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Shannon Sullivan

There are small, recurring moments in our marriage that make my heart swell. Every night when Mr. F offers me a piece of chocolate after dinner, hidden love notes, and when while we’re in a gallery, Mr. F calls me over and says “Did you see this?!” Recently while we made a quick unplanned tour of a gallery here in Eureka, we came across this artist’s work and both immediately loved it. Eureka artist Shannon Sullivan creates these incredible ceramic forms, taking cues from nature yet remaining completely modern and compelling.

The artist’s website is filled with incredible work– I seriously had such a hard time choosing what to feature– but felt the most drawn to her Plots series. The series is based on ideas of land use and cultivation inspired by a trip to South America. Soft looking ceramic forms are adorned with acrylic or polymer clay shapes, a nod to the effect of man’s hand on the natural environment. The result is striking, engaging pieces that are visually intriguing even without knowing their reference.

To see more work by Shannon Sullivan, please visit her website— there is so much more to see!! Not just incredible sculptures, but wonderful wall pieces as well.

All images via the artist’s website.

April 8, 2014
Fiber Loves: Juliet Martin

Mr. F and I have known each other a long time. We were friends from way back before we became Mr. & Mrs. Long enough and well enough to know each other’s exes. We often speculate on what our lives had we stayed with our former loves ( and thankful each day things turned out the way they did!! ). In her Men I Have Known series, New York artist Juliet Martin crafts woven textile sculptures, each representing a different lover.

In these colorful, playful phalluses ( I didn’t immediately see the phallic quality to some, but then I can be pretty naive like that.. ), the artist, according to her website, is satirizing the idea of man as conqueror and possessor of sexual power. Instead, she’s creating her own “trophies”, bedpost notches, if you will. At first glance, the viewer would have no idea the meaning behind these pieces but the mystery is half the fun, yes? 😉

To see more of Juliet Martin‘s work, please visit her website.

All images via the artist’s website.

April 3, 2014
Artsy Spot: Sewell Gallery

The forecast for last Saturday in Eureka was cloudy and rainy, so Mr. F and I planned to spend a leisurely day drinking coffee and catching up on work in a downtown coffee shop. And we did, for a few hours.. until we noticed that the rain didn’t seem to be coming and the sun was shining! So we decided ditched work to spend the afternoon doing a little more exploring around Old Town Eureka. We tasted grains at the local brew shop, browsed a dusty antique shop and a fun little vintage clothing boutique. As we were about to grab a burger & hit up Mr. F’s favorite Eureka watering hole, I spotted an open sign at Sewell Gallery and was so pleased at what we found inside.

Sewell Gallery exclusively features the work of Humboldt County artists and showcases some of the best the region has to offer in a large and inviting space. The current show, up for just a few more days, features the work of textile artist April Sproule . She creates these amazingly intricate contemporary quilt designs– I was especially drawn to the graphic quality found in her monochromatic work.

quilt by April Sproule, sculpture by Conrad Calimpong

April Sproule quilt details

In addition to the featured exhibition, Mr. F and I found a wide range of mediums and styles to peruse. We both loved these ceramic pieces by Shannon Sullivan— gorgeously crafted and temptingly priced!

ceramics by Shannon Sullivan

Of course, you know I can’t resist abstract paintings and these two were calling to me across the sunlit gallery..

details of work by Leslie Price [ top ] and Victoria Ryan [ bottom ]

It was just the perfect day to wander through a gallery! We’ll definitely be putting Sewell on our list of places to stop in occasionally.

It’s looking pretty likely that Mr. F and I could be in Eureka at least through the summer and I’m more excited about that prospect than ever. With the largest concentration of artists per capita in all of California, Humboldt County has so much to offer and discover!

If you ever happen to be in Eureka, make sure to put in a stop at Sewell Gallery! Coming up Saturday is my first Eureka Arts Alive event. Stay tuned for more on that next week!

Exterior gallery image via Sewell Gallery on Facebook. All other images by Artsy Forager.

April 1, 2014
Fantastical Specimens: Susan Beiner

Now that Spring is here and we are eager to explore our new spot, Mr. Forager & I have been getting back into a regular hiking routine, weather permitting, we are out on the trails every Saturday. One of my absolute favorite things about hiking is the chance to marvel at the natural world just outside our back door. Every hike is filled with wonder and discovery. Perhaps that’s what has drawn me to the work of today’s artist. The ceramic sculptures of Susan Beiner are bursting with organic whimsy, making me want to peer closer to take it all in.

Clusters and orbs remind me of the mussels and anemones that we delighted in among the tide pools along the beaches in Trinidad this weekend. Each piece seems teeming with life, ready to explode with movement at any second. All the nooks and crannies, where there may be hiding a new shape, a new creature to be discovered. These pieces are like the best of hikes– there is always something new to see and each glance leaves us looking forward to the next discovery.

To see more of Susan Beiner‘s work, please visit her website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 27, 2014
Lavish Simplicty: Miya Ando

As many artists know, much of the time, art making is a matter of knowing when enough is enough. Or even when enough is just a bit too much. In her work, New York artist Miya Ando is creating pure moments of simply just enough.

By working in a process in which she hand-dyes metallic surfaces, Ando creates pieces with an incredible sense of stillness and light. Translucent layers of color reflect not just the light without but the light within. By keeping the compositions simple, the work is free from distraction, allowing the viewer to fall into its spell, to meditate on the purity of color and transformative power of light.

To see more of Miya Ando‘s work, please visit her website and be sure to follow her on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram.

Here the artist speak about her work in this video interview–

Teaser – MIYA ANDO from Tricycle on Vimeo.

All images are via the artist’s website.

March 20, 2014
Design Foraging: Ladies & Gentlemen Studio

I have a great love for wind chimes. My paternal grandfather used to fashion his own from aluminum pipes and every time I hear breezy chimes, I’m transported back to summer days in the cool grass of my grandparents’ backyard. So when I spotted these Aura Chimes by Seattle based design house Ladies & Gentlemen Studio ( in collaboration with artist Nicholas Nyland ) on The Jealous Curator, I just had to share them with you!

Handmade in small edition, each chime is unique, made of metal, wood, and leather components complimenting Nicholas Nyland ceramic pieces. Such a lovely modern take on an ancient ornament!

To see purchase or see more work by Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, please visit their website!

All images via the Ladies & Gentlemen Studio website.

March 18, 2014
Of Branches and Beings: Lisa Kokin

Hmm.. It would seem I’m having a thing for books and cowboys this week. Let’s just go with it, ‘kay? I had a different artist planned for today, but sometimes, I’m just not feeling it, so I go into my Pinterest archives to see what might strike my fancy a little, um, fancier. And these sewn sculptures by Lisa Kokin got me excited.

The artist has taken old pulp cowboy novels and transformed them into organic branches and beings. Cowboy culture has been such a prominent and accepted part of American history, pop culture elevating the cowboy as hero throughout the mid-twentieth century, it isn’t any wonder the gun totin’ good-guy mentality has permeated the minds of so many. Kokin is taking a stereotypically male culture and fusing it with a stereotypical female craft by taking apart these books and sewing them together. It is interesting to think of the young boys who once held these books and played the cowboy role. Have their lives transformed? Or are they still playing cowboy?

To see more of the work of Lisa Kokin, please visit her website. Lisa’s work can currently be seen in Women’s Work at Seager Gray Gallery in Mill Valley, CA through March 30th.

Images via the artist’s website.

March 13, 2014
Fragile Lives: Tanis Saxby

Flustered. Anxious. Stressed. Extra crabby. These are just a few ways to describe how I’ve been feeling lately. My freelance work is busier than ever, I’m working under a deadline for a project debuting in March that I’m really excited ( and super stressed ) about, and I’ve just added more by creating an Instagram project for the month of February! The work of sculptor Tanis Saxby is just exactly what I need to focus on right now.. pure, flowing, and delicate, they remind me of the fragility of this life.

Life is such a delicate balance. Too much of one thing or another is enough to set us off into dangerous territory. How much I sometimes envy the birds and animals of the woods, how simple their needs and how instinctual their purpose!

Much of Tanis Saxby’s work is an embodiment of the vulnerability of life, the sculptures in her Flow & True series speak to the delicate strength possessed by all life and the movement and transitory forms of every element in nature. Her Dandelion & Bone series continue along this theme, especially focusing on the ethereal dandelion seed. The flower, often thought of as a weed, has held the wishes of many a young child ( and this Artsy adult! ).

So I plan to gaze awhile at these lovely creations and focus on the flow of good coming into and going out of my life. There is so much more to be thankful for than to be stressed over.

To see more of Tanis Saxby’s work, please visit her website.

Thank you to artist M.A. Tateishi for introducing me to Tanis’s work! All images are via the artist’s website.

January 30, 2014
Delicate Gestures: Hiromi Moneyhun

Our modern society has such a fascination with speed and we are constantly feeding our need for it with faster internet, cars, food, you name it. But once upon a time, most cultures valued things done with meticulousness and care. Florida based Japanese artist Hiromi Moneyhun hand constructs elaborate and delicate paper cuts using a methodical and time consuming process, hearkening back to the careful artistry and precision long cherished in the Japanese culture.

Drawing upon characters synonymous in traditional Japanese culture for their artful deftness such as the geisha and oiran, Moneyhun carefully drafts these complex paper-cuts first as line drawings. It is only after the initial drawing is complete that she begins the slow, methodical process of cutting around the lines to create sculptural drawings that delicately float, an interesting juxtaposition to their bold lines and composition.

To see more of Hiromi Moneyhun‘s work, please visit her website.

Artist found via Florida Mining. First image via Aethetica Magazine, all other images via the artist.

January 20, 2014
The Mirror Has Many Faces: Reinhard Voss

The We Are the Contributors mini project got me thinking recently about the various roles we play. Yet we aren’t just taking on different tasks, we’re often putting on an almost completely different persona according to where we are and with whom we’re interacting. These sculptures by German artist Reinhard Voss, with their Cubist-like style seem to give us a physical manifestation of the various faces we put on.

Voss’s sculptures are created by piecing together strips of wood, leaving our eyes to see the varying grains and planes making up each face. The effect is eerie at times, resulting in a face contorted or seeming to have been erased.

The different “faces” we put on can be so similar, can’t they? We might lose our mouth ( i.e. hold our tongue ) in certain situations or be blinded in others. How often do we are we truly showing who we are? In what company do we feel we can show the most honest face?

To see more of Reinhard Voss‘s work, please visit his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.

January 13, 2014

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