Artists To Know

Artists To Know: Art About Resilience

As this strange year has progressed and people are adjusting to more and more temporary lifestyle changes each day, I have seen the role creation and the arts are playing in people’s mental and emotional survival. More and more people are turning to creativity as a release from stress, uncertainty, news, disappointment, grief, and longing. Art also has the power to remind us of things, like the fact that we as a society are more resilient than we think. Today I’m going to share some art with you that conveys hope and resilience, something we should be sharing more about right now.

Yoriyuki Ikegami

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Ikegami is an illustrator from Tokyo, Japan. I discovered Ikegami’s illustrations during some mindless Instagram surfing on a not-too-cheery quarantine day, and they truly did have an effect on my disposition. I left my screen time feeling at least a bit more cheerful, inspired, and in an unexplainable way kind of hopeful. That’s the power of art! To me, these illustrations speak to hope as their characters see what might be in the colorful reflections of their landscapes. So often when we imagine futures we go towards the worst case scenario, but what if things turn out alright in the end? What if we aren’t as alone as we think?

Brooke Smart

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Smart is a successful illustrator with clients including : Random House Kids, Penguin Workshop, andThe New York Times. Her bright watercolor style illustrations made with a sketchbook appeal resonate with both kids and adults alike. This illustration in particular caught my eye with the strong symbolism of pictures and scenes drawn on band-aids. Each experience adds to our story. We don’t always need to regret or curse difficult circumstances or wounds, because these occurrences add to our story and what type of character we will become in our own life. Oftentimes, as shown by the hands carefully applying a bandage, there will be someone there to share our story with – don’t be afraid to accept that support.

Abby Aceves

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Aceves is a fine artist with a BA in fashion design from The Advanced Center In Fashion And Styling in Mexico. She is now based in California, and had her own fashion label for 7 years before transitioning full time into fine arts. Her paintings celebrate women’s narratives and unique personalities, their place in the world, and within Mexican culture. This both jarring and elegant piece speaks to me about the pain of growth, and the contrast between beauty and pain. There can be no transformation without discomfort. I have always been a highly sensitive human that experiences strong emotions. I’ve often wondered if I’d be happier a different way, but came to the conclusion that if I had to give up the brilliant highs I experience; the way I can get lost in the detail on a piece of bark while walking outside to get the mail, the childlike joy and excitement I get out of seeing a sunset or an interestingly shaped cloud, the way my brain can turn something pretty basic into a fun adventure … it wouldn’t be worth it. I would never want to give that up even though sometimes the negative emotions I experience are intensified too. When we experience struggle as we all are collectively right now, we can choose to grow from it so that nothing is wasted, not even time. We can as a society and individually choose what we want to learn from this, and what we want to carry into the future.

Polina Bright

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Bright is a watercolor artist from Sydney, Australia. Her main sources of inspiration are plants and animals, and she is a strong believer that there is “an unconditional bond between a Woman and Nature” because “Love, Beauty, Strength, Power and many others traits are shared between a Woman’s inner world and wildlife.” This piece of hers struck me the most, not only because of the dynamic composition but because it is one of the best representations of an internal mental battle that I’ve ever seen. It would be easy to become devoured by fear right now, but who would that help? Mental strength and developing healthy emotional habits has never been more important than now. I know creativity, keeping active, and making sure I enjoy the outdoors for at least a little each day has helped me stay focused.

I hope something here today has inspired you, and I will continue to regularly share art demos accessible to all ages and skill levels to try when you are feeling bored or anxious. We got this!

<3XO<3 Allise

New Work

New Progress On My Current Series!

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Hello all! I recently finished another addition to my 12 part series I’ve been working on since late 2015. For new readers, here’s my blurb briefly explaining the series (If you are already in the know, feel free to skip ahead 😉 ): I am creating 12 mixed media, surreal, conceptual portraits in which the meaning is influenced by the use of pattern and color. They will depict women of all ages, races, and time periods, and each will communicate a different theme. I aim for the pieces to speak to women’s collective experiences beyond their differences. Each of the 12 will represent a month of the year. We tend to think of time and events in terms of our own personal history or the history of the nation in which we reside. But of course, there are women everywhere living out their day to day life all over the world, with hopes, dreams, fears , relationships. Our situations and struggles are very different, but were we in some alternate reality all given a chance to meet, I suspect we would find some surprising similarities, maybe more than we ever expected. The title of each piece starts with the month it represents, followed by “She Is _______”.

This piece is titled July: She Is An Earthshaker. I love mermaids, and really got into aquatic art after following the required theme for the Tall Ships curated exhibition at Studio 23 last summer. This was a fun piece to create, and perhaps my favorite in the series thus far. As a child I don’t know how many times I watched The Little Mermaid, and was absolutely transfixed by King Tritan’s trident (Which of course I later learned came from the myth of Poseidon). I became inspired to make a powerful Lady Poseidon if you will. Earthshaker is another way Poseidon has been referenced, but the name can also apply to those of us in the real world, ordinary people who create waves to change what needs to be changed. She wears a pretty seashell and floral crown, and her facial expression is not one of anger or even one that would imply intense power. Her strength is a quiet strength. If in her head, she can see herself like this, the waves and lightening crashing behind her as she stands firm, perhaps she can believe that she can do anything even if others may doubt her.

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This design is available for print on a variety of cool items in my Redbubble Shop, and art prints on matte photo paper may also be purchased from me Ebay Store.