Oil. Paintings. Would you like a moment to catch your breath? This some of the most recent exquisite, meticulous, jaw-dropping work of Madrid based painter Antonio Santin. I had to include the closeups, and the extra extra closeups so all of the insane details could be seen. I can’t even imagine how long you’d have to stand in front of one of these beauties to take it all in. Color, texture, details (look at those little green birds!). Stunning. Here’s some insight into his practice:

Deeply rooted in the tradition of Spanish Tenebrism as well as his own training as a sculptor, Santin juxtaposes flattened planes with tangible forms carved by light and shadow to create a continuous perceptual dialogue in each work. The rug series evolved from his ongoing interest in the opacity of fabric as a device to obscure with abstract patterns and textures.

Antonio has a solo show opening this week, January 14th – March 5th at Galerie Isa in Mumbai, India.

Ahhh, this is the dreamy work of Kansas City based artist Rachel Gregor. I couldn’t decide if I loved her figurative work {two of the above are self portraits}, or her still life fruits & florals {all of which are odes to artists from the past}… so you’re getting both on this fine Monday morning! Some of these gorgeous paintings are oil on canvas, others are gouache on paper… can you tell which are which?!  ps. A few of Rachel’s paintings are part of an upcoming show, titled “Lush” at Hashimoto Contemporary in NYC. January 16th – February 6th.

Today is a two for one episode … sort of. New York based artist Petah Coyne popped in for the first fifteen minutes to so we could tell you about IN TANDEM (yay!), and then I did a full interview with Philadelphia based artist Sarah Detweiler aka @sd_artifacts. Note: Sarah and I discovered that we are both OVER-SHARERS, so brace yourself. We covered everything from 9/11 and miscarriages, to mothers draped in tablecloths,  and whether or not we’ve skinny-dipped. Spoiler alert: we both have. You can listen right up there under “Hidden (Earth) Mother”, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify.

First up, here are the images from my 2017 post about Sarah:

See? Already so dreamy and really starting to come together… and then, the HIDDEN MOTHER series! ps. the first painting/embroidery piece below is the first one Sarah ever did. It is titled, “Hidden (Grieving) Mother”:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sarah Detweiler | Art (@sd_artifacts)

Ooooh, that glowing embroidered rainbow! Speaking of rainbows… how on earth did we not speak of rainbows!? Luckily I was able to do a little post-podcast research. This is the book, “The Rainbow Way”, that Sarah found when she threw herself down the “rainbow as archetype” rabbit hole, and the passages that brought everything together for her:

Creative Rainbow Mother. Seriously, how perfect is that?!

Next up, the fabulous piece that Sarah collaborated on with Kelly Kozma as part of their group show {that also included Han Cao aka @hanwriting} last July at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia. Here is Sarah’s painting, and the tapestry by Kelly that inspired it:

Ah, I love it! Amazing female artists working together to create even more amazing things!

Okay, there’s no way I could NOT include these super weird photographs in this post. Here are a few original, very Victorian, and totally bizarre ‘hidden mother’ portraits:

I mean, WHAT? Hilarious and creepy, and totally inspiring … in a super weird way.

And finally, here’s what I was looking at while we recorded:

Ah, so cute… and then she started doing the ‘pee pee dance’ in her chair {don’t worry, she made it in time!}. Thank you so much to Sarah for over-sharing with me, thanks to Petah for popping in at the beginning to share our ideas, and thanks to you for listening! ps. If you want to know more about “IN TANDEM” check out THIS POST on my site. There will be more ART FOR YOUR EAR next weekend.

Other links:

1. Sarah on Instagram
2. Kelly Kozma, Artist
3. Seth Clark, Artist {his AFYE episode}
4. Tara Centybear aka centybearstudios, Artist
5. Paradigm Gallery, Philadelphia
6. Lucy H. Pearce, Author
7. “In Tandem” Guide /  #intandemart2021
8. Petah Coyne, my pARTner! {her AFYE episode}

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Janna Watson (@jannawww)

Pure joy! Literally… this is Joy. She’s the niece of one of my favorite painters, Toronto based artist Janna Watson {jpgs do NOT do these large-scale beauties justice}. I posted this video of Joy in action before the holidays because, HELLO, we all need this kind of pure unbridled happiness in our lives, right? Janna completely agrees, so much so that her newest show, that opens at Bau-Xi in Vancouver this Saturday January 9th, is titled “Finding Joy”. Here’s the description:

This series is dedicated to and inspired by Joy, the artist’s three-year-old niece, and in it Watson collapses pictorial and physical space to tell visual anecdotes of the time they spent together. An escape from the bouts of seriousness and isolation that punctuate adult life, this new and different headspace is reflected in Watson’s most-recent work, which is playful, spontaneous, and imbued with delight.

“In a time where it’s hard to know what’s right and everything is so complex, I was drawn to the simplicity around Joy … Sometimes life happens and we forget what it feels like to be free.” ~ Janna Watson

Ahhh, so true! ps. the red painting above is titled “Fly Horsie!”… for obvious reasons! The show runs until Jan 23rd.

Breathtaking! These are the bold, beautiful paintings of Tanzanian artist Sungi Mlengeya. Perfectly crisp and clean negative space, mixed with the gorgeous detail in the hands and facial expressions… somehow accomplished while using a purposely limited palette. Gorgeous. I also included the photo of Sungi in her studio so you could see, A. the scale of her work, and B. Sungi herself, obviously in her happy place. Here is part of her artist statement:

Happy New Year! Hmmm, how should we celebrate? … PLEASE SEE PHOTO ABOVE … Yep, Ashley Longshore is back on the podcast for the fifth time (!?) and we’re stepping into this new year with as much optimism as humanly possible. That said, 2020 was rough on all of us – even the sparkly, go go go Ashley – so we talked a lot about how slowing down, and having to be truly vulnerable, changed the way we approach both life and art. Listen right up there under Ashley and her cheese {photo by James Letten}, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify.

First up. NATURE! Yes, Ashley has always been a lover of bugs, blossoms and butterflies. Here’s a little bit of bedazzled proof:

Gorgeous! And yes, that photo midway through is a real luna moth Ashley made friends with in her garden. Insane. Watch Ashley’s stories on Instagram… she really does have some “Mother F’N Nature with Ashley Longshore” going on in her backyard! Seriously, I would watch that TV show.

Next, a teeny peek at the really big work she’s been hoarding the past few months:

Huge, colorful, full of life. Yep, that sounds about right! Ashley will be releasing all of these new paintings at the end of January so keep an eye on her Instagram feed for updates.

Ahhh, and the clown self-portrait she just said goodbye to:

Yep, it’s hard to say farewell to your favorites. At least she’s going to a home that will love her very very much.

And finally, Ashley and I both want to wish you a super duper HAPPY NEW YEAR! May you ride into 2021 exactly like this:

Hahaha! Now that is how you put some JOY into your life! Thanks so much to Ashley for leading us into the new year with that firm handshake of hers; thanks to Create Magazine and their gorgeous new book – “The Complete Smartist Guide” – for supporting this episode; and of course, huge thanks to YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Ashley on Instagram
2. St.Joseph’s Arts Society, San Francisco
3. Article via ART News re: St.Joseph’s
4. Petah Coyne on the podcast, Episode No. 186
5. Create Magazine – Call for Art, Womxn’s Issue
6. How To Spot An Artist {my children’s book}

Sigh. Beautifully boring. I absolutely love work that finds beauty in the everyday. Enter the most recent paintings {gouache on paper} by Toronto based artist Caitlyn Murphy. The plastic bags, all of the detailed fabric patterns, those lovely pink slips of paper… love, love, love! Seriously, transforming a trip into the dry cleaner into, well, this? Clearly I had to write about her again. Yep, I wrote about her beautifully boring cardboard box series way back in 2017. Sigh. Again. Happy Monday. Thank you for your patronage.

Ahhhh, the work of American painter Jeremy Miranda always makes me want to build a fire, grab a blanket and watch the snow fall. I love scrolling through his Instagram feed, because you can watch the seasons change with his subject matter. When I saw that colorful Christmas tree a few days ago, I knew it was time to write about Jeremy yet again. And with that, I’m off to spend the next few days with my little family {just my husband and son this year}, but I’ll be back next week with new posts. Happy Holidays to you and yours! ~ Danielle xo

Jeans! Yep, a zillion pieces of cut up denim transformed into installations, “paintings”, and sculpture. This is the jaw-dropping work of London based artist Ian Berry. Using old articles of clothing, scissors and glue, Ian creates everything from News Stands and Living Rooms, to Secret Gardens filled with blue-hued wildlife…

[Denim] is simply his medium for seeing the world, his paint, and what a material to use in this modern world; with all its symbols and dualities, as well as being such a common item of clothing that unites many around the globe.

Okay, this makes me miss wearing jeans. Jeggings don’t count, do they? Anyway, Ian’s work can be seen all over the place these days. Take a peek at the NEWS section on his site for current and upcoming exhibitions. Happy Monday.

Gasp! “Beasts of My Imagination” is the latest series by UK based artist Abigail Brown. I wrote about her paper maché animal heads waaaaaay back in 2014 and, as you can plainly see, her work is just getting more and more fantastical! Who do we have to thank for these latest sculptures, paintings and gigantic animal masks? You guessed it…

“Late March 2020 when the Corona virus pandemic hit, I packed up what I could from my studio and headed home for three months of lockdown.

It’s been a strange strange time and my emotions have been in constant flux… from fear and panic, anxiety and nightmares, to finding joy and delight in a slower more simple pace.

I’ve had time to explore ideas as they came without having to find a reason for them and it’s been an exciting journey to see where they lead me.”

I’m so glad these beasts found their way out of Abigail’s imagination, and into the world. Happy Friday.