlanta artist Ryan Coleman is no doubt aware of the effects of autumnal light. His abstract paintings sing in tune with the loveliness of this transitional season.
Nature's Tempest, oil on canvas, 48×48
Taking his inspiration from the nature around him, Ryan uses expressive brushwork and subtle shifts in color to achieve his soft abstractions of the bountiful beauty found within the landscape.
Untitled, oil on canvas, 48×48
Glorious color bursts forth from the canvas, just as autumn leaves provide a last triumphant explosion of hues before grey winter sets in.
oil on canvasoil on canvas
These paintings make me feel like I’ve just taken a walk through the autumn woods. Hope to experience the real thing this weekend! To see more of Ryan Coleman’s work, please visit his website and Facebook page. If you’re in the Atlanta area, his work can be viewed at Pryor Fine Art.
Featured image is Celebration, oil on canvas, 40×30. All images are courtesy of the artist’s website.
One of the many things George & I love about the Pacific Northwest is the wildlife. In the 4 months we’ve been here, we’ve seen bear, elk, hoary marmots, sea lions, elephant seals, eagles, chipmunks and more deer than I can count. This area of the country still feels incredibly wild and untamed. So this week, I’m sharing all the wild artwork I’m, well, wild about lately.
The Beast by Shira Glezerman, oil on treated wood, 35.43×55.12Untitled Stag With Chandelier by Miranda Skoczek, enamel and oil on canvas, 43.31×47.24Sweaters by Jennifer Davis, acrylic, charcoal & graphite on panel, 12×16Sheep Chaperone by Vicki Sawyer, acrylic on canvas, 14×11
Have a great weekend, Artsies! Be sure to check out each of these artists’ websites for more beastly artwork!
When I first saw Amy Sherald’s paintings, I immediately loved them for their bold, graphic quality and quirkiness. But it wasn’t until I took a closer look that I realized that these were more than just eccentric portraits.
The Rabbit in the Hat
Sherald chooses to paint the skin tones of her African American figures, not their normal beautiful brown tones, but dull grays. In doing so, she uses her choice of paint color to comment on the push for African Americans to “fit in” with white society.
They Call Me Redbone But I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake
Having been one of only a few African Americans in a predominately white private school in the South, Sherald draws ( literally ) on her experience of trying to maintain her racial identity while feeling the need to put on certain white characteristics in order to be socially accepted among her peers. This “performance” aspect is depicted in her work but the appearance of characters, costumes, masks, etc.
It Made Sense… Mostly In Her Mind
Miss Everything (Unsupressed Deliverance)
You can see in these works, a sense of the frustration and futility of denying your true self to fit in. How often do we pick up our own mask or put on our own costume, when we are afraid of being rejected for who we truly are?
Check out Amy Sherald’s website for more images of her work and be sure to read her insightful artist statement.
Artwork has the power to facilitate change. Most importantly, in our minds, spirits and hearts. But today, we’re going stay in the more shallow end of the pool. 🙂 Let’s have some art + design fun and take a look at a beautifully designed room and see how just changing up the artwork can transform the way the room feels.
For our first go ’round, we’ll start with a fairly classic, neutral room:
Look #1: In keeping with the classic, slightly beachy style of the room, we’ll add an oceanscape by Tennessee artist Christina Baker.
The shift from mirror to artwork, in this case, is subtle, but what an impact! Makes for a much more interesting room, yes? Even the pup seems more pleased!
Look #2: Though the space is gorgeous, it could use a well-placed pop of color! So let’s see what a Michelle Armas abstract does for it..
The lovely colors and lively brushstrokes really bring the space into a shinier, happier territory, don’t they?
Look #3: The best way to help elevate a traditional room into something with a bit more personality? A graphic and quirky piece by Sarah Ashley Longshore from her Audrey Hepburn series.
This look works because what’s more classic than Audrey Hepburn? That’s right, nothing. So her iconic image keeps with the traditional vibe, but the bright colors and pop-style of the painting add a punch of the unexpected.
Hope you enjoyed our little peek at how varying styles of art can change a room’s personality! What’s your home’s art-style? Do you change things up or keep your favorites up ’round the clock?
Be on the lookout for future installments of this new Artsy Forager feature, [ Insert Art Here ]!
Featured room image via House of Turquoise, architect James Cullion and interior designer Eileen Marcuvitz, photographed by Robert Benson.
