Sunday, September 30, 2012

Playing Favorites: Chapter 7


Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.

Style File, Techniques & Tools, Master Class, and It's Still Life were the first four projects posted and links to all these posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The fifth project, Playing Favorites, continues now...


Participants were asked to: share a picture of a favorite piece of art that you have created and explain its meaning to you...
------------------------------------------

Chris Miser
"I wanted to collage with tissue paper, but I never had before. I'd seen a woman create a huge canvas entirely out of bits of tissue, and I loved the effect. It reminded me of cubist works, mosaics, or pointillism. This is my first attempt at it, and I loved it. I learned that a woman who had just bought her first home alone loved it even more than I did, so it made me very happy to give it to her as a housewarming gift."

Arabella Grayson
"Mosaic Heart. I took what was available at the time - a red crayon, a page from the newspaper, a brown paper bag, my broken heart - and created something beautiful at a time of great uncertainty and despair. That first piece - a mosaic heart affixed to a piece of paper bag - affirmed my commitment to leading an authentic life...to being an artist."

Dina Wakley
"This art journal page is a tribute to all my art friends from all over the world. Birds of an 'art' feather flock together! I love to teach and create with like-minded artists. It's comfortable and fulfilling."

Trudi Sissons
"I love gardening and, in particular, I love irises. I used a photograph I had taken of one of the iris blossoms in my garden and created a digital illustration using images from Evelyn Ducote's stock - Vintage Paris. I love the feeling I get when I become entirely consumed by creating and seem to lose myself inside the art."

Judy Shea
"withlovefull. This piece has many textures in it from polymer clay to fabric to beeswax. It means serenity and love to me. This really shows that I am a very tactile artist. I want people to touch my art and feel the surface and the grain. I also tend to use colors that show a bit of my Middle East heritage."

Tari Goerlitz
 "Germerica is a multi-cultural portrait of my son. It's faceless because it isn't about him as an individual. It's about identity and how people keep trying to define 'what' children are when they are born to parents of different nationalities."


"This piece was done for a fellow artist in one of the many collaborative art journals I have been involved in. It was a breakthrough piece for me, as I felt I was really finding my style in mixed media. Collage, photographs, junk mail, paint, ink, rubber stamping, paper piecing all found their way into this piece, and years later, I still love it." 





"The series of journals I made for my first commission was magically free from the devils of expectation. This one is one of my favorites because it symbolizes the essence of creating...a peaceful entry through endless doorways."



"As of this moment, this is a favorite for several reasons. There are several private pilots in our family - so the plane represents that. The little boy in his toy plane represents childhood - we all wanted to fly and had the gift of playing without even thinking about it. The actual art piece is one I created after not creating a thing for over 5 months. Made me feel like I might actually get my groove back."


Dave Dube...
 ...from the following still life
"Flash Gordon and Atlas Rocket Chalk. Although this piece is on new paper, I've tried to move off of the Old Paper occasionally to put some of these vintage ideas of mine in a new light. Thew slate and Rocket Chalk were given to my wife by her mother, and they in turn came from her Aunt Florence, who was a schoolteacher in the 30s in Oregon. The cartoon is a copy of a Flash Gordon comic strip panel that I own. The Atlas fruit jar is one in my collection."
------------------------------------------

Next "Playing Favorites" will be posted on Sunday, October 7th.

15 comments:

donna joy said...

good timing-just got online and saw your newest post-(just read what i wrote about my piece and WTH? was i thinking?)but i still like it~
as always-enjoy seeing others' work and the meaning behind the piece.

Rebeca Trevino said...

wow! another amazing line up.

layers said...

It is wonderful how all the artist's choices seem to reflect love, happiness, hope or memories..

Jill Zaheer said...

What a wonderful eclectic group of phenomenal artwork threaded together with the unique and heartfelt reasons for their selection! Again, can't wait to explore more about each of these talented artists. Thanks for this great post and to the artists who contributed to this segment!

.Trudi Sissons said...

Thanks for the feature Seth....I am flattered to be among the talented group in this post!

Robert said...

Lots of strong imagery, in this week's "favorites." I love the amazing detail in Eileen Bellomo's multi-layered, multi-technique composition. Donna Joy's young pilot in his plane is whimsical and fun! (I, too, know what it feels like to, once again, be creating, after a lengthy dry spell!) Dave Dube's delightful still life drawing of several treasured, personal objects shows great technical proficiency, and resonates with nostalgia! (I love that he included the still life photo for comparison with the drawing!) Another inspiring selection, here, Seth!

audrey said...

The reasons for these works of art were all touching, Seth. It's really fun to read what the paintings mean to the artists.

Leslie said...

I always learn something or find something I want to see more of when I come over here. Thanks for this latest collection of "Favorites," Seth.

Bill said...

Hmm. I received a strange comment box the first time, and I don't know where my comment went. I hope it doesn't post twice.

I love all of the texture, color and personal story these pieces are made of. They are all wonderful. I think they will encourage me to keep working in mixed media instead of just digital art.

teri said...

Very much enjoyed these.

Lynn Cohen said...

Lots of fun art, thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Always fun and so interesting to see artists favorites. happy OCTOBER to you!!!

Parabolic Muse said...

Thanks, Seth! These are great. It's always interesting to read the genesis or result of a person's production of a work. Love those birds!

Looking forward to the next installment, Seth.

The Creative Beast said...

I agree with Rebecca - this is an amazing line up of work indeed! I loved seeing Tami's "Germerica" here and also love the journal cover made by Patti Edmon. I just love your mode of curating wonderful work here Seth - so inspiring!

Jo Murray said...

Have put off reading this post until I had time to follow the links. Well worth waiting for...particularly Dave Dube.