The Figurative Artbeat

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I was struck by Michaela’s statement on her website. She said, “I believe that human beings are here for a task, to discover – to remember, if you will, the gift we each came to deliver – the gift that is essential to bring balance to the earth, to restore our souls, to create heaven on earth by realizing and applying our thoughts, ideas and talents. ”

When I was growing up, there wasn’t a day in my life that both my mother and my father didn’t say “I love you” to me. Whenever I would leave the house, my mother said, “I love you, remember who you are.” I always took this to mean that I should be proud of my family, where I came from and who I was as a person. To not do anything to contradict who I was. My mother’s mother, my grandmother,  said the same thing to her.

As the years went on I’ve come to believe that there was more meaning to that statement than any of us realized at the time. I truly believe that if we all could remember who really are and what we came here to do, the world would be that  ”Heaven on earth” that we all are looking for.

Michaela wrote to me, “By forming the wet clay, adding and subtracting, I am uncovering the other person’s soul, while at the same time ascertaining myself.”

“In creating three-dimensional canvasses and subsequently painting them, I satisfy my artistic hunger on multiple levels. My work is as much about the human psyche and perception as it is about color, composition and form.”

I think her work is stunning.

Her series, Fire, Earth, Water, Air, deals with the forces of nature. She had this to say about her work. “Since the beginning of civilization, humans have been attempting to explain our existence by answering the questions: who are we, where do we come from and why are we the way we are?”

“For that reason, countless sciences, religions and philosophies have been cultivated in all regions of the earth by numerous peoples, many times looking to nature for guidance.”

“Fire, Water, Earth and Air are called the four classical elements, with Aether (=Space) being the spatial dimension that accommodates them, bringing the number to five classical elements.”

“The four sculptures are my contribution to this eternal question – and – answer cycle. It is my attempt to allegorize the four classical Forces of Nature by depicting them as women”.

Michaela goes on to say, “Additionally, I listed four attributes for each of the women and the qualities they represent in my opinion.”

“Since my artwork has YOU, the viewer, in mind, I invite you to participate by adding to the list of attributes or adjectives that come to your mind when pondering the above statement.”

Fire:  Passionate,    self confident,     energetic,     ambitious

Water:  Focused,      energizing,      relaxed,        curious

Earth:  Creative,      nourishing,      connected,       faithful

Air:  Spontaneous,       confident,        gentle,        musical

You can see more of Michaela’s wonderful work on her website - Michaela. Check back there often for her new series on menopause. I’m very curious to see what she has to share with us.

Popularity: 88% [?]

Three dimensional, figurative art work is a passion Michaele Greene. She is the happiest when working with clay.

I was attracted to her faces and her use of color. She told me that she doesn’t use glazes to finish her pieces, but “a combination of acrylic paints, washes, stains and waxes to finish my work.”

“This gives me more ability to coax the look and feel that I want from a piece.   I also love to incorporate different elements into the clay, such as wire, paper, even cloth.”

Michaele says, “The idea of creating movement and attitude is fascinating for me. I love figures that twist, bend, strut or flow in some way or another.” In her recent series called “On Windy Shores” she used wire to suggest wind blown hair on female figures. These figures are probably my favorite.

She had this to say about her Rock and Roll series, “For as long as I can remember, I have loved Rock and Roll.  I love the music, the lyrics and equally, the names of the bands themselves.  Songs evoke feelings and memories in most of us, but for me, they conjure visual images as well.”

“This also holds true for the names the artists have chosen for their groups; Pearl Jam for example, makes me smile and think of exactly that -pearl jam.  Rolling Stones embeds a visual in my mind as one who literally rolls stones.”

I enjoy Michaele’s take on this song. I know George Terry who wrote “Lay Down Sally” with Eric Clapton. I think he would like this sculpture. My husband and I have spent several News Years Eves singing along while George played. (me..not very well)  And George was always first to donated his talent to our Highlands Art League’s fund raisers.

You can see more of Michaele Greene’s vibrant work on her website.

Popularity: 71% [?]

Catherine Merrill’s work speaks of the archetypical images in us all.  The fluid movement of her vases compliment the bodily expressiveness of her subjects and hint at our own Persephone, Hestia or Athena. Her life size torsos are visual feasts for the eyes.

Catherine has created her own visual language to express a personal mythology.  The individual story becomes that of “Everywoman” through the universal language of art.

The prominence of the human figure in her work results from the many years when she was a dancer and the body was the artistic instrument to express emotion and ideas.

Catherine believes, ” The role of the artist and of art in our world is no longer mere entertainment or decoration, but an essential force for healing and change.”

Catherine Merrill is a visionary, helping to create a cultural exchange with Cuba. The following is a quote from the Art of Fire Project website.

“Proyecto Arte del Fuego (”Art of Fire Project”) was envisioned in 2002, by ceramic artists Antonio Lewis (Cuba) and Catherine Merrill (USA). Proyecto Arte del Fuego is an ongoing international cultural exchange project offering workshops, master classes, lectures, residencies and exhibitions in the ceramic arts. It is sponsored by the Fundacion Caguayo in Santiago, Cuba, the Estudio-Galeria Los Oficios in Havana and Casa-Taller Pedro Pablo Oliva, Pinar del Rio.”

Read more about Catherine, her life and her beautiful thoughtful work on her website.

Popularity: 82% [?]

I’ve been a fan of Jereme Crow ’s action filled paintings for quite awhile now. His figures are so alive, while his colors are soft and easy on the eye. I want to laugh and tap my feet, I can feel the motion.

On his web site Jereme writes,  ”To attempt to explain my paintings would be an after thought. They  are a celebration and exploration of the beauty of colour and the human form. I am attracted to dance as a source of inspiration because of the endless compositions created by the human form. The beauty, energy and emotion that is captured through movement. Art is beauty. Capturing a feeling, or an idea and  through the use of a subject attempting to create something beautiful.”

In my opinion, he has easily accomplished all of the above and something else as well. An involvement with the viewer.

After I contacted Jereme and while I was pouring over his site to choose paintings to feature here, I noticed a link to Sam Crow. I clicked and was taken to a very exciting blog featuring textile art by Jereme’s wife Sam. To my delight, not just textile art, but figurative textile art.

While Jereme’s paintings require the viewer to move, if not actually, then mentally, Sam’s work is more introspective, slowing the viewer down to  be self  analytical.

She states on her site in reference to a recent exhibition, “For this show, most of the women are sitting or lying down, exhausted or resting, this is because i am suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome at the moment and have to rest and sleep lots…… so i was focussing on that, and trying to incorporate my feelings about that and how it effects me and others, and trying to restrict myself to those sort of postures in a similar way that we are resticted often in our activities and have to force ourselves to stop and rest….which is hard when i work obsessively and have to be dragged away from the sewing machine!

I think as women, mothers, wives, even without chronic fatigue syndrome, we can all relate to those times of shear exhaustion.

I  love this one. Contemplation, a pause in a busy life…. a look, if you will, into the dream.

What a wonderful feeling this pictures leaves us with. Maybe after a good dance, a snugly rest is needed.

Jereme and Sam Crow live in South East Kent, UK

You can find out more about his talented couple by visiting their websites. Jereme Crow’s fabulous, lively art can be seen at Jereme Crow Fine Art and Sam Crow’s wonderful textile portraits can be view at Sam Crow Drawing with Stitches.

Popularity: 61% [?]

Working in figurative ceramics for the past 30 years, Linda Ganstrom explores issues that relate to her personal experiences, yet ask questions and reveal universal truths.

Issues related to these experiences including; memory, family obligation, gender roles, spirituality and personal identity are recurring themes in her work.  The various roles of women in the late 20th and early 21st century, their connection and responsibility to their community and the environment, as well as the changing perceptions of women’s potential are reflected in Linda’s figurative sculptures.

Largely hand built, and often formed of slabs or coils, Linda’s figures have a narrative, storytelling appeal that is enhanced by the addition of mixed media elements.

Most recently, Linda has been traveling to China to dedicate the installation of public sculptures intended to symbolize the friendship between her university and their partners in China.  In addition to meeting and working with colleagues in China, Linda has benefited from art travel to important ceramic sites such as Xian, Dehua, Jingdezhen and Foshan near Guangzhou.  This international perspective has reinforced her beliefs that all mankind is motivated by the same love and fear and that if we are to build a better future, we must respect our differences and celebrate our commonalities in Art as well as in life.  This philosophy has fueled new work dealing with spiritual and religious themes illustrated through the figure.

Linda is a Professor of Art – Ceramics, at Fort Hays State University. You can see more of her interesting work on her website.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Jason Thielke’s art focuses on urban landscapes and their inhabitants. A strong emotional connection to the built environment and its inevitable rise and fall provide the foundation for his work.

Jason Thielke’s solo exhibition, New Work, will begin July 17 and continue through August 15, 2009 at the David B. Smith Gallery, 1543 A Wazee Street Denver, CO, 80202. A reception for the artist will be held on Friday, July 17^th, 2009 from 7 PM to 10 PM.

From his press release, “The work in this exhibition speaks to Thielke’s fascination with behavioral juxtaposition within the individual. The conflict between one’s ability to implement self control and compulsion to manipulate and constantly self-gratify emerges as a reoccurring theme. Jason Thielke’s drawings illustrate this struggle with mathematical precision. Constellations of the human experience, the artist utilizes simple, structural forms to portray stark contrasts within the spirit of his subjects – swirls representing natural beauty and positive energy; straight lines referencing intentional thought and manipulation used to influence others. These figures depict the idiosyncrasies of human perception, examining the dynamics of body language, eye contact and spiritual interaction. “

Jason’s aesthetic encompasses both contemporary and traditional techniques much like modern architecture; his process of drawing, composing, and transferring images mirrors the planning, deconstruction and reconstruction phases of urban gentrification.

The architectural style in his work is applied to his interpretation of the human form, which comfortably contrasts hard lines with soft features and mixed emotions.

He often parallels this theme with the resurgence of American figurative painting.

Thielke earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Northern Illinois University School of Art and has held solo exhibitions in Denver, Portland and Seattle.

Thielke uses combinations of the following materials in his work, colored pencil, acrylic transfer, acrylic, aerosol, laser etching, and ink. You can see more of Jason’s work on his website.

Popularity: 63% [?]

Donald Gialanella work is in found in public places and private collection around the world. When I contacted him, he had just returned from Perth Australia. His design St. George and the Dragon Parallax Cross was named a finalist for the St. George’s Cathedral sculpture competition. Incredible, what a visually delightful paradox. We certainly wish him well in the competition.

From his website I learned; Donald studied in New York City at The Cooper Union under Louise Bourgeois, Jim Dine, Vito Acconci and Hans Haacke. The school’s traditional apprenticeship programs exposed him to bronze casting, steel fabrication, painting, drawing and graphic design, while classes with conceptualists Vito Acconci and Hans Haacke introduced him to anti-academic and revolutionary aesthetics. After graduating in 1979 and being awarded the Elliot Lash Prize in recognition of his monumental wood and steel tripods exhibited in Cooper Park, Gialanella was asked by Bourgeois to work as her assistant.  Throughout the following year Gialanella worked directly with Louise, doing everything from assembling armatures for her sculptures to creating odd portals, which she was fond of scurrying through from room to room, that he punched through the walls of her Chelsea brownstone with a pickax.

(If you would  like to know more about Louise Bourgeois, you can certainly do an online search for Louise Bourgeois, but here is a link to get you started.)

Ankara Turkey In 1992 Gialanella ventured to Turkey and devoted two years teaching art at Bilkent University. One morning as he wandered through a rural part of the Old City in Istanbul, he was hypnotized by a clanking rhythm. “My ears led me to the coppersmiths who were creating intricate designs with the simplest of tools, as they have done for centuries.  This inspired me to start working on sculpture again, hammering and bending to shape the steel in an organic way. In this exotic and ancient culture I began to spiritually reconnect with myself and experienced an artistic re-birth. A year later I had my first major one-man show at Ars Gallery Ankara and gained the confidence to devote myself completely to achieving my personal artistic vision.”

I was struck by the diversity of materials in these two sculptures

I enjoy his satire as shown in this smaller sculpture depicting the mortgage crisis.

Don is well known for his animal of which he has done many. From life size horses to smaller figures of animal that you can see here on his website. The Horse is the first piece he created in his new studio in Taos New Mexico. It’s made of Heavey gauge cut and forged steel with an acid wash finish. 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and stands 5 feet 6 inches tall at the shoulder.

I love this rooster’s color .

Maybe my favorite work is Idea Man below. Although it certainly is a challenge to choose just one of Don’s pieces as favorite. There are so many to choose from that I have posted more here than I usually do.

Don writes about Idea Man, “A completely three dimensional image, this fanciful steel sculpture is a logical progression of my Fragment Portraits. He rides a simple unicycle while supporting his enormous head appointed with Hermes-like wings that give flight to his formidable powers of creativity.”

His method for creating his Fragment Portraits is fascinating. He writes, “I draw the face directly onto a sheet of steel and cut it into fragments which define the facial features in a specifically descriptive way. Then I reassemble the “jigsaw puzzle” and weld it together from the back to reunite the portrait. The color and texture is done with various chemical patinas, paint, metalic powders, and a grinder.”

To really understand his process watch the video below.

I’m going to leave you with an interesting and delightful adventure into the world we are living in. Don was featured in several Magazines both in print and online. The online Magazines are the ones that are so interesting and interactive. Not only will you learn more about Donald Gialanella work, but somehow, with both photos and video and because it is so full of life, it makes the reader/viewer more engaged.

The first is CTN Green Maganzine, his article and videos are on pages 20 and 21. The video is the same as the one above, but the presentation is really interesting.  Please take a minute, you’ll truly enjoy it. After you spend the time with Don on these pages, you might want to look at the rest of the magazine, interesting.

The second magazine with an interview with Don is Deviance from deviantART. You can download the issue to your computer. It’s well worth it.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Don Gialanella and his work. There is so much more for you to explore on his site, Donald Gialanella – Metal Sculpture.

Please take a minute to add a comment, let me know what you think, I really would like to hear from each of you.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Artist Meg Mitchell of  Priscilla Mae et al lives in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Canada and works in a delightful studio surrounded by her “girls”. Sophisticated  little shaped pillows, sachets, totes and eyeglass cases. I came across her shop on Etsy and was delighted to spend some time there enjoying what she has to offer.

She has started a new blog and shares some of her older work with visitors and gives us a peak inside her studio. What a fun place to create.

Most of her larger pillows have quotes on the back that relates to the subject of a particular series.Veronica, one of her Midlife Madonnas has this quote: “I can only please on person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn’t look good either.”

She spends time each year in Paris and comes home full of inspiration. Don’t you just love this sassy Edith Les Femmes de Paris. Edith is approximately 5″ X 5″ and is a unique little treasure.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Carole A. Feuerman is considered to be one of America’s most important realist sculptors. Her work certainly takes your breath away. I was amazed at the size of some of her figures. I particularly find her figures coming out of walls intriguing.

Her honors include: First prize at the 2008 Beijing Biennale, Inclusion in the 2008 Olympic Fine Arts Exhibition, the Peabody Award, the Betty Parson Sculpture Award, and the Medici Award. Her work is in the collections of President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, Dr. Kissinger, President Gorbachov, and the Forbes Magazine Art Collection, among others. She has been included in shows at museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. You can read more of her Bio here.

“All of my life, making art has been my passion. As I have experienced life, the forms that my work has taken have evolved and deepened. I want my art to inspire the viewer to look closely at what stands before them. It is not the fleeting moment that I want to capture, but the universal feeling caught in that fleeting moment. I want the viewer to complete the story when he looks at my sculpture, to reflect and feel touched. If I can create a work of art that can touch each generation, that would be my masterpiece.” –Carole Feuerman

Carole has a new book out that she talks about in the video below. To take a closer look, see the link on the top right side of this page. Enjoy her video.

Visit Carole’s website for more fabulous photos of her work.

Popularity: 51% [?]