Fire is fascinating. At once necessary and dangerous. Delicately beautiful and vigorously potent. It lives and breathes. It is no wonder that artist’s embrace its beauty and harness its power. Take a look at these artists who are using their firepower for good.
As many of you know, my husband and I are currently living in a new locale every three months. Each new place has its own personality and part of the excitement ( and scariness! ) of our journey is to find where we fit within each community. Peruvian-born artist Cecilia Paredes‘ work explores, what to me, are very personal themes of displacement and relocation.
Parades uses make-up, body paint and costume to visually blend into intricate backgrounds. This visualisation of our desire to fit, to be a part of who or what surrounds us resonates with me, not only as someone not currently rooted, but also because I am in many ways, still learning who am I apart from what or who surrounds me.
In each image, though her figure is well disguised, we are still given a hint to her presence, whether it be through her hair or the whites of her eyes. She is hidden in full view. Blending in, yet waiting to be discovered.
Normally, this is where I would direct you to the artist’s website. Cecilia Paredes does, indeed, have a website, but unfortunately, at the time of this posting, it doesn’t seem to be working. You can find her on ArtNet or check out any number of reviews that come up on Google. I found her via Lost at E Minor.
All images are via Cecilia Parades’ feature on My Modern Metropolis.
Artists and designers have been inspiring each other for centuries. Whether we realize it or not, much of the clothes we wear, jewelry we sport and objects we use are a result of the symbiosis between art and design. And I for one, love to celebrate such connections! For this first feature in the new Artsy Fodder series, let’s have some fun with artfully inspired jewelry designs. These pieces may not have directly influenced each other, but there is an unmistakable resemblance.
Art…
Bejewelled…
Art…
Bejewelled…
Art…
Bejewelled…
Art…
Bejewelled…
Art…
Bejewelled…
Do find yourself buying pretty baubles that remind you of your favorite artwork? Take a look inside your own closet or jewelry box and I’ll bet you’ll see some similarities!
Each year, Pantone announces its “Color of the Year”. The color authority combs the world looking for influential color and its Color of the Year proclamation affects design decisions in fashion, interiors, products, packaging, you name it. This year’s color is a bold and vibrant reddish-orange, Tangerine Tango. Artists, always ahead of the curve, have been embracing orange for quite some time. I know it’s always been one of my own favorite hues. Take a peek at some of these lovely examples of tangerine dreams!
Any orangey hued works you’re loving lately? Would love to hear about them! Have a great weekend, Artsies, and if you’re snowed in and in need of some warming, check out today’s featured artists’ websites!
4. Pamela Viola
All images are via the artists’ websites, noted above.
Sometimes I’m just not sure how the work of certain artists escapes my notice. Then one day, as I happen to be perusing Pinterest, searching for a home exercise regimen I just knew I saw but forgot to pin, I see an image that blows me away. Case in point: the image below by fine art photographer Tom Chambers.
Chambers’ fine art photo montages have a haunting surrealistic quality, but have a spiritual and ethereal quality that has a sentimentality to it that perhaps owes itself to one of Chambers’ influences, Andrew Wyeth.
Chambers’ work also has the same soft muted colors and striking light as Wyeth’s, which adds to the dreamlike quality. Add to that their narrative nature makes them seem to me, like a fairy tale meets a folk song.
To see more of Tom Chambers’ work, please visit his website. Be sure and read the artist statement for each series– the stories behind the images definitely enhance your viewing experience!
Featured image is Blue Fox by Tom Chambers. 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.
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.
Check out my Escape Into Life post today featuring Laird, a Northeast Florida photographer whose work can be seen at Florida Mining. You may remember his work from my Gallery Spotlight post featuring FM. This new work is stunning!
Art and textiles have enjoyed a long and happy partnership. Every art student has known the joy of capturing supple folds of fabric in charcoal. As we explored during artsyF A S H I O NWeek, many artists have been captivated by the beauty of intricately crafted garments. In her work, Massachusetts photographer Carin Ingalsbe celebrates the remarkable colors, textures and patterns of clothing and costume.
Carin’s latest series focuses concentration on fashion normally admired from afar– ballet costumes.
Inherently, these opulent pieces are designed to be beautiful while in movement. But in her closely cropped still lifes, Carin captures their quiet beauty and we are treated to a look at the intricacies of each individual garment.
If you are anything like me, you’re now dreaming of floating across the stage in one of these numbers. To see more of Carin Ingalsbe’s stunning photographs, please visit her website. Make sure you read the history of each garment– fascinating stuff!
You can also check out Carin’s work in person at Lanoue Fine Art in Boston.
Featured image is The Royal Swedish Ballet, Metallic Skirt c. 1790-1830. All images are via the artist’s website.