Tag Archives: inspiration

Artists To Know

This Week’s Top 10 Happy And Creative Things

Because 2020’s got us all feeling a little poopy off and on, here are some things that made me happy amongst the ups and downs of this past weekend and beginning of this week …

#1 Molly Burgess Designs On Instagram

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Check this out … giant beautifully patterned fabric insects. I’m in love.

#2 Corinne Elyse On Society6 

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Vintage print aesthetic, lovely ladies, and lots of eyeballs, OH MY!

#3 Love On The Spectrum

Forming and maintaining romantic relationships is just freaking hard in general, but throw a neurological difference that can make one communicate in a way that is different from the “norm” into the mix…? That is what this show tackles as it follows adults on the autism spectrum as they start to date, and think about what they want in a lifelong partner. I laughed, I was moved emotionally, and I at times related closely to the protagonists of this series. I was impressed by how respectfully done this show was. As someone who works with adults with disabilities and considers myself an advocate, I was concerned the show would be another one of those “Unbelievable – people with disabilities/mental health issues can actually date and have sex!” sorts of shows where viewers are supposed to observe them like they are aliens or zoo animals. But, it is not voyeuristic at all, and is very sincere with much of the commentary being expressed directly by the individuals with autism.

#4 The Handler’s Wardrobe in The Umbrella Academy

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I’m not a big TV person usually, but as my little corner of the world has started to get a lot busier with classes and commissions I’ve been forcing myself to have downtime. So, #4 is another Netflix gem. Not only is this show fantastic in general with hands down the best character development I’ve seen in any superhero TV show or film, but this nefarious vixen’s costuming is simply to die for. I mean, it was good in season 1 but season 2 has taken it next level. I need that crystal spider brooch, and everything else.

#5 Beginning My Modeling Career

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Said a little tongue in cheek ;), but I have always enjoyed going out dressed unconventionally and taking fun photos with friends. This time my expedition was a bit more professionally done with fellow artist and excellent photographer Emiliano Vega. I express myself through fashion, and am in love with anything retro. This shoot was a bold expression of all my quirky style loves from 60s-80s throwback vibes to pigtails to metallics to a boycott of any footwear that’s not boots or tennis shoes. Technically this is from last week, but we’re not getting legalistic about it. If I could, I’d dress like this every day it was legitimately one of the most comfortable outfits I’d worn in a while – stretchy fabric and no pants, what’s not to like?

#6 New Portrait Project

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In the beginning phases, but I am going to be working on a series that makes my heart so happy. It will celebrate disability pride and independence, involve some of my students, and I honestly can’t be more thrilled about how all the pieces are coming together in a way that can only be described as divine intervention. More on this as it unfolds! For now, here’s an in-progress preview.

#7 Rad Student Artwork

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Major props to Sarah for this beautiful cardinal watercolor painting! Sarah will be live painting in a Community Art Party my program is hosting this weekend. Check back for a recap early next week!

#8 Nikki McClure’s Collect Raindrops

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An old bestie from college I’d kind of lost contact with over the years recently commented on my Facebook share about a book exchange (one of those chain mail sorts of things but way more fun). We exchanged the required info, sent books out to the first name on our list, the usual drill. Then yesterday, I got a beautiful surprise art book in the mail from said old friend as well! The paper-cut art prints are absolutely gorgeous and uplifting – love discovering new artists!

#9 Peacock Party!

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I have been into including peacocks in my art for a couple years now, and tonight I got to share the love with some other creative souls. Always love encouraging people to throw some paint, especially for the first time! My favorite part of doing these workshops is seeing how different everyone’s looks at the end after taking in the same inspiration image and step-by-step demonstration. It is so fascinating and exciting to see beginning artists’ style start to emerge <3.

#10 In-Home Thai Restaurant

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I haven’t been eating out much this year with the whole Covid situation, so I’ve been experimenting with recreating my favorite eat-out recipes at home. I bring you, Thai Coconut Curry, made with veggies from the garden!

What’s been keeping your spirits up during this very odd year???

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Art Education, Exhibitions and Other News

Closing Up 2019: A Year In Art

I have been pretty transparent in both my face-to-face public life and my online life about 2019 being one of the toughest years I’ve had in quite some time for a variety of reasons. Though I am more than ready to let go and look forward to 2020, and though “blessed” is definitely not the first word that would come to mind when I think of this past year (the word I’m thinking of starts with an f, guys …) … I am blessed that my ‘day job’ was many times my anchor through a tumultuous 2019. How many people can really say that???

For those new to the blog, I direct an inclusive arts and wellness program called Express Yourself Artshop that is open to students of all abilities, largely serving adults with physical, intellectual, and psychological disabilities. I have worked with Artshop in some capacity since it’s inception a little over 6 years ago, and have had the opportunity to see it grow and transform just as the program helps its participants grow and transform on a personal level. Looking back, 2019 was full of positive experiences and new adventures in creativity in our corner of the world.

The focus this year was definitely getting the students’ art out into the community. Creative expression is invaluable for the peace, joy, and confidence it can give an artist while creating. People really should do art primarily for themselves, but still, getting an artist’s work out of their own home and into the world allows that creation to further make an impact on the public that views it. Especially when it comes to artists with disabilities, society makes a lot of assumptions about what they can and can’t do. Educating through art is another part of what we aim to do.

Our Artshop crew was chosen to participate in the community’s Downtown Summer Sculpture Series. We made a proposal as to how we would transform the default mold, and once accepted proceeded to work as a group to create “Let Your Light Shine”. Not only does the positive message reflect our goal for anyone who participates in our program, but the idea of piecing together different shapes, sizes, and colors of glass to create something that would not be as beautiful were it covered in identical decorations is also symbolic of neurodiversity and the celebration of differences.

2019 was also a year of collaboration. In addition to the sculpture above, students worked on many 2D mixed media group works in a larger scale. Collaborating allows students to play off of each other’s strengths, support each other’s weaknesses, and push themselves to come up with new ideas and creative solutions as they work towards a unified vision.

Two of the collaborations were featured in Creative 360‘s annual fundraiser for auction, both highlighting a creative practice 360 offers. One themed around theater was a collaboration between two of my students, Melanie and Colleen, under my guidance. They collaged the background of a large canvas and a set of masks with old newspapers and magazines, and then chose colorful words that embodied what Creative 360 meant to them to include. We worked together on an overall design and pattern for the painting, and they came up with the idea to place butterfly cutouts flying across and did the layout on their own. I asked questions to prompt ideas, but the vision was theirs and it was truly amazing to see them get excited about what they were doing and bounce ideas back and forth, supporting and encouraging each other along the way.

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The second piece was worked on slowly over the year with a couple of different class groups, starting with a colorful abstract background over which they applied stamping, texture, and doodling with paint markers. Afterwards, smaller silhouettes of figures doing yoga poses were stenciled on (including a shout out to wheelchair yoga on the far right). Last, larger cutouts were layered overtop to provide a main focus. It was amazing how completely different groups were able to come up with ideas to continue the evolution of this piece for a unified final masterpiece.

Another successful collaboration was Creative 360’s performance of scenes from Alice In Wonderland over the summer. Students this year took part in every step of the process of putting on a small production, from deciding costumes to hand creating some whimsical and summery nature inspired backdrops. One of our Acting Class “regulars” even stepped up to fill the role of stage manager, and helped facilitate practices and organize the final show.

Videos of our different performances, events, and open mics throughout the year, including those at our most recent holiday gathering, can be found on Artshop’s Facebook Page. If you want to support our students and also snag some very cool original art, visit our Virtual Gallery, Ebay Shop, and Redbubble Shop. Happy holidays!

 

 

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Music and Film

Dir En Grey 2019 Tour: Music And The Power Of Vulnerability

I recently had the opportunity to get out of town and see one of my favorite bands, Dir En Grey, live in concert. I do not possess any musical talent or skill myself, but am a huge music appreciator. What I look for in bands is the ability to be diverse and work in a variety of styles while still staying true to their own unique creative expression, and Dir En Grey is one of the best examples of this I can think of. Each of their albums has its own distinct sound and story, and they can move between beautiful, melodic, and soothing and intense, hard, and aggressive seamlessly within the same song. I went into this experience with no expectations, just excited to hear a band I have enjoyed since late high school live. I never dreamed I would be so emotionally moved by an experimental metal band, or that I would leave with such a much-needed refill of artistic inspiration, a spark lit that caused me to reflect on my own life as both an artist and as simply a human being. The key to this connection was vulnerability.

The name of the tour was “This Way To Self Destruction“, and throughout the performance singer Kyo was playing a character that you could see slowly self destructing until their brand new, epic 10 minute song “World of Mercy” played at the end. The movements and miming, dance, and entrancing images played on the screen behind the band were so emotive that though the lyrics were in Japanese I could still understand exactly what each song was conveying.

Many of the band’s lyrics deal with depression, suicidal ideation, isolation, hopelessness, and anxiety, their art revolving around a lot of darker themes and imagery. However, the approach they use doesn’t glorify or romanticize negative emotions, but instead lays bare the things we all experience to some degree and asks us why there is so much greed, hatred, struggle, betrayal, and immorality in our society. Why is our world so hard to survive in? This raw honesty and straightforward, no-bullshit communication through their music is what makes them stand out, especially coming from a culture like that of their home country of Japan where transparency and public displays of emotion and opinion are more repressed and often considered inappropriate.

My friend Joannah, whom I attended with and who actually is a musician herself, posted this favorite quote of hers from 2007 before the show. For context, Kyo was asked in an interview ‘Is the purpose of Dir en Grey to disturb and unsettle your audience rather than simply to entertain?’

“Maybe neither. I hate entertainment, but I’m not trying to disturb either: what I’m trying to do onstage is express the pain and frustration we all feel in life but also to look beyond it at a different world without that. If you’ve always lived in the light, then you won’t know what darkness is, and if you’ve only experienced happiness, then you can’t recognize real sorrow. You have to experience all of life to be truly alive.”

Just as their music moves back and forth from intense screams to melodic vocals and instrumentals, their ruminations on the burden of life are not without hope.

As a creator myself, I believe vulnerability is an inseparable entity from the creative process. Connecting with your viewers, watchers, or listeners requires honesty. One of my favorite TED Speakers, PHD Research Professor and Author Brene Brown, talks a lot about the power of vulnerability. I’d encourage you to take some time to watch her talk; it’s life changing.

I will leave you with another quote from Kyo,

“I think everyone has bad experiences and things they don’t want to say and I think there is meaning in letting it out.”

I’m definitely going to do a painting based on one of these photos. Any recommendations readers???

 

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New Work

New Art + Forced Inspiration

So, awhile back I did a post on artist block, something I had been lucky to never really experience too much until very recently. It’s not that I didn’t have a ton of ideas, I quite simply wasn’t enthused about any of them for whatever reason and the execution just wasn’t flowing. I’m sure this had a lot to do with the crazy amount of stress I’ve been under this year for various reasons, but nevertheless I really desperately wanted to make some art I was actually excited about. I remembered how when I used to write poems and short stories back in college to unwind, if I felt the urge to write but had no clue what to write about I would put my iPod (HA, who has those anymore?) on shuffle and use the first song title that came up as inspiration for my short story, or else I’d use a random word generator and the word that came up had to be the title.

I decided to revisit this old, rather silly process of chance to see if it would jumpstart my creative but very stressed and exhausted brain. I did 4 trios of word generations, wrote them down in my sketchbook, and started drawing. It worked! I instantly came up with 4 ideas that I could easily relate to thoughts that had been jumbling around in my brain anyway, but that I just didn’t know how to access and release.

For this first one, inspiration was to be drawn from the words lung, tie, and morning.

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I ended up being so happy with how it turned out that I’m keeping it! I have the perfect spot in my living room, and actually only realized after I’d hung it up that the fabric I collaged for her jacket matches a swatch on my fabric scrap pillow I made about a decade ago that is now sitting on my accent chair ^_^.

“Breathe” was drawn using prismacolor pencil for the figure, and ink for the background. I used fabric for the jacket, old book pages for the wall art, hand marbled paper for the exposed lungs, and embroidery thread for the vein detailing that trails up to her neck and tangles around her fingers. The figure is a mix of multiple references I gathered to match the image I had in my head of what I wanted her to look like.

As I mentioned before, this year has been rough. I’d been experiencing sensations of feeling trapped, confined, constricted, suffocated … Even simple acts such as breathing, eating, sleeping were in a way loaded issues, made more complicated by both external and internal factors. This was some of what was on my mind while creating this piece, but as always it is not without elements of hope and promise of a future through the oxygen giving plants and botanical imagery throughout, and sunlight pouring in through the open window.

I’m sure others may even see something totally different in the story as viewed by their own thoughts and experiences, and if anyone wants to share what they saw going on I always love to hear others’ interpretations – Feel free to send a comment or message! Love to you all, and remember, you always hear that you don’t want to force inspiration but … sometimes you have to to get anything done and that’s okay ;).

Though I’m not letting go of the original as of right now, prints will soon be available so check out my eBay shop to snag one!

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Artists To Know

Artists To Know: Discovered On Instagram

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Artists To Know Segment, and inspiration is everywhere. Despite being a completely visual based person, I resisted getting an instagram for longer than most just because the idea of yet one more social media account to manage filled me with a sense of intense existential dread if I’m honest ;). Finally, I realized as an artist trying to showcase and sell work I needed one for the business aspect alone and relented. Now I don’t know how I lived without it! I have discovered so many new and inspiring artists from all over the globe, but if I had to narrow it down to just 5 for right now, here are my tops.

Joram Roukes

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Roukes is a painter from the Netherlands whose work has been exhibited worldwide, and he is one of the only artists that work in more “chaotic” scenes whose pieces I’ve ever been deeply attracted to. In my own work I am so orderly and controlled, repeating a select amount of the same visual tropes within one piece with balanced space for the eye to rest … I’ve always tended to get stressed out by work filled with conflicting styles and a ton of disparate elements bundled all together, but I have loved every single piece of Roukes’s work that I have seen. The vibrant, unique color schemes and photo-realistic detail  that combine classical influences with modern experiences and street art are unlike anything else I’ve seen, and the thoughtful composition makes combinations of visuals that shouldn’t work together somehow work perfectly. Beginning as a graffiti artist, he now focuses on large-scale murals that combine his own experiences, global politics, and pop culture in a dark but also surprising and often comical way.

Natalia Berglund

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Berglund hails from Belarus, but received her arts education in the United States. Her focus is in portraiture. Unique takes on the portrait tend to be my favorite type of art, so I was intrigued by her work the moment I saw it. Berglund has equal parts Eastern and Western visual and ideological influence, which gives her a different perspective based on her experiences. Much of her work is also influenced by traditional religious portraiture, but at the same time aims to challenge religious iconography, and both Russia and the United State’s representation of what it means to be a woman. Though the work above was what first that grabbed my attention, if you visit her portfolio you can see the wide range of styles she works in, and the strength and story that is apparent in each portrait. Her mission through her work is similar to what I hope to achieve, and I find her a huge inspiration.

Cristian Blanxer

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Blanxer is from Barcelona, and actually graduated from university only 2 years before I did, so what have I been doing with my life -_- (I kid, mostly.). He works in both exterior murals, covering buildings in large-scale artworks, and on canvas. His canvases still integrate the cityscape as he seamlessly combines reflective urban scenes with traditional portraiture. What amazes me is how nothing gets lost in the merger. He strategically places the human elements and the architectural elements in such a way that the viewer’s brain can fill in the blanks and complete both scenes. This series appears to me like the viewer is seeing what the subject of the portrait is looking at through their eyes reflected back over them, as if we are being allowed to gaze into their mind, and that is what makes his art so powerful to me.

Yellena James

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James grew up in Bosnia, but moved to the US at 18. Her background is in both fine art and graphic design, but she says she has always preferred paint and ink to digital means of creation (yes!). In addition to her personal fine art she continues to design for well known brands like Anthropologie and Crate and Barrel among others, and has published an interactive art book about applying the geometry of nature to drawing practice. James creates imaginary ecosystems inspired by the natural geometry present in the world around us, and says the process of building details in each piece is a form of meditation for her. I find myself getting immersed in her colorful botanical illustrations, imagining myself as part of her magical worlds, and her work has an intensely calming effect on me. I’m calm about 5% of each day, so this is nice.

Ritchelly Oliveira

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Oliveira is from Brazil, and is also mainly a portrait artist. I have a draw, I can’t help it! His drawn portraits are photo-realistic but incorporate surreal elements from nature or at times unfinished boundaries. There is a strong, silent emotion that resonates from his figures’ calm, reserved facades that is so moving, relateable, and true to life.

I hope at least one of these artists have left you feeling inspired, and if you ever have ideas of artists or types of art you’d like to see featured let me know!

sign (1)As for what I’ve been up to in my own creative universe lately, I was chosen to be part of the 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region Exhibition, and will be showing my new piece Torn in Studio 23’s gallery in the Fall. A metal print of my prismacolor pencil and mixed media work Wonderland will also be on display along Bay City’s Riverwalk trail for the next 2 years. It’s a couple days from September, so I am also officially in production mode for my annual Halloween ACEOs, so look for those in my eBay shop with more still to come! Check back soon to see the collaborative projects I’ve been working on in the meantime alongside some portrait commissions and logo designs. I’m ready for a busy Fall <3.

 

 

 

 

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Artists To Know, New Work

New Projects and Oddities

I feel like I’ve been sharing more class projects than studio projects lately, and wanted to update everyone on what I’ve been up to. I am still continuing to work on my series based on the symbolism of color, but have been trying to complete some smaller projects in between that are less about some complex visual metaphor and more focused on the interplay of pattern and things that I just plain find visually interesting. If I become to singularly focused on only one specific project I’ve found it makes me more susceptible to artist block, and I’ve also had a mentally and emotionally taxing last couple weeks that left me needing some of that creation therapy I’m always urging my students towards (nothing serious, never fear! This too shall pass and all that jazz…).

 

 

12×16 Prismacolor Pencil and Mixed Media
8×10 Prismacolor Pencil and Watercolor

The amazing news is that all 3 of these projects from watercolor to mixed media to a doll repaint not only provided a bit of sunlight in my miniature storm, but also found good homes with art appreciators!

 

 

For a lot of my teens and early-mid 20s I felt like I didn’t have a cohesive aesthetic because I appreciate so many different types of visuals. Even when I get dressed in the morning, am I going to be goth, street style, barbie, androgynous, hippie, stepford wife, some odd hybrid of them all … It entirely depends on my mood for the day. I feel like in the last 5 years I’ve finally been able to marry my inspirations of nature and living things, the fashion world, vintage and antique, graphic patterns, and eerie elegance into a specific style without getting repetitive and monotonous.

Though I am not a very techy person and resisted bothering with both instagram and pinterest for longer than most, I have to admit I am now completely addicted to both for the constant stream of visual inspiration. To me though, at least looking at art and design on social media is a positive force, so long as you aren’t using it to compare yourself negatively to the journey of other creators! Today I wanted to share the current visuals I am feeling connected to right now. All are photography and fashion, which is an idea I feel like I try to bring into my drawings. I had a huge interest in pursuing photography for the longest time in college, but one can only focus on so much and eventually drawing won out! I also would have loved to go into fashion design but alas, I hate sewing machines!

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Creepy Kids by Ukrainian fashion artist Dina Lynnyk.

Lynnyk collaborated with photographer Roma Pashkovskiy to make this aptly titled series of disconcerting fashion collages happen. The mainly monochromatic yet still surprising color palettes, detail in the wardrobe and accessorizing, and the incorporation of wildlife in the form of winged friends in many of the images drew me into this project right away (I’ve long been a fan of matching birds to clothing). Also, the pale stares! It makes you stop, and it is undoubtedly creepy but there is still such an elegance to it, like these children are some evolved form we have just discovered.

97d1ee4d4d8547cb3083b34a19013a47Gareth Pugh Spring and Summer 2015 Collection.

Gareth Pugh is an English fashion designer, and though my favorite image was from his Spring collection a couple of years ago, the inclusion of all-absorbing optic-art geometric prints are just as present in his current Spring collection for 2019. Many of his models are obscured in some way or completely covered by the designs, demonstrating garments’ power to quite literally transform the wearer into something or someone completely new. His hard edged, high contrast designs when photographed almost look like an ink drawing or painting, making the model a living work of art. 

 

ab830156054015.5609a2c8de3fcElisa Lazo de Valdez, French Postcards Photography.

Elisa Lazo de Valdez is a portrait photographer who specializes in surreal, dreamlike, fairy-tale images. Many of her costumes, makeup, and props are detailed and elaborate. Though it was these images that drew me to her work in the first place, I was struck by how simple this incredibly creative photograph was as far as decoration, yet the strong impact that results. I’ve been including butterflies in a lot of my new art since Spring began, which is probably another reason why this particular piece attracted me.

 

9b514eda1ec08bca74b6f8bfb9466475Matières Fécales.

I saved the most out-there for last. Montreal-based couple Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran make up the design duo whose name translates in English to, well, Fecal Matter. Everything sounds more elegant in French …  The couple are their art, appearing in public with no hair or eyebrows and alien-like makeup on the regular. Their designs are futuristic and slightly painful looking, but then there are nods to Victorian fashion at times, and every so often surprising botanical motifs will show up like in this favorite image of mine. Of their name, the couple says it is a comment on the relationship humans have with material possessions, their disposable nature. They also claim the unpleasant brand name forces the buyer to purchase one of their garments because they actually like it, not because they just want to own or advertise a certain name-brand. To me, some of their work seems like it’s more focused on shock value than creating art, but nevertheless there have been creations of theirs that have intrigued and inspired me, and that is no small thing.

Be sure to check out my Pinterest if you want to see more curated images of bizarre fashion and surreal portraits, as well as some really killer pescatarian recipes ;).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Art Education, Project Ideas

Elizabeth Jameson – Creative Minds Art History Project

Hello all, it’s time for another artist based creative project! I have a great group of ladies in my Creative Minds class this semester at Artshop, and have loved seeing how they interpret the techniques of the masters and make their creations their own. Though often times the focus of my class is renowned artists from history, I also love sharing inspiring and accomplished artists from the present with my students. I work primarily with adults with disabilities so I especially enjoy the opportunity to share the stories of artists with disabilities with the class, and how the artist’s identity as a person with a disability influenced their art and legacy.

Elizabeth Jameson is a visionary artist who found her creativity through an unexpected MS diagnosis. Jameson is a Doctor of Law, and her lifelong passion and driving force for her career was to fight injustice and poverty through the law, striving to make a difference. In the late 70s and early 80s her health took a turn suddenly, and she was eventually diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Due to the progressive nature of her illness she was unable to continue working, and she felt her purpose was lost. A caring friend pushed her into trying an art class just to get her out of the house, and this class ended up changing the way Jameson saw the world and her life. Art teaches us to look at the world through a creative lens, and upon receiving her usual MRI scans from a doctor’s appointment, she came up with  the idea to etch in the stark, clinical and emotionless black and white images with rainbow colors. Her work evolved from there. Today, Jameson is still living her dream of changing the world, and says the goal of her work is to encourage others to, “contemplate the beauty of the brain, discuss what it means to live in an imperfect body, and to stare directly at the imperfect brain’s beauty and complexity with curiosity”. She collaborates with Neuroscientists and a studio assistant to continue her work.

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Messages that can be learned from Jameson’s art and story are that with creativity it is never too late to begin, it doesn’t make you any less of an artist to ask for assistance, and individuals with disabilities have an unlimited potential to change the world for the better.

Obviously, we don’t have access to MRI machines ;), but to pay homage to Jameson’s art we did drawings with colored pencil on black paper. Students were asked to imagine a visual representation of the inside of their head, thinking about the emotions or memories different colors may symbolize, what straight, smooth lines versus wavy or jagged lines may say about what is going on inside their head, and to think of any representational forms that speak to who they are. Some students chose to indicate blocks of color for the different things that consume their thoughts, and some chose to do an all-over image or pattern. One student even dated hers in acknowledgement that one’s mental state changes over time.

I can see this project being an interesting activity for any age, and was pleased within my class on how a dialogue between the students about the meaning of their developing “artistic MRIs” grew as they worked.

As always, feel free to steal, share, or try it yourself at home :). I am hoping others will enjoy and become inspired by trying this project out.

 

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Artists To Know

Artists To Know: Black History Month

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Artists To Know post, and I wanted to take the opportunity for February to highlight some of my favorite black artists currently working – most new, some mentioned before. Enjoy, and be inspired!

Lina Iris Viktor

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Viktor is a British – Liberian artist based in New York who creates “queenly self portraits with a futuristic edge”. Everyone knows I’m a sucker for surreal, fantasy-like portraiture and after coming across the image above, I had an instant new favorite! Viktor studied film, photography, and design and uses all of these backgrounds to create her unique fantasy worlds that combine elements of painting, sculpture, photography, and performance. What makes her art so compelling to me is the contrast of seemingly opposite elements … Her works are detailed with a lot of pattern and texture to look at but the colors are kept minimal; many of the scenes she creates are contemporary or futuristic in appearance, but still contain elements of the classical. As well as a diverse study of art, she also had a diverse upbringing as far as culture, being raised in London by Liberian parents and also spending time living in Johannesburg, South Africa. Viktor aims to use her immersive scenes to convey a philosophical commentary on both a social and historical “preconception of blackness”. Her work is a category all its own.

Woodrow Nash

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Nash is an artist from Akron, OH who works in stoneware, earthenware, terracotta, and porcelain. He is most well known for his unique bust sculptures that capture an expression, depth, and personality that I have never felt before in this type of art. He began as an illustrator, working as a fashion illustrator in New York in the mid 70s and then returning to the Midwest to do technical illustrations. Just as he uses multiple materials for his sculptures, he also employs various firing methods from pit firing, to electric, to raku (one of my personal favorites!). He calls his style “African nouveau”, because although it is influenced by African cultural aesthetic he blends in elements of art nouveau, and his sculptures tend to appeal to a wider audience beyond just those of African heritage. Each gorgeous figure he creates has a story, and they draw you in instantly.

Kehinde Wiley

If you can’t already tell, creative portraiture is my thing. I love portraits that transport the viewer to a new place of the artists’ making, where every pattern that is used is not only decorative, but an element that is used to speak to the subject’s unique psychology. I have been a fan of Wiley’s unique, powerful style of portraiture for a long time, and was excited when he was chosen to do Obama’s official portrait. Possessing a MFA from Yale, he combines contemporary figures with aesthetic elements from the past, giving his portraits a surreal, timeless feel. One of his most recent projects for the Saint Louis Art Museum featured oil paintings of black men and women dressed in their own clothing, styled for their usual everyday, posed in traditional poses from European and American art history to make a comment about under-representation. The photographic realism coupled with ornate pattern and creative approach make it no wonder his work has garnered the acclaim it has. His art is a testament to the fact that it is possible for an artist to stay true to themselves and not follow the crowd, and still be successful.

Tawny Chatmon

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A self proclaimed “army brat”, Chatmon did a lot of traveling as a kid and had resided in 3 different continents by the age of 12. Once settled in the US, she turned more in the creative direction of theater. She didn’t start getting into photography until her early 20s, when she was gifted a camera at 19 and through self teaching and experimentation saw an opportunity to make a living through the lens. After losing her father to a battle with cancer in 2010, Chatmon’s portrait photography became not only a career but a way to communicate and process emotions, an art. What first drew me to her work was the image above, part of her series titled “Deeply Embedded”. The composition and heavy use of pattern on the clothing reminded  me a bit of Gustav Klimt, one of my favorites from art history. Chatmon writes about this series on her website, “Deeply Embedded was created during a time where I continued to come across negativity centered around natural black hair & styles. Anger followed by frustration and sadness forced me to refocus that energy into creating work to speak for me as our words fell upon deaf ears.” There are many different forms of beauty in our world, and photography is the perfect medium to capture that fact.

Pierre Jean-Louis

 

I love art that plays with the merging of people and their environments, which is why I found this 26 year old artist’s work so inspiring. This self taught artist from New Jersey grew up in a deeply conservative religious household, but also a deeply creative one being the son of successful Haitian painter Bonaventure Jean-Louis. He moved beyond his roots with multimedia approaches, taking his inspiration from the beauty of the natural world that God has created, and with his series “Black Girl Magic”, explores specifically the beauty of natural hair. Models’ hair is transformed into forest, flowers, and galaxies, making a comment against exclusionary beauty standards.

I hope you will take the time to explore more of these artists’ amazing work. It was so hard to pick just one or two images to highlight!

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Artsnacks Unboxing

February ArtSnacks Unboxing!

Hey guys! So, I was very candid about hating the end result of my ArtSnacks Challenge from last month, and this month threw me another curve ball with a medium I have consistently avoided when at all possible, even in high school and later college art classes: chalk pastels!

In my February box, I received a:

As I eluded to, I have never been a fan of pastels, charcoal, or any chalky medium mainly because I struggle to get the fine detail I want as someone who also likes to work small; I can’t keep it from getting where I don’t want while I’m working (messy, messy, messy!); and I have a weird thing where I just hate the feeling of it on my hands as well. Still, I did enjoy using these more than most. The quality is great even for one like me who doesn’t know what they’re doing as far as pastels, the colors were rich, and they did stay put on the paper much better than lower quality soft pastels. I’m going to skip ahead to the Kraft Paper, because this paired perfectly with the pastels. Comparing the feel and ease of blending on the swatch of Kraft Paper compared to the mixed media paper in my journal, there was no contest. It just goes to show that the right paper can do wonders! The brown tone really made my colors pop too, and lent such a finished, harmonious look especially with my earthtoned set.

I’ve mentioned before I almost exclusively use mechanical pencils, and the Zebra DelGuard is another nice one! I’ve never been disappointed by a mechanical pencil sent in my ArtSnacks box. The led was smooth and dark, and I love the fact that there is a built in mechanism to keep leds from breaking! Though I don’t usually use kneaded erasers most of the time, the eraser that came in my box was also quite nice and will come in handy when I am doing commission requests that are entirely in graphite.

Last but certainly not least, the artist pen that came in this box was my absolute favorite item! With white paint pens, oftentimes it takes 2 coats but this India Ink based pen had perfect coverage with one go-over. I was also shocked at how well it wrote over the pastel! The tip didn’t even get much discoloration … It hardly absorbed any of the pastel and just needed a little scribble on a scrap piece of paper to clean it off at the end. I could see how a lot of neat effects could be created with this in much of my mixed media work, and will definitely be getting more of these.

artsnacks feb 19

As mentioned, I am NOT a pastel artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I let the pencil outlining help me out and I do like this month’s result better than January’s! February being black history month, I chose to illustrate a portrait of Haben Girma with a powerful quote of hers that has stuck with me. Girma is a deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School, and a fierce advocate for disability rights which is an issue close to my heart, especially given that my day job is running an inclusive creative arts program open to adults with varying disabilities. I’d encourage you to read more about this amazing lady, and watch some of her talks.

“Fear causes people to lose so much. Lose potential knowledge, lose potential friends. I wish people would stop living in fear and start asking questions so that they can learn. “

 

 

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New Work

I’m Back With Some New Art!

This first piece in a new series was a long time coming … I am obsessed with working small, and tend to work in 11×14 or maybe 16×20 max, and wanted to start doing pieces that were at least 18×24 or larger to allow me to include more detail and further develop the background in my pieces. My new series, Dwell, really taps into my background of interior design study. These pieces will contemplate how our environment affects us, but also how we interact with and affect it. The word dwell also has a double meaning, not just the physical space where we live but the places we create inside us that we allow our mind to dwell in. How are these psychological spaces affecting us, and how much control do we have over them or they over us?

“Dwell In Possibility” was a challenge for me because it involved a lot of brown, a color I literally never use in art. I tend to create pieces that are mostly grayscale tones with pops of bright color, and gray just would not have been right for the earthy feeling I wished to evoke. The other challenge to this piece was that I was creating an interior that was not very attractive or intricate … the remains of a decaying building, dirt floor, rough wood paneled walls, weathered plaster ceiling once grand but now stripped of any color or design … The only furnishing an abandoned, sun bleached chair frame.

dwell in possibility

I did a lot of layering of different media overtop one another, and used my clear prismacolor pencil blender for the first time in my entire life. I usually use a white pencil to blend, but this time I couldn’t use an opaque blender because I wanted to be able to still see the underlayer of watercolor through the blended pencil. I left the flowers and hair purely impressionistic watercolor as opposed to the detail in the background and the model’s face. I didn’t use as much dimensional mixed media as usual, not wanting to add too much clutter, and stuck to a lace fabric overlay on her dress and clusters of beads for the centers of the poppy flowers.

dwell in possibility progress

The closer you look, you will see there is a lot more going on than just a smiling woman holding a bouquet. She is already stationed in an odd setting, an old deteriorated building. She is surrounded by decay, including uprooted, dying plants. Even some of the flowers in her hands are dead or dying, but they are slowly coming back to life as she grasps onto them, holds them and nurtures them. Behind her through the door there is a cavern of light, where a grand tree has taken hold. There are no leaves yet, hardly any soil for his roots to grasp onto, yet he is still alive somehow. Robins circle around, a bird that symbolically means rebirth. Change and growth are always possible.

As you can also see, I can’t seem to put down the metallic gold acrylic lately! At work, my students always want to cover everything they make in metallics and glitter, which often makes me shake my head, but I can understand the temptation ;). Speaking of which, I am starting a new class called Creative Minds where each week students will be learning about an accomplished artist of the past or present, and completing a small project based on that artist’s iconic style with a focus on artists with disabilities and mental health. I will be sharing my projects as well as some of the students’ interpretations, so be on the look out for a new project post each week! I am hoping some of you reading this will want to try it at home yourself. It’s always fun to play :D!

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