Illustrator/Artist I Love - Curly Girl Designs

I recently saw one of this artist's collages on a friend's blog and thought, I LOVE that quote.  I love when are makes you smile with words as well as color & fun.

Print by Curly Girl Design

Food Artists - Bompas & Parr

Check out this cool molded Jello (or Jelly in England) by British food artists, Bompas & Parr.  

Artist I'm Drawn To: Amy Casey

I decided to start a new blog series called "Artist I'm Drawn To."  The series will feature all different types of artists with the main criteria being that I saw and really dug their art.  Hopefully this will introduce you to some new art to bookmark, talk about and even purchase.

This past weekend I went to Art San Diego - Contemporary Art Fair.  This show featured galleries from around the world and in my opinion the art was 10 times better than what I've seen at local art walks.  One artist that caught my eye was Amy Casey, represented by the Rosenthal Gallery in San Francisco.    

Amy's 2010 paintings that were shown at the fair were a series of houses & buildings strung from twine and bound together in messy piles.  It reminded me of a mix between a Doctor Seuss illustration and a delicate drawing by Andrew Wyeth (like this one).  On Amy's website she said that this work was meant to "reflect the view of the nervous state of affairs the world seems to be in.  Inspired by natural and unnatural disasters, personal fiascos and the never ending stream of bad news coming from the media."  Hmmm.  Sounds like the book I am reading - Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America.  ANYHOO... Here are some of her paintings:

Interdependence - Acrylic on Panel

Anchored - Acrylic on Paper

Guarded Premises - Acrylic on Paper

So what do you think of this art?  Comments please!

Photographer Annie Liebovitz

This Saturday night my husband and I watched the documentary, Annie Leibovitz - Life Through A Lens. It was an enjoyable look at a famous magazine photographer who's had a lot of unique experiences.  I didn't know much about her until I saw this doc and I was amazed by where her work has taken her from traveling with The Rolling Stones to photographing John Lennon just hours before his death.  Definitely a great doc to watch - you won't be bored.

Here are some of Annie Liebovitz's famous photos:  

1.  John & Yoko, 2.  Whoopi Goldberg, 3.  Nicole Kidman

 

Art I'd Like To Make

Lately I've been pondering some ideas for large format paintings and also thinking of the ideal painting style I'd one day love to achieve.  As for the idea, I'd love to tell a story with my paintings or show real life emotion, problems and situations.  The style I'd love to achieve is hyperrealism.  This type of painting is like photorealism but the paintings are based on photographs from digital cameras.  The digital photos used for the paintings are toyed with or keyed up a notch through editing to make an image that is MORE than realistic.  Then the painters paint the image, typically on a large scale canvas.  There are many painters in this genre who I really admire.  Maybe if I take a lot of classes and keep painting I'll be able to do this one day.

Here is one guy whose stuff I like:  Eric Zener

Here is another painter:  Alyssa Monks

When You Think Of Flag Paintings...

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958, Encaustic on canvas. Whitney Museum, New York

Jasper Johns, Map, 1961, Oil on canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York

Jasper Johns, Flag, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood,1954-55

Is 'Work Of Art: The Next Great Artist' the Next Great Show or Not?

Did you catch the first episode of "Work of Art:  The Next Great Artist," on Bravo?  Since I love art and am shamelessly addicted to reality "contest" shows, I of course tuned in.  My take was that is was the "Project Runway" for aspiring artists.  So far, I like the show for a couple reasons.  One, it showcases visual artists in popular media which up until now has really been lacking.  I think this show could make way for more artists and crafters to have shows on TV similar to all the cooking and fashion design shows.  Two, I love contest shows.  They really get me fired up into dream thinking mode where I think, "UGH, if those people can 'make it' then so can I!".  Sometimes that's all I need to get my butt in gear for painting and other tasks that require more work than laying on the couch.  That's also how I justify watching these shows - they are inspiration!!  Good excuse I know.

So what did you think?  The LA Times HATED it.  But I think those newspaper art critics can be such art snobs.  I say 3 cheers for visual art making prime time TV!    

Here is my favorite artist so far:  Abdi Farah

Local Art Scene: Pearl St. in Denver's Washington Park

River Sunset by Susan Bell

This weekend I got a chance to stroll down one of my favorite streets in Denver:  Pearl Street in Washington Park.  This street is lined with funky stores, yummy cafes and hip restaurants.  It has a youthful  yet posh vibe - kind of like a nice street in Chicago's Lincoln Park but with many more green trees and flowers.  I poked my head into a small gallery to check out the local art and had a nice visit with one of the artists, Jess Covey.  The Gallery, Bell Studio Gallery, is owned by Susan Bell but features a small number of other local artists who paint mainly in the representational style with only a few abstract/impressionistic pieces included.  I really liked the variety of work, the price points and the friendly staff.  I wish all galleries had a welcoming feel like this one did.  If you're ever in the Denver area you should check out Pearl St. and the Bell Studio Gallery.

brOTHER ART

My brother, Michael Hession, is also an artist and recently started his own blog called Other Art.  (Do you get my post title now??)  Below is one of his recent paintings.  To create his work he takes pictures of obscure parts of buildings and found objects in San Francisco and then draws/paints just a portion of the photo.

While his work is definitely different than mine, Michael and I love to compare notes on paint, current projects, frustrations, and the excitement of doing what we love.  I am really proud of my brother because he's gone after his passion since undergrad and has since received an MFA!

Here is a picture of me and both of my awesome brothers at my wedding in September.  The artist is on the right...

 

 

Design Trend: Floral print with a dark background

I've noticed that floral print is very big right now.  I see it on dresses, blouses, bedding, even stationery.  A twist to this theme that I really like is the floral print with a black or dark colored background.  Here are some finds from the web:

A rug from Anthropologie.

Elizabeth and James New Romantic Shirt

Black Floral Print Skirt from Arden B

These prints inspire me to do something like it in a new floral collection!!  

Mixed Media Monday

This weekend was rainy in San Diego so my husband and I only left the house a few times amidst watching the olympics.  The one time we did leave was to get me a new fleece coat at the Patagonia store.  I have a tendency to wear my clothes really hard and my old fleece was stained and embarrassing to others around me.

Not only did I get a new fleece at the Patagonia store in Cardiff, but we got to see a cool art show with artists, Thomas Campbell and Serena Mitnik-Miller.  Thomas Campbell has a bunch of ice cream colored mixed media work on display.  He uses paint, found materials and stitching.  So cool!  Here is some of his work.

Here is Thomas's website:  http://www.thomascampbell-art.com/
Here is Serena's website:  http://www.serenamitnikmiller.com/