MERAKI

Leaf Forms by Barry Smith. See blog, here.

While preparing for this post I kept coming back to Barry Smith's metal leaf forms. Barry is a generous soul who creates his metal artworks with love. He teaches his craft to others and sends his leaves into the world like little ambassadors, spreading peace and goodwill wherever they land.

Leslie Avon Miller. See blog, here.

Leslie Avon Miller's art speaks to me on an emotional level. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm thinking it has something to do with meraki.

"Please keep demonstrating the courage that it takes to swim upstream in a world that prefers putting away for retirement to putting pen to paper, that chooses practicality over poetry, that values you more for going to the gym than going to the deepest places in your soul. Please keep making your art for people like me, people who need the magic and imagination and honesty of great art to make the day-to day world a little more bearable". - Shauna Niequist

History by Donna Watson. See more from this series, here.

When Donna was struggling with a creative block I kept thinking ..... when she returns she will create art that will catapult her to another level ..... and I wasn't mistaken! Her new pieces incorporating cold wax, oils and collage are beautiful. 

Leaving Egypt by Mary Ann Lehrer Plansky. See blog, here.

A lot of research goes into Mary Ann's art. I enjoy tracking the ideas and thoughts that gently meander through her blog, culminating in beautiful artworks. 

Gabriel Lalonde. See blog, here.

I visit Gabriel Lalonde's blog regularly because I enjoy his work. I detect a playful spirit with a "what if" attitude when it comes to his art. 

Hanelore Baron

This exhibition of Hanelore's work is well worth the browse. I enjoyed reading the press release too.

Lawrence Carroll

Ikuko Ando. See more, here.

" I would like to envelop myself ..... to enclose a sense of space, of landscape, within clay. Creating day by day, like putting entries in a diary"  --  Ikuko Ando

Lynn Chadwick

"And what is it to work with love?
It is to charge all things you fashion with 
a breath of your own spirit." 
- Khalil Gibran

Totem by Robyn Gordon. Website, here.

I felt a deep connection to this piece. The person who commissioned it shared just enough of her story for me to recognize similarities in my own life. I could relate to her story and was able to create the totem for the both of us.

"One of the loveliest words in the English language is the word 'inspiration'. It signifies the creative breath. It also has to do with spontaneity, with the arrival of the unexpected image or idea in the mind. Inspiration is the flash of connecting light that suddenly comes from elsewhere and illuminates."  -  John O'Donohue

MEND, MENDING, MENDED

Brunivo Buttarelli. (Rock mended with metal) 

Mend: to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing ....

Looking at these images I could add .... 
Mend: to beautify and to create art.

"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful." - Billie Mobayed

Repaired bowls by RELAXMAX. 

Kintsugi: the artful repair of damaged things.

The Japanese Boro Yogi is a sleeping garment used like a blanket for warmth . More Boro items at Kimonoboy, here.

American 18th century carved (and repaired) bowl. 

Mending Land II by Trace Willans. (encaustic and mixed media). 

Broken Teacup by Claire Crompton. 

Susanna Bauer. Click for Susanna's website

Mended jewellery series by Dania Chelminsky. 

Lawrence Carroll. 

Lawrence Carroll.

I love the fact that Lawrence Carroll's canvases are stitched, patched, stapled and mended. Hester van Dapperen also  slices through the canvas of her color field paintings and  mends them.

Hester van Dapperen. 

"Mutilations of historical works in museums inspired me to cut in planes of color. The knife in cloth gives a tension and requires on-going effort of the painter. Sutures and operations with crooked needle and twine followed. The scars in combination with added paint become an integral part of the canvas. They lead the search for the essence behind the work".  -  Hester van Dapperen

Mending Bridges by Deborah McArdle. 

Lea McComas became involved in the Peace Quilt challenge when she heard about a "call for solidarity of the women of the world to work together to defend and protect women in times of conflict and to empower women to be active agents in the peace process."

"My quilt began as a collage of photos collected over a decade of living, working, and traveling overseas. Many of the photos are my own. A friend who has traveled extensively as a medical volunteer contributed others. The photos were printed onto fabric, pieced together with scraps, and quilted in a very traditional manner. The quilt was then torn, cut, burned and shot; literally tearing families apart. Finally, a woman's hands were added to the top using fused applique and shown working to stop the destruction, mend the damage, and repair the vision." - Lea McComas

Read more about The Mending by Lea McComas here.

AT FULL TILT, SINGING AS I GO

This week has been one of those full-tilt-singing-as-one-goes sort of weeks. The days have been glorious, though cold enough to wear a tartan coat and a sunbeam....

I finished the door commission, mentioned a few posts ago......



...... and visited my "good luck" gallery in my favourite little mountain village ....


..... ate lunch next to a waterfall, at a restaurant overlooking the farm where I spent most of my childhood.

I also treated myself to a Clementina van der Walt plate, something I've been wanting to do for a long time.


Ceramics by Clementina van der Walt at The Underberg Studio. The plate I bought is in the top left corner.

The Underberg Studio gallery stocks art by leading South African ceramists. This little gallery is my lucky charm ..... and I'm not saying anymore in case I jinx it ;-)

Quirky ceramic jugs by Hennie Meyer.

Ceramic Tile by Cathy Brennon. (I happen to have this tile on my wall :-)

Cathy and Lawrance Brennon, the owners of the gallery, are both recognized artists in their own right. Cathy is a ceramist who creates a range of amazing pieces, from delicate, detailed bowls to earthy, African inspired body masks.

Delicate bowl by Catherine Brennon at The Underberg Studio gallery.

Lawrance is a photographer who captures the stunning beauty of surrounding mountains with his camera. He also makes pinhole cameras and has a blog where he shares his passion for photography.


Potter at Work by Lawrance Brennon. See more on Lawrance's blog, here.

The ceramics studio (attached to the gallery), is full to brimming with bits and pieces that grip one's attention from the moment one walks in the door.

Ceramics Studio. The clay busts you see are also made by Cathy.

Have you ever tried holding a conversation with someone while your eyes are darting around the room and though you are hanging onto every word because the words are important you are battling to pull your eyes back into their sockets so that you don't appear rude? That is what it is like for me when visiting the studio. There is just so much I need to look at! Shelves of art books ...... half finished ceramic pieces ..... new ideas carved in clay .... pottery tools ..... sacred treasures gathered on walks ..... shards of blue and white porcelain, stumbled upon during a trip to Japan .... pinch pots filled with found objects and inspiration.

"There are mountainous, arduous days, up which one takes an infinite time to climb, and downward-sloping days which one can descend at full tilt, singing as one goes". - Marcel Proust

CARNIVAL OF WHITE

Noire et blanc . Mixed media on canvas by Amadea Bailey

Yes, I'm still on my white hobbyhorse. I can't help myself! These glorious pieces just keep drawing me in.

Carnival IV by Amadea Bailey

Amadea Bailey's work is exciting! Shades of white ..... layers of torn paper..... movement .... magic! A bonus for me is that she once lived in my neck of the woods and she speaks of a life I am so familiar with.

"I grew up in Africa riding horses in the bush, eating sugarcane by the side of the road, and playing dress-up with banana leaves. I experienced a sense of freedom and abandon, and an immediate connection to the tactile, physical and non-rational worlds. Now, as an adult, my paintings reconnect me to that awakened child of Africa," - Amadea Bailey

Primitive by Amadea Bailey

I'm not quite sure what the whole physiological effect of white is on me but basically it calms and inspires me. It's considered a spiritual colour amongst the Zulus and I notice that it is a sacred colour in many other areas of the world too. It also stands for purity of life, peace and simplicity.

Rain Symphony. Layered textile by Nada Mousawi

Info Contact by Jeesoo Lee

Jeesoo Lee creates abstract wallscapes and installations by sewing and weaving ..... tying, knotting and hanging ......... piercing, ripping, scrunching and scratching...... attaching and constructing.

Have a look here to see her larger works. They really are amazing!

Buttle by Jeesoo Lee

White Shadows. Sewn and constructed paper and cloth by Elisa D'Arrigo

Woodstock Nights by Lawrence Carroll

Petition by Kathryn Frund

Childhood Dreams by Lisa Mei Ling Fong

Mixed media by dagi3 on Flickr