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I’m not sure how to explain how much I love these… hm… well, I made a strange gasping sound when I saw that first piece, so that might do it. Beautifully drawn graphite ropes living in perfect harmony with sherbet-hued gouache on really big pieces of paper. Yep, madly in love with these gorgeous compositions by Philadelphia based artist Jen Wink Hays. Sigh. Happy Monday.
{You can find some of Jen’s work at Uprise Art}
Oh, so many mysterious landscapes, strange little girls, and what I can only assume to be a lot of empty tubes of black paint! I’m talking to Vancouver based painter Rebecca Chaperon today, and as usual, I have lots of questions. Warning: We had some major technical difficulties getting this episode recorded, but we did it! There is the occasional wifi glitch, so just ignore those, ok? Thanks! You can listen right up there under Rebecca in her studio, or you can subscribe on iTunes.
Let’s start with the first series of Rebecca’s that I ever saw… “Like a Great Black Fire”:
Gorgeous! And surprising to learn that she didn’t actually use that much black paint. Speaking of which, we talked about the dramatic swing she took with her color palette – from dark/moody to pastel/sweet. Her work still looked like her work, but the colors were flipped. Here’s a little visual evolution:
Ahh! I love it all, but if you follow me, you’ll know that I have a soft spot for pink. That final piece – “Lady of the Pink Lake” – yeah, I am completely and totally in love with that! It’s a perfect blend of all of her work… ice, landscapes, portals, weird little girls. Love it.
Other things I love from Rebecca’s portfolio? These amazing crystals, ie. her “Tesseract” series:
Oh my goodness… it’s like her flat portals have found a whole new candy-hued dimension! And onto more pastel gems from here. Rebecca’s mini iceberg series:
I’ve loved these for years, but had no idea the lovely story behind them {hence the reason I’m addicted to doing this podcast!}.
So, from paintings of icebergs and crystals to this beautiful/creepy book, titled “Eerie Dearies”
Ha! So great! An A to Z book that gives you “26 Ways To Miss School”. Edward Gorey would be proud!
Oh, and I was very excited to find out more about this. Secret painting parties? YES!!!
Crystals, moons, ladies and paint… sounds like a perfect evening to me. If you’re interested in finding out how to get yourself into one of these secret painting parties, click this secret link.
And finally, Rebecca’s black bob that I love oh so much:
So chic … well, except for the spiders. Thank you so much to Rebecca for doing this – and bearing with me during our technical difficulties – thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting yet another episode, and big thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.
Other Links:
Sunshine, reflections, floating in the cool blueness of it all. Ahhhh, yes… I could spend this hot July weekend in any of these gorgeous oil paintings by Spanish artist Josep Moncada. Yes. Paintings. How someone can do this with paint is beyond me. Stunning.
Josep is represented by CK Contemporary in San Francisco.
{via Booooooom}
Lightning storms with a 95% chance of cotton candy! This is the gorgeous work of Toronto based painter Yang Cao, and this is his beautiful reason for all of those clouds:
“I like the unpredictability of the cloud. It’s shapeless and changes all the time, it follows the wind and never stays in one form and place. Somehow I find this as a resemblance to our human nature and mind.” Yang Cao, Tussle Magazine Interview
Sigh. Perfect. Happy Monday.
Oh my. Ethereal paintings that bring a quiet, hushed exhale to the room. This is the work of Albuquerque, NM based painter Tracy Rocca. I had to show those studio shots so that you could understand the scale of these beauties. How does she create these light filled landscapes… I dunno! Do you want to find out? Me too. Here is a lovely video of Tracy talking about her process, and working her dreamy magic:
Tracy Rocca: In the Studio from Deb Achak on Vimeo. Studio photographs also taken by Deb Achak
Ok, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve written about American painter Michael Carson … but it’s a hot day in July and I just found these {oil on panel}. How could I not write about him again!? Polkadots, night swimming, and sunglasses that just won’t quit. Love.
“You can’t be born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1955 and grow up in South Central [Los Angeles] near the Black Panthers headquarters, and not feel like you’ve got some kind of social responsibility. You can’t move to Watts in 1963 and not speak about it. That determined a lot of where my work was going to go…”
Well yes, I guess so! Those are the words of prolific Chicago based painter Kerry James Marshall. His work is so powerful, so beautiful, and there is oh so much of it! I wanted to post about fifty paintings but I tried to show a bit of self-control. Luckily self-control isn’t needed if you’re in Chicago this summer, because there is a huge retrospective of his work currently showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago until September 25, 2016. Go! But before you do, one more great quote: “You can wait for somebody to let you get in the door – or you can assume your place among equals and put yourself in the world too, and put yourself in the stories that you want to see told.”
Amen.
Sigh. These ethereal landscapes are the work of French artist Fabienne Rivory, and part of a series titled Croisées. This isn’t new to Fabienne though… in 2007, she began “exploring interactions between photography and painting. The meeting of these two media allows [her] to create images that are not a faithful reproduction of reality, but retain in them a trace of reality to which is added an interpretation, a subjective layer.” Beautiful.
I like to imagine that these abstract worlds are made of candy, and are most likely home to a bunch of unicorns. These colorful layers of dots and lines are the work of Kansas based painter Jaime Rovenstine. She is an artist, works full-time at a museum, and is the mother of a beautiful little girl. How does she do that?! Don’t worry, I asked her. You can listen right up there under that explosion of color, or you can subscribe on iTunes.
First up, a few of my favorites {acrylic on canvas} from Jaime’s magical portfolio:
Yum!
Jaime’s studio is in her home, which is great for getting work done. Luckily, she has a little helper in there:
Gah! How cute is she!? I also really wanted to show a couple of Jaime’s “in progress” pieces. I’d hang these on my wall right this very second… but she’s a “maximalist” so she keeps on going. Fair enough. She’s the pro!
So, we also talked about Jaime’s very busy life. She works at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, comes home for dinner / bath / books with her family, and then makes her way into the studio {or the couch for Netflix depending on the day}:
How great is that self-portrait in the reflection on her brush… love! {found on her dreamy Instagram feed}.
We also talked about the evolution of her work. In college she was already starting down the path she’s on now:
Similar but they’re definitely deeper and richer now. The piece just above, with the phonograph, is the painting that Columbia College Chicago {the art school she went to} bought when she graduated… it’s also the piece inspired by patterns in the Anthropologie catalog!
And finally… I started this post with a few of my favorites, and I’ll end it with a few more. These are the paintings I was talking about when I brought up her fabulous titles {that we now know are words from the mouth of the very dry/hilarious Karl Pilkington.} These are: “Worry Hole”, “Willy Nilly By the Sea”, and “Jellyfish in a Trifle”:
See? I’m sure there has to be candy and unicorns in there somewhere. Speaking of unicorns, here’s a link to the weirdest infomercial you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Thanks Jaime, without you I never would have known about the “Squatty Potty”! *Warning: You may never want to eat ice cream again.
Thanks so much to Jaime for taking time out of her busy life to do this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for continuing to support the podcast, and as always, thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend!
Other links:
Ooh! These gorgeous wobbly portraits are from a series titled, “Old Enough To Be My Mother”, and are the work of American artist Nathan Ritterpusch. I wrote about this series in 2012, and my heart literally just skipped a beat when I saw that he had created new pieces in 2016! LOVE.
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