Wharton Esherick, Mid-Century Design

I ran into this information on the Blick Art Supplies website, "12 Ways Artists Can 'Go Greener'". Thought that they made some good points.

While at Barnes and Noble yesterday,  I found many more interesting books, I would like to share a few of them with you. Unfortunately, the Borders Book Store near us is closing...very sad.

The images and information about the books are both from Amazon.

Wharton Esherick: The Journey of a Creative Mind - Mansfield Bascom
 

Wharton Esherick (1887–1970) lived to create. He found his true voice in sculpture, working primarily in local woods he gathered from the forest surrounding his home and studio in rural Pennsylvania. The spiritual father of the contemporary studio furniture movement in America, he pioneered the way for successive generations of woodworking artists to develop their original designs. His work blurs the traditional distinctions between sculpture and furniture, form and function.

Wharton Esherick: The Journey of a Creative Mind is the first and only comprehensive look at the colorful life and work of this seminal artist. Written by Esherick’s son-in-law, and lavishly illustrated, it features photographs of Esherick’s most important artworks as well as the woodland studio he designed, built, and furnished over the course of several decades. Now a museum, preserved as Esherick left it, this remarkable structure and its contents are testament to the warmth, poetry, and passion of one of America’s most influential and celebrated craftsmen.

About the author: Mansfield Bascom, a retired architect and structural engineer, has been married to Wharton Esherick’s daughter Ruth for more than 50 years. Bascom served as the Wharton Esherick Museum’s director until 1990, when he became its curator. He and Ruth live in Esherick’s former workshop in Paoli, Pennsylvania. (info & image from Amazon.com)

After re-connecting in recent years with my cousin, Margaret Milliken's son, I learned  that Wharton Esherick lived or worked at the art center in Rose Valley, Pa. where they lived.  Evidently, he was friends with my aunt and they swaped her paintings for his wood working creations. Facinating to me, because when I visited my aunt's home, I always loved their furniture. I found out years later why. They had very wonderful modern, unique pieces throughout their home. I have always loved mid-century modern design.

Here are 2 more new books that are available now:

Handcrafted Modern: At Home with Mid-century Designers - Leslie Williamson

An intimate and revealing collection of photographs of astonishingly beautiful, iconic, and undiscovered mid-century interiors. Among significant mid-century interiors, none are more celebrated yet underpublished as the homes created by architects and interior designers for themselves. This collection of newly commissioned photographs presents the most compelling homes by influential mid-century designers, such as Russel Wright, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eva Zeisel, among others.

Intimate as well as revelatory, Williamson’s photographs show these creative homes as they were lived in by their designers: Walter Gropius’s historic Bauhaus home in Massachusetts; Albert Frey’s floating modernist aerie on a Palm Springs rock outcropping; Wharton Esherick’s completely handmade Pennsylvania house, from the organic handcarved staircase to the iconic furniture. Personal and breathtaking by turn—these homes are exemplary studies of domestic modernism at its warmest and most creative.

and another book about Wharton Esherick:

Wharton Esherick: Studio & Collection - Paul Eisenhauer

(The information and images of the books above are from Amazon.com)

I hope that you enjoy these books. Of course, there are many available on these subjects but I thought that I would share these new ones with you.
Be well,
Sondra

Fiber Art Conferences - Workshops 2011

Looking for great learning experiences? The workshops below have a wonderful selection of fabulous artists.

Confluence: When cultures and ideas flow together, our art and our world are transformed. - June 4-17 2011
2011 International Surface Design Association Conference
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
Personally, I would love to take: India Flint's - Enfoldment's - A Traveler's Notebook and Jane Dunnewold's - Color with Soy Wax...
There is a wonderful selection of workshops, read all about them on the website.

Quilt Surface Design Symposium - June 11-19 2011
Click here for the selection of workshops and the details. My personal favorites? I would love to take: Valerie Goodwin, Fran Skiles, Kerr Grabowski, Sue Benner and Michael James.

Nancy Crow Art Retreats at the Crow Timber Frame Barn - Lancaster, Ohio
These Art Retreats are held in the spring and fall every year. The Spring workshops are from 4-25 to 5-27 and the Fall workshops are from 9-26 to 10-21.
I would love to take one of the Spring workshops with Dorothy Caldwell.

There are so many great fiber artists at these workshops, it is very difficult to choose! I hope that you are able to attend some of them.
Enjoy Autumn and best of health to you,
Sondra

21 Twitter Artists and Patti Agapi of Mad With Rapture

I am back now, was away due to medical issues.
I just started a new blog called markmaking365, you may want to check it out.

As I previously mentioned, I have found so many amazing artists on Twitter and plan to continue posting about them.
Here are some of them listed by Skinny Artist: 21 Artists to Watch in 2010. I am familiar with Alison Jardine. You must see her blog and her work. I plan to do a post in the near future with images of some of her pieces. She is amazing.


Patti Agapi, Ontario, Canada - Mad With Rapture
I love the title of her blog/website. Go to her blog to read her profile, her thoughts and see her artwork. It is incredible to me. Her mixed media paintings are striking.

She participates in a daily drawing initiative on Twitter - #Draw365 where she posts a drawing a day, everyday! Here is her drawing blog - Patti Agapi Drawings.  This is the link to her entire Flickr presentation of work - mixed media and collage, masonite mosaics, abstract paintings and daily drawings.

All the images are the property of the artist.

Here are some examples of her gift to us:

Memory 50

Memory 29

Mixed Media on masonite

Mixed media on masonite

Memory 16
Patti, thank you for sharing your "gift" with all of us.

Artists & their websites or blogs.

I have been exploring twitter and through a variety of resources have found many wonderful artists. My plan is to do brief posts about all of them and share the wealth! This is a start.

All images are the property of the artists.

Alisa Burke - Alisa Burke is a freelance painter and mixed media artist. Alisa is always looking for new ways to break the rules and redefine art. She draws inspiration from street art, graffiti, art history and fashion and it is not uncommon to find her digging through the trash in hopes of recycling something unique use in her artwork. Read more about her here. See some of her work in her Etsy Store.

Her blog has facinating posts that truly describe her processes with paper, canvas and her unique work with driftwood:

Driftwood city tutorial.

And this is only the beginning, she is a mixed-media artist, painter, teacher and author. Lot's to see on her blog and her website. Be sure to read her older posts and find out what she does on canvas.

Canvas Remix - One of my very favorite books.

"Painting marries the hot aesthetic of graffiti to produce twenty-five projects that take canvas way beyond the stretcher bar. Strong color, bold lines and a touch of funkiness are evident as readers learn how to use paint, create amazing collage art and work with canvas. Techniques for working with canvas and various paints are briefly discussed before the reader takes their painted canvas to the next level with hand-carved stamps, image transfers and more." (from her website)

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30 Stunning Digital Representations of Birds - twittered by Linda Colsh (one of my favorite fiber artists). Facinating images.

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Amazing abstract paintings by Aima Peintar of Rome, Italy. I find her marks to be intriguing. These pieces are from her Flickr page. It was very difficult for me to decide which ones to post.

metropoli

oil on canvas,  50x70 cm

Zwing

acrylic on canvas, 50x70cm

exposure

acrylic on canvas, 50x70 cm

branes

spore

oil on canvas, 50x50 cm

a distant here

oil on canvas, 50x70 cm

landescape one

landescape two

Thank you, Aima for sharing your wonderful work.


Quote for today...from Mahatma Gandhi:
"There are many causes that I am prepared to did for, but no causes that I am prepared to kill for".
Thank you, Gandhi.

Abstract Expressionists Stamps

The US Postal Service recently printed new stamps of the following abstract expressionists from the 1940's and 1950's: (some of my favorites) Hans Hofmann, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Joan Mitchell, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, William de Kooning and (I am not as familiar with) Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett Newman and Clyford Still. I will need to explore the last 3 artists.
My aunt was taught by Hans Hofmann so I have a special affinity for him. His color and composition resonates with me.

As stated on the USPS website, "this group of artists with radically different styles created a new visual language based on color, motion, and the expression of universal truths. In the process, they transformed the act of  painting into a means of self-discovery, which was both uniquely American and utterly new."

Here is an image of the stamps available, I bought several and need to purchase more...

Today's thought is from  McCartney & Lennon:

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".

Thank you to Paul McCartney and John Lennon for all of their amazing thoughts which have endured time and will continue to do so.

blogs and websites........

there is so much incredible work out there and I have some wonderful blogs and websites listed on modernmarks which I follow, so I thought that I would mention a bit about a few of them......

:::Linda Colsh is a fiber artist in Belgium, whose work I could admire all day......she did an interview with me on modernmarks in October. I learned so much about her inspiriation and approach to her work, it was facinating. I only wish that she was in the U.S. and I could see her work in person and take one of her workshops.  She does have a website which is a journey through time.....don't miss her images.

:::I just received an email from Linda and she mentioned Yves Leterme of Belgium, whose work she thought I would enjoy....and she was right. Youv'e got to see the gallery of his works of art and applied calligraphy. Incredible. His unique calligraphy combined with the lines and muted color makes his work intriging. To me it is quiet, yet powerful.

:::Jane Dunnewold, the creator of the concept of art cloth, blogged daily for a year on Daily Visuals. She posted daily from Nov. 10, 2008 to Nov. 29, 2009.......discipline! Jane stated,

"I believe it is valuable to spend time every day looking at the world around me. To this end, I committed to posting a daily photograph and a few thoughts when applicable - on color, design, spirit and making." 

Her images and words are inspiring and often humerous. I have taken several workshops from her and will continue in the future. She is a very special friend and the kind of person that you meet once in a lifetime. I hope that you enjoy her website and blog. I plan to do a blog interview with Jane in the future most likely about her work with archetypes.

:::Lorraine Glessner has an amazing blog in which she displays contemporary artist's work. I thank her for giving exposure to such unique artists for all of us to enjoy. I have found so many that I love on her blog. Lorainne is a mixed media artist, I am most familiar with her fiber and encaustic paintings. Her work is WOW! The subtle color and then sometimes punches of color with meandering lines.....every piece is a gem. I only wish that I could see them in person.

:::To me, Jeanne Williamson takes modern art to another level on fabric. Her geometric art sends me to the moon. I love her work. She has a fantastic calender of her art and a facinating book titled "The Uncommon Quilter-Small Art Quilts Created with Paper, Plastic, Fiber, and Surface Design". Jeanne is a prolific artist, see her blog for her work and process. If anyone is in Philly now, she is exhibiting in the Snyderman-Works Gallery until 3-26-10. We plan to do an interview in the future.

..........finally, just a note, the other evening at about 1:00-3:00 AM we had a herd of 9 deer in our back yard during a snow storm........always a pleasure to watch them....such beautiful, peaceful creatures on this planet.

Lucienne Day 1917-2010

great loss to me, personally, and many others..... Lucienne Day died January 30th. Here is a catalog of her fabrics. Her obituary is in the Guardian. I heard about her passing from Kim Kight at the TrueUp Blog. We have both spoken about our love of her work.
This image is from the Guardian (U.K.) - taken in 1952......

today began with........

a beautiful snow, 4 deer and the feeders visited by mourning doves, Mr. & Ms. Cardinal, the Hairy Woodpecker and many more small feathered friends in our back yard.......what else could you ask for in life???

I had another yardage of fabric sell, which is always fun. This piece was white PFD cotton that was silk screened with dyes and paints using several silk screens that I designed, the red detail was a flour paste screen and the black detail was done using latex paint screen.........

                      

this is a detail

these (below) were my first attempts with digital manipulation a while back and I plan to do more of it and record the exact steps that I take, these were really just "play" and having fun.....

the previous image (above) was manipulated in photoshop (see below), by using a variety of filters and then printed on paper, I only listed the "main" filter used since I did not record all of the filters when I did these......

using the cutout filter.......

                      

using the cut out filter, changing hue and saturation.......

                    

using the posterize and edges filters........

                     

using the cut out and the posterize filters, changing hue and saturation

using the watercolor filter

couldn't forget the 60's.......using the wave filter

                     

Allum manipulated

manipulated........

Calling all crafters, artists, makers, doers, creators.....

Just wanting to spread the word in case you are interested...

Here is information about Craft Hope, as stated on the Craft Hope website:

"The Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy shop is now open! There are some amazing handmade items in the shop. Please support Doctors Without Borders by either donating a handmade item or shopping in our Etsy store.

Our Etsy shop will benefit Doctors Without Borders, with 100% of the proceeds going to them. The medical need in Haiti right now is acute. The Doctors Without Borders existing facilities are so badly damaged, they are no longer functional. Post-earthquake medical care will be from tents. So far they have treated 1,500 people – 500 of them need immediate major surgery. There are no facilities to do this in Haiti currently. An inflatable hospital should be arriving in Haiti today.

The shop will remain open as long as we have donations to fill it up! Thanks to everyone for spreading a little hope to those in Haiti."

time for pre-school art

haven't been able to do the thermofaxes of the trees yet, so I thought that it was time for some pre-schoolers art......here are my favorites. They are great mark makers and painters, playing with abandon. If I had their names I would post them.....
Dictionary definition of playing with abandon: creating without limits, the trait of lacking restraint or control, reckless freedom from inhibition or worry and a feeling of extreme emotional intensity.

trees - lines

It would be interesting to see how these images will screen after making a thermofax and printing them on paper or fabric. When I try it, I will post them. I did do some thermofax screens of images that I took in Colorado of tree roots, branches, etc. and they print well either on their own or as backgrounds.

blubs digitally manipulated images - grayscale

black, white, gray - great texture