Manhatten: watercolor, heavily crayoned and scratched through, silver paint.
Megan Grugan is a painter, educator and MamaCITA member (plus a lot of other wonderful things). Here is some of her recent encaustic work.
From Megan's artist statement
"I have always seen the world in vibrant colors. I have tried to paint the world that I see and in which I live. This allows me to honor the environment around me while exploring it.
To me, the negative space around an object is just as important as the object.”
See more of Megan's work right here.
Outside of the amazing color and detail in this encaustic work, I really respond to the motion in Megan's artwork. It swirls me in right in and is a wondrous tactile ride.
Can you pick a favorite (I can't). Though I REALLY love the shadows and light in Storm.
I'll be back with some posts about NYC on Wednesday(ish).
A fresh start. Just playing with composition, color and pattern.
Some of my prints, hand dyes, Some pieces from other, more experienced dyers than I. Back to the stitch.
Thank you for your kind comments on Karen Hunter-McLaughlin's work. Meg Grugan is up next in this series of Artists I Love.
Here's what she has to say
I have always loved bold, beautiful, saturated color. Maybe it stems from my love of flowers. I remember when I was young and my father grew a single red poppy plant. We never failed to be totally amazed by the rich deep red set against its deepest blueblack center.
To this day flowers are a subject matter to which I always return. And I now also have a single red poppy plant. Happy Spring everyone!
NewQueen, Karen Hunter McLaughlin
Karen is working on a new series of embellished relief prints the will include her favorite flower subjects as well as some newer work inspired by childhood memories.
When she's not making art, Karen can be found geeking out at her computer developing websites for other like-minded creatives.
Karen's Art website: www.karen-hunter-mclaughlin.com
If you need web-wrangling ... www.kmdigitaldesign.com
I adore Milky Way because I feel like I am going to be sucked right up into that tangled beauty. Which is YOUR favorite?
I was stickybeaking around the 21 Secrets Ning site and it is amazing this year. Definitely the best yet.
Doodling
Textile art so that you can wear your art
Good old-fashioned "make it messy" art
Lettering with stitch (oh my)
A playful approach to painting flowers
Card games to get your mojo goin' (moi)
Watercolor (!)
and 14 more
Please note: the artwork pictured here is not necessarily from the workshop projects.
21 Secrets is 21 mini-workshops on art journaling (and related) from 21 artists. The class is hosted on Ning.com (free membership after your tuition). You can come and go in the workshops as you please, at 2 am or 2 pm (or anytime in between). You can visit all of the classes as often as you like for nine delicious months. This is the best deal in town: $59 for all this? You couldn't make a better investment.
Sign up on my sidebar. Yeah, now. Do it for you.
I can't think anymore. I'm thunk out, and talked out and worked out but I feel like writing. So let's just see what this post will be about. Clearly, I would like it to be about my MamaCITA's whom I love like sisters - very much like sisters in that they also drive me nuts at times. But such is the nature of close relationships amongst women. And I'll take it.
We've talked about how we nurture the world around us and our own self-care sometimes goes by the wayside. But if I go to a woman friend with anything: a problem or some joy to spread, I get a ton of care.
I'm going to plug in some photos here now. Let's see what happens. Yeah, that's good. Let's all take a moment to honor a woman we love.
Happy Women's Day. And of course, if you are in the Philadelphia area and would like to attend Miss Representation, here is the info. And PS to my Mamas, I love you and I'm sorry to be such a bossy britches.
I am rolling with the Gelli Artz gelatin printing plate and water soluble oil paints. The paints are heavy body (Golden Open) and have an extended dry time which make them perfect for this. I used a variety of papers including printing paper, heavy vellum and inexpensive cardstock.
I used a stencil that was hanging around doin' nothing. Not sure where this one came from. Was it a chunk of something else? And a handcarved stamp - a stone flower.
Sumi-e papers printed and made into papercloth.
and what next? I have the deadline coming up for MamaCITA's Miss Representation (more here if you are in the Philly area): choose a woman I admire and make some art honoring her. EEEEK! Too many choices. Eva Hesse? Emily Dickenson? Helen Frankenthaler? Rachel Carson? Right now, it's looking like Rachel Carson. I've been endulging myself by reading poems, looking at Eva and Heln Art and learning more about Rachel (who is currently at the top of my list).
Who is your favorite woman? Top three? Top ten? Nice journal prompt. Happy weekend. We are on a snow watch here.
That is an appropriate title for this time of year. I helped with the installation of the One Year Exhibit yesterday (you are invited to the opening on January 4, 5:30-7 pm, at the Painted Bride 3 & Race, Philadelphia).
The floor of the gallery was covered with vessels. I had the shocking experience of unwrapping the vessels while the other women did the math: placing nails to hang over 300 wire vessels was daunting!
It kind of looks like they were crawling up the walls on their own accord ...
More about this exhibit here. I hope you can come.
Spending some time looking at Helen Frankenthaler in preparation for a MamaCITA show in March reminded me of why I got into this crazy art business in the first place: color. Fields and streams of color.
Sketching, pouring paint, printing and then stitching. With only an idea in mind. Sunny doorways in a lane in Italy. Of course, the hours I spent looking, sketching and painting all led to this.
and a mountain and sunset and wee houses in the foreground. I'm not sure where all of this is going but since sitting and stitching is reliably the only thing I can do right now (ortho pillow on my back, ankle elevated) I'm feeling rather grateful that I love to stitch and very grateful for Helen.
And a note ... Helen Frankenthaler was discussed in my art history classes with a bit of disdain because she pour her color onto raw canvas. Not very ARCHIVAL! How come it was OK for Jackson Pollack? It all seemed so perfect to me at the time and now with the idea of treating raw canvas as a textile or using muslin or vintage linen, it is even more delicious.
Doing some research lately on women artists who inspired me and here they are:
Candy Jernigan. Elegant, raw and honest. There are no barriers or borders.
There is a wonderful book full of Jernigan's Art called Evidence. I have a copy of it from a few years ago and it is quite pricey now. But you can always stalk it on Amazon to see if it comes down in price.
Eva Hesse: Her minimalistic abstract drawings and scupltures and installations are breathtaking
and then
Helen Frankenthaler, the Mother of Color Field work. Color starring itself.
and Floods of color.
My tastes are tending to the minimalist these days and abstraction. There is something consuming about abstraction. It seems so pure to me right now.
