When I attended art school, we spent quite a bit of time drawing and painting bones and flowers and being introduced to the work of Georgia O'Keeffe. She was and still is one of my favorite artists. I like the organic shape of all her forms, soft and rounded, and the way everything glows. This was my inspiration for the flowers I painted for several years though, unfortunately, I didn't really document much of my work early on. I often remember how I was called the flower and fabric painter in school.
Before learning about her work, I was never drawn to flowers but once I was introduced to her large scale and vibrant colour I was hooked. I was also attracted by the fact that her images weren't necessarily a perfect representation of what she was painting, but slightly abstracted. Big, bold, beautiful and bright. Because she painted flowers for decades, I was inspired to paint my chair paintings for decades, too, though not quite as many...so far. I had the privilege of viewing her work in Vancouver during the Kahlo, Carr, O'Keeffe exhibit a number of years ago and it was a thrill to see it up close. And to learn that she often used silk flowers as her inspiration, along with the bones she gathered on her walks in New Mexico. I think I remember reading that she purchased the silk flowers that were often used on gravesides in the area. A great lesson, to gather inspiration from what surrounds and catches your attention. I am so grateful to be able to share my process with others through 21 SECRETS and was thrilled to see this work by Holly. It's terrific to see someone take what I do and be inspired to change it and make it their own. I've had the great pleasure of seeing this happen throughout my years as an artist and it really is an honour to inspire someone else. Creativity always begets further creativity which is a wonderful aspect of this journey as an artist. Thank you very much, Holly, for sharing!
I've been following the work of several street artists for some time so when I was asked if I would consider adding some graffiti to a couple of gamer cases for the teen room at the library I was excited. I've been incorporating stencils and spray paint into my work, but it's even more fun to add it to a three dimensional object.
One of my favorite street artists is Paper Monster because he honours the feminine and because he layers his work with a variety of colours and mark-making like I do and is known for his stencil graffiti art so it felt like a perfect fit. This is my tribute to him. I hope the kids like it. One down, one more to go...maybe a dragon of sorts? |
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