Gasp! This installation, titled “Manifestation 8 : Permutation 1”, is the latest work by American artist Samuelle Green. I wrote about her beehive-like work {made from zillions of paper cones!} in 2019, and so the second I saw these pink velvet chairs show up on Instagram… well, I knew I had to write again! This piece was part of two-person show with Liz Miller, titled “Fiber Filled”, at Spartanburg Art Museum in South Carolina. Here’s a description of Samuelle’s work from her website:

There is structure and design inherent in the natural world which we constantly draw from and take for granted. We generally fail to acknowledge the skill, time, and detail required to manifest the intricate structures found in objects we encounter regularly – such as those found in bird and wasp nests, beehives, spider webs, rock formations, anthills, feathers, and countless others. Samuelle’s work, especially the large scale installations, reference these forms – inspiring contemplation. These natural forms are often met with human made, found objects.

Sigh. Beautiful.

Gasp! I wish I could pack a bag and stay in one of these pieces for the weekend. These hand-cut collages are the work of Australian artist Holly Leonardson, all of which are from her lovely 2019 series, “Spring Time 4”:

“The inspiration behind these works stemmed from my early morning routine of stretching and then walking or jogging to the beach. Dew drops that had been captured on petals and leaves would capture the light as the sun began to rise, and easily became a visual treat that I looked forward to experiencing every clear Spring morning.”

Ahhh, dew drops on petals… I might put some yoga pants and a lotus candle in an overnight bag, just in case. Happy Friday.

That stunning work is titled “Rest In Peace”. It is a life-sized, Baroque-inspired gown… made of PAPER. I know. It’s too much to wrap your head around, which exactly why I knew I had to have it’s creator on the podcast. Haitian born, New York based artist Fabiola Jean-Louis answered alllllll of my questions on today’s episode. So. Many. Questions. In between explaining the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind her exquisite work, I also found out that she graduated from the same high school as Basquiat, was almost a doctor, and is a mother of five. Yep. You can listen right up there under “Rest in Peace”, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify {and, you know, feel free to leave a lovely review while you’re there!}

First, since I don’t have images from her pre-med days, I’ll go as far back as her Polaroids… which by the way are MAGIC:

Self. Taught. Polaroids {and Photoshop} were how she got her instant gratification, but somewhere along the way her photographs got, well, much less instant! Here are just some of the pieces from “Rewriting History”. Brace yourself, because the level of detail is insane:

Gasp! Paper dresses, dollhouses, props and  yes, those lovely paper shoes! The final composition above is “Marie Antoinette is Dead”, the piece Fabiola talked about regarding the first pair of paper shoes she ever made… see them poking out from under that gorgeous blue paper dress? So much work for the tiniest little glimpse {that’s why I’ve included them on their own as well… they need their moment in the spotlight!}

Alright, and here are the paper gowns from “Rewriting History” when they’re displayed on their own:

I mean, come on. STUN. NING.

Ooh, and some of her latest work… the altar/shrine!

Look at that detail! When her father said “the magic is in the details”, Fabiola was obviously really listening.

And finally, a photo of this artist / rewriter of history / mother of five… plus, a quick “day in the life” video she posted not too long ago:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Fabiola Jean-Louis (@fabiolajeanlouis)

Sigh. So beautiful. All of it. Also, I want to squeeze her ridiculously cute baby! Thank you so much to Fabiola for taking time out of her busy life to be on the podcast, and thank YOU for listening. Stay tuned on info about the podcast network I’m joining {with Andy J. Pizza}, and for details about joining my new club: “The NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH ART Society”… it’s gonna be good! ~ Danielle xo

Other links:

1. Fabiola on Instagram
2. High School of Fashion Industries
3. Isabella Gardner Museum, Boston
4. “Black Art : In the Absence of Light” {we talked about this new documentary after we stopped recording, but we both love it and think you should go watch it! It’s on HBOMax}

“Women Words” by American artist Betty Tompkins. There are decades of history behind this work, but these are some of the latest iterations of a series that now includes thousands of paintings, and mixed media pieces. These ones, ripped from the pages of art history books*, are the most recent {2017-2020}. I found so many interesting interviews with Betty, that instead of retelling the story, I just pulled my favorite bits from several places:

In 2002 and 2013, Tompkins circulated the following email: “I am considering doing another series of pieces using images of women comprised of words. I would appreciate your help in developing the vocabulary. Please send me a list of words that describe women. They can be affectionate (honey), pejorative (bitch), slang, descriptive, etc. The words don’t have to be in English but I need as accurate a translation as possible. Many, many thanks, Betty Tompkins.” Over 3,500 words and phrases were submitted in seven languages, equally split between men and women. – Gavlak Gallery

…

Tompkins had bought more than *60 art history textbooks and was tearing out pages, unapologetically defacing some of the world’s best-known paintings and using female figures as canvases for unused suggestions for “Women Words.” “I come from a family where you couldn’t even crack the spine of a book, let alone tear out a page,” she recalled, admitting that “it was a lot of fun!” – Artnet Interview

…

ELLE: A lot of anger, violence and frustration towards women comes out through this process of audience participation. How do you deal with that?

BT: I have a really good sense of humour, and I think it’s saving my life – and my blood pressure! There was one guy who had written ‘the only thing that would make her more beautiful would be my dick in her mouth’ and I thought, who is this guy? You have to laugh. Someone else had written ‘heck, most people don’t like women’ and I thought ‘okay, let’s think about this one!’ – Elle Magazine Interview

…

Words on Mona Lisa above: “POOPSIE” IS A WORD USED BY MY EX-BOYFRIEND WHICH I THOUGHT WAS SEXIST AND DEMEANING. HE MIGHT HAVE TREATED ME NICE BUT I WAS HIS CONCUBINE, BOUND FEET, DYSLEXIC, SUZY WONG OR TROPY WIFE. AFTER A SEVEN YEAR REATION, HE GOT HIS 7-YEAR ITCH. HE GOT ME ARRESTED FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AFTER I GOT LAID OFF. I WAS HOMELESS FOR 6 MONTHS. EH ENCOURAGED ME TO COLLECT DISABILITY BENEFITS WHILE HE SURFED THE NET FOR A WIFE. SHE JUST HAPPENS TO BE 29 YEARS OLD. IN ADDITION, HE KEEPS HIS 2 HOUSES IN PROVINCETOWN AS WELL AS HIS RENT-STABILIZED APARTMENT. OF COURSE THERE IS NO WORD FOR A MAN UNLESS HE IS A CASANOVA, A PLAYBOY, AND OTHER POSITIVE THINGS TO PROVE HIS VIRILITY. – via @bettytompkinsart on Instagram

Kick-ass women are my favorite.

Today’s episode is filled with insight, laughter… and paper made from old jeans? Yep. I wrote about American artist Rebecca Hutchinson a few weeks ago, and immediately had oh so many questions. There was something about pulp and handmade paper, but also porcelain some of which was fired and some wasn’t? Don’t worry, I got all of the answers! Rebecca and I talked about her childhood on the farm, how she found her way to sculpture, and not only did we get elbow deep in paper pulp, we also rolled up our sleeves and talked a LOT about how to deal with rude inner critics. Spoiler alert, sometimes it involves a mini trampoline! Seriously. You can listen right up there under Rebecca and “Orange Burst”, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify.

First, this is the work I shared a few weeks ago. There’s a little sampling of everything… artwork for the ceiling, wall and floor:

See? This is why I had to get her on the podcast immediately.

Okay, but wait. Before we get into the process shots and video, I just had to share these pieces. Apparently, I’m a sucker for work that hangs from the ceiling:

Oh my word. So. GORGEOUS.

Alright, here we go. Rebecca’s studio {most shots are from her summer studio in Montana… you’ll understand why in a second}, and a couple of process videos:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rebecca Hutchinson (@rebeccahutchinsonstudio)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rebecca Hutchinson (@rebeccahutchinsonstudio)

Ahhhhhhh! Can you imagine spending the summer working in that gorgeous Montana studio, arm deep in paper pulp? Count me in! And, look at all of that teamwork in action… love, love, love.

Next up, a little peek at Rebecca’s current show, “Midnight Blooms”, happening right now until February 28th, at the Danforth Art Museum in Framingham, MA:

Blue!!!! Sigh. So dreamy. Speaking of dreamy, that little farm girl from the beginning of the episode is still very  much inspired by Mother Nature:

A sunset transformed into supplies. Yep, I’d be totally inspired working there all summer, too. Thank you so much to Rebecca for coming on the podcast, and thanks to you for listening. Now, all of you, go find a mini trampoline and jump all of that self doubt right out!

Other links:

1. Rebecca on Instagram
2. “Midnight Blooms”, her current show at Danforth Art Museum {until Feb 28, 2021}
3. Upcoming Workshop at Harvard
4. Adelaine Muth, Artist {Rebecca’s studio assistant} 
5. Archie Bray Foundation
6. UMass

Gasp! Hanging from the ceiling, lying on the floor, mounted on the wall… these gorgeous cone-like blooms are everywhere! Now, what are we looking at here? I have no idea. Well, I have some idea. There’s paper handmade using recycled materials (like old clothes!?), porcelain – both fire and unfired, and handmade paper coated in porcelain… maybe? Okay, I’m not totally sure, so that’s why I’ve invited Massachusetts based artist and educator, Rebecca Hutchinson, to come on my podcast to us her story AND how she does what she does! Until then, I’ll leave you with her artist statement:

“In nature there are diverse states of existence; the structure of nature, interactions between forces of nature, the resilience and the complexity of engineering in nature. All these states are rooted in the motivation for the need to survive, providing endless visual influences and conceptual possibilities for art making; speaking to the depth and complexity of living with the hopes of revealing the human condition in sculptural form.

Using diverse processes, my interest is in quality of craft, connections, structure, and conceptually to all physical parts to the whole. I build site-responsive sculptural works made from clay and recycled materials, like old clothing or industrial surplus. I hand build, slip trail, dip, layer, cut and construct with the surplus and handmade materials. Works are influenced by growth patterns, but do not replicate nature. Like an animal that uses the vernacular from place, I too up-cycle humble materials into exquisite sculptural forms.”

Yes, this is going to be a very interesting episode… So. Many. Questions! Stay tuned.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by miss.printed (@miss.printed)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let’s celebrate by taking some art out for a walk around the neighborhood… what?! So magical! Can you imagine coming upon any of these tiny masterpieces out in the wild? This Norway based Dutch artist – who goes by the alias Miss.Printed – is “filling the gap between collage, photography and street art”. Ummm, there is nothing I don’t love about this clever work. May your LIFE be filled with adventure, travel, and lovely art in strange places in 2021.

{Found via Kolaj Magazine}

Paper. No, seriously … allllll of it is paper. Even the chair, table, etc. I know, it’s a little bit too much for my brain to handle on a Monday morning, but alas, it’s true. This is the installation work of Massachusetts based artist Elizabeth Alexander. Here’s her artist statement to help explain these wonders:

“Cast paper, [she casts paper!?] sculptural collage, and altered objects are my methods for deconstructing domestic vignettes of traditional success and beauty. Long hours of unmaking and rebuilding found materials provide space to record memories and observations as I reexamine supposed truths within the domestic sphere. Repetitive processes become internal centering elements as I work to carefully break down these concepts. 

The ubiquitous notion of the American home as a symbol for status, power, values, and security has led me to examine my own relationship with home and consider its untidy qualities.  Living with and loving others who battle mental illness and chronic pain has complicated my experience with private space. I aim to unearth the human presence within our material surroundings and explore home as a place that is shaped by our stories and bears witness to our secret lives.” 

Beautiful. ps. Elizabeth’s work was recently selected for “Paper Routes – Women to Watch 2020” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC… of course it was! The show runs until the end of January 2021.

Sigh. These gorgeous mixed media pieces by London based artist/illustrator Rose Blake make me want to cry. I miss galleries, and everything in her “Now I Am An Artist” series makes me miss them even more… art, people, actual clothes, leaving my house in actual clothes to see art and people. You get it. Speaking of galleries, Rose’s fine art pieces are available through Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London.

ps. She is represented for commercial illustration worldwide by B&A Reps, and for children’s books by Bell Lomax Moreton.

Gasp! All of my childhood passions in one place? Yes! These oil pastel / acrylic beauties feel like a storybook dream, with just a touch of nightmare thanks to those deep, dark shadows. This is the latest work, a series titled “New World Horses”, by Denver based artist Jillian FitzMaurice. And, just like my obsession with ‘My Little Pony” back in the day, I wanna collect all of them! Thankfully, that’s totally possible… Jillian’s work is available through Visions West Contemporary {Montana}.