jolina anthony art and collage

do you need an art fix today? i do, so please enjoy the mixed media collages and paintings from german artist jolina anthony.

hmmm, perhaps i spoke too soon about the bright colors in my prior post, because i am loving those wintry white pieces. i am feeling these heavily textured works; the drips, the rings and their loose, free from worry intention. they’re calm, cool and collected, but with depth; they reveal little bits of time and seem to orate secret stories that float around in our heads when we are (i am?) daydreaming.

find more of jolina’s work right here.

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susan shippey borski paintings

now begins the yearly automatic ritual for me to seek out bright happy colors as we near the depths of winter. please enjoy these contemporary mixed media paintings by bay area artist susan shippey borski. suz strives to capture the ideas of rampant movement and plenty of possibility, and frequently finds inspiration in nature. these expressive works are made with a variety of materials, such as oil, watercolors, golf leaf and acrylic.

i love these loose, abstract compositions that are filled with flashes of light, and the spirited feeling that emanates through them. i feel hydrated and refreshed now after looking at them.

find suz’s extremely reasonably priced paintings (nothing more than $250 right now!) over on here.

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dirwood art glass

some of my friends have a hard time picking around in junk shops or discount department stores. not me. i could spend hours in those places hunting and digging for precious treasures, because you never know. i find this pleasing hobby/vocation even more delicious thanks to the invention of the internet, and a little thing called ebay. every once in a while i crash into beautifully made art and craft and today was one of those days. behold the gorgeous glass work from ohio artist darren goodman, aka dirwood. he has a bfa in glass blowing from bowling green state university, and since graduating in 2004 has dedicated himself to his craft. he currently operates his own hot glass studio near cincinnati, where he turns out marvelous pieces like these:

the pointillist/painterly mosaic pieces come from his “end of day” glass, i.e., leftover color chips that dirwood combines together, with a bit of gold adventurine thrown in for the sparkle. all pieces are hand blown and signed.

dirwood does beautiful custom orders too.

find him on his website and see a large gallery of work (don’t miss the tower!), or shop his store on ebay.

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gene ploss illustrations

i wish to tell you about the color of the sky here, and i think i can describe it best by pointing out the colors in this beautiful face series of giclee prints from new york fine artist gene ploss. this is absolutely gorgeous line work, shadowing and detail.

find these pieces in gene’s etsy shop or on his ebay auctions, and be sure to see his blog too!

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transportation thursday: train

n.b. this is a week long series on methods of transport and how we feel about them, created by a dear friend.

i enjoy elevated, commuter, tgv and other trains for the most part, except maybe when someone unsavory is sitting too close to me. the first long train trip i took was to california, when i was a kid, for summer vacation. i remember we had a sleeper car and the bathroom was tiny and the porter was very helpful. and you never think that you’re going so fast on the high speed trains in europe until another train whizzes by you on the neighboring track, and you nearly get whiplash trying to follow it. good times. i always think of it as an adventure, even on the brown line here in the city.

florence transit map necklace, from le photique’s etsy shop

vintage acme thunderer whistle for sale on ebay

give leather train case at fred segal beauty

bridget davies embroidered silk passport case at her dawanda shop

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hepcat wood sculpture by suzanna anna

attention, mid-century modern lovers: dig these petite inspired redwood sculptures, from nevada artist suzanna anna.

suzanna has a huge passion for mid-century design, late 60’s mod fashion and witco tiki statues.

each 10-13″ piece is handcut from redwood, torched to bring out the crackly grain of the wood and turn the color a rich shade of brown, and finished with multiple coats of varnish.

they look like the type of thing i might find while thrifting. i think they’re a gas.

more info about suzanna here.

purchase sculptures and other interesting things here.

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france in the midwest

i am a big fan of illinois artist sharon france and have personally collected several of her paintings. she specializes in tonalist, luminist and landscape painting, and lives downstate on an old farmstead. sound old-fashioned? maybe not. there seems to be a fresh modernity in every piece. there is a certain freedom in this type of versatility, as her pieces can fit with traditional and modern decor.

sharon’s soulful compositions are complemented by soothing color selections, and each piece tells a very intimate story about the heartland, which she hopes will revive others’ nostalgia. as far as i am concerned she is one of the great current american landscape painters.

 purchase a piece for yourself, and you may feel your blood pressure go down.

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