 |
 |
|
 |
|
       |
|
|
|
Paper. Paper!? Sigh. They’re almost like Zen gardens, but instead of rocks, French graphic designer/artist Agnès Cappadoro has used beautifully cut and folded pieces of colorful paper to create these quiet paper sculptures. Exhale. Breathe. Love.
Gasp! Flower-bombing!? How do I even begin to explain how happy these beautiful, blooming beards make me. These magical interventions are the work of Brussels based florist / installation artist, Geoffroy Mottart. Here are his words about why he does what he does:
“This project consists in the decoration of statues, somewhat forgotten, which are part of the decor of our parks. A small note of color making a call to passers-by. This idea came to me, because I realized that most people pass by these statues without paying attention. Apart from many of these works, they are testimonies of the past. I believe they are worth seeing, they are part of our cultural heritage! … My job as a florist gives me the opportunity to restore a new life, a new breath of originality to these forgotten statues, which no longer arouse the interest of passers-by while flourishing public places.”
Beautiful.
{via Colossal}
Monday, amirite? Sigh. I would love to curl up in any of these cozy, disheveled rooms. These are the candy-hued oil paintings of Ekaterina Popova. Not only is she a talented artist in her own right, she’s also the woman behind Create Magazine… a fabulous artist that supports other artists? Yep, that’s my kind o’ woman!
Simply complex, indeed! Beautiful colors, clean designs, and perfect stitching. Today I’m talking to New Zealand artist Jane Denton. As always, Jane and I have “known” each other for years, but today is the first time we’re talking. We recorded this just before Christmas so it was cold and snowing in my Canadian backyard and Jane was boiling hot on holiday at a lake in New Zealand! Well, even though we were on opposites sides of the world, I was still able to ask her all of the questions I’ve had for years. Ready? You can listen right up there under Jane and her gorgeous work, or you can subscribe on iTunes.
As usual, let’s start with a few of my favorites:
Sigh. The designer in me, who’s also obsessed with embroidery thread, is smitten. I mean, those colors, come on!
So, it turns out that Jane and I have a friend in common… the always fabulous LA based designer and stylist, Emily Henderson. She loves Jane’s work as much as I do, and in case you need proof, here are some images from Emily’s site. Oh, and first image below is the cover of Emily’s book, STYLED. Look to the far top right… oh hello, Jane Denton circles:
Gah! That light pink X and O in Emily’s nursery might be one of my favorites of Jane’s. Lovely, lovely detail and that delicate pink thread is killing me. So continuing with this artsy connection, Emily and Jane just did a “maker collaboration” together. Here’s the simple, yet complex, design that resulted:
Beautiful! I love how much texture Jane’s pieces bring to a gallery wall. {All of the photos are from Emily’s site, on the post she wrote about this project.}
This is a perfect segue into these next few images. Circles. Tricky on a square grid, yes? Um, yes:
… yet somehow Jane makes them look simple. Ahhhh, gorgeous. I had wrongly assumed that Jane went to design school – wouldn’t you think so with these beautifully composed pieces? Yeah, me too. Nope, business school. Hm. Perhaps that’s why she’s so good at the whole marketing thang.
Up next, the two pieces I was a little bit involved with. The top piece was the pointy triangle piece that I brought to New York for a maker event, and the bottom piece {triptych on the far left} was her contribution to my Land of Nod collection:
Dreamy. All of it. And that’s that! Thanks so much to Jane for taking time out of her family holiday to do this with me; thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting yet another episode; and of course, thank you so much for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.
Other Links:
ps. This is my 4’x4′ “Type A” button piece I mentioned, along with photographic proof of how “organized” my thread jar is:
Yeesh.
Gasp! Acrylic and fabric on canvas. This is the stunning work of French-born, LA-based artist Claire Tabouret. Her portfolio is full of amazing work but these four very unique, feminine, breathtaking pieces jumped out at me immediately. Those strips of paint-soaked fabric? Oh, mon Dieu.
Oooh, aaaaah! Remember those magical kaleidoscopes from childhood? Well, say hello to Kaleidoscoptical, an ongoing series {encaustic, casein on cradled panels} by American artist Karen Freedman. I told my high school math teacher I wouldn’t be needing math because I was going to be an artist. Oops. Here is part of Karen’s statement about this work:
… I strive for each of these paintings read differently when viewed close up and at a distance; almost as if you were looking at two different paintings. I … achieve this, not by turning a dial on a toy to allow color to reflect off mirrors but by creating a motif composed of multiple shapes and layers painted with opaque and translucent encaustic paint. Varying these colors and the order in which the elements are layered allows for an unlimited series of paintings that although united by a similar matrix can, once assembled, appear unrelated. The Kaleidoscoptical series as a whole is made up of sub-sets of paintings that are differentiated by the first four digits of their title. The paintings in each of these sub-sets are generated from a design matrix that is unique to that grouping. The process, like a kaleidoscope, repeats itself over and over, but each result is unique.
Beautiful, clever, complex. Sorry Mr.Keane… you were right. Damn it.
Paper. PAPER! I wrote about LA based artist Huntz Liu almost exactly one year ago to the day. Well, he’s been busy since then! Oh so many stunning, beautifully cut, colorful layers. Sigh. He’s part of a gorgeous two-person show with Michelle Benoit, titled “Dive In”, at the Muriel Guepin Gallery in New York. It opens this Friday, January 6th and runs until February 11th… so if you’re in New York, go look at those lovely layers in person! ps. Huntz will be at the opening, all the way from LA.
Cats with tats… I mean, come on! LOVE! Now, that final image features a phoenix, but seeing how 2017 is the “Year of the Rooster” I’m going to pretend it’s a rooster. Go with it. This is the beautiful, and funny, work of California based tattoo artist Kazuaki Horitomo. I love the cats with their final tats in place, but I have to say those “tattoos-in-progress” make me laugh out loud … alone at my computer. So good.
{via Hint Magazine}
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Unicorns, shrimp rings, chandeliers!!! What better way to kick off the new year than with the next insane collage in the portfolio of Croatian artist Sanda Anderlon. I’ve written about her jungles, and her other crazy house parties before, but today is all about leaving 2016 behind and looking forward. Oh, 2017 we’re counting on you to turn things around. Let’s start with Sanda’s “New Year’s Eve – Come As You Are” . Find this crazy piece in her shop… and just so you can see scale, have a look at this:
Aw! Those are two of my favorite photos with my mom. I’ve talked about her a lot on the podcast… she’s an artist and some of my earliest memories are of her painting at the table, getting ready for shows, and of course, letting me use all of her materials! Today, on Christmas Eve, I’m talking to Judi Cumming, aka my mom. I feel like a bad daughter because I didn’t know a lot of these stories (self-absorbed teenager), but all of that changes today. You can listen right up there under that dandelion/poncho shot, or you can subscribe on iTunes.
First up, her show at “Delphine’s” in Vancouver when I was just a teeny tiny baby:
Love it! That’s the front window of the gallery circa 1974-ish.
From there, our little family was off to live on the other coast… from the Fraser Valley to the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. There were a lot of apple blossoms in her work at that time. The only one I could find was from this set of notecards she used to sell. I’ve had this in my stash for years, and didn’t realize until taking this photo the other day that there was a little surprise inside:
A little note from me to my grandmother, Blanche (my mom’s mom). I’m pretty sure that’s a chicken head. Why? I have absolutely no idea.
This is the photo I mentioned… my mom hanging her “Life Beyond Death” show. I was probably a tween or young teenager at the time and I remember thinking what a cool mom I had. Granted, I think my dad caught her off guard in this shot, but still, very cool:
Beautiful. That’s one of the pieces from the show. It’s truly crazy to me that she thinks watercolor is “easy”. ?!
Anywho, I forgot to bring up this story, but I should have. About a year ago I was visiting a friend, who happens to live next door to an old friend of my parents. I hadn’t seen this woman in decades, so we popped in to say hello… and what was the first thing I saw on her wall. One of my mom’s paintings from the 1980’s! Here it is:
I love those little birds. I’ve always been in awe of the way my mom paints branches… a skill that was not passed down in the DNA.
Up next, a piece from the “In Tandem” series that she did with her friend, artist/calligrapher Susan Nelson. This is the one that I own:
Ah, so dreamy. I love that we have it in our home.
Next, we talked about her foray into acrylics. Let’s just say acrylics are not her medium, but I love that she is never afraid to experiment! Needless to say, I begged her to go back to those “easy” watercolors, being sure to explain that not everyone finds them easy – she just happens to be really good! Guess what? She listened to her kid! Here is one of her more recent works, and a shot of her in action at an outdoor art show:
My mama in the sunshine! Thank you so much to my mom for being completely up for this… I’m so happy we finally had this very long overdue, artsy conversation (and thanks to my Dad for rounding up a lot of these photos!); thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode; thanks to audible.com for making my new book into an audio book! To pick it up (or any other book over there for that matter) just use my link: audibletrial.com/JealousCurator. And as always, thank YOU for listening.
Have a happy, safe, fun-filled holiday! I’ll be back with new posts the first week of January (and a new podcast episode on Jan 7th). I’m going to make lots of art, drink coffee by the fire, play in the snow, and most likely eat my weight in chips. I encourage you to do the same! See you in 2017 ~ Danielle xo
|
 |
|
|
    |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|