Describing the watercolors of Lierre Foest is not easy. She makes whimsical creatures that sometimes verge on darkness, yet accomplishes this with rich, brilliant color. She paints abstracts and and originally-flavored fantasy art. Her style runs the gamut between cubist and expressionist influences to outsider art to naive/faux - naive/folk art, but the one unmistakable element that characterizes Lierre’s paintings is her eye for color.
Washes of primary and secondary colors sweep the viewer into the fantasy worlds she creates with her brush.
If you can’t see the vdieo above, please click HERE.
Lierre is in her 20s, lives in former communist East Germany, is married and has three children ages 3 and under. She works from a home studio as a painter, writer, and designer. Primarily self-taught, Lierre briefly attended the Albert-Schweizer School for Music and Art in Hamburg, Germany and studied watercolor under a teacher at another school for a few weeks . She quit after a few months to move east and eventually started teaching herselfI used to work under a penname.
"I'm obsessed with Poe and with James Horner's music, but I like Goethe and Mozart too. In Hamburg, Germany I attended the Albert Schweizer School for music and art and studied watercolor briefly but other than this have no formal training in art. And the absolute most important thing anyone reading this definitely needs to know about me is that I do not like writing autobiographies."
“I've found I am very comfortable as an autodidact. I started selling paintings about 4 years ago and have sold over 400 so far to collectors all over the world. My favourite medium is watercolor but I also work in ink (pen and wash), coloured pencil, charcoal, graphite, acrylics, oils, and oil pastel. “ “I prefer tiny and detailed work, using on average pens with tips 0.05 mm in width, and brushes size 10/0. Many of the paintings and drawings I do are 1" x 1", art card size (2.5" x 3.5" also called ACEO or ATC) or 4" x 6" also called OSWOA). I also do 5" x 7" and some 12" or larger but am most comfortable with tinier sizes and miniatures.”
Interested parties may view more of Lierre’s work on her web site HERE.
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of attending an exhibit at the Frankel Gallery in San Francisco that featured photograms. Photograms are photographic images made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing them to light. The result is a negative shadow image . Man Ray is most often attributed with bringing this method into the art world, although he called his works, “rayographs”. Man Ray Rayograh
You may have experimented with a relative of photograms if you have made "sun prints" using blue architect's paper which, when exposed to the sun, turns white. Perhaps you laid leaves across it, put down your hand, or created a composition with kitchen objects before exposing it to the sun and developing it in the kitchen sink using running water. These are photograms. The forms block the light, leaving white or gray imprints, like shadows, on the paper or film when it is developed. Opaque objects leave white areas because no light gets through them; translucent objects leave shades of gray.
River Taw 19 Susan Derges is an internationally recognized photographic artist, also uses this technique in her work . She focuses primarily on landscapes. River Taw 19 is one of her more notable images.
The German painter, graphic artist and poet, Max Ernst is considered to be one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism. He, too, experimented with photograms. Photograms became a signature trademark with many of the Dada artists.
Photograms are a good way to teach composition, shape, and value. They can be made with a sheet of photographic paper with objects put on top. The sheet and objects are arranged under the enlarger and exposed for about 30 seconds with a wide aperture (e.g. f 5.6 or wider). The paper is then developed according to normal procedures. Photograms are one-of-a-kind prints, because once the objects are removed from the paper, that particular arrangement is gone. Photograms invite experimentation with different objects and techniques. Using a flashlight, for example, would give very different lighting than the enlarger. Liquids on glass (cliché verre), cellophane, coal pitch, chemical salts on glass ("crystallography"), and moving beams of light have all be experimented with to create different effects.
László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts. Moholy-Nagy's cameraless images bore the name that we most often use now with this class of images, "Photograms." He was interested in photography as a medium of light and form, not sentiments or personal feelings that are the concerns of other art forms.
Rodchenk Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenk was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design is also a notable creator of photograms. His images suggest someone who is no longer there, the absence of body, yet the resonance of history.
Shadographia This piece, entitled, Shadographia, was created by Christian Schad in Stuttgart. Schad was a German painter associated with Dada and the New Objectivity movement.
Free Radicals Len Lye, born Leonard Charles Huia Lye was a New Zealand-born artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. "Free Radicals" was among a number of his more notable photograms.
Fuss Adam Fuss’ images have depicted babies, water droplets, christening dresses, moving light, snakes, sunflowers, rabbit entrails, and human skulls. His work was on display at the Frankel the day I went.
I'm not sure if the shop is still in Jack London Square here in Oakland, but we used to enjoy taking our Maya there to see the beautiful, hand-pained Russian nesting dolls called, "Matryoshka"...You know the kind...There is a large one and you pull the top off and find others in graduating sizes. I had a couple of sets when I was a child.
As the popularity of Matryoshka has grown, more people are interested in making their own customized art dolls. Kits are now commercially available to allow any artist to create their own unique nesting dolls. They are often made to resemble political favorites, movie stars or other characters, even famous artists. A few weeks ago when I was in New York, I saw a set that was comprised of the likenesses of Picasso, Salvador Dali, Magritte and other notables in the art world. It had a $3800 price tag on it.
Matryoshka dolls range in size from 1/2" to life size and larger.
Custom painted gaming pieces are also popular. These chess sets are unique and may include the King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn as interesting conversation starters.
Other games and game characters, such as Mario and company, are cool as Matryoshka dolls.
Using kits of blank nesting dolls, an artist is limited only by the imagination.
Matryoshka dolls must nest inside each other, so hand painting them is a popular option. Some designers are creative with fabric and felt and create the look of more traditional soft dolls with their kits.
Favorite characters from movies, books and folklore are also often featured on nesting dolls. Santas of all varieties are collectors’ items, so it only makes sense that Santa Matryoshka dolls are readily available. Best loved characters from movies and cartoons also make nesting dolls really special to collector and some are worth thousands of dollars.
Dictators, presidents and world leaders are commemorated in Matryoshka dolls quite frequently. Collectors value these nesting dolls as historic timestamps, as the leader’s look during a particular election of time in power is recorded on each set of dolls. Russian presidents are a particularly popular subject of Matryoshka dolls.
From endangered species to beloved family pets, nearly all types of animals have been carefully painted onto Matryoshka dolls. Some nesting doll sets feature animals you might find in a zoo or endangered species.
Whatever the subject, Matryoshka nesting dolls have the potential to make it more interesting.
Michael DeMeng For assemblage artist, Michael DeMeng, rust plays a significant role in his work. In fact, he authored a book called, "Secrets of Rusty Things"
This is “Little Ben”, one of Michael's latest creations. The assemblage was fashioned out of a roller skate, an alarm clock and a Goodwill dolly.
About his work, Demeng says, “My work is about transformations. It is about the transformation of the common into the sacred. Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in my work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components, a form of rebirth from the ashes into new life and new meaning. These assemblages are metaphors for the evolutions and revolutions of existence: from life to death to rebirth, from new to old to renewed, from construction to destruction to reconstruction. These forms are examinations of the world in perpetual flux, where meaning and function are ever-changing.”
An excellent example of this is his life size Mother’s Day offering that is based on one of the most complex Hindu deities, Kali Ma, the Dark Mother. "One missing feature that I deliberated long and hard on is the traditional Kali tougue. I tried it and it was too much for this particular piece. Instead I sort of insinuate it."
In his article for the Missoula Independent, Andy Smetanka described DeMeng’s studio much the same way someone would describe mine: “...a jumbo cardboard box full of cut-up and yet-to-be-cut-up magazines here, the rusty innards of a mechanical cash register there. A bag of bottle caps. Buckets of gears and cogs. Threaded brass bushings and odd bits of rusting iron everywhere. There’s crap all over the place.” (One man's trash… by Andy Smetanka -Missoula Independent Vol. 16 No. 3 - Issue Date 1/20/2005) (insert Demeng’s studio)
Michael’s assemblages are created from objects that he finds here and there…yard sales, antique shops…..He transforms them into works of art that transcend steam punk into a genre of their own. He glues them and paints and welds them until they no longer even remotely resemble their original forms. Strange, other-worldly animal-based pieces called, “mmanimals” that he classifies as his “Zoo-Illogicals” seem to beckon viewers to step closer.
Each of his rusty shrines appears to commemorate some mythological metal diety or... poet, as the case may be...
No home is complete without at least one Michae DeMeng Pez dispenser:
…and this bra assemblage almost defies description.
Michae travels the world over teaching workshops to people who are interested in learning his unique assemblage techniques. Please CLICK HERE for his workshop and exhibit schedule. His ONLINE STORE has all kinds of nifty ware for the DeMeng enthusiast and readers can find out even more about Michael DeMeng at HIS WEB SITE. He has one of the best blogs out there which you can find by clicking HERE.
Stacy Alexander April yielded one of the most fun art swaps I have ever been a part of. I decided to organize a mosaic ATC card swap and put out calls all over the internet. A whole lot of people signed up, but not as many actually sent in their cards. The ones I did receive were so lovely, however, that I decided to feature them all here.
This lovely set was created by Susan Bjerke, who made cards in three distinct styles. All three cards were shiny and glistening. Her choices of mirror, glitter tile and some type of cool glaze over the concentric card was really eye-catching! She added the latter card as an extra and I was so happy! Stacy Hurt is a fiber artist who made these very unique and beautiful cards in gold ,red and black. The center tiles are polymer clay and have been stitched on with beads, symbols and a little of this and that. I just love these cards and am so happy that she included an extra for me.
Gila Rayberg absolutely blew me away with these tiny portraits of Anna Marie Cox and Rachel Maddow! She included the smaller heart piece as a gift. I can't believe she got so much detail into a 2.5" x 3.5" space! I can't imagine even taking on an endeavor like this, but Gila totally succeeded!
Check out the tiny detail in these cool polymer clay cards that were made by Gerri Newfry! I'm not sure which one I love more! They looked really great in person. Each tiny piece was made by hand.
Precise traditional mosaic technique was used in this set by Sharon Curry. The soft, earthy tones really made these cards special! Don't these look like a larger mosaic? I found working with pieces this small to be a real challenge. Sharon accomplished the objective with incredible precision!
Joanie Hoffman took a less traditional route with her whimsical fish cards. They were made of fabric with bead embellishments and a creatively grouted set of tiny buttons at the bottom.
Deb Aldo made this pretty, pretty set using two different styles. The one of the left has some of the prettiest green glass I have ever seen. The more modern blue card has mirror in the middle and try as I did, I was unable to take a shot that made it actually look like mirror so I added a lens flare just to so it would look reflective. (Nothing like cheating with Photoshop!). These were really awesome!
Rachel Ogden's two cards were created with very thin, delicate glass that shimmered in the light. I had a heck of a time doing them justice with my camera. They were gorgeous in person! I don't know if you can tell by the photo but the one with wire on it is a caged heart and the other one is a bird!
When Sharon Haddockasked if she could send four cards instead of just two, I saw no reason to say no....and man! I'm sure glad she sent them. Each one was wired for hanging and was made of fused glass that she made herself. Some of the glass was transparent, so when you held the cards up to the light, they were just incredible! She also put silvered edging on each card. Wow! She also very generously included some tiny fused glass leaves and other glass goodies in the package.
Johnna Edmondson is another artist who took a non-traditional approach to this project. Aren't these fun?! She sent me an email beforehand and told me she had used something special for the grout, but didn't want to tell me what it was. I had no idea it was going to be fiber! Cool!! I love the hardness of the tile mixed with the soft fiber.
Mindy Brent's organic card on the left reminds me of that piece that Goldsworthy did at the entrance of the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. It stands in stark contrast to the glitzy glass card on the right! Whoever gets this set will be very fortunate, indeed!
Jessica Sanders received a lot of buzz over on my Flickr album with these two beauties. They're both remarkable, but folks seemed really crazy about the red flame one. They had an incredible amount of detail in them!
I featured Diane Moore on this blog quite a while ago. She has really earned a name for herself with her legendary bead work. For some reason, the photo makes the beads inside the hearts look widely spaced, but they really weren't. They were tight and just lovely! She did a great job creating these unique beauties!
Stacy Alexander I made these cards just to even things out. The card on the right was something I made by stacking the tiles on their sides. Susan Crocenzi made a beautiful mosaic using this technique and I made a mental note to try it myself. I really enjoyed the challenges it created!
If you are one of the artists who made cards for this swap, I would appreciate it very much if you would comment here and tell us a little bit about your process, concept or techniques used to make these cards. I'd like to congratulate everyone for doing such a great job! They were all beautiful and I had so much fun seeing all of them in person. FYI, they all went out in today's mail, so should be to you in a couple of days.
Today, I grouped my featured artist's photographs all together in one shot to illustrate the beautiful and spontaneous interplay between her photography and her paintings.
Twenty two year old North Carolina painter, actor, musician and photographer, Mina Bahic, has managed to harness the same embodiment of elements that spoke to landscapists Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran in their work during the Romantic period. Her expressions of deep, richly-colored floating clouds hovering over more color and form are her strongest signature.
She has been painting since she was in third grade and uses art as a therapeutic tool to escape life’s everyday stresses. It is difficult to determine whether her paintings influence her photography or if the photography inspires the billowing hues that softly rest on her canvases.
While Mina's ultra-contemporary abstracts realistically resemble those of the Abstract Impressionists more than they physically resemble anything from the Romantic period, they carry some of the same identifying characteristics of the latter. Namely, her work reflects strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience. Not surprisingly, she listens to music for inspiration and lets this dictate the mood and lyrical quality of her art. Her saturated colors capture the grandeur of the sky and fire the imagination to interpret the powerful, yet gentle, stories she tells with the two media. Upon viewing her work, one is jettisoned into that unmistakable state of aesthetic pleasure as the beauty of color is arranged in perfect harmony
Interested parties can view more of Mina’s work on her MySpace page.
Karen Pearle "You must become aware of the richness in you and come to believe in it and know it is there." Brenda Ueland
Recently, I was a guest at the studio of one Ms. Karen Pearle. My journey through Karen’s special world of mosaic art began when I walked through her white gate and onto the walkway through a beautiful Zen garden. The roses were blooming and this set the mood for the entire visit.
The first thing evident when stepping inside her studio, was Karen's obvious passion for the art she creates. Early roots of this passion sprang from sitting as a child in a synagogue. “I would find refuge from the sermons and chants by gazing longingly at the stained glass windows, filled with luminous color that would change as the light changed.” As an adult, she fills her walls and life with the same luminous colors that inspired her childhood dreams.
Karen’s prolific body of work spans many different subjects and emotions. Her expressive portraiture is particularly interesting. Einstein’s face staring out from broken shards of pottery and glass and the three portraits of Van Gogh are among my personal favorites, but these works only touch the surface in terms of Karen’s versatility.
The woman in her “Spirit of Unity” piece reminded me of Frida Kahlo.
“My work is a passionate and imaginative exploration of color and form in the ancient, yet new medium of mosaics. Stained glass and mixed media give this medium a tactile and brilliantly reflective quality.”
When she isn’t making mosaics, Karen does healing work that is designed to help people recover from stress and trauma. She also assists individuals in getting in touch with and deepening their creativity and purposes in life. Her Healing Practice, Chi Nei Tsang, is located in Oakland, where for 15 years she has specialized in these areas. The small room where she does her this work is filled with the art that is spiritual in nature. For example, this striking triangle piece rests on the wall at the head of the massage table where the work takes place.
All of the walls hold spiritually inspired colorworks of depth and tactile wealth and significance in meaning.
This bird piece was a healing experience for Karen after the death of her mother.
She created a series of circular mosaics inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s, “Great Wave”.
Karen received Master of Fine Arts from Queens College in New York in 1990. You may find more pictures of her work on her web site at Pearl Glass Mosaics. Contact the artist directly at bctherapy@aol.com
I first met Karma "back in the day" when she attended Lamar High School in Houston with my elder daughter, Stacy, Jr. She has subsequently become a close friend to our family and, indeed, seems like a true member. And although her own Mom is crazy about her (and rightfully so), I often refer to her as my "substitute daughter" of "step daughter".
I have recently returned from a trip to Karma's current home in New York City where spending time with her rejuvenated my enthusiasm for her spirited and whimsical artistic creations.
Wassily Kandinsky considered the circle to be the most peaceful shape, a shape that represents the human soul. Karma’s paintings capture that same inner resonance by which color touches the soul itself.
Her condensed, kaleidoscopic, jewel-like effects are filled with sudden dynamism, pictorial complexity and energy. Karma's obvious love of color and awareness of space lend themselves to her characteristic creations of squares with concentric rings or ornamentation in collaged grids or on hand shapes that evoke motion and fervor of spirit, happiness and peaceful celebration.
Karma uses her mixed media paintings as a segue between design school that was based in innovation and technology, into a more connected, harmonious manifestation of her life as an artist.
To create her works, Karma uses a mix of media: watercolor, hard and soft pastels, colored pencils and acrylic paint on either paper or wood.
She applies the soul-touching colors in a way that causes them to play against one another, creating an inner resonance that has a purely spiritual effect.
The bold lines and brilliant hues in Karma's designs transport her art beyond the realm of folk art into a creative springboard of geometric intrigue. Her collages are saturated with wild gyrations of colors that move through space, yet are held together by the consistent square grid. The repetitive circular patterns on her hand symbols evoke images of Indian mendi gone wild. There is so much action in them that one could say they are expressions of events, that is, of unfolding time.
Karma holds double degrees from the University of North Texas in Radio, TV and Film and anthropology. Her masters is from Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design in Design Planning. Check out her web site at: KARMA WORKS
Multi-disciplinary California artist, videographer, editor, writer, photographer, near-vegan, traveler and explorer of ideas. Graduate student (psychology). Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Friend.
I spend my time creating original works of art, studying, writing and hanging out with my friends and family. I visit a lot of galleries and museums, travel, go on photo and video shoots,write poetry and new music, short stories.
All content of this blog is protected by copyright law. (c) 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; property of Stacy Alexander, unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved. Content of this site may not be reproduced in any manner without written permission.
Thank you.
Lierre Foest
Man Ray Rayograh
River Taw 19
Mr. Knife Miss Fork
László Moholy-Nagy
Rodchenk
Shadographia
Free Radicals
Fuss
Michael DeMeng
Stacy Alexander
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Stacy Alexander
Karen Pearle
Karma Hallmark
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