May 5, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Artist Love, Like + Love
The reclining teenagers of Nava Revital discovered while reading the NY Arts Magazine reviews. I wish I was a reclining teenager right about now. . .
Still chipping away at finishing the last minute details at the studio. . . now I have to go take my poor dear cat to the vet, he has rotting thumbs!
May 2, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Artist Love, Like + Love
Cornelia O’donavon, epitome of whimsy, the patterns in the birds and flowers are fabulous. Not to mention the inclusion of hot pink in the crazy rabbit one. Her shop and blog. Thank you dear ada as usual for the sighting.
April 22, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Artist Love, Like + Love
I’ve been reading an inch and a half book, The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson. Very heavy reading, a detailed account of the genocide of Native Americans and I do actually weep quite a lot. Leonard Baskin wept too and produced this litho series of Indian Cheiftans, mostly Souix. They are by far my favorites of all his work, given the subject matter, the color palette and the way he uses painterly color layering with the dark drawings. Its easy to see how he related to these people as their history parallels well with his own Jewish ancestors - exodus, genocide and the importance of those who came before you.
Back to lightness and beauty - the fascinating reusing of old canvases by Leslie Oshman, a feature on sfgirlbybay. I love the colors of old art. I think I’m finally figuring out how to put that into my own work.
April 22, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Art Shows, Artist Love, Like + Love
The intricate and lovely work of Mary Jo Watson, a fellow artist at White Whale Studio. Her grandmother taught her pine needle basket weaving, and she is taking it to a new level of creativity. I love, love, the little woven circles, they are so beautiful hanging in bundles. I wish I had gotten more, better photos of her work, I need to get some more good ones. Come to our WW show in May and see for yourself! And meet her, she’s very sweet.
April 14, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Annie, Artist Love, Our Artwork
I sat back and pondered today, in retrospect I think it might have been an obsession, my search for a color palette I could confidently wield. The three giant binders filled with magazine clippings, the screen captures and files saved in folders, the dates I spent with Egon Schiele, Leonard and Mauricio, counting the colors in the stripey gowns (or lack there of ), the feathers in the headresses. Its true I never felt very comfortable with my color choices, they didn’t fit, I think it was the paint. I never had that problem with oil. No, it was me, I just didn’t know what I was doing. Now I just choose what I really want to see hanging on my wall.
I like these. I like the colors. They are so small and frivolous really, the only thing I can manage to slip into my short free times (toddler naps). But, I think they are a good predictor of getting somewhere worth going. And I’m loosing up! Another good thing, I also never had that problem with oil. But I thinned the latex paint and now the visible strokes are flowing and not sticky looking. I like how they seem more impulsive. And I like Sterling Hundley, how he makes white shine on the sandy undertones (”pretty”, no 1 in case your interested, I can’t link directly to my example). Thank you reader, for reading this if you did, I know its very self-absorbed for me to say all this.
Oh yes, they will be done for the White Whale May show.
April 10, 2010 | Posted By: Chris
Filed Under Artist Love, Friends + Family, Life, Like + Love
For way too long I’ve been meaning to do a post about Matthew and Sandy Lynn Davis, the wonderful couple of Treatzone. (Hi Sandy, sorry this is so belated!) We first beheld their sweetness via a Poppytalk marketplace forever ago… it was their “altered portraits” that I immediately coveted, each and every one. I share a love for old photographs myself, with an ever-growing collection of them, mostly, lately, thanks to Annie’s antique shop hunting skillz.
There’s something about the fact that these were real people, as real as you and your arms and hands and face right now, and through these dusty old photographs that someone cared too much about to throw away or burn, these real people who came and went can still confront us today, long after their passing, or maybe, even, while they’re still alive, somewhere. And we all have the same end, like it or not. Except our Y2K portraits won’t look as cool as these do.
Whoah, I just thought of that scene in Dead Poets Society.
I feel the need to quote Ecclesiastes. But, ah… I’ll just suggest you all go and read it through. When you do, by the way, please keep in mind that the original Hebrew word usually translated “vanity” or “meaninglessness” in our modern translations actually doesn’t really mean those things. It’s “vapor.” Vapor of vapors! Under the sun, all is vapor. (Sorry to get scholarly, I’ve been reading it and this book recently, which I must recommend).
One of these days I’m going to start drawing and painting on some of my photographs.
ANYways, do yourself a flavor and be sure to check out the Treatzone Etsy shop + site, full of so many good things.
April 1, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Artist Love, Like + Love
Amazing work of Shelley Reed. I’ve seen her work around and then I saw that there was a tour of her studio on My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. . . check it out, seeing her incredibly detailed paintings all together is a wonderful sight.
March 26, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Artist Love, Like + Love
Seen on one of my favorites, Fine Little Day, these rooms made out of shoeboxes, auctioned off to benefit a childrens’ charity. How fun would it be to make one of them?!
Another new fav blog from across the sea, Froken O, don’t know how to do the dot things which I do know the term but not how to spell and my intelligent husband is not here to correct me. I’m sure a comment from him will soon appear.