SPOT THE ZEBRA

Territory. Fiber art and mixed media by Jette Clover. See Here.

Well not really. I came across a post on Art Biz Blog about coming up with more interesting exhibition themes. Since this post is about black and white stripes, zebras came to mind......So the title stays until someone comes up with a better one. What I love about black and white stripes in these artworks is the way they sing in contrast to the other colours.

Passages. Fiber art and mixed media by Jette Clover.

While rebuilding her home in Florida, Jette Clover used the rusty objects she found in the ground, to rust fabric.  Thus began the Rust Series. These pieces need to be enlarged to see the intricate stitching. Click Here to take a closer look. 

"I like the color rust, and I like using the unpredictable designs that occur during the rusting process. It makes me let go of some of the control of art making. I react to the rust stains with painting, printing and stitching my own signs and lettering on the fabric. It is like being involved in an exchange of mark making with nature." - Jette Clover

Looking Glass by Bill Gingles. See more of Bill's work Here.

Tarn by Bill Gingles

See more work by Michael Shemchuk, Here.

Wiggleroom by Michael Shemchuk.

One 2 step by Michael Shemchuk.

The piece above is by Mary Buek. See Mary Buek's Flickr Photostream, Here and blog Here.

Panel by Bill Fisher at the Jane Sauer Gallery, Here.

Experiment by Robyn Gordon

Zebrawald II. See les surfaces Flickr photostream, Here.

..... AND WISDOM COMES QUIETLY

By the Seaside. Mixed Media by Linda Nardelli.

"Come away from the din.
Come away to the quiet fields,
over which the great sky stretches,
and where, between us and the stars,
there lies but silence;
and there, in the stillness
let us listen to the voice
that is speaking within us." - Jerome K. Jerome

Head in the Clouds. Mixed media by Linda Nardelli. Website here.


There are times when I gravitate toward art that invites stillness, introspection and connection with the greater scheme of things.

Begin with the Breath by Linda Nardelli

Linda Nardelli's work originates from a profound inner realm. "It becomes an alter of spirituality and a place for healing" - Linda Nardelli

Motion in Stillness by Kathryn Frund. See exhibition at the Chase Gallery, here.

"Kathryn Frund’s compositions… are landscapes of the mind – vast visions of barren desert, slate seas, and familiar but unidentifiable objects and places that read like hazy memories." - Ken Shulman

Quiet Hope by Kathryn Frund

Talking Low in a Boat by Bill Gingles

Goose Honk, Stillness by Kurt Jackson

Collage by Joanna Nash

Mirage. Mixed Media by Janet Jones

Crystal Crescent Beach by Tom Ward

"Let us spend one day as deliberately as nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without perturbation .... Let us not be upset and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid and whirlpool .... If the engine whistles, let it whistle till it is hoarse for its pains. If the bell rings, why should we run." - Henry David Thoreau

Forest Floor. Oil and acrylic on paper by Michael Porter

Monotypye by Jylian Gustlin

THE SECRET GARDEN

Balance. Hooked Rug by Ann Willey


"The Secret Garden was what many called it ...... she liked the name and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in, no one knew where she was. It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place." - Frances Hodgson Burnett


In the Garden. Hooked rug by Ann Willey

I'm enchanted by Ann Willey's work. Her hooked rugs remind me of the beautifully illustrated story books I was fascinated with as a child. See more of Ann's work on her website, here and on Flickr, here.

In the night garden. Hooked rug by Ann Willey

"Dreams, fairytales, myth, and everyday life overlap and intermingle in my mixed media paintings and rug hookings. I am fascintated by the concept of magical realism, and there is a psychological current that runs through my work, which can hint at multiple layers of meaning." - Ann Willey

Red Shoes in the garden by Amy Huddleston . Website here.

"When I am alone the flowers are really seen; I can pay attention to them. They are felt presences." - May Sarton

Spring Garden by Elaine Pamphilon at the Medici Gallery, here.

Metamorphose-attendre by Jung-Yeon Min. See more here.

Gate by Margaret Ryall. Website here and blog here.

Garden Abstract by Mary Ann Wakeley. Blog here and Flickr photostream here.

"It is good to be alone in a garden at dawn or dark so that all its shy presences may haunt you and possess you in a reverie of suspended thought." - James Douglas

A reverie of suspended thought ..... I like that.

Forest Walk. Mixed media by Chuck Gumpert. Website, here.


Sacred Stone Garden Art by Deborah Bridges. Website here.

SHADES OF RUST

Quintessence by Bill Gingles

I recently discovered Bill Gingles work. Many of his latest pieces are painted with a rich rusty palette. See more here.

Crescendo by Bill Gingles


"In the studio each painting is a starting over, a tacit recognition that after thirty plus years of painting I still don’t know how to make a painting (which is different from knowing how to paint). I just know that I can. Each time the task is to find a way to give myself to the painting so the magic can happen and the painting can stir to life.

Each new painting reveals its own tendencies and surprises as it comes to life. Rather like children from the same parents, they are each at once individuals and siblings. It is because the life they share with each other is the life they drew from me." -- Bill Gingles


Symphony in Red by Bill Gingles



Seventh Autumn by Bill Gingles

Has it always been this way or is it only in the last year or two that people have been going nuts over rusted metal in their art?



Rusty sculpture. Photo taken by Michael Pinto. See blog here.

I'm just as enamoured with paintings using a rusty palette as I am with rusted sculpture.

Absence of Black by David Maple . See more here
A painting I have loved ever since Mary Ann posted about it on her blog is Ancient Dashboard ..... though I get the feeling she doesn't love it as much as I do.

Ancient Dashboard by Mary Ann

Collage Painting by Fran Skiles

"I call these collage paintings, “skins”. They are rigid, yet flexible layered constructions of paper, cloth, paint, gesso, paint, ink and pencil held together with stitching, embroidery, and medium. My personal photography plays a part in the content and design of the work. I use photography to jump- start the collage, and many times the initial photography is destroyed in this layering process; only to reemerge later". -- Fran Skiles

See website here.

Trilogy by Seth Apter. Find more of Seth's work at The Altered Page, here.
Frontier V by Rosalie Gascoigne

Enduring Power by Linda Stilley. Website here.

THE ART OF ELFI CELLA

Elfi Cella is a wonderful artist from Switzerland. I don't know who found who's blog first but from the first day of discovery I have been enchanted with her work. She incorporates buckles and zippers, buttons and lace and all sorts of other bits and pieces into her exquisite paintings. These mundane objects take on a new life, surprising all who view them.

Love the shirtscape! 

.... and this piece below, using old lace and paintbrushes? It is one of my favourites!

Take a wander over to her blog, here . I guarantee you will come away smiling.