Journey Of A Still Life - Part 2

My early influences at art school were Alberto Morrocco and my tutor James Morrison.  But back to the journey.  Pattern and colour are a big part of my client's life, also ceramics she had created as well as her partner's favourite item - Pegasus........  and so it continues to develop. Note to self : must try and take better pics as I go along!

Journey Of A Still Life

Always enjoyed working on large canvases so when I was asked do a commission of a still life using their favourite possessions it took me back to my early days at art college.  Once I had gathered all the references and drew up the composition, I decided to go with the natural colour of the canvas which is not how we were taught to begin a painting (normally the tutors would get us to lose the colour with a wash of a grey, darker tone) but it just felt right.  And so it began .........

Artist - Margaret Olley

I think Margaret Olley called herself the original bag lady and I could see why when I visited Tweed River Art Gallery, New South Wales.  The artist had donated her home and contents to the gallery and it was a visual cornucopia of objet d'arts, possessions and house contents - amazing!  Not sure I would want to live there but I would certainly loved to have be invited as one of her guests for dinner.

Maria Berrio

Maria Berrio - Dream Gardens

Fresh finds for a new year and I stumbled across Maria Berrio's collage art just the other day. Maria was born in Colombia and now works and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Love her collision of pattern and colour - I'm inspired to get back in to my studio.

The Kelpies

The Kelpies

A great day - I love scale, pattern and structure.  The Kelpies by Andy Scott in Falkirk - the largest equine sculptures in the world and here's Andy's story -  " The title and theme of The Kelpies as mystical water-borne equine creatures was inherited at the outset of the project, almost eight years ago.  Since then it has evolved dramatically and in the process the ethos and function has shifted from the original concept.   Falkirk was my father’s home town and that inherited link to the town has been one of my driving inspirations.  A sense of deep personal legacy has informed my thinking from the outset, with old family connections anchoring me to the project.   As an artist I frequently tackle the theme of equine sculpture in my practice.  My horse based works are always rooted in a socio-historical relevance or respond to a brief from the client.  In almost every project they are related to the site, the audience, history or a combination of themes."

Trip To Inverness

Link to Mike's Blog

It's wearing well, considering the Inverness weather!  Mike describes the commission as the Crown Road Wall Installation - a visual narrative exploring Scottish beliefs systems and highland myths. This 65 metre long and 5 metre high wall based narrative took the better part of 1 year to complete from initial conversations through research trips to the artworks creation and finally installation in Inverness city centre. many people, many conversations, many cups of coffee and a few pints of highland honey ale went into the creation this work commissioned by Inverness Old Town Art and funded by Highland Council.   Great piece of work and glad I managed to find it this time!

Vasilis Papatsarouchas

Alice in Wonderland

Detail - Alice in Wonderland

"Vasilis Papatsarouchas has come to be known as a prolific and highly praised book illustrator. During the past fifteen years, more than fifty books bearing his illustrations have been published in Greece and abroad, including two Collector’s Editions and four publications based on texts written by him. Among other distinctions, in 2004 he was awarded with the National Illustration Award for an adaptation of the classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, while in 2008 he was nominated for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, an award presented to a living author or illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature." This quote and for more info can be found here - Yatzer

Gemma Anderson

Potraits: Patients and Pyschiatrists'

Potraits: Patients and Pyschiatrists'

Potraits: Patients and Pyschiatrists'

Quote from Gemma's website  "Portraits: Patients and Psychiatrists’ is unique in Art History as the first series of portraits to mix psychiatrists and psychiatric patients indiscriminately in one collection (Jordanova, Schupbach 2010). These portraits could not have been made a hundred years ago at the Bethlem Royal Hospital but since then psychiatric knowledge and practice have advanced........

At the centre of each portrait is a face. Around that point, a world of objects floats, sprouts, jostles, plays hide-and-seek. Mushrooms form an acrobatic tower to peer over one subject’s shoulder; a seahorse nestles inside the belly of a dogfish, like a foetus, a treble clef, the f-hole of a violin - nature’s ampersand. These objects repeat and then transform, cells become scales become butterfly wings become pills; veins become nerves become muscle fibre become wrinkles. Natures patterns find a deep echo in the artist’s imagination"

Pascale Drivière

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A quote from Pascale's website -

"Pascale Drivière, bricolière little things.

sew the pieces of history
mend the rips of the past,
gather defeated links.

objects neglected, abandoned,
clothing collected, used, loaded with memory,
machine dedicated to rags was expertly patched, patched,
relics that retain traces of forgotten lives.

all these remains shaped by the use move me.
I welcome them, they become familiar to me and tell me the passing of time.
I am guided by these fragments of memory and trying to decipher their secrets to looking for reflections of life. born and portraits."

Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi

Wandering

consultation of the morning of one day

the cat which relaxes.

Born in Japan, Tetsuhiro Wakabayashi leads a very active life as well as painting daily. 

Laura Ferrara

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Flickr Link

I found American artist/illustrator Laura Ferrara's work through Pocketful Illustration Mag - I did try to find her website but it doesn't seem to be online at the moment, although she does have a Flickr account and it's well worth a visit.

Mike Inglis - Artist in Residence

Autumn colours and textures in the gardens of Battleby

Mike's studio at Battleby

Lovely day spent with my friend at his new venture - Scottish National Heritage's artist in residence.  It's based at SNH’s conference centre at Battleby in Perthshire, which hosts a wide range of events and activities each year attended by nearly 10,000 people.  

His residency will look at how the use of the garden and designed landscape can increase awareness and understanding around a range of issues and opportunities facing Scotland’s natural environment.   

Mike's created a specific website relating to his residency here and well worth a visit. I was lucky with the weather that day - it was a stunning autumn day.

Hisanori Yoshida

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Hisanori Yoshida's sensitive gentle pieces where less really is more.

ana ventura

ola!

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Born in Lisboa Portugal,  Ana Ventura is a multi-facetted illustrator and artist.  Her unique style is found in a wide variety of media, from illustrated adhesive tape to paper dolls, from book markers to decorative wall stickers, from postcards to clothes and accessories.

ANDRE DA LOBA

Cyclops

Faun

Source: andredaloba.com via Fran on Pinterest

Born in Portugal, André da Loba is a published and exhibited artist whose work has received international acclaim. As an illustrator, animator, graphic designer, sculptor, and educator, Andre’s combination of curiosity, experience, knowledge and unknowing serves as the constant medium with which he creates and inspires. 

Blanca Helga

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Blanca Helga - born in Salamanca and works in mixed media.

Yoshinori Funayama - Mozneko

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Yoshinori Funayama's website

Ulla Jokisalo

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I think Sonia's blog sums up Finnish artist Ulla Jokisalo really well - "her work is fascinating i like her precision and mix of media: photography, threads....her work is spooky and feels like going back to childhood misery solitude, anger, envy and despair...."